Famous People Who Won Awards a to z

Anjelica Huston is an Academy Award-winning actress, a film director and the daughter of John Huston.

Exiled Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll's House and Hedda Gabler, the latter of which featured one of theater's most notorious characters.

Robert Iler is an American actor best known for his role as A.J. Sporano on the popular HBO show The Sopranos.

William Inge was a playwright best known for his plays Come Back, Little Sheba; Picnic, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize; and Bus Stop.

Naturalist Terri Irwin is well-known as the widow of wildlife expert Steve Irwin. The couple co-hosted the Animal Planet show The Crocodile Hunter.

J.B.S. Haldane was a British geneticist who helped found the theories of population genetics.

Writer Shirley Jackson is best known for her story “The Lottery," which suggests a sinister underside to small-town America, and The Haunting of Hill House.

Author and activist Jane Jacobs wrote about preserving urban neighborhoods, in books like The Death and Life of Great American Cities and Dark Age Ahead.

LeBron James, one of the NBA's leading players, is the youngest player to win the Rookie of the Year Award, among several other distinctions. He led the Miami Heat to an NBA champion victory in 2012.

P.D. James is an English mystery writer best known for her series of novels featuring fictional detective Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard.

Actress Susan Saint James is best known for her roles on hit TV shows The Name of the Game (1968) and McMillan & Wife (1971). She was nominated twice for an Emmy award for her role as a divorced mom on the sitcom Kate & Allie (1984).

Porn star Jenna Jameson escaped a bad childhood by making dozens of X-rated movies. She parlayed that success into an adult media empire.

Judith Jamison, choreographer and dancer, has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts.

Jewel is a multi-platinum singer-songwriter, poet and actress. Her debut album Pieces of You yielded the hit single "Who Will Save Your Soul."

Scarlett Johansson is an actress best known for her work in films like Lost in Translation, The Nanny Diaries, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Avengers and Hitchcock.

Fashion designer Betsey Johnson developed her edgy, offbeat style during the new wave/punk era of the late 1970s.

Don Johnson is an actor who rose quickly to fame as undercover police office Sonny Crockett on the hit TV series Miami Vice.

Howard Johnson was a 20th century entrepreneur who opened up a pioneering chain of restaurants and motels.

Jack Johnson, nicknamed "the Galveston Giant," was the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion.

The wife of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson served as first lady from 1963 to 1969.

Folk-rock musician Diana Jones released My Remembrance of You in 2006, which led to a Folk Alliance Award nomination (for best emerging artist), and later released the albums Better Times Will Come (2009) and High Atmosphere (2011).

Country singer and songwriter George Jones was born into poverty, but became a successful musician later in life. His first hit was the 1955 song "Why Baby Why."

January Jones is a TV and film actress known for her roles in Mad Men, X-Men: First Class and Unknown.

Roy Jones Jr. is a record-holding boxing champion known for his matches on HBO who has also done TV commentary work.

Singer Janis Joplin rose to fame in the late 1960s and was known for her powerful, blues-inspired vocals. She died of an accidental drug overdose in 1970.

Barbara Jordan was a U.S. congressional representative from Texas and was the first African American congresswoman to come from the Deep South.

Raúl Juliá was a Puerto Rican actor best known for his work in film, including Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) and The Addams Family (1991).

African-American chemist Percy Julian was a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs such as cortisone, steroids and birth control pills.

Actress Jane Kaczmarek is best known for playing the strict, yet unpredictable, Lois Wilkerson on the popular television sitcom Malcolm in the Middle.

Paul Kagame is a Rwandan military leader and politician who is best known for defeating Hutu extremist forces to end the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Architect Albert Kahn was known for his designs of American automobile factories. He was considered the world's foremost industrial architect at the time.

Madeleine Kahn was an actress of stage and screen known for her roles in Mel Brooks' comedies such as Blazing Saddles and High Anxiety.

