Famous March Birthdays a to z

Sir Henry Raeburn was a Scottish painter known for his full-scale portraiture from the late 18th to early 19th century.

Maurice Ravel was a 19th and early 20th century French composer of classical music. His best known works are Bolero and Daphnis et Chloé.

James Earl Ray is best known for assassinating civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., in 1968.

Jerry Reed was an American musician and actor best known for his Grammy hit "When You're Hot, You're Hot," and for the film Smokey and the Bandit.

Lou Reed is a singer and guitarist best known as a co-founder of the influential rock group the Velvet Underground and as solo artist.

Dana Reeve was an actress and the wife of actor Christopher Reeve. She established and chaired the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center.

Wilhelm Reich was a psychiatrist who developed psychoanalysis that concentrated on overall character structure rather than on individual symptoms.

American actor, director and producer Rob Reiner is best known for directing the classic hits Stand By Me (1996) and When Harry Met Sally (1989).

Paul Reiser's career as a comedian began in New York's comedy clubs. He got his first big break starring in Diner in 1982, and later starred in Mad About You.

Keith Relf was a founding memeber of the Yardbirds, one of the pivotal British rock bands of the 1960s. Relf is also remembered for his unusual, untimely death.

Ray Reyes is a former member of the Latin-pop boy band Menudo and has released a number of successful albums with the band Project M.

Syngman Rhee became South Korea’s first president in 1948. He was re-elected twice after the Korean War, but was overthrown by a 1960 student uprising.

Basketball coach Patrick James Riley participated in both basketball and football, playing professionally with the San Diego Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers.

Robert II was king of Scotland from 1371 to 1390, and is best known for his largely ineffectual reign.

Pat Robertson is a television evangelist best known for founding the Christian Coalition, an influential conservative political organization.

Washington Roebling was an engineer and a notable victim of the Titanic disaster.

Fred Rogers is the much-loved host of the public television show, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran on PBS from 1968 to 2001.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney made a run for the Republican nomination in the 2008 presidential election, losing to John McCain. He made another run for the presidency in 2012, but was defeated by President Barack Obama.

Soccer superstar Ronaldinho was a member of Brazil's 2002 World Cup championship team and twice won the FIFA World Player of the Year award.

Artist Ed "Big Daddy" Roth became the king of California custom car culture in the 1950s and '60s with his Beatnik Bandit model and characters like Rat Fink.

American novelist and short-story writer Philip Roth is best known for his provocative explorations of Jewish and American identity.

Scottish Rob Roy, also known as Red MacGregor was the famous Scottish folk hero of the 18th century best known as the Scottish Robin Hood.

Pete Rozelle is a U.S. sports executive best known for helping to turn the National Football League into one of the most successful leagues in the world.

Actor Kurt Russell has appeared in a number of film roles and is know as long-time romantic companion to actress Goldie Hawn, mother of actress Kate Hudson.

Bayard Rustin was a civil rights organizer and activist, best known for his work as adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1950s and '60s.

Melissa Rycroft is known for her engagement and break-up on the 13th season of The Bachelor, and for winning 2012's Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars.

Bobby Sands was an Irish nationalist who led a hunger strike in prison in 1981. He was elected Member of Parliament during the strike and died May 5, 1981.

Antonin Scalia is best known as an Associate Justice for the U.S. Supreme Court, appointed in 1986 by Ronald Reagan.

Mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo controlled Philadelphia's organized crime for many years, even from prison.

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

Comedian and writer Amy Sedaris is known for her outrageous stage and television characters. She is the younger sister of writer David Sedaris.

Throughout his career, cartoonist and writer Dr. Seuss published 60 children's books, including The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham. 

Anna Sewell was the British author of the classic children's horse story Black Beauty.

Pop icon William Shatner is best known for his distinctive voice and his roles on Star Trek and Boston Legal.

Kate Sheppard was a leader in the New Zealand women's suffrage movement, helping women gain the right to vote in New Zealand.

Claressa Shields is an American boxer who made her Olympic debut at the Summer Games in London in 2012, and took home an Olympic middleweight gold medal.

From Three Amigos to Saturday Night Live to Broadway, Canadian comedian Martin Short has amused audiences both on screen and on stage.

