Famous People Who Won Awards a to z

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.

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

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

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.

Wes Craven is a horror film director, screenwriter and producer known for projects like Swamp Thing, Nightmare on Elm Street and the Scream series.

Michael Crichton was an American author best known for his sci-fi and medical thrillers. The movie based on his book, Jurassic Park, was one of the highest-grossing films in history.

In 1997 Erin Crocker became the youngest race car driver to win a feature at Whip City Speedway en route to Rookie-of-the-Year honors.

Hume Cronyn was a Canadian actor. He enjoyed a long career and often appeared alongside his second wife, Jessica Tandy.

Sidney Crosby is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2007, he became the youngest captain of a National Hockey League team.

David Nelson Crosthwait, Jr. was an African American pioneer in the field of heating and air conditioning, best known for heating up Radio City Music Hall.

Billy Crystal came to fame on the sitcom Soap. After a year on Saturday Night Live, he began a successful film career.

French physicist Pierre Curie was of founding fathers of modern physics and is best known for being a pioneer in radioactive studies.

Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress, nicknamed the "Scream Queen" in the 1980's for her roles in several horror films including Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980) and Terror Train (1980). She is also an author of children's books.

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

Willem Dafoe is a gravelly voiced actor known for such films as Platoon, The Last Temptation of Christ and Finding Nemo.

Children's author Roald Dahl wrote the kids' classics Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, among other famous works. He was married to actress Patricia Neal.

Scottish soccer legend Kenny Dalglish was a star striker for Celtic and Liverpool before becoming a successful manager.

Chemist John Dalton is credited with pioneering modern atomic theory. He was also the first to study color blindness.

Rodney Dangerfield was a stand-up comedian and actor known for his "I don't get no respect" routine. He starred in the hit movie comedies, Caddyshack and Back to School, during the 1980s.

Jacques-Louis David was a 19th century painter who is considered to be the principal proponent of the Neoclassical style, which moved art briskly away from the previous Rococo period. His most famous works include "The Death of Marat" and "Napoleon Crossing the Alps."

Siobhan Davies is a British dancer and choreographer. She founded her Siobhan Davies Dance Company in 1988.

Ossie Davis was an American actor, writer, social activist and humanitarian. He often performed with wife Ruby Dee in plays, in film and on television.

Humphry Davy was a British chemist best known for his contributions to the discoveries of chlorine and iodine. He is noted for suggesting the anesthetic use of nitrous oxide in human surgery.

British comedian Richard Dawson is best known for his role as Corporal Newkirk in the World War II sitcom Hogan's Heroes and as the host of Family Feud.

French writer Simone de Beauvoir laid the foundation for the modern feminist movement. Also an existentialist philosopher, she had a romance with Sartre.

Philippe de Broca was a French filmmaker, best known for his light-hearted comedies. He was awarded the Legion of Honor for his contributions to French culture.

France's Louis de Funès was a celebrated comedic actor of stage and film known for roles like Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez and La Grande Vadrouille.

Oscar de la Renta is one of the world’s leading fashion designers. Famous for his women's evening wear and suits, his line is distinctly modern yet feminine.

Cosimo de' Medici was the "Elder" and start of the Medici dynasty that ruled Florence (Italy) from the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance, and after.

Deadmau5 is a Grammy Award-nominated and Juno Award-winning electronic DJ/dance artist known for his trademark helmet and popular live shows. He's released albums like 4x4=12 and >album title goes here<.

Michael DeBakey was an American cardiovascular surgeon and surgical pioneer.

Roy DeCarava was an American photographer who created some of the most iconic images we have of the Civil Rights Movement and jazz musicians in motion.

Actress Yvonne De Carlo was Moses' wife in DeMille's The Ten Commandments, but is better known for playing the matriarch on TV's The Munsters.

American dancer and choreographer Agnes DeMille further developed the narrative aspect of dance in her choreography of musical plays and ballets.

Director and producer Ted Demme created Yo! MTV Raps, and worked on the films Beautiful Girls, Life and Blow.

Jack Dempsey -- known as the "Manassa Mauler" -- was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1919-1926.

French film actor Gérard Depardieu was known for his portrayal of sensitive but masculine characters. He has appeared in both French and American films, including 1900, The Last Metro and Green Card.

