People a to z

Cat Power is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music fuses folk, country and blues, as heard on albums like Moon Pix and The Greatest.

Willa Cather was a writer of poetry and novels known for such works as O Pioneers! and My Antonia.

Catherine II was empress of Russia, and led her country into the political and cultural life of Europe, carrying on the work begun by Peter the Great.

Artist Elizabeth Catlett celebrates African-American workers in sculptures and prints. She's known for works like "Negro Woman," "Sharecropper" and "Survivor."

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle was a French explorer best known for leading an expedition down the Mississippi River, claiming the region for France.

Nicolae Ceausescu was the leader of Communist Romania for more than two decades until his execution in 1989.

Robert Cascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, is best known as one of the chief architects behind the League of Nations.

Aimé Césaire was a cofounder (with Léopold Sédar Senghor) of Negritude, an influential movement to restore the cultural identity of black Africans.

Post-Impressionist French painter Paul Cézanne is best known for his incredibly varied painting style which greatly affected 20th century abstract art.

Michael Chabon is an acclaimed, bestselling author who's won the Pulitzer Prize. He's known for several books, including The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, and for his work as a screenwriter on Spider-Man 2 and John Carter.

Cassie Chadwick was best known for posing as the illegitimate daughter of industrialist Andrew Carnegie, subsequently convincing banks to loan her millions of dollars.

Marc Chagall was a French artist whose work was generally based on emotional association rather than traditional pictorial fundamentals.

Neville Chamberlain was the British Prime Minister as England entered World War II. He is known for his policy of "appeasement" towards Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.

Richard Chamberlain was a leading television heartthrob of the early 1960s, best known for his role as Dr. Kildare on the television show Dr. Kildare.

Wilt Chamberlain was the first NBA player to score more than 30,000 cumulative points over his career, and the first and only player to score 100 points in a single game.

Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton is best known for the highly publicized case surrounding the 1980 disappearance of her daughter Azaria, in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Actor/director/producer Jackie Chan's unique blend of impressive martial arts and screwball physical comedy has helped make him an international film star.

With her trademark suits and little black dresses, fashion designer Coco Chanel created timeless designs that are still popular today.

Lon Chaney was an actor known for his use of makeup to great effect in such films as The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Lon Chaney Jr. was known for being the only actor to play all of the "big four" monsters: the Mummy, the Wolf Man, Frankenstein and Dracula.

Costa Rican-born Franklin Chang-Díaz was the first Hispanic-American astronaut. He made several trips to space for NASA and developed plasma propulsion.

Carol Channing starred as Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes on Broadway in 1949. She received a Tony lifetime achievement award in 1995.

Stockard Channing is an award-winning American actress best known for her roles in Grease (1978), Six Degrees of Separation (1993) and The West Wing (2002).

Folk singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, famous in the 1970s for hits like "Cat's in the Cradle," was also a philanthropist dedicated to fighting world hunger.

Charlie Chaplin was a comedic British actor who became one of the biggest stars of the 20th century's silent-film era.

Anna Chapman became famous in June 2010, when she was arrested in New York and accused of spying for the Russian government.

Mark David Chapman is a U.S. convicted murderer and former security guard, best known for shooting and killing Beatles member John Lennon.

American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman received wide fame in the late 1980s and '90s with songs like "Give Me One Reason" and "Fast Car."

Dave Chappelle is a comedian whose Comedy Central show Chappelle's Show became a smash hit in the mid-2000s.

Charlemagne was the founder of the Carolingian Empire, best known for uniting Western Europe for the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire.

Charles of Blois was a rival duke of Brittany in the mid-1300s.

Jacques Alexandre César Charles was a French scientist and inventor who, along with Nicholas Robert, was the first to take flight in a hydrogen balloon.

Ray Charles was a pioneer of soul music, integrating R&B, gospel, pop and country to creat hits like "Unchain My Heart," "Hit the Road Jack" and "Georgia on My Mind." A blind genius, he is considered one of the greatest artists of all time.

Charles I of Hungary was forced to surrender his power to Wenceslas of Bohemia, but later reclaimed the throne and formed a defensive alliance with Poland.

Charles I was a monarch of the Hapsburg line who was the last emperor of Austria and king of Hungary. He lost his throne at the end of World War I.

Charles II was the monarch of England, Ireland and Scotland during much of the latter half of the 17th century, marking the Restoration era.

Charles IX was King of France from 1560 until 1574 during the turbulent time of the Wars of Religion.

Charles VI, nicknamed Charles the Mad, was king of France from 1380 to 1422—a period marked by political chaos and France’s defeat by England at Agincourt.

