Famous February Birthdays a to z

Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt starred in the TV comedy 3rd Rock From the Sun, and several acclaimed films, including (500) Days of Summer, Inception and The Dark Knight Rises.

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.

Comedian and actor Gilbert Gottfried is known for his trademark squinting and screeching. He's appeared in several films and television programs.

Mobster John "Junior" Gotti allegedly served as a capo in the Gambino family and was the acting boss when his father, John Gotti, now deceased, was in prison.

Actor, director, writer and producer Kelsey Grammer is perhaps best known for his role as Dr. Frasier Crane in the sitcom Cheers and its spin-off Frasier.

For close to a decade, actress Karen Grassle was known to TV audiences as pioneer mother, Caroline Ingalls, on the hit show, Little House on the Prairie.

Journalist Horace Greeley launched the New Yorker and the New York Tribune. He also ran for president under the Liberal Republican Party, which he founded.

Actor Seth Green gained notoriety as Scott Evil in Austin Powers, and also as Oz on the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He also played Jimmy Bender on Greg the Bunny.

American actress Ashley Greene is best known for playing Alice Cullen in the Twilight film series.

Quarterback Robert Griffin III won the 2011 Heisman Trophy before emerging as a dynamic playmaker for the NFL's Washington Redskins.

Wilhelm Grimm was a 19th century German author who, along with brother Jacob, published Grimms' Fairy Tales, a collection famous for stories like Cinderella and Rapunzel.

Matt Groening is a cartoonist and creator of The Simpsons, the longest-running entertainment series in prime time television.

Christopher Guest has written, directed and starred in a number of classic comedies, including This is Spinal Tap (1984) and Waiting for Guffman (1996).

Solomon R. Guggenheim was an American business magnate and art lover who provided the initial collection and name for the Guggenheim Museum.

Helen Gurley Brown served as Cosmopolitan's editor-in-chief for more than 30 years.

Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian and was the first black late-night talk show host, on his groundbreaking The Arsenio Hall Show.

American psychologist G. Stanley Hall was a trailblazer in his field. He established the concept of child psychology and founded Clark University.

Michael C. Hall is an award-winning stage and television actor known for his starring roles on the series Six Feet Under and Dexter.

Alice Hamilton was a physician and authority on lead poisoning and industrial disease. The NIOSH present an award in her name.

With her late-night talk show, Chelsea Lately, Chelsea Handler became one of the most-watched women in comedy.

George Harrison was lead guitarist of The Beatles as well as a singer-songwriter on many of their most memorable tracks.

William Henry Harrison was the ninth president of the United States (1841) and the first to die in office.

The granddaughter of 19th century media mogul William Randolph Hearst, Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974. She spent 19 months with her captors—joining them in criminal acts soon after her kidnapping—before she was captured by the FBI.

Actor Sherman Hemsley played the popular television character George Jefferson in All in the Family and The Jeffersons in the 1970s and 1980s.

Jennifer Love Hewitt is an American actress and singer-songwriter best known for her role on the TV show Party of Five and her part in I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Steven Hill is a Jewish-American actor known for his roles in Mission Impossible and on Law & Order.

Paris Hilton is best known as the Heiress and Reality star that courts regular media attention for her socialite lifestyle and short-lived romances.

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.

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.

Jimmy Hoffa was became a labor organizer in the 1930s, rising in the Teamsters Union during the next two decades until he reached the office of president.

A versatile stage, television and film actor, Hal Holbrook is an Emmy and Tony winner, and a longtime Mark Twain impersonator.

An influential teacher in the 19th century, theologian Mark Hopkins stressed moral values over intellectual achievement and self-education over dogmatic education.

Film director and screenwriter John Hughes directed a string of hit teen films, including Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink.

Langston Hughes was an American poet, novelist, and playwright whose African-American themes made him a primary contributor to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.

Poet, playwright and novelist Victor Hugo was the heart of French Romanticism, with works such as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault is best known as one of two African-American students first admitted to the University of Georgia and is an award-winning journalist.

A popular film actress of the 1940s and 1950s, Betty Hutton starred in such films as Annie Get Your Gun and Greatest Show on Earth.

Steve Irwin was a famous Australian wildlife enthusiast who was at the helm of the popular Crocodile Hunter series.

Anna Ivanovna was empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740.

Prince Michael "Blanket" Jackson II is the third child of pop legend Michael Jackson.

Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., nicknamed "Prince," is the first child of the late pop star Michael Jackson.

Daniel James, an alumni of the famous Tuskegee Institute, was the first African-American four-star general in the U.S. Air Force.

James I was a Spanish king best known for fighting the Moors during his reign from 1213-'76. He is also known as James I the Conqueror and James I of Aragon.

Steve Jobs co-founded Apple Computers with Steve Wozniak. Under Job's guidance, the company pioneered a series of revolutionary technologies, including the iPhone and iPad.

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

African American musician Rick James was a popular performer in the late 1970s and is best known for hits such as "Super Freak", "Mary Jane" and "You and I".

James Johnson was an influential African-American jazz pianist and a key figure in musical transition from ragtime to jazz. He's known for his hit "Carolina Shout."

Brian Jones was a guitarist for rock-and-roll band the Rolling Stones.

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

Michael Jordan is a former American basketball player who led the Bulls to six national championships and earned the NBA Most Valuable Player Award five times.

James Joyce was an Irish, modernist writer who wrote in a ground-breaking style that was known both for its complexity and explicit content.

Democrat Tim Kaine served as governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010, and is currently a member of the U.S. Senate.

Andrew Kehoe was a mass murderer who went on a 1927 killing spree that included dynamiting the Bath, Michigan Consolidated School, killing 37 children.

Known as the “Lion of the Senate,” Democrat Ted Kennedy was a staunch liberal who was elected to Congress 9 times, spearheading many legislative reforms.

A successful lawyer, Victoria Kennedy became a well-known figure in Washington, D.C., when she married Senator Ted Kennedy in 1992.

Kim Jong Il's dominating personality and complete concentration of power has come to define the country North Korea.

American singer and songwriter Carole King has written or co-written over 400 songs that have been recorded by more than 1,000 artists.

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.

Charles Lamb was an English poet and essayist who wrote Tales from Shakespeare and "Essays of Elia."

Tom Lantos was a 14-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of California, as well as the first and only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress.

Taylor Lautner is an American actor who portrayed Jacob Black in the Twilight movie series, based on the books by Stephenie Meyer.

Mary Leakey was a paleoanthropologist who, along with husband Louis, made several prominent scientific discoveries. Skull fossils found by the Leakeys advanced our understanding of human evolution.

British religious leader Ann Lee, also known as "Mother Ann," had a vision of the second coming of Christ, which led her to found an American society of Shakers.

Brandon Lee was an action film star and the son of actor Bruce Lee. His untimely death was caused by a prop gun accident and the set of the film The Crow.

Nicholas Leeson is best known for trading the Barings out of existence by hiding losses for years.

Canadian actress Rachelle Lefevre is known for her film and television roles, most notably appearing in What About Brian, Off the Map and the Twilighti saga.

Jennifer Jason Leigh is a film, TV and stage actress who’s starred in an array of projects, including Single White Female, Short Cuts and Dolores Claiborne.

The winner of two Oscars, Jack Lemmon was one of Hollywood’s finest actors, known for his roles in films like Some Like it Hot and The Odd Couple.

Damian Lewis is a British actor best known for his role in Steven Spielberg’s miniseries Band of Brothers, and starring roles on the series Life and Homeland.

Sinclair Lewis was a journalist and Nobel Prize winning novelist known for 20th century works like Main Street, Elmer Gantry and Babbitt.

Actress Judith Light has successfully tackled daytime dramas, prime time sitcoms and the New York stage. She played Angela Bower on the sitcom Who’s the Boss? and a witty alcoholic in the Broadway production Other Desert Cities.

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. He preserved the Union during the U.S. Civil War and brought about the emancipation of slaves.

Aviator Charles Lindbergh became famous for making the first solo transatlantic airplane flight in 1927.

Laura Linney is an American actress known for performances in such films as Lorenzo's Oil and Hyde Park on Hudson, and for her starring role on the television series The Big C.

Brian Littrell is known for making two types of music: pop hits with the Backstreet Boys and inspirational tunes as a Christian music artist.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a famed 19th century scholar, novelist and poet known for works like Voices of the Night, Evangeline and The Song of Hiawatha.

Audre Lorde wrote the poetry collections From a Land Where Other People Live (1973) and The Black Unicorn (1978), as well as memoirs like A Burst of Light (1988).

Louis XV was king of France from 1715 to 1774. He is best known for contributing to the decline of royal authority that led to the French Revolution in 1789.