People a to z

Actress and singer Zendaya Coleman first came to fame in 2010 as one of the stars of the television comedy Shake It Up.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet of the Romantic Movement, best known for his allegorical sea-faring poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

Chris Colfer has delighted and inspired audiences with his portrayal of high school student Kurt Hummel on the hit musical television series Glee.

Tom Colicchio is a restaurateur and author who stars in the award-winning reality TV show Top Chef.

Stuart Collett was a Christian minister and a survivor of the Titanic disaster.

Toni Collette is an Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning Australian actress.

When the space shuttle Columbia blasted off on July 23, 1999, pilot Eileen Collins became NASA's first female shuttle commander.

American professional basketball player Jason Collins became the first active openly gay male athlete in the four major North American professional sports.

Actress Joan Collins played Alexis Carrington Colby, the vicious, vengeful ex-wife of patriarch Blake Carrington, on Aaron Spelling’s prime-time drama Dynasty.

A folk-pop singer, Judy Collins rose to fame in the 1960s and 1970s with such hits as "Both Sides Now" and "Send In the Clowns."

Teacher Marva Collins was one of the most influential education activists of the 20th century, working to gain equal access for minorities to quality education.

Michael Collins is a former astronaut who was part of the Gemini 10 and Apollo 11 missions, the latter of which included the first lunar landing in history.

Michael Collins was a hero of the Irish struggle for independence, who directed guerrilla warfare during the intensification of the Anglo-Irish War.

Phil Collins was one of the most successful musicians in the world during the 1980s, releasing thirteen U.S. Top Ten hits between 1984 and 1990.

American writer Suzanne Collins is the author of the bestselling The Hunger Games series and The Underland Chronicles.

Olivia Colman is a British actress best known for playing Carol Thatcher, the daughter of Margaret Thatcher, in the 2011 biopic The Iron Lady.

Ronald Colman was an Academy Award-winning British actor.

Samuel Colt was an inventor and industrialist who created the revolver—most notably the .45-calibre Peacemaker model, which was introduced in 1873—and paved the way for the interchangeable parts system of manufacturing.

John Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer, and is an iconic figure of 20th century jazz.

Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane is best known for his roles such as Hagrid the Giant in the Harry Potter series and Mr. Hyde in Van Helsing.

Famed Italian explorer Christopher Columbus discovered the "New World" of the Americas on an expedition sponsored by King Ferdinand of Spain in 1492.

Claudette Colvin was a civil rights activist in Alabama during the 1950s. She refused to give up her seat on a bus months before Rosa Parks' more famous protest.

Entrepreneur Sean Combs has produced big-name artists like Mariah Carey, created the Sean John clothing line, and recorded his own platinum albums.

Singer Perry Como is best known for his warm baritone crooning which came to characterize popular music in the 40s and 50s.

French philosopher Auguste Comte (1798–1857) greatly advanced the field of social science, giving it the name "sociology" and influenced many 19th-century social intellectuals.

Gary Condit served in the U.S. House of Representatives and is considered a conservative Democrat. He was inconclusively linked to the disappearance of federal intern Chandra Levy.

Confucius was an influential Chinese philosopher, teacher and political figure known for his popular aphorisms and for his models of social interaction.

Jennifer Connelly is an American actress who started as a child star but gained fame from her role in the film Requiem for a Dream.

Oscar-winning Scottish actor Sean Connery played "007" in the first James Bond spy movies. He also played the Indiane Jones's father in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Charitable New Orleans heartthrob Harry Connick, Jr. is popularly known as both a jazz musician and an actor.

Connie Mack was manager of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Philadelphia Athletics, and owner of the Athletics. He helped establish the American League.

English novelist and short-story writer Joseph Conrad’s works include the novels Lord Jim, Nostromo and The Secret Agent and the story “Heart of Darkness”.

Constantine I was the first Christian Roman Emperor. He ruled at the beginning of the 4th century and began the evolution of the empire into a Christian state.

Adolfo Constanzo was a serial killer in the 1980s, whose religious cult performed ritual murders. He evaded police until his 1989 assisted suicide.

Alan Conway was best known for impersonating the film director Stanley Kubrick. Conway convinced several figures in the entertainment industry, and recieved meals, drinks, and sexual favors in exchange for promising roles in Kubrick films.

Tim Conway is an American comedian and actor, best known for co-starring alongside Carol Burnett on The Carol Burnett Show.

Grammy-award winning musician Ry Cooder has released multiple American-roots style records under his own name, and has also recorded with musicians worldwide.

Actor Jackie Coogan played Charlie Chaplin's sidekick in the silent film The Kid and Uncle Fester on the TV sitcom The Addams Family.

Comedian Dane Cook released multiple comedy albums, including Harmful if Swallowed (2003) and Retaliation (2005). He has since done multiple comedy acts and acted in film.

British navigator James Cook discovered and charted New Zealand and Australia's Great Barrier Reef on his ship Endeavor, and later disproved the existence of the fabled southern continent Terra Australis. His voyages provided the first accurate map of the Pacific.