Professional soccer player Kaká helped São Paulo take home the World Cup title in 2002. He later lead Milan to Champions League and Club World Cup titles.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is an Indian scientist and politician who served his country as president from 2002 to 2007.

American fashion designer Donna Karan is one of the most influential designers in the world today.

Boris Karloff was an English-born actor whose name became synonymous with horror movies.

Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov was a Russian chess grandmaster and world champion from 1975-1985.

Diane Keaton is an Oscar-winning actress who earned early acclaim for her work in several Woody Allen films and her dramatic work in The Godfather series.

Catherine Keener is an American actress best known for her role Maxine in the 1999 film Being John Malkovich.

Herb Kelleher is the founder and former CEO of Southwest Airlines, one of the first airlines to offer low-cost fares by eliminating unnecessary services.

Gene Kelly was a dancer whose athletic style transformed the movie musical and did much to change the American public's conception of male dancers.

R. Kelly is a popular American R&B singer-songwriter and record producer best known for his gospel-tinged vocals and highly sexualized lyrics.

Tony-nominated actress Anna Kendrick played Jessica, Bella Swan's friend, in the Twilight movies, based on Stephanie Meyer's teenage vampire novels.

Stan Kenton was an American pianist, composer and bandleader associated with the swing movement in jazz.

Imran Khan is a champion cricketer and a Pakistani politician.

Anselm Kiefer is an internationally acclaimed German painter and sculptor whose work looks at his country’s political past.

Jean-Claude Killy is a French former champion alpine skier who won three gold medals at the 1968 Winter Olympics.

Coretta Scott King was an American civil rights activist and the wife of 1960s civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Sam Kinison was an American comedian best known for his crass humor and trademark scream. The Grammy-nominated comedian received his first break from fellow comedian Rodney Dangerfield.

Rudyard Kipling was an English author, famous for his works: Just So Stories, The Jungle Book and "Gunga Din." He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907.

Henry Kissinger is an American political scientist and diplomat who won the Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to broker a peaceful settlement of the Vietnam War.

Fashion designer Calvin Klein is known for his line of menswear and womenswear. He also designs home collections, fragrances and cosmetics.

Former supermodel Heidi Klum has produced and served as host and judge of Project Runway, a competitive reality television series about fashion designers.

Keira Knightley is a British actress who had her first major role in Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace and became well-known for her role in Bend It Like Beckham.

Helmut Kohl served as chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1988, during which time he oversaw the reunification of East and West Germany.

Jerzy Kosinksi was a Polish-American novelist. He wrote Being There in 1971, which was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film in 1979.

Anna Kournikova is a Russian professional tennis player, well known for her beauty. At her peak, she was one of the best known players worldwide.

Stanley Kubrick was an American filmmaker best known for directing Dr. Strangelove, Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket.

Stanley Kunitz was an American poet who served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (1974; 2000). He won the Pulitzer Prize for his work Selected Poems 1928-1958 (1958).

Charles Kuralt was a multiple Emmy and Peabody Award-winning broadcast journalist who produced the well-loved "On The Road" segments for the CBS Evening News.

Ashton Kutcher's first acting gig, playing Kelso on That '70s Show, led him to roles in films like Guess Who, A Lot Like Love, The Guardian, No Strings Attached and Jobs. The actor, model and producer married Demi Moore in 2005.

Czech tennis player Petra Kvitová won the 2011 Wimbledon Championship in women's singles event, and is currently ranked No. 4 in the world by the Women's Tennis Association.

Actor and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah was introduced to U.K. households in 1999 as paramedic Finlay Newton on the BBC hospital drama Casualty.

Steve Lacy was a jazz soprano saxophonist known for his work with Thelonius Monk and other jazz greats.

The "godfather of fitness," Jack LaLanne, is known for his 1950s TV fitness program and for his endorsement of a power juicer in 2002.

Extraordinarily beautiful, Hedy Lamarr was a Austrian-American actress during MGM's "Golden Age."