People a to z

David O. Russell is an Oscar-nominated director, writer and producer known for films like Three Kings, The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook.

Actor Kurt Russell has appeared in a number of film roles and is know as long-time romantic companion to actress Goldie Hawn, mother of actress Kate Hudson.

Lillian Russell was a singer and actress who first made her mark in the 1881 film Grand Mogul.

Nipsey Russell was best known for his comic rhymes and his appearances on TV game shows.

Theater and film actress Rosalind Russell costarred in His Girl Friday with Cary Grant, and played Auntie Mame in both the Broadway play and the movie version.

Tim Russert was a one-time political counsel who became a journalist and the longtime host of the public affairs show Meet the Press.

Bayard Rustin was a civil rights organizer and activist, best known for his work as adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1950s and '60s.

Physicist Ernest Rutherford was the central figure in the study of radioactivity who led the exploration of nuclear physics.

Janna Ryan is the wife of U.S. Congressman and former Republican vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan.

Nolan Ryan played professional baseball until age 46. He pitched 3,509th career strikeouts, becoming the first pitcher to surpass Walter Johnson's 1927 record.

U.S. Representative Paul Ryan is a Republican from Wisconsin known for his conservative positions. In the 2012 presidential election, Ryan was the running mate of Republican nominee Mitt Romney, who was defeated by President Barack Obama.

Melissa Rycroft is known for her engagement and break-up on the 13th season of The Bachelor, and for winning 2012's Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars.

Winona Ryder is a film actress known for dark, quirky roles in such films as Heathers and Girl, Interrupted.

Cyrus S. Eaton was a Canadian industrialist and formed the third largest steel company in the United States.

Betye Saar is best known for her art work that critiques American racism toward blacks.

Daryl Sabara is an American actor best known for his role in the movie franchise Spy Kids.

Antonio Sabato Jr. is an actor known for his roles on General Hospital, Melrose Place and Charmed. He has also modeled for Calvin Klein.

Sacagawea was a Shoshone interpreter best known for being the only woman on the Lewis and Clark expedition into the American West.

Olympic gymnast Alicia Sacramone has won dozens of World Championship and U.S. National Championship medals—competing with such teammates as Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson—and won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Sade is a singer who struck a cord around with world in the 1980s with sultry, soul-inspired songs like 'Smooth Operator.'

Morley Safer is a television journalist known for his long tenure at the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes.

William Safire was a writer whose column "On Language" was a long-running feature of The New York Times Magazine.

Saint Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ who was martyred in the 1st century AD.

Yves Saint Laurent was best known as an influential European fashion designer who impacted fashion in the 1960s to the present day.

Apostle Saint Mark was one of Christ's 70 disciples, one of the four evangelists and the traditional author of the second Gospel, The Book of Mark.

Zoe Saldana is a trained dancer who's become a leading actress in Hollywood, having starred in blockbusters like Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Trek and Avatar.

Comedian and pie-throwing television personality Soupy Sales was the popular host of such shows as Lunch with Soupy Sales and the Soupy Sales Show.

Sebastião Salgado is an award-winning photographer known for his arresting documentation of communities across the world.

With his landmark novel Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger was an influential 20th-century American writer.

Jonas Salk was an American physician and medical researcher who developed the first safe and effective vaccine for polio.

Composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic won a Grammy Award in 1986 for their recording of Witold Lutoslawski's "Symphony No. 3".

Andy Samberg is a comedian, actor, singer and a star of Saturday Night Live. His comedy troupe "The Lonely Island" is known for its humorous digital shorts.

Tennis player Pete Sampras is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. In 2002 he set the career mark for most Grand Slam victories with 14 titles.

Samson is a well-known Biblical figure touted for his great strength and long hair. He appears in the Old Testament in the Book of Judges.

American economist Paul Samuelson is best known as a founder of neo-Keynesian economics and for being the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Aung San Suu Kyi is an opposition leader in her home country of Myanmar and the winner of the  1991 Nobel Prize for Peace.

Sonia Sanchez formed the Broadside Quartet. She was an activist for racial equality, pioneered black studies and has written poetry, plays and kids’ books.

French author Amandine Aaurore Lucile Dudevant wrote many popular novels during the Romantic period under the pseudonym George Sand.

Colonel Sanders is best known for creating a fried chicken recipe that would become the world's fast-food chicken chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Journalist Marlene Sanders was both the first woman to anchor a nightly network newscast and the first female field correspondent in the Vietnam War.

Actor, comedian, and musician Adam Sandler was a cast member on Saturday Night Live and is the star of such films as Punch-Drunk Love and The Wedding Singer.

Republican Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval is the first Hispanic to hold statewide office, as well as the youngest chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission.

Bobby Sands was an Irish nationalist who led a hunger strike in prison in 1981. He was elected Member of Parliament during the strike and died May 5, 1981.

Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky made headlines in November 2011, when he was arrested on several sexual offenses related to children. He was later found guilty of 45 charges and sentenced to serve 30 to 60 years in prison.

Margaret Sanger was an early feminist and women's rights activist who coined the term "birth control" and worked towards its legalization.

Mexican-American guitarist Carlos Santana is leader of Santana, a band whose music uniquely blends Latin-infused rock, jazz, blues, salsa, and African rhythms.

Rick Santorum became known across the country after his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990.

Ancient Greek lyric poet Sappho lived on the island of Lesbos, from which the term lesbian was derived, and wrote poetry expressing her love of women.

A film and TV actress Mia Sara is best known for her role as Sloan Peterson, the girlfriend of Ferris Bueller in John Hughes's 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Cristina Saralegui hosts the talk show The Cristina Show for the Univision Network. It has been on the air since 1989 and has won 11 Emmys.

José Saramago was a Portuguese novelist and man of letters who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998.

Susan Sarandon is an Academy Award-winning American film actress known for roles in films like Bull Durham, Thelma and Louise and Dead Man Walking.

Dick Sargent was an actor of film and television mostly remembered for his portrayal of Darrin Stephens on TV's Bewitched.

John Singer Sargent was an Italian-born American painter whose portraits of the wealthy and privileged provide an enduring image of Edwardian-age society.

Sargon is an ancient Mesopotamian ruler who established what is thought to be the world’s first empire, reigning during the 23rd century B.C.

Nicolas Sarkozy served as France's 23rd president from 2007 to 2012. His term was marked by controversy, which included his marriage to Carla Bruni in 2008.

May Sarton was a writer of poetry, novels and memoirs including her Journal of a Solitude.

Jean-Paul Sartre was a 20th century intellectual, writer and activist who put forth pioneering ideas on existentialism.

Army medic Clarence Eugene was awarded the Medal of Honor for treating wounded Vietnam soldiers amidst gunfire despite having been shot in both legs himself.

Vidal Sassoon revolutionized women’s hairstyles in the post-war years and created an international hair-products empire which proclaimed "If you don't look good, we don't look good."

Saul was best known as the first King of Israel circa 1046 BC.

Augusta Savage is remembered as an artist, activist, and arts educator, serving as an inspiration to the many that she taught, helped, and encouraged.

Telly Savalas was an American actor best known for his role as a tough, New York City detective in the 1970’s television series Kojak.

Antonin Scalia is best known as an Associate Justice for the U.S. Supreme Court, appointed in 1986 by Ronald Reagan.

Mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo controlled Philadelphia's organized crime for many years, even from prison.

Actor Roy Scheider landed his breakthrough role in 1971’s Klute, and later played Police Chief Martin Brody in the Steven Spielberg-directed film Jaws.

Singer Nicole Scherzinger is the former lead singer of the successful all-girl band the Pussycat Dolls.