Famous People Who Won Awards a to z

Mina Stevens was an astronomer who was a pioneer in the classification of stellar spectra.

Danica Patrick is a female race car driver and has set several records for women drivers, including becoming the first woman to lead the Indy 500 and the first woman to win the pole position at the Daytona 500.

James Patterson is an author of popular thrillers. He is best known for the Womens Murder Club series, and for his books starring psychologist Alex Cross.

Les Paul was a musician who designed a solid-body guitar in 1941, which then was a new type of instrument.

Jane Pauley was a correspondent and co-anchor for NBC’s Today. She also started the weekly magazine series Real Life with Jane Pauley, later renamed Dateline.

A tenor known for his larger-than-life showmanship, Luciano Pavarotti helped expand the popularity of opera worldwide.

Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov studied "conditioned reflex" through an experiment that made hungry dogs salivate at the sound of a dinner bell.

Anna Pavlova was a famous Russian prima ballerina and choreographer. The company she founded in 1911 was the first to tour ballet around the world.

Pearl Bailey was a Tony Award-winning singer and actress known for her roles in works like Carmen Jones, House of Flowers, Hello, Dolly! and Porgy and Bess.

I.M. Pei is a Chinese-born American architect, perhaps best known for his controversial glass pyramid in the courtyard at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

A member of three Brazilian World Cup-champion teams, Pelé is considered by many to be the greatest soccer player of all time.

I.L. Peretz was a Jewish author who gained fame after writing folktales, ballads and plays about the ideals of Judaism.

Anthony Perkins is an Oscar-nominated stage and film actor who is best known for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.

French daredevil Philippe Petit is best known for his 1974 high-wire walk between the twin towers in New York City.

U.S. Army General David Petraeus became director of the CIA in 2011. He resigned from the post in 2012, after his extramarital affair with Paula Broadwell was publicized.

Richard Petty is a champion NASCAR driver who was nicknamed "The King" for his record setting Daytona 500 and NASCAR championship wins.

Tom Petty is best known as the front man for the well-known band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He pursued a solo career in 1989, recording hit songs like "Free Fallin'" and "Runnin' Down a Dream."

River Phoenix was an Academy Award nominee and promising young actor who died at the young age of 23 from a drug overdose.

Psychologist Jean Piaget identified stages of mental development, called Schema, and established the fields of cognitive theory and developmental psychology.

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney was an American Revolutionary War veteran, South Carolina legislator and two-time presidential candidate.

Filipino Arnel Pineda is best known as the new lead singer for the rock group Journey.

American poet and critic Robert Pinksy is best known for writing about the significance of every-day experiences.

American author Robert Pirsig is best known for his philosophical novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974).

Oscar Pistorius, the "Blade Runner," is a South African sprint runner who became the first amputee to compete in the Olympics in 2012. In 2013, Pistorius admitted to shooting and killing his girlfriend, South African model Reeva Steenkamp.

Paulina Porizkova is a Czechoslovakian model and actress best known for being the first woman from Eastern Europe to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Ferdinand Porsche founded the Porsche car company in 1931. In the early 1920s, he oversaw the development of the Mercedes compressor car, and later developed the first designs of the Volkswagen car with his son, Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche.

Thanks to the model 356, created in 1948 by Ferdinand Anton Ernst "Ferry" Porsche, the Porsche car company became known worldwide as a producer of successful sports and racing cars. Several years earlier, in 1934, Porsche worked with father Ferdinand Porsche on the first designs of the Volkswagen car.

English golfer Ian Poulter is a successful member of both the PGA and European tours.

Steve Prefontaine is best known as the runner who once held the U.S. record in every long-distance event. He died in a car crash in 1974 at age 24.

American actor Vincent Price starred as the villain in the 1953 film House of Wax, which revitalized the horror genre, and was one of the first films shot in 3D.

Wolfgang Puck is a chef who expanded his purview into running restaurants, writing cookbooks and hosting cooking shows.

Professional athlete. Considered one of the top players in the sport, Albert Pujols is a Major League Baseball first baseman for Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Thomas Pynchon is an award-winning novelist known for works like The Crying of Lot 49 and Gravity's Rainbow.

Jacques Pépin is a chef and the host of cooking shows on public television. He is also an author, columnist and former guest judge on the Bravo show Top Chef.