Robin Cook was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Livingston from 1983 until his death.

Tim Cook took over for the late Steve Jobs as Apple's CEO in August 2011. Prior to that, Cook served as Apple's chief operating officer.

Alistair Cooke was a British-born journalist who worked in newspaper, radio and television. He hosted television's Masterpiece Theatre.

Sam Cooke, commonly known as the King of Soul, was an African-American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer and songwriter. He had 29 top-40 hits from 1957-1964.

Hip-hop artist and actor LL Cool J made it big with Def Jam Records in the late 1980s and '90s with albums like Mama Said Knock You Out.

Calvin Coolidge was president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Coolidge was known for his quiet demeanor, which earned him the nickname "Silent Cal."

Rita Coolidge is an American two-time Grammy Award–winning singer best known for her hits in the 1970s, including the album Anytime...Anywhere.

Considered the Godfather of Shock Rock, singer Alice Cooper came to fame in the 1970s, alarming audiences with his garish, often ghoulish stage performances.

Anderson Cooper was a news correspondent on ABC and CNN before hosting his own show, Anderson Cooper 360. 

Bradley Cooper is an actor who first made a name for himself on the TV series Alias and has since become a successful film actor.

Gary Cooper's movie career spanned from silent films into the 1950s. He won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Alvin York in Sergeant York.

Child actor Jackie Cooper was in the Our Gang short film series and the Little Rascals television show. He also starred in the 1931 film The Champ.

James Fenimore Cooper was a 19th-century American novelist, best known for his Leatherstocking Tales, which included The Last of the Mohicans.

Stewart Copeland is best known as the drummer for The Police. Copeland is also an accomplished producer and composer of soundtracks for movies and television.

Astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus identified the concept of a heliocentric solar system, in which the sun, rather than the earth, is the center of the solar system.

For nearly four decades, American composer Aaron Copland achieved a distinctive musical characterization of American themes in an expressive modern style.

David Copperfield is a world-famous magician whose tricks include making the Statue of Liberty disappear and walking through the Great Wall of China.

As head principal of the Institute for Colored Youth, Fanny Coppin innovated a practice-teaching system and an elaborate industrial-training department.

Director, producer and screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola is best known for creating The Godfather film series starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino.

Sofia Coppola is a film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. She directed The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation, winning an Oscar for the latter.

Le Corbusier was a Swiss-born French architect who belonged to the first generation of the so-called International school of architecture.

Billy Corgan is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist in the alternative rock band Smashing Pumpkins.

Roger Corman is a film director and producer who helmed B-Movie classics and helped launch the careers of James Cameron, John Sayles, Ron Howard and others.

American television icon Don Cornelius created and hosted Soul Train, which spent more than 30 years on the air.

John Warcup Cornforth is an Australian scientist who won the 1975 Nobel Prize for his research in stereochemistry and enzyme-based synthesis.

In 2004, athlete Maritza Correia made history as the first African-American woman to earn a place on the U.S. Olympic Swim Team. She later became the first African-American woman to break an American record.

Miguel Corte Real was a 16th century Portuguese explorer who partook in sailing expeditions to the North Atlantic.

Hernán Cortés, marqués del Valle de Oaxaca, was a Spanish conquistador who overthrew the Aztec empire and won Mexico for the crown of Spain.

Jeff Corwin is a conservationist and the television host and producer of The Jeff Corwin Experience on the Animal Planet network.

Bill Cosby is an American comedian, actor and producer, who has played a major role in the development of more positive portrayal of African-Americans on television.

Howard Cosell was a sports broadcaster who had a distinctive and influential on-air personality.

Working with Bud Abbott, Lou Costello was part of one of most popular comedy duos of the 20th century.

Film actor and director Kevin Costner directed and starred in the epic film Dances With Wolves (1990), which won seven Oscars.

French actress Marion Cotillard won an Academy Award for her performance as Edith Piaf in the film La Vie En Rose. She also starred in the acclaimed films Inception and The Dark Knight Rises.

Film actor Joseph Cotten was a member of Orson Welles Mercury Theater radio ensemble. He also appeared in the movie Citizen Kane.

Swimmer Natalie Coughlin has won more than 10 Olympic medals in her career, including two gold medals at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Dave Coulier is a comedic actor who played Joey Gladstone on the long-running TV sitcom Full House.

Conservative commentator Ann Coulter has insulted Jews, 9/11 widows and a variety of Democratic politicians, yet she continues to have a loyal fan base.

Television journalist Katie Couric, formerly of the Today show, signed a deal with CBS in 2006 to become the first woman to anchor CBS Evening News alone.

Jacques Cousteau was a French undersea explorer, researcher, photographer and documentary host who invented diving and scuba devices, including the Aqua-Lung. He also conducted underwater expeditions and produced films and television series, including the Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. 

Randy Couture is best known as a mixed martial arts fighter and heavyweight champion. He is one of the first members of the UFC Hall of Fame.