People a to z

Anthony Burgess was an English novelist and composer best known for his novel A Clockwork Orange, which became a popular 1971 Stanley Kubrik film.

Brooke Burke is an entrepreneur and television celebrity best known as the co-host of ABC's hit show Dancing with the Stars. Burke is also well known as a fitness model.

Solomon Burke was an African-American soul singer who released a number of hits in the 1960s, including "Cry to Me" and "Got to Get You off My Mind."

British astronomer Jocelyn Bell Burnell assisted in constructing a large radio telescope and discovered pulsars, cosmic sources of peculiar radio pulses.

Macfarlane Burnet was an Australian physician and researcher who made groundbreaking discoveries in the fields of immunology and virology.

Carol Burnett is a comedian and actress who had a long-running sketch and variety show, The Carol Burnett Show, in the 1960s and '70s.

T Bone Burnett is a Grammy Award-winning musician and producer who has worked on several popular films, including The Big Lebowski and Crazy Heart.

British-born Mark Burnett produced and directed a number of highly popular shows in the United States, including Survivor and The Apprentice.

Reggae musician Burning Spear, also known as Winston Rodney, OD, is a Bob Marley protégé whose hits include "Door Peep" and "Slavery Days."

George Burns was a comedian who worked in vaudeville, radio, film and television. His long-time performance partner and wife was comedienne Gracie Allen. Burns lived until age 100.

Poet Robert Burns is considered one of the most famous characters of Scotland's cultural history. He is best known as a pioneer of the Romantic movement.

African-American jockey Isaac Burns Murphy repeatedly won the Kentucky Derby and was posthumously inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame.

Ambrose Burnside is best known for his leadership as a general of the Union army in the Civil War, and for originating the fashion of sideburns in the United States.

Aaron Burr was the third vice president of the United States, serving under President Thomas Jefferson. Burr fatally shot his rival, Alexander Hamilton, during a duel.

Canadian actor Raymond Burr is best known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.

Plaxico Burress is an American football wide receiver who has played in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

William S. Burroughs was a Beat Generation writer known for his startling, nontraditional accounts of drug culture, most famously in the book Naked Lunch.

LeVar Burton is an actor known chiefly for his work in the TV miniseries Roots and the series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Richard Burton was a highly regarded Welsh actor of stage and screen. He earned seven Oscar nominations and was married twice to actress Elizabeth Taylor.

Sir Richard Burton was a British explorer and linguist. He translated The Arabian Nights, and wrote extensively about his travels in Asia, Africa and America.

Director, producer and screenwriter Tim Burton is known for such films as Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, which blend themes of fantasy and horror.

Steve Buscemi is a popular character actor, director and screenwriter. He's known for his role on the critically acclaimed series Boardwalk Empire.

In less than two years Kyle Busch has already become the youngest race winner in NASCAR's six-decade history of Cup racing, shortly after turning 20 years old.

Former first lady Barbara Bush, wife of George H.W. Bush, founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. She is also George W. Bush's mother.

George W. Bush was the 43rd president of the United States. He led his country's response to the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and initiated the Iraq War in 2003.

The 41st president of the United States, George H.W. Bush served as vice president under Ronald Reagan. He is the father of George W. Bush, the 43rd president.

Jeb Bush is an American politician best known for serving as Florida's governor from 1998 to 2007. He is the son of 41st U.S. President George Bush and brother of 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush.

Jenna Bush Hager is the daughter of President George W. Bush. She’s worked as a teacher and journalist, including reporting for the Today Show.

Laura Bush is the wife of 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush. She served as first lady from 2001 to 2009.

Susan Butcher was a champion American dog musher and four-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Gerard Butler is best known for his role as King Leonidas of Sparta in 300.

Painter John Butler Yeats was the father of poet William Butler Yeats and artist Jack Butler Yeats. His portrait of John O'Leary is considered his best work.

Actor Red Buttons got his name from the flame-colored hair and uniform as a bellhop. He is best known as a comedian but he had a prolific film career as well.

