Famous People Born in 1939 a to z

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.

Sidney Altman is a Nobel Prize-winning Canadian-American molecular biologist.

British photographer Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield achieved success in personal royal portraits, and created the well-known Unipart calendar.

Teen idol Frankie Avalon is known for singing the hit "Venus" and for starring in the popular Beach Party film series with Annette Funicello.

Considered one of the greatest drummers of all time, Ginger Baker played with the bands Cream and Blind Faith. He is known for using two bass drums in his kit.

James Booker was an African-American musician known for his unique fusion of jazz and rhythm-and-blues, and for songs like "The Sunny Side of the Street," "A Taste of Honey" and "Papa Was a Rascal."

Donnie Brasco was the alias of Joseph Pistone, an undercover FBI agent that infiltrated the Bonanno crime family.

Jerome Brudos was a serial murderer and necrophile who murdered four women in Oregon during the 1960s. He was known as the "The Lust Killer" and "The Shoe Fetish Slayer."

Scientist George Carruthers created inventions, such as the ultraviolet camera, or spectograph, which was used by NASA in the 1972 Apollo 16 flight, revealing the mysteries of space and the Earth's atmosphere.

Dixie Carter was an actress who most TV viewers remember from the hit series Designing Women.

Judy Chicago is an American artist, educator and writer, and a leading figure in feminist art. She received critical acclaim in the 1970s for her art project "The Dinner Party."

Joe Clark became Canada's youngest prime minister in 1979, serving until 1980. He later served as special representative to the secretary-general of the United Nations for Cyprus.

Comedian John Cleese is most famous for his work with the comedy group Monty Python, and for the popular British television series Fawlty Towers.

A folk-pop singer, Judy Collins rose to fame in the 1960s and 1970s with such hits as "Both Sides Now" and "Send In the Clowns."

Claudette Colvin was a civil rights activist in Alabama during the 1950s. She refused to give up her seat on a bus months before Rosa Parks' more famous protest.

Director, producer and screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola is best known for creating The Godfather film series starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino.

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

Ernie Davis became the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy before his life was tragically cut short by leukemia at the age of 23.

Samantha Eggar is a British film and television actress. She recently performed as Hera in the Disney film Hercules.

Retired magician Siegfried Fischbacher was one-half of the performing duo Siegfried and Roy.

Peter Fonda is an actor, but most well-known as a counterculture icon of the 1960s. He starred in the film Ulee's Gold, which earned him an Oscar nomination.

David Frost is an English media personality best known for his 1977 interviews with President Richard Nixon, which were adapted for a play and the critically acclaimed film Frost/Nixon. Frost hosted several television programs in the United States and Britain.

James Galway is an internationally renowned flutist who includes both classical and contemporary works in his repertoire.

Marvin Gaye was a soul singer-songwriter with Motown in the 1960s and 1970s. He produced his own records and often addressed controversial themes.

Actress Valerie Harper won three consecutive Emmy Awards for playing Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Tom Hayden is a political activist and writer who served in the California State Assembly and State Senate. He is also the former husband of actress Jane Fonda.

Seamus Henry is a renowned Irish poet and professor who won the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Harvey Keitel is best known for his work with director Martin Scorsese in the films Mean Streets and Taxi Driver.

Ralph Lauren is an American clothing designer best known for his sportswear line, Polo Ralph Lauren, which is the centerpiece of his fashion empire.

Michael Learned is an Emmy Award-winning American actress best known for her role on the long-running television drama The Waltons.

Wen Ho Lee is a nuclear engineer who was working at Los Alamos National Laboratory when he was accused of being a Chinese spy.

Actor Lee Majors achieved stardom through a variety of popular TV series, including The Big Valley, The Fall Guy and The Six Million Dollar Man.

Ray Manzarek was a co-founder of the Doors, a 1960s rock band. His keyboard skills helped turn Doors songs like "Light My Fire" into huge hits.

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.

Sal Mineo was an American was best known for playing a key role in the classic teen film Rebel Without a Cause alongside James Dean.

Lee Harvey Oswald was a former U.S. Marine who was accused of killing President John F. Kennedy. While in police custody, Oswald was murdered by Jack Ruby.

Harry Reid is a Democratic U.S. senator from Nevada. He was elected Senate majority leader in 2008. 

Former Apple Computers Inc. CEO John Sculley famously clashed with Steve Jobs, leading to Jobs's departure from the company he helped found.

Neil Sedaka is an American singer-songwriter known for writing hits like "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "Laughter in the Rain."

Singer-songwriter Grace Slick was one of the lead singers for the band Jefferson Airplane. She wrote the songs "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love".

Hailed as Britain's "best ever pop singer" by Rolling Stone, the English-born Dusty Springfield charted several 1960s hits, including "Son of a Preacher Man."

Lily Tomlin is an actress and comedian known for roles on TV shows such as Laugh-In and films such as Nashville.

Tina Turner is an American singer and actress who topped the pop music charts in the 1980s.

Actor Paul Winfield was best known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper in the film Sounder, which earned him an Academy Award nomination.