German actress Simone Signoret performed in films like Room at the Top and Les Diaboliques, and met with international stardom. She married Yves Allegret in 1944, and later wed Yves Montand.

American psychologist B.F. Skinner is best known for developing the theory of behaviorism, and for his utopian novel Walden Two (1948).

Dee Snider is best known as the lead singer of glam metal band Twisted Sister.

Stephen Sondheim is one of Broadway’s most successful and revered composers, responsible for works like Follies, A Little Night Music and Sweeney Todd.

Social activist, writer, editor, and lecturer Gloria Steinem has been an outspoken champion of women's rights since the late 1960s.

Teófilo Stevenson was a Cuban boxer best known for becoming the first fighter to win three Olympic gold medals in one weight class.

American designer Gustav Stickley created the simple and functional Craftsman furniture that became highly popular in the early 20th century.

Actress Julia Stiles is best known for her roles in films like Save the Last Dance, 10 Things I Hate About You and The Bourne Ultimatum.

Actress Sharon Stone is most famous for her starring role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct. She won an Oscar nomination for her performance in Casino.

Power-hitting outfielder Darryl Strawberry was one of baseball's biggest stars in the 1980s before his career was derailed by substance-abuse problems.

Jimmy Swaggart is a Pentecostal radio and television evangelist. He also recorded best-selling gospel albums before his career unraveled due to a scandal.

Comedian Wanda Sykes became famous for her intelligent, sometimes political, stand-up comedy and television appearances on shows including The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney made the pro-slavery ruling in the 1857 Dred Scot Case that deemed blacks weren't citizens of the United States.

Quentin Tarantino jolted onto the Hollywood scene with his screenplay for True Romance, before directing the early 1990s films Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.

American radio astronomer and physicist Joseph H. Taylor Jr. was the co-recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize for Physics for discovering the first binary pulsar.

Tecumseh, a Shawnee Native American chief, opposed white settlement in the United States during the early 1800s. He died in the War of 1812.

American singer Rosetta Tharpe is credited with popularizing gospel music among secular audiences during the 1930s and '40s.

During the mid-1980s to early 1990s, actor Alan Thicke played one of television’s most beloved sitcom dads, psychiatrist Jason Seaver on Growing Pains.

Robin Thicke is a singer/songwriter and reality-television star known for major soul hits like "Lost Without U," "Magic" and "Sex Therapy."

Debi Thomas was a figure skater who went on to become the first African-American to win an Olympic medal at the Winter Olympics.

Willie Thrower was a pioneer for African Americans in football, the first to play quarterback professionally.

Timbaland is a rapper and music producer known for smash hits like "Cry Me a River," "4 Minutes," "The Way I Are" and "Give It to Me."

Football player Emlen Tunnell was the first African American to play for the New York Giants, and the first African American to be inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame.

Shannon Tweed is an actress, a former Playboy Playmate of the Year and is married to KISS rocker, Gene Simmons.

John Tyler was the 10th president of the United States.

The lead singer of popular rock band Aerosmith with hits like “Dream On” and “Walk This Way,” Steven Tyler has also served as a judge on American Idol.

Carrie Underwood was the winner of American Idol's fourth season and went on to win multiple Grammy and Academy of Country Music Awards.

Writer John Updike's works are known for their subtle depiction of American middle-class life. His popular Rabbit series earned him two Pulitzer prizes.

Hannah Van Buren was the wife of Martin Van Buren, the eighth U.S. president, but she died of tuberculosis 18 years before he took office.

Vincent van Gogh is considered the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt, although he remained poor and virtually unknown throughout his life.

Sarah Vaughan was an American jazz vocalist known for her impressive three octave range. She was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame in 1990.

20th century Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos’s work, including Bachianas brasileiras, brought Brazilian folk motifs to American classical music.

Antonio Vivaldi was a 17th and 18th century composer who’s become one of the most renowned figures in European classical music.

Wernher von Braun was a German engineer who worked on rocket technology, first for Germany and then for the United States.

Film Actor Christopher Walken often plays the bad guy, but he has also proved himself in comic roles and has been a repeat guest on Saturday Night Live.

Sam Walton was an American businessman best known for founding the retail chain Wal-Mart, which grew to be the world’s largest corporation.

Wide receiver Hines Ward played his entire 14-year NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, helping lead the team to wins in Super Bowls XL and XLIII.