Famous Writers a to z

British novelist William Golding wrote the critically acclaimed classic Lord of the Flies, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983.

Prominent book author and magazine writer, Adam Gopnik is a leading arts and culture writer.

Reality television star Kate Gosselin starred on TLC's Jon and Kate Plus 8, and went through a very public divorce as a result of the show's success.

Stephen Jay Gould was an American paleontologist and evolutionary biologist, and the best-selling writer of popular science books.

Minister and lecturer Sylvester Graham was a major figure of the 19th century dietary reform movement and was also known as the person behind Graham crackers.

Temple Grandin is a noted animal expert and advocate for autistic populations who has penned the books Animals in Translation and Animals Make Us Human.

British poet Robert Graves is best known for writing his first volumes of poetry, primarily about war, while serving at the Western Front during World War I.

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

Charles Hamilton was an autograph dealer, handwriting expert and author of works like Great Forgers and Famous Fakes.

American actress Melissa Joan Hart starred on the television shows Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and began performing on the TV series Melissa & Joey in 2010.

Comedian Steve Harvey is a radio and TV show host who has also written relationship advice books.

U.S. Secretary of State John Hay began his career as Abraham Lincoln’s private secretary, and was later known for promoting an "Open Door" policy in China.

Robert Hayden was an African-American poet and professor who is best known as the author of poems, including “Those Winter Sundays” and “The Middle Passage.”

Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl made a celebrated journey aboard a raft called Kon-Tiki in 1947, and later wrote an international best-seller about his amazing expedition.

American actress Cheryl Hines is known for her Emmy Award-nominated role as Cheryl David, Larry David's wife, on HBO comedy 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' which began in 2000.

Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher in the 17th century, was best known for his book Leviathan (1651) and his political views on society.

Robert Hooke was an English philosopher, mathematician and architect who discovered the law of elasticity, now known as Hooke's law.

E. Howard Hunt was a CIA agent and PR consultant before he teamed up with G. Gordon Liddy to organize the Watergate break-in.

Exiled Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll's House and Hedda Gabler, the latter of which featured one of theater's most notorious characters.

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a 17th century nun, self-taught scholar and acclaimed writer of the Latin American colonial period and the Hispanic Baroque. She was also a staunch advocate for women's rights.

Washington Irving was a popular 19th century American author, best known for the stories Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

The daughter of wildlife expert Steve Irwin, Bindi Irwin has appeared on such animal-themed shows as The Crocodile Hunter and Bindi: The Jungle Girl.

James Weldon Johnson was an African-American writer, politician, educator and lawyer. He was also an early civil rights activist and leader of the NAACP.

Author Franz Kafka explored the human struggle for understanding and security in his novels such as Amerika, The Trial and The Castle.

Raden Adjeng Kartini is a Javanese noblewoman and is best known as a pioneer in the area of women's rights for native Indonesians.

Novelist Ken Kesey wrote One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, which in the U.S. became one of the most widely read books of the 1960s.

Søren Kierkegaard was a 19th century Danish philosopher who wrote about Christian belief systems and helped birth existentialism.

Coretta Scott King was an American civil rights activist and the wife of 1960s civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

American novelist and social activist Barbara Kingsolver wrote the best-selling novel The Poisonwood Bible. She was awarded the National Humanities Medal.

Rudyard Kipling was an English author, famous for his works: Just So Stories, The Jungle Book and "Gunga Din." He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907.

Alan King was a Jewish-American stand-up comedian who honed his skills in vaudeville, and went on to perform a number of memorable film and television roles.

Jerzy Kosinksi was a Polish-American novelist. He wrote Being There in 1971, which was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film in 1979.

Ann Landers was the famous advice columnist who developed a newspaper readership counting into the millions.

Bernard Law Montgomery led the British Eighth Army in North Africa during World War Two and oversaw British participation during the D-Day invasion.

Henry Lawson was a revered Australian writer of short stories and poetry.

Sandra Lee is best known for hosting the Food Network shows Semi-Homemade Cooking and Sandra's Money Saving Meals. She is also the girlfriend of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

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

Italian Jewish chemist Primo Levi survived a year at Auschwitz against all odds. He is best known his moving memoir, If This Is a Man.

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

Actor, writer and producer James Lipton founded the Actors Studio Drama School and has hosted Bravo TV's Inside the Actors Studio since 1994.

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.

Bernarr MacFadden was a well known physical culturist, and became the preeminent advocate for healthy living and exercise.

Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli is best known for writing The Prince, a handbook for unscrupulous politicians that inspired the term "Machiavellian" and established its author as the "father of modern political theory."

Playwright, poet. Christopher Marlowe was a poet and playwright at the forefront of the 16th-century dramatic renaissance. His works influenced William Shakespeare and generations of writers to follow.

Robert C. Maynard was a journalist and publisher best known for being the first African American to own and publish a major daily newspaper (Tribune).

Actress Melissa McCarthy starred as Sookie in the show Gilmore Girls. In 2011, she received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress in the film Bridesmaids.

Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt wrote the biography Angela’s Ashes after retiring from teaching for 30 years in New York City.

Spike Milligan was an Irish writer and comedian best known for his work on The Goon Show.

Thomas Moore was an Irish poet, satirist, composer, singer and close friend of Lord Byron.

Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize- and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved.

Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad is a professor, author and media commentator who is executive director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Sir V.S. Naipaul is a Trinidadian-British writer of Indian descent known for his novels set in developing countries. He won the Nobel Prize in 2001 for his novel, Half a Life.

John G. Nicolay served as secretary to President Abraham Lincoln, and later co-wrote a 10-volume biography on the president, Abraham Lincoln: A History.

Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted helped design many U.S. public parks. His first project was Central Park in New York City.

Robert Dale Owen, son of the Welsh social reformer Robert Owen, is best known for being integral to the founding of the Smithsonian Institution.

Actor Chazz Palminteri starred opposite Robert De Niro in the 1993 film adaptation of A Bronx Tale, and performed in Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway (1994).

Gordon Parks was an African-American photographer, filmmaker and author, best known for his work published in LIFE magazine and for directing the hit movie Shaft.

Pearl Bailey was a Tony Award-winning singer and actress known for her roles in works like Carmen Jones, House of Flowers, Hello, Dolly! and Porgy and Bess.

Charles Perrault was a French poet and author known for writing the Mother Goose fairy tales.

Charles Pinckney was an American Founding Father, governor of South Carolina and signer of the U.S. Constitution.

American poet and critic Robert Pinksy is best known for writing about the significance of every-day experiences.

American author Robert Pirsig is best known for his philosophical novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974).

Ancient Greek philosopher Plato founded the Academy and is the author of philosophical works of unparalleled influence in Western thought.

American writer, critic and editor Edgar Allan Poe is famous for his tales and poems of horror and mystery, including The Raven.

American author Julie Powell is best known for her blog, "The Julie/Julia Project," and the Nora Ephron movie Julie & Julia, which is based in part on Powell's experience.

Uruguayan writer Horacio Quiroga penned short stories inspired by the jungle before committing suicide in 1937. Anaconda is considered his greatest work.

American actor John Ratzenberger, best known as mailman Cliff Clavin from the television series Cheers, has also contributed voice-acting to every animated Pixar feature film.