Famous January Birthdays a to z

Called “the greatest actress of our time” by Tennessee Williams, Vanessa Redgrave is an acclaimed actress of stage and screen.

One of the greatest women's beach volleyball players of all-time, Gabrielle Reece is also a successful model, actress, writer and fitness expert.

Actress Donna Reed charmed audiences in the film It's a Wonderful Life and on television's The Donna Reed Show.

Charles Nelson Reilly was a Tony-Award winning actor also known for a variety of roles on TV programs, including The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and The Match Game.

Actor Jeremy Renner played a recurring character on the television series Angel, and starred in the movies Dahmer, North Country and The Hurt Locker.

Mary Lou Retton is a retired champion gymnast who won gold, silver and bronze medals at the 1984 Olympics. She was featured on the Wheaties cereal box.

Silversmith Paul Revere took part in the Boston Tea Party and famously alerted the Lexington Minutemen about the approach of the British in 1775.

Countess of Wessex Sophie Rhys-Jones is married to Edward, Earl of Wessex, and is the mother of Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn.

Serial killer Joel Rifkin killed 17 women in the 1990s before the police tried to pull him over for a missing license plate (and discovered his latest victim).

Max Roach was a jazz drummer and pioneer of the bebop style.

John Roberts became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after he was nominated by George W. Bush in 2005.

Jackie Robinson became the first African-American to play major league baseball, becoming Rookie of the Year in 1947, National League MVP in 1949 and a World Series champ in 1955.

When it came to musician Kid Rock, record labels weren't quite sure how to promote a white rapper who blended heavy metal and country rock.

Philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. was the only son of John D. Rockefeller and heir to his fortune. He is known for building Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Andy Rooney was an Emmy Award-winning journalist best known for his "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney" segments which aired on the CBS news program 60 Minutes.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the only U.S. president to be elected four times. He led the United States through the Great Depression and World War II.

Charlie Rose is an American journalist who hosts the PBS interview show Charlie Rose. He has also held prominent broadcast roles at NBC and CBS.

Alfred Rosenberg served as leader of the Nazi party during Hitler's imprisonment, wrote on German racial purity and was executed as a war criminal.

According to legend, Betsy Ross made the first American flag. Despite a lack of credible evidence to support this, she remains an icon of American history.

Art Rubinstein was a famous Polish pianist who is regarded by many as the greatest Chopin interpreter of the 20th century.

David Ruffin was an American soul singer who rose to fame as one of the lead singers of the Temptations.

Nolan Ryan played professional baseball until age 46. He pitched 3,509th career strikeouts, becoming the first pitcher to surpass Walter Johnson's 1927 record.

U.S. Representative Paul Ryan is a Republican from Wisconsin known for his conservative positions. In the 2012 presidential election, Ryan was the running mate of Republican nominee Mitt Romney, who was defeated by President Barack Obama.

Sade is a singer who struck a cord around with world in the 1980s with sultry, soul-inspired songs like 'Smooth Operator.'

Comedian and pie-throwing television personality Soupy Sales was the popular host of such shows as Lunch with Soupy Sales and the Soupy Sales Show.

With his landmark novel Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger was an influential 20th-century American writer.

Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky made headlines in November 2011, when he was arrested on several sexual offenses related to children. He was later found guilty of 45 charges and sentenced to serve 30 to 60 years in prison.

Cristina Saralegui hosts the talk show The Cristina Show for the Univision Network. It has been on the air since 1989 and has won 11 Emmys.

John Singer Sargent was an Italian-born American painter whose portraits of the wealthy and privileged provide an enduring image of Edwardian-age society.

Nicolas Sarkozy served as France's 23rd president from 2007 to 2012. His term was marked by controversy, which included his marriage to Carla Bruni in 2008.

Vidal Sassoon revolutionized women’s hairstyles in the post-war years and created an international hair-products empire which proclaimed "If you don't look good, we don't look good."

Telly Savalas was an American actor best known for his role as a tough, New York City detective in the 1970’s television series Kojak.

