Famous people born in 1961
The best-known people born in 1961, ranked by how many languages Wikipedia covers them in.
Best known
Barack Obama44th President of the United States (2009–2017)
August 4
Photo: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza, Public domain
Diana, Princess of Walesmember of the British royal family and Princess of Wales (1961–1997)
July 1 · d. 1997
Photo: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA ( Archived link), CC BY-SA 2.0
Ilham AliyevPresident of Azerbaijan since 2003
December 24
Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, CC BY 4.0
Joko Widodo7th President of the Republic of Indonesia
June 21
Photo: Ministry of State Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia (Kementerian Sekretariat Negara Republik , Public domain
Julia GillardPrime Minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013
September 29
Photo: Dilma Rousseff, CC BY-SA 2.0
Peter JacksonNew Zealand film director, screenwriter, producer and actor (born 1961)
October 31
Photo: New Zealand Government, Office of the Governor-General, CC BY 4.0
Sanae TakaichiJapanese politician, Prime Minister of Japan since 2025
March 7
Photo: Immediate source: MOFA/Japanese Embassy to South Africa, probable source: Cabinet Public Affairs Off, CC BY 4.0
Arundhati RoyIndian novelist, essayist, and activist
November 24
Photo: Augustus Binu / facebook, CC BY-SA 3.0
James GandolfiniAmerican actor (1961–2013)
September 18 · d. 2013
Photo: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CC BY 2.0
Nadia ComăneciRomanian gymnast and five-time Olympic gold medalist (born 1961)
November 12
Photo: Unknown (Comitetul Olimpic si Sportiv Roman), Public domain
Yevgeny PrigozhinRussian mercenary leader, oligarch, restaurateur, former owner of Wagner PVC (1961–2023)
June 1 · d. 2023
Photo: Михаил Метцель / ТАСС, CC BY 4.0
Michael J. FoxCanadian-American actor, comedian, author, film producer, and activist
June 9
Photo: Alan Light, CC BY 2.0
Stephen HillenburgAmerican marine science educator and artist (1961-2018)
August 21 · d. 2018
Photo: Carlos Cazurro Burgos ( http://www.cazurro.com/ ), CC BY-SA 3.0
Lothar MatthäusGerman association football player, manager, and pundit (born 1961)
March 21
Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0
Erna SolbergPrime Minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021
February 24
Photo: European People's Party, CC BY 2.0
António CostaPortuguese politician, President of the European Council since 2024 (1961-)
July 17
Photo: Frédéric Sierakowski - European Council, Attribution
Woody HarrelsonAmerican actor (born 1961)
July 23
Photo: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin R. Pacheco, Public domain
Wayne GretzkyCanadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1961)
January 26
Photo: The original uploader was Hakandahlstrom at English Wikipedia . Later versions were uploaded by Iris, CC BY-SA 3.0
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January
- January 11 · Karl von Habsburg, Head of the House of Habsburg
- January 13 · Julia Louis-Dreyfus, American actress
- January 17 · Maia Chiburdanidze, Georgian chess grandmaster
- January 24 · Nastassja Kinski, German actress
- January 24 · Guido Buchwald, German association football player and manager
- January 30 · Liu Gang, Chinese scientist and revolutionary (born 1961)
February
- February 10 · Alexander Payne, American film director, producer and screenwriter (born 1961)
- February 12 · David Graeber, American anthropologist and anarchist (1961-2020)
- February 12 · Joseph Michel Martelly, Musician and former President of Haiti
- February 17 · Andrey Korotayev, Russian anthropologist, economic historian, comparative political scientist, and sociologist
- February 18 · Armin Laschet, German politician (CDU)
- February 21 · Abhijit Banerjee, Indian American economist
March
- March 1 · Koichi Hashiratani, Japanese association football player and manager
- March 10 · Laurel Clark, NASA astronaut, medical doctor, United States Navy Captain, and Space Shuttle mission specialist (1961-2003)
