Director, producer and playwright George Abbott lived to be 107 and participated in such Broadway productions as Boy Meets Girl, The Fall Guy and Our Town.
1887-1995
Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Edward Albee is best known for penning Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Zoo Story.
1928-
Actress Jane Alexander won Emmy Awards for her roles in Playing for Time and Warm Springs. In 1992, she became chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts.
1939-
1950-
Actress Joan Allen is a founding member of Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company. She has also made several critically acclaimed film appearances.
1956-
Bea Arthur was an Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress who starred in the television shows Maude and The Golden Girls.
1922-2009
Lauren Bacall is an Academy Award-nominated actress known for roles in films like The Big Sleep, How to Marry a Millionaire, The Fan and The Mirror Has Two Faces.
1924-
Anne Bancroft was an Oscar Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress famous for her roles in The Miracle Worker and The Graduate. She was married to comedian and film director Mel Brooks.
1931-2005
Award-winning actress Kathy Bates starred as a deranged fan opposite James Caan in Misery, and as a comically emancipated housewife in Fried Green Tomatoes.
1948-
Sir Cecil Beaton was an English fashion photographer who is also known for his work as a diarist, interior designer, and Oscar-winning stage and costume designer.
1904-1980
Harry Belafonte has achieved lasting fame for such songs as "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)," and for his humanitarian work.
1927-
1934-
Ingrid Bergman was one of the most popular motion-picture actresses in the United States from the 1940s until her death in 1982. She was also an international star across Europe.
1915-1982
Irving Berlin was one of the most prolific and popular songwriters of the 20th century, counting among his many hits "White Christmas" and "Cheek to Cheek."
1888-1989
Tony, Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Shirley Booth was in both the play and film versions of Come Back, Little Sheba, and the television show Hazel.
1898-1992
Tom Bosley was an award-winning American actor best known for playing Howard Cunningham in the 1970s hit TV sitcom Happy Days.
1927-2010
Charles Boyer was an Oscar-nominated French actor of stage, film and television with a career that spanned almost six decades.
1899-1978
Matthew Broderick is an American actor who became a star with his role in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He's also known for Broadway role in The Producers.
1962-
Mel Brooks is an iconic filmmaker known for comedies like The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, among other works.
1926-
Rhythm and blues singer Ruth Brown signed with Atlantic Records at a young age and recorded a number of hit songs throughout the 1950s.
1928-2006
1932-
Richard Burton was a highly regarded Welsh actor of stage and screen. He earned seven Oscar nominations and was married twice to actress Elizabeth Taylor.
1925-1984
Carol Channing starred as Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes on Broadway in 1949. She received a Tony lifetime achievement award in 1995.
1921-
Stockard Channing is an award-winning American actress best known for her roles in Grease (1978), Six Degrees of Separation (1993) and The West Wing (2002).
1944-
Actress Kristin Chenoweth is best known for her Broadway roles in Wicked and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, as well as on TV show The West Wing.
1968-
1929-2004
Hume Cronyn was a Canadian actor. He enjoyed a long career and often appeared alongside his second wife, Jessica Tandy.
1911-2003
Billy Crystal came to fame on the sitcom Soap. After a year on Saturday Night Live, he began a successful film career.
1948-
Stephen Daldry is a three-time Oscar nominated director known for the films Billy Elliot, The Hours and The Reader.
1960-
1943-
David Suchet is a British actor who became known to international audiences as Agatha Christie's detective Hercule Poirot.
1946-
Viola Davis has earned raves for such films as Doubt and The Help, and for such Broadway plays as King Hedley II and Fences.
1965-
Actor Charles Durning appeared in such films as The Sting, Tootsie and Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He also had roles on such shows as Rescue Me, Everybody Loves Raymond and Evening Shade.
1923-2012
Actress Kathryn Erbe starred on the HBO prison drama Oz, and was also cast on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, a spin-off of the popular crime drama Law & Order.
1966-
1912-1992
Ralph Fiennes is a British film actor best known for his performances in Schindler's List, The English Patient and The Constant Gardener.
1962-
Actor Laurence Fishburne has appeared in Boyz N The Hood, What's Love Got to Do With It? (for which he received an Academy Award nomination) and The Matrix.
1961-
1927-1987
1929-
Actress and singer Judy Garland was the star of many classic musical films, and was known for her tremendous talent and troubled life.
1922-1969
John Gielgud was a prolific Shakespearean actor known for his varied film and TV work as well, including Arthur and Prospero’s Books.
1904-2000
American dancer and choreographer Savion Glover is best known for his unique style of tapping dancing, called "hitting."
1973-
Edward Gorey was an American illustrator best known for his cartoons of Edwardian children coming to macabre ends. He work can be seen in the animated credits of PBS' Masterpiece Mystery.
1925-2000
1933-2007
Ellie Greenwich is best known as the writer of hit songs from the 1960's through the 1980's.
1940-2009
Alec Guinness is an Oscar-winning British actor known for his roles in films like Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago and Star Wars.
1914-2000
1930-
Marvin Hamlisch composed more than 40 motion picture scores throughout his career, including 1973's "The Way We Were" and 1975's "A Chorus Line." He is also known for his musical adaptation for 1973's The Sting, and work on such films as Sophie's Choice and Ordinary People.
1944-2012
1925-
Rex Harrison was a Tony- and an Oscar-winning English actor known for his film and stage performances. His most famous role is that of Henry Higgins in the film musical My Fair Lady.
1908-1990
1904-1961
Helen Hayes was an American actress best known for being one of two women to have received all four entertainment awards: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.
1900-1993
Actress Audrey Hepburn, star of Breakfast at Tiffany's, remains one of Hollywood's greatest style icons and one of the world's most successful actresses.