Dennis Quaid is an actor known for a wide variety of films, from Breaking Away to Dreamscape to Postcards from the Edge.

Experimental jazz pianist, songwriter, composer and bandleader Sun Ra formed the band Arkestra in the 1950s and played in it until his death in 1993.

Sergey Rachmaninov was a Russian musician known for his magnificent piano playing as well as his distinguished compositions and symphonies.

World-ranked tennis pro Agnieszka Radwanska became the first Polish player in history to receive a WTA tour singles title—at the Nordea Nordic Light Open in Sweden.

Actress Charlotte Rae is best known for her role as Mrs. Garrett on the TV series Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life.

Sir Walter Raleigh was an English adventurer and writer who established a colony near Roanoke Island, now known as Virginia. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London and eventually put to death for treason.

A. Philip Randolph was a labor leader and social activist who fought for the rights of African-American laborers, including better wages and working conditions.

American artist Robert Rauschenberg is best known for paving the way for pop art of the 1960's with fellow artist Jasper Johns.

Jerry John Rawlings ruled Ghana twice, first in 1979 after a military coup, and then again from 1981 until 2001, as the result of free elections.

Sam Rayburn was an American politician best known for his roles as Speaker of the House, Majority Leader to Congress and Chairman of the National Democratic Convention.

Irish actor Stephen Rea is well-known for his roles in V for Vendetta, Interview with the Vampire and The Crying Game.

Nancy Reagan is a former first lady of the United States, the widow of Ronald Reagan, who founded the "Just Say No" drug awareness campaign.

Robert Redford is a Hollywood legend, starring in several blockbuster films in his day, and producing and directing many others. He also helped start the Sundance Film Festival in the late 1970s.

Called “the greatest actress of our time” by Tennessee Williams, Vanessa Redgrave is an acclaimed actress of stage and screen.

One of the greatest women's beach volleyball players of all-time, Gabrielle Reece is also a successful model, actress, writer and fitness expert.

Actor Christopher Reeve played Superman in the movie and its sequels. After a spinal cord injury, he started a foundation to help other paraplegics.

Actor Keanu Reeves starred in the movies Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, Speed and The Matrix and its sequels.

Actor Jeremy Renner played a recurring character on the television series Angel, and starred in the movies Dahmer, North Country and The Hurt Locker.

Syngman Rhee became South Korea’s first president in 1948. He was re-elected twice after the Korean War, but was overthrown by a 1960 student uprising.

Countess of Wessex Sophie Rhys-Jones is married to Edward, Earl of Wessex, and is the mother of Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn.

Hall of Fame football wide receiver Jerry Rice played for the San Francisco 49ers and is widely considered the greatest ever to play his position.

Adrienne Rich is a U.S. poet, scholar and critic whose work exhibits her commitment to the women's movement and a lesbian/feminist aesthetic influence.

In 1983, astronaut and astrophysicist Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Ride died on July 23, 2012 at the age of 61, following a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Cathy Rigby is best known as a medal-winning American gymnast and Tony nominated actress for her theatrical production in Peter Pan.

Basketball coach Patrick James Riley participated in both basketball and football, playing professionally with the San Diego Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers.

Faith Ringgold is an American artist and author who became famous for innovative, quilted narrations like Tar Beach that communicate her political beliefs.

Paraguayan author Augusto Roa Bastos received the Premio Cervantes prize in 1989 for books like I, the Supreme (1947).

Tim Robbins is an Academy Award-winning actor as well as an accomplished film director, writer and activist. He had a 23-year relationship with actress Susan Sarandon.

Doris Roberts played the role of meddling mother Marie Barone on the hit television comedy Everybody Loves Raymond.

Andy Roddick is a retired champion tennis player who, in 2003, held both the grand slam title and the world's No. 1 ranking.

American actor and comedian Ray Romano is best known for his CBS hit Everybody Loves Raymond in which Raymond plays a father and husband.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a professional soccer player who has set records while playing for both Manchester United and Real Madrid.

Saoirse Ronan is an Irish-American film actress best known for her film roles in Atonement, The Lovely Bones and Hanna.

Wayne Rooney is one of the world's best-known soccer players and a top scorer for the Manchester United club.