- March 11 · Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates
- March 15 · Moungi Bawendi, American chemist of French and Tunisian descent
- March 24 · Yanis Varoufakis, Greek economist and politician
- March 26 · William Hague, British politician (born 1961)
April
- April 14 · Robert Carlyle, Scottish actor
- April 18 · Élisabeth Borne, Prime Minister of France from 2022 to 2024
- April 23 · Mary E. Brunkow, American molecular biologist and immunologist
- April 24 · Tetsuya Totsuka, Japanese association football player
- April 25 · Juha Sipilä, 44th Prime Minister of Finland
- April 26 · Joan Chen, Chinese-American actress and director (born 1961)
May
- May 3 · Leyla Zana, Turkish statesperson (born 1961)
- May 8 · Bill de Blasio, 109th Mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2022
- May 13 · Dennis Rodman, American basketball player (born 1961)
- May 14 · Tim Roth, British actor
- May 23 · Daniele Massaro, Italian association football player
- May 31 · Lea Thompson, American actress
June
- June 3 · Lawrence Lessig, American academic, political activist
- June 4 · Ferenc Gyurcsány, Prime Minister of Hungary from 2004 to 2009
- June 9 · Aaron Sorkin, American filmmaker (born 1961)
- June 14 · Boy George, British musician (born 1961)
- June 21 · Manu Chao, Spanish musician
- June 25 · Ricky Gervais, British comedian
July
- July 1 · Victoria Nuland, American diplomat (born 1961)
- July 8 · Andrew Fletcher, English keyboardist (1961–2022)
- July 12 · Masaaki Mori, Japanese association football player
- July 21 · Mokgweetsi Masisi, former President of Botswana
- July 23 · David Kaufman, American actor and singer
- July 26 · David Heyman, British film producer (born 1961)
August
- August 8 · The Edge, Irish rock musician, guitar player of U2
- August 14 · Satoshi Tsunami, Japanese association football player and manager
- August 16 · Aziz Akhannouch, Prime Minister of Morocco since 2021
- August 23 · Alexandre Desplat, French film composer (born 1961)
- August 25 · Billy Ray Cyrus, American country singer and actor
- August 28 · Jennifer Coolidge, American actress (born 1961)
September
- September 2 · Carlos Valderrama, Colombian footballer
- September 2 · Toshinobu Katsuya, Japanese association football player
- September 11 · Virginia Madsen, American actress
- September 12 · Mylène Farmer, French singer and songwriter (born 1961)
- September 13 · Dave Mustaine, American musician
- September 25 · Heather Locklear, American actress (born 1961)
October
- October 11 · Amr Diab, Egyptian singer, composer and actor
- October 16 · Yahiro Kazama, Japanese association football player and manager
- October 20 · Ian Rush, Welsh association football player and manager (born 1961)
- October 23 · Andoni Zubizarreta, Spanish footballer
- October 26 · Uhuru Kenyatta, 4th President of Republic of Kenya (2013–2022)
- October 29 · Dmitri Muratov, Russian journalist and television presenter (born 1961)
November
- November 1 · Petr Pavel, Czech general and statesman, 4th president of the Czech Republic (born 1961)
- November 7 · Sergei Aleinikov, Soviet and Belarusian association football player
- November 12 · Enzo Francescoli, Uruguayan footballer
- November 12 · Atsushi Natori, Japanese association football player
- November 28 · Alfonso Cuarón, Mexican filmmaker (born 1961)
- November 29 · Tom Sizemore, American actor (1961–2023)
December
- December 8 · Ann Coulter, American author, political commentator
- December 11 · Macky Sall, 4th President of Senegal, formerly Prime Minister
- December 19 · Eric Allin Cornell, American physicist, professor (born 1961)
- December 25 · Ingrid Betancourt, Colombian-French politician
- December 27 · Guido Westerwelle, German politician (FDP), Foreign Minister of Germany (1961-2016)
- December 30 · Bill English, Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2016 to 2017
People from Wikidata (CC0), photos from Wikimedia Commons; each photo shows its author and licence.