1929-1993
On the big screen, actor Ciaran Hinds is best known for his work in period dramas. He made his debut as one of the medieval knights in 1981’s Excalibur.
1953-
Gregory Hines began dancing as a child and went on to launch a successful Broadway, television and film career. His notable movies include The Cotton Club and White Nights.
1946-2003
Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has gained recognition for his work in a series of successful films including Capote and Doubt.
1967-
A versatile stage, television and film actor, Hal Holbrook is an Emmy and Tony winner, and a longtime Mark Twain impersonator.
1925-
Linda Hunt is a diminutive actress best known for her role as Billy Kwan in The Year of Living Dangerously.
1945-
William Hurt is an Academy Award-winning actor known for his intense dramas and challenging roles in films such as Broadcast News and A History of Violence.
1950-
Australian actor and producer Hugh Jackman is best known for playing Wolverine in the X-Men series. He's also known for parts in the films The Prestige, Australia and Les Miserables.
1968-
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.
1984-
Elton John is a British singer, pianist and composer who was one of the most popular musicians of the 20th century. Along with selling more than 250 million records he has found success on Broadway, composing the music score for the Tony award winning hit Billy Elliot (2008).
1947-
James Earl Jones is the American actor who voiced Darth Vader in the Star Wars film franchise. He's also known for roles in such films as The Hunt for Red October and Field of Dreams, and such shows as Frasier and Everwood.
1931-
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).
1940-1994
Madeleine Kahn was an actress of stage and screen known for her roles in Mel Brooks' comedies such as Blazing Saddles and High Anxiety.
1942-1999
Actor and comedian Danny Kaye was enormously popular across stage, radio, TV and movie venues for his singing, dancing, impersonations and improvisations.
1913-1987
1909-2003
1919-2007
Jack Klugman is an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in the Broadway play The Odd Couple and the TV series of the same name.
1922-2012
Film, TV and theater actress Jane Krakowski is known for having played Elaine on Ally McBeal and Jenna on 30 Rock. She also starred in the London production of Guys and Dolls.
1968-
Tony Award–winning actor Nathan Lane starred in Broadway's The Producers and in the film The Birdcage.
1956-
Actor Frank Langella portrayed Richard Nixon in the Broadway and film version of Frost/Nixon. He won a Tony Award and an Oscar nomination.
1938-
Actress Angela Lansbury has entertained audiences in a variety of ways, including her 12-year stint as Jessica Fletcher on the 1984 series Murder, She Wrote.
1925-
Cyndi Lauper is an American singer-songwriter who rose to fame in the 1980s with a string of pop hits such as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun."
1953-
directed British actor Jude Law received an Academy Award nomination for his performance in Cold Mountain. He also played "Gigolo Joe" in Steven Spielberg's film A.I.
1972-
Vivien Leigh was a British actress who achieved film immortality by playing two of American literature's most celebrated Southern belles, Scarlett O'Hara and Blanche DuBois.
1913-1967
1922-1976
Judith Light is an American actress who played Angela Bower on Who's the Boss? and won Tony Awards for her roles in Other Desert Cities and The Assembled Parties.
1949-
Equally versed in comedy and drama, John Lithgow has won raves for his work in World According to Garp, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and Dexter.
1945-
Barry Manilow made the whole world sing with his 1970s hits "I Write the Songs," "Mandy" and "Copacabana (At the Copa)."
1943-
1897-1975
Mary Martin was a Tony Award-winning actress and singer famous for her roles in stage productions of Peter Pan, South Pacific and The Sound of Music.
1913-1990
The work of Carson McCullers, author of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and The Member of the Wedding, is must-read southern gothic fiction.
1917-1967
Actor Roddy McDowall had a recurring role on the Batman television series, and played Cornelius in the film and TV versions of Planet of the Apes.
1928-1998
Ian McKellen is a revered, award-winning British actor of stage and screen known for many roles, including The Lord of the Rings and X-Men series.
1939-
English stage and film director Sam Mendes won an Oscar for American Beauty, and went on to direct films like Jarhead, Revolutionary Road and Skyfall.
1965-
Ethel Merman is best known as a gutsy, powerful musical comedy performer and remembered for her brassy style and powerful mezzo-soprano voice.
1908-1984
Bette Midler sang "Wind Beneath My Wings" for the film Beaches and earned Oscar nods for her roles in The Rose and For the Boys.
1945-
Liza Minnelli, the daughter of Judy Garland, is a star in her own right. Her finest film role was playing Sally Bowles in the 1972 musical Cabaret.
1946-
British actor and comedian Dudley Moore starred in funny films such as Bedazzled (1967), 10 (1979), and Arthur (1981).
1935-2002
Rita Moreno is a Puetro Rican actress, of West Side Story (1961) fame, who throughout her career has broken new ground for Latinos in entertainment.
1931-
1941-
Stage, television and screen actor Zero Mostel won a Tony Award playing Tevye in Jerome Robbins' Fiddler on the Roof, and starred in Mel Brooks' film The Producers.
1915-1977
American actor Paul Muni is best known for his film and stage portrayals of noted historical figures. He was nominated five times for the Academy Awards.
1895-1967
Actress Bebe Neuwirth won Tonys for her roles in Sweet Charity and Chicago, and Emmys for her role on the sitcom Cheers.
1958-
Film, stage and TV actress Julie Newmar played Catwoman in the 1960’s TV series Batman. She was also in the musical film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
1933-
Mike Nichols in an American theater and film director, best known for his 1967 classic, The Graduate. He's won an Academy Award, as well as multiple Tony and Emmy Awards.
1931-
Cynthia Nixon is an Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress best known for her role as Miranda Hobbes on the television and film series Sex and the City.
1966-
Jerry Orbach was a Tony Award-winning American actor best known for his role as Detective Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order.
1935-2004
1964-