Actor, director and writer Laura Dern, daughter of actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, has played everything from willowy ingénues to drug-addicted washouts. She's known for starring in Jurassic Park, and for co-producing and starring on the series Enlightened.

Educator John Dewey originated the experimentalism philosophy. A proponent of social change and education reform, he founded The New School for Social Research.

In 2009, singer Lee DeWyze beat out the American Idol judges' clear choice, Crystal Bowersox, thanks to the audience's majority vote.

Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias led the first European expedition round the Cape of Good Hope in 1488.

Leonardo DiCaprio has starred in such films as Titanic, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Inception and Django Unchained.

James Dickey was a Poet Laureate and novelist best known for his 1970 book Deliverance.

Angie Dickinson is an American actress on film and television best known for her roles in Dressed to Kill, Ocean's Eleven and on the hit 1970s television series Police Woman.

Film actress Marlene Dietrich was known for her sultry, sex appeal. She was a major leading lady in the 1930s and 1940s.

Howard Dietz was a songwriter and the creator of the famous MGM lion mascot.

Taye Diggs is an American actor best known for his role as the opportunistic landlord Benny in the Jonathan Larson's groundbreaking musical Rent.

First noticed as a contestant on Groucho Marx's game show in 1955, Phyllis Diller went on to become a successful comedian, actress and author.

Songwriter Kara DioGuardi has worked on popular hits for a laundry list of pop stars including Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson and Ashlee Simpson.

Theodosius Dobzhansky was a 20th century scientist, professor and author who did pioneering work in genetics and evolution.

Writer E.L. Doctorow is the author of novels such as Ragtime, Billy Bathgate and The Book of Daniel.

Denny Doherty was an original member of the 1960s harmonizing rock group the Mamas and the Papas.

Shannen Doherty is best known for her roles as Heather Duke in the film Heathers and on TV as Brenda in Beverly Hills, 90210 and as Prue in Charmed.

Professional soccer player Landon Donovan led the U.S. national team to the quarterfinals in the 2002 World Cup.

Hilda Doolittle (or H.D.) was a poet of the avant-garde Imagist movement and was openly bisexual.

Tommy Dorsey was an American trombonist and band leader who, with his brother Jimmy, was best known as one-half of The Dorsey Brothers during the Big Band and Swing eras.

African American poet Rita Dove is the youngest person and the first African American to be appointed Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress.

Alfred Dreyfus was a French army officer who was wrongly convicted of treason based primarily on anti-semitism. The scandal was known as the Dreyfus Affair.

Didier Drogba has earned worldwide acclaim as a professional soccer player and champion for peace in his native Ivory Coast.

Actress and musician Haylie Duff is Hillary Duff’s older sister. Haylie earned national fame as Summer Wheatley in the 2004 cult classic Napoleon Dynamite.

Renato Dulbecco was an Italian virologist best known winning the Nobel Prize for pioneering the growing of viruses in culture in the 1950s.

U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles made major contributions to U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War.

African-American author Paul Laurence Dunbar is best known for his verse and short stories, many of which are written in black dialect.

Golden Globe winner Lena Dunham is best known for writing, directing, producing and acting in Girls, the original series she created for HBO.

Irene Dunne was an Academy Award-nominated actress and singer known for her roles in Showboat, Anna and the King of Siam and Love Affair.

Once a child star, actress Kirsten Dunst has garnered over 40 film and television credits and continues to command hefty sums for acting appearances.

Kevin Durant is a top-scoring American professional basketball player, who plays for the National Basketball Association's Oklahoma City Thunder franchise.

Actor Robert Duvall has been in some of the most acclaimed films of all time, including To Kill A Mockingbird, Apocalypse Now, Lonesome Dove and The Godfather.

Edward, Earl of Wessex is son to Queen Elizabeth II and husband to Sophie Rhys-Jones. A former theater and television producer, he remains active in charity.

Heinrich Eberbach was a German General der Panzertruppen in the German Army of World War II.

J. Presper Eckert Jr. was the award-winning co-inventor of the first general purpose digital computer.

Aaron Eckhart is a Golden Globe nominated film actor known for fare like Erin Brockovich, The Core and The Dark Knight.

Bob Edwards is best known as the host of the long-running public radio news program Morning Edition, a post he held for close to 25 years.