Controversial radio host Laura Schlessinger, also known as "Dr. Laura," is an expert at giving listeners—and readers—a piece of her mind when it comes to moral living and leading a successful family life.

Franz Schubert is considered the last of the classical composers and one of the first romantic ones. Schubert's music is notable for its melody and harmony.

Liberal political commentator Ed Schultz is the host of a radio talk show called The Ed Schultz Show and the MSNBC television program The Ed Show.

British actor Paul Scofield is one of only a handful of actors who have won an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony.

Earl Scruggs is a bluegrass musician who pioneered the Scruggs Style, a method of banjo playing.

A comedic actor, Jason Segel has appeared on television and in such films as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Bad Teacher and The Muppets.

Tom Selleck is an actor best known for portraying Thomas Magnum on the 1980s television series Magnum, P.I., and for films including Three Men and a Baby.

Photographer Sam Shaw is remembered for his iconic images of such stars as Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando. He also produced several films, including 1961's Paris Blues.

American photographer Cindy Sherman is known for her elaborately "disguised" self-portraits that focus on social role-playing and sexual stereotypes.

British serial killer Harold Shipman, who worked in England as a medical doctor, killed over 200 of his patients before his arrest in 1998.

Screenwriter and director John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood led to a Academy Award for Best Director, making him the first African-American ever nominated.

Film critic Gene Siskel reviewed movies with co-host Roger Ebert on the nationally syndicated program Siskel & Ebert & the Movies.

After her impressive 2006 debut, professional dancer Karina Smirnoff went on to star in six more seasons of Dancing with the Stars.

Captain Edward J. Smith played a role in one of the most famous disasters at sea in history, the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.

Susan Sontag was a critical essayist, cultural analyst, novelist and filmmaker. She wrote On Photography, Illness as Metaphor, The Volcano Lover and In America.

Constantin Stanislavski was a Russian stage actor and director who developed the naturalistic performance technique known as the "Stanislavsky method," or method acting.

Jean Stapleton is an American actress best known for her award-winning role as Edith Bunker in the TV hit series All in the Family.

Howard Stern is a disk jockey, talk show host, author and television personality. His long-running show is currently broadcast via satellite radio.

Rod Stewart is best known as a U.K. and U.S. pop and rock singer-songwriter with a signature raspy voice who performed from the 1960s to the present day.

Stephen Stills is an American folk musician, best known as a member of the vocal super group Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. He is the first person to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame twice in one night.

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.

Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger is a former US Airlines pilot, who successfully ditched his passenger plane on the Hudson River after it struck a flock of Canada geese, thereby saving all 155 people aboard.

Charles Sumner was a U.S. Representative best known an anti-slavery advocate who authored the nation’s first civil rights legislation.

Maria Tallchief was a revolutionary American ballerina who broke barriers for Native American women.

Brandon Tartikoff was the president of NBC Television during its rise to the top from 1980 till 1991.

Model and actress Sharon Tate is best remembered for her tragic and untimely death at the hands of serial killer Charles Manson.

Manti Te'o is an American football player who became embroiled in controversy in early 2013, when the story of his girlfriend's tragic death was revealed to be a fabrication.

Ahmir Khalib Thompson, also known as Questlove, is known as a founding member of the hip-hop/neo-soul group the Roots.

Republican John Thune won the 2004 Senate election against Democrat Tom Daschle to become senator of South Dakota.

Singer Justin Timberlake got his start on The New Mickey Mouse Club and made it big with boy band 'N Sync, before becoming a solo singer and budding actor.

J.R.R. Tolkien is an internationally renowned fantasy writer. He is best known for authoring The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Sam Trammell's most recognizable role to date is playing Sam Merlotte on HBO's True Blood.

Verne Troyer first came to fame as Mini-Me in the popular 1999 comedy Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me with Mike Myers.

Barbara Tuchman, American historian and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, is best known for writing The Guns of August and Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45.

Sophie Tucker, also known as "The Last of the Red Hot Mamas," was a Russian-American singer, comedian, actress and Vaudeville performer.

Christy Turlington is one of America’s most successful models. Best known for her work for Maybelline, she has appeared on more than 300 magazine covers.