Thomas Byles, a Catholic priest, was a victim of the RMS Titanic disaster.

Amanda Bynes is a well-known TV and film actress who got her start as a child. She has starred in hits like The Amanda Show, What a Girl Wants and Hairspray.

David Byrne is a singer/songwriter who is best known as the front man for the art-rock musical group the Talking Heads.

Actor and producer Gabriel Byrne was involved in many successful films, including Little Women, The Usual Suspects, Vanity Fair and Julie and Julia.

Lord Byron is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and is best known for his amorous lifestyle and his brilliant use of the English language.

Louis C.K. is a comedian and star of the cable television show Louie. His comedy draws from his life as a single, aging dad.

Actor James Caan gave an Oscar-nominated performance as Sonny Corleone in Coppola’s The Godfather and played a writer held hostage in Stephen King’s Misery.

Explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca spent eight years in the Gulf region of present-day Texas and was treasurer to the Spanish expedition under de Narváez.

Bruce Cabot built a sizeable career out of supporting roles, often playing villainous characters over a four-decade span.

Explorer John Cabot made a British claim to land in Canada, mistaking it for Asia, during his 1497 voyage on the ship Matthew.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and helped Italian-American immigrants. She was canonized in 1946.

Sid Caesar is a comedian and the creator of the classic Emmy Award-winning television variety program Your Show of Shows.

Actor Nicolas Cage, star of such films as Moonstruck and The Rock, is known for his intense on- and off-screen personality, as well as his passion for method acting.

James Cagney was an Academy Award-winning actor who was known for playing gangsters and short-fused tough guys.

Sammy Cahn was a U.S. lyricist who composed songs for romantic films and Broadway musicals, including the hit “Three Coins in the Fountain” (1954, Oscar).

A former fast-food chain executive, Herman Cain emerged as a Republican candidate for the 2012 presidential nomination.

Michael Caine is a beloved Oscar-winning actor known for his roles in films like Alfie, Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules.

Puerto Rican politician and businesswoman Sila María Calderón is best known for becoming the first female governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 2001, serving until 2005.

John C. Calhoun was an American congressman, secretary of war, seventh vice president, senator and secretary of state. He championed states' rights and slavery.

Maria Callas was best known for her dramatic operatic performances around the world.

Jazz singer and dancer Cab Calloway performed in Harlem’s Cotton Club in the 1930s. He also appeared on stage and in films, such as 1979’s The Blues Brothers.

Theologian John Calvin was the leading French Protestant Reformer and the most important figure in the second generation of the Protestant Reformation.

David Cameron is best known for being a revolutionary leader of Britain's Conservative Party, a quality that eventually won him the election as prime minister in 2010.

Oscar-winning director James Cameron is best known for the highly acclaimed, box-office hits Aliens (1986), Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009).

James Mark Cameron was a respected and prominent British journalist who reported widely and illuminatingly on poverty, war, injustice.

Samantha Cameron is best known for being the wife of British Prime Minister David Cameron, and for her role as an executive for a well-known English stationery company.

Simon Cameron was a Pennsylvania senator who later served as President Abraham Lincoln's secretary of war.

Glen Campbell is best known for his country music career, and his later crossover success as an actor in films such as 1969's True Grit.

Joseph Campbell was a professor and author who focused on comparative folklore with books like The Power of Myth and The Hero With a Thousand Faces.

Veronica Campbell-Brown is the youngest Jamaican woman to win an Olympic medal. At the 2012 Olympic Games, she became a six-time Olympic medalist.

Jane Campion is a New Zealand film director and writer who won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for The Piano in 1993. She also directed Bright Star.

Algerian born writer Albert Camus won the Nobel Prize for literature in part due to his embrace of existentialism in books like The Stranger.

An advocate of children and families in Harlem, NY, Geoffrey Canada is president of the Harlem Children’s Zone. In 2009, President Barack Obama announced plans to replicate the educational center in 20 cities.