Ansel Adams was an American photographer best known for his iconic images of the American West, including Yosemite National Park.
1902-1984
One of America's best-loved comediennes, Gracie Allen developed the Burns and Allen weekly radio program with husband George Burns.
1905-1964
1911-1988
Dorothy Arzner was a pioneer in the film industry, becoming one of the first women directors of feature films and the first woman to join the Directors Guild of America.
1897-1979
1934-1993
Mel Blanc was a voice actor and entertainer who provided voices for Bugs Bunny and over 400 other cartoon characters.
1908-1989
1963-
1920-2006
Margaret Cho is a Korean-American comic best known for her candid comedy, TV roles and advocacy.
1968-
1942-
Isadora Duncan was a trailblazing dancer and instructor whose emphasis on freer forms of movement was a precursor to modern dance techniques.
1877-1927
Clint Eastwood has made his name as a popular TV and film actor. He went on to become a famed director, working on several Academy Award-winning films.
1930-
Dianne Feinstein is a United States senator from California and a former mayor of San Francisco.
1933-
Pianist Leon Fleisher is best known for his compositions and performances of classical music.
1928-
Dian Fossey was a zoologist best known for researching the endangered gorillas of the Rwandan mountain forest from the 1960s to the '80s, and for her mysterious murder.
1932-1985
A four-time Pulitzer Prize winner in poetry, American Robert Frost depicted realistic New England life through language and situations familiar to the common man.
1874-1963
1942-1995
Clifford Geertz was a leading proponent of a form of anthropology that stresses the importance of symbols and interpretation in human social life.
1926-2006
Danny Glover is an actor who came into his own as Mel Gibson's co-star in the Lethal Weapon films in the 1980s and 1990s.
1946-
American cartoonist Rube Goldberg was best known for his work satirizing America's obsession with technology. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for his editorial cartoon "Peace Today."
1883-1970
Laird Hamilton is an athlete, surfer, model and television host. He is one of today’s best known big wave surfers.
1964-
With a string of big-budget titles to his credit, actor Josh Hartnett has emerged from the crowd of 1990s teen heartthrobs to become a sought after leading man.
1978-
William Randolph Hearst is best known for publishing the largest chain of American newspapers in the late 19th century, and particularly for sensational "yellow journalism."
1863-1951
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.
1916-1965
Warren Jeffs, the former leader of the polygamist sect Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was convicted in 2011 for the sexual assault of underage girls.
1955-
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.
1955-2011
1953-
Basketball star Jason Kidd is known for being one of the top point guards in the sport. He helped the Dallas Mavericks win the NBA Championship in 2011.
1973-
Leonard Lake was a serial killer who partnered with another man to rape and kill several people in the 1980s.
1945-1985
The "godfather of fitness," Jack LaLanne, is known for his 1950s TV fitness program and for his endorsement of a power juicer in 2002.
1914-2011
Bruce Lee was an actor, film producer and director, and the martial arts expert who founded the Jeet Kune Doe martial arts system.
1940-1973
Jack London was a 19th century American author and journalist, best known for the adventure novels White Fang and The Call of the Wild.
1876-1916
Before she became the poster child for drugs and plastic surgery, Courtney Love was an alternative rock star married to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.
1964-
American actress Leslie Mann is known for her comedic performances, especially in several films directed by her husband, Judd Apatow.
1972-
1888-1973
1916-2009
1957-
Actor and comedian Rob Schneider's is best known for his combination of self-deprecating humor and goofball antics in films like Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.
1963-
Liev Schriber is an actor known for appearing in such films as X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Hamlet and Scream.
1967-
Alicia Silverstone is an actress who starred in such films as Clueless and The Crush. She is an outspoken environmentalist, vegan and animal rights activist.
1976-
O.J. Simpson is best known for his arrest and trial in the 1994 murder of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, of which he was found not guilty.
1947-
Writer Lemony Snicket became well-known for his series of children's novels, A Series of Unfortunate Events, featuring the Baudelaire siblings.
1970-
David Strathairn is an American actor best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Good Night, and Good Luck, and performances in We Are Marshall, The Bourne Ultimatum, Temple Grandin and Lincoln.
1949-
Jeffrey Tambor is an American actor best known for his roles on the late-night spoof series The Larry Sanders Show and the comedy series Arrested Development.
1944-
1917-2003
Bob Weir was a rhythm guitarist for the legendary rock band the Grateful Dead from 1964 to 1995 and later reunited to tour with former members as The Other Ones.
1947-
Dan White assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist, in 1978.
1946-1985
Nancy Wilson is a singer, songwriter and guitarist for the rock band Heart, along with her sister, Ann Wilson.
1954-
Actress Natalie Wood starred in the films Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean and in West Side Story as Maria. She drowned during a boating trip in 1981.
1938-1981