Bobby Charlton is best known for being one of England's most accomplished soccer player of all time.

Charo is a singer, musician and actress best known for her Latin sassiness, sexy outfits and signature phrase during the 1970s, "Cuchi-cuchi."

Chevy Chase is a comedic actor who is best know for his appearances on Saturday Night Live and his starring roles in the films Caddyshack and Fletch.

As Secretary of the Treasury under Lincoln, Salmon P. Chase implemented the National Banking Act and was the sixth chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Samuel Chase was an associate Supreme Court justice until he was impeached. His political views gradually turned from support of states’ rights to Federalism.

Jessica Chastain is an American actress who first gained widespread attention in 2011 for her work in Take Shelter, The Help and Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life.

English poet Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the unfinished work, The Canterbury Tales. It is considered one of the greatest poetic works in English.

Union leader and labor organizer Cesar Chavez dedicated his life to improving treatment, pay and working conditions for farm workers.

Hugo Chávez served as president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013. During his presidency, he sold oil to Cuba and resisted efforts to stop narcotic trafficking in Columbia, and subsequently strained relations with the United States.

The son of famed Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez, Julio César Chávez Jr. won the World Boxing Council's middleweight title in 2011, then lost the title to Sergio Martinez in 2012.

Julio César Chávez is a retired Mexican professional boxer and world lightweight champion who, for many years, was one of Mexico's most popular sports figures.

Broadway playwright Pddy Chayefsky picked up two Academy Awards for his films The Hospital and Network.

Don Cheadle is a critically acclaimed actor who has appeared in such films as Crash, Boogie Nights and Out of Sight.

Chubby Checker was an early rock 'n' roller who had a hit with the song and dance sensation, "The Twist."

U.S. short-story writer and novelist John Cheever’s story collections include The Stories of John Cheever, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1978.

Anton Chekhov is best known for his short stories and plays, including The Proposal, The Wedding and The Anniversary.

Steve Chen is best known as the co-founder and chief technology officer of the video-sharing website YouTube. Google bought YouTube for $1.64 billion in stock.

Dick Cheney served four Republican presidents and spent six terms in the House. The former Vice President specialized in defense, energy, and the Middle East.

Actress Kristin Chenoweth is best known for her Broadway roles in Wicked and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, as well as on TV show The West Wing.

As famous for her unusual outfits as she is for her musical talent, Cher is an American singer and actress who got her start as half of Sonny and Cher in the 1960s.

Charles Chesnutt was a trailblazing short-story author and novelist who presented African-American life in works like The Conjure Woman and The Colonel's Dream.

Caryl Chessman is best known for his controversial conviction for sex crimes and his execution in 1960.

Nationalist revolutionary Ho Chi-Minh was president of North Vietnam from 1954 to 1969. He ranks among the most famous and influential politicians of the 20th century.

Dominic Chianese played aging gangster Corrado "Uncle Junior" Soprano on HBO's The Sopranos.

Judy Chicago is an American artist, educator and writer, and a leading figure in feminist art. She received critical acclaim in the 1970s for her art project "The Dinner Party."

Andrei Chikatilo was a former school teacher who murdered more than 50 young people in the Soviet Union.

TV chef and author Julia Child adapted complex French cooking for everyday Americans, with her groundbreaking cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Alice Childress is an African-American playwright associated with the Harlem Renaissance. She is also the author of several young adult novels.

Jacques Chirac is a French politician best known as the Prime Minister, Mayor of Paris and President of France during his career from 1974-2007.

Melanie Chisholm, also known as "Sporty Spice" and "Mel C," became famous in the mid-1990s with the all-girl British pop group the Spice Girls.

Shirley Chisholm was the first black congresswoman, and the first African-American woman to make a bid for the U.S. Presidency.

Margaret Cho is a Korean-American comic best known for her candid comedy, TV roles and advocacy.

Student Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 30 people on Virginia Tech's campus in 2007. The mass murder ended when he turned the gun and shot himself in the head.

Famed scholar Noam Chomsky is known for both his groundbreaking contributions to linguistics and his penetrating critiques of political systems.

Considered Poland's greatest composer, Frédéric Chopin focused his efforts on piano composition and was highly influential.

Short-story writer and novelist Kate Chopin wrote The Awakening, a novel about a young mother who abandons her family, initially condemned but later acclaimed.

An expert in the field of mind-body healing, Deepak Chopra is a world-renowned speaker and author on the subject of alternative medicine.

Jesus founded Christianity, one of the world’s most influential religions. His teachings and life are recorded in the Bible’s New Testament and emulated by Christians all over the world.