IMDb: Most Popular People Born In 1961

1-50 of 3,381 names.

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1.		James Gandolfini Actor, The Man Who Wasn't There New Jersey-born James Gandolfini began acting in the New York theater. His Broadway debut was in the 1992 revival of "A Streetcar Named Desire" with Jessica Lange and Alec Baldwin. James' breakthrough role was his portrayal of Virgil the hitman in Tony Scott's True Romance, but the role...
2.		Iain Glen Actor, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Iain Glen was born on June 24, 1961 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy, an independent school for boys (now co-educational), followed by the University of Aberdeen. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he was the winner of the Bancroft Gold Medal. He has appeared onstage as "Macbeth" (Tron Theatre)...
3.		George Clooney Actor, Ocean's Eleven George Timothy Clooney was born on May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Kentucky to Nina Bruce nee' Warren, a former beauty pageant queen, and Nick Clooney, a former anchorman and game show host (who was also the brother of singer Rosemary Clooney). Clooney spent most of this youth in Ohio and Kentucky, and graduated from Augusta High School...
4.		Meg Ryan Actress, Sleepless in Seattle Blond-haired, blue-eyed with an effervescent personality, Meg Ryan graduated from Bethel high school, Bethel in June 1979. Moving to New York, she attended New York University where she majored in journalism. To earn extra money while working on her degree, Meg went into acting using her new name Meg Ryan...
5.		Woody Harrelson Actor, No Country for Old Men Woody Harrelson grew up in Lebanon, Ohio. He received degrees in theatre arts and English from Hanover College, Indiana. His career began in New York theatre as an understudy in Neil Simon's "Biloxi Blues". Within months, he was cast as Woody on the hit TV series, Cheers. Due to conflicts with his TV schedule...
6.		Ralph Macchio Actor, The Karate Kid Handsomely featured, Italian-American actor with boyish looks that initially assisted his career, but in more recent years have probably restricted his opportunities at getting stronger, dramatic roles. Started out in various TV commercials in the late 1970s before appearing in the puerile comedy movie Up the Academy...
7.		Heather Locklear Actress, The Perfect Man
8.		Christopher Meloni Actor, Man of Steel With his piercing, blue-eyed glint, brawny looks, cocky "tough guy" stance and effortless charisma, TV's Christopher Meloni drew on his sexy Italian heritage to grab audiences attention, male and female alike, finding breakthrough stardom playing on both sides of the law. Audiences first were taken in by his stunning portrayal of a sexually arresting...
9.		Michael J. Fox Actor, Back to the Future Michael J. Fox was born Michael Andrew Fox on June 9, 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His parents, Bill and Phyllis Fox, moved their ten-year-old son, his three sisters, Kelli Fox, Karen and Jacki and his brother Steven to Vancouver, British Columbia, after his father, a sergeant in the Canadian Army Signal Corps...
10.		Lea Thompson Actress, Back to the Future Lea Katherine Thompson was born May 31, 1961, in Rochester, Minnesota. She is the youngest of five children. Her parents are Barbara and Cliff Thompson. Since all her siblings were much older than she, Lea says it seemed like she had more than two parents. The family lived in the Starlight motel, all the kids sharing a room...
11.		Eddie Murphy Actor, Beverly Hills Cop Eddie Murphy's father died when Eddie was quite young, and he, his brother, and step-brother were raised by his mother, a telephone-company employee, and his stepfather, a foreman at a Breyer's Ice Cream plant. His comic talent was evident from an early age, and by 15 he was writing and performing his own routines at youth centers and local bars...
12.		Jackie Earle Haley Actor, Watchmen
13.		Robert Carlyle Actor, 28 Weeks Later Robert Carlyle was raised in Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland, by his father Joseph, after his mother left him when he was only four. At the age of 21, after reading Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," he enrolled in acting classes at the Glasgow Arts Centre. In 1991, together with four other actors, he founded...
14.		Laurence Fishburne Actor, The Matrix Critically hailed for his forceful, militant, authoritarian roles, Laurence Fishburne, who is sometimes mistaken for another tall, gap-toothed, mercurial, immensely talented African-American actor, Samuel L. Jackson, came out of the black theater in New York. Born in Augusta, Georgia, on July 30, 1961...
15.		Ricky Gervais Writer, The Office
16.		Elizabeth McGovern Actress, Once Upon a Time in America Daughter of a law professor at Northwestern University, she moved with her family to Los Angeles when he transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles (U.C.L.A.). She began acting in school plays at North Hollywood High, graduated from The Oakwood School and then continued her stage training...
17.		Jennifer Coolidge Actress, American Pie Jennifer Coolidge is a versatile character actress and experimental comedienne, best known for playing Stifler's mom in American Pie. She was born on August 28, 1961, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Her father, Paul Coolidge, was a plastics manufacturer. Young Coolidge was dreaming of becoming a singer...
18.		Tim Roth Actor, Pulp Fiction Often mistaken for an American because of his skill at imitating accents, actor Tim Roth was born Timothy Simon Smith in London, England on May 14, 1961 to mother Ann, a teacher and landscape painter, and father Ernie, an American born journalist who changed the family name to "Roth". Tim grew up in Dulwich...
19.		Julia Louis-Dreyfus Actress, A Bug's Life Julia Louis-Dreyfus was born on January 13, 1961, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Her parents divorced when she was still young, and she spent her childhood in Washington, D.C., and New York. She met her husband, Brad Hall, while in college. She made her feature movie debut in the Woody Allen film Hannah and Her Sisters...
20.		Elizabeth Daily Actress, The Rugrats Movie
21.		Dylan McDermott Actor, The Perks of Being a Wallflower Dylan is the son of Diane and Richard "Mac" McDermott. Diane was only 15 and Mac was 17 when Dylan was born. Mac earned money by hustling pool. During Dylan's early years, his parents separated. In 1967, when Dylan was five, his mother was murdered by her live-in boyfriend. The murder was initially ruled an accidental shooting occurring while her boyfriend cleaned his gun...
22.		Virginia Madsen Actress, Sideways One of the hottest stars of the mid-1980s, Virginia Madsen is one of Hollywood's most talented actresses. Voted as one of the most beautiful actresses in 1986, Virginia has had several excellent performances in her career thus far. Audiences first caught a glimpse of her as "Princess Irulan" in the 1984 science fiction epic Dune...
23.		Peter Jackson Producer, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Peter Jackson was born as an only child in a small coast-side town in New Zealand in 1961. When a friend of his parents bought him a super 8mm movie camera (because she saw how much he enjoyed taking photos), the then eight-year-old Peter instantly grabbed the thing to start recording his own movies...
24.		Elias Koteas Actor, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Elias Koteas was born on March 11, 1961, in Montreal, Canada. Both his parents are of Greek descent. Elias attended Vanier College in Montreal before leaving to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City in 1981, of which he is a graduate. He also attended the Actors Studio in New York City...
25.		Jon Tenney Actor, Beverly Hills Cop III
26.		Eric Stoltz Actor, Mask Born on September 30, 1961 in Los Angeles, California, Eric Cameron Stoltz is a theater trained actor and producer who has starred in both independent and studio films. Born to two teachers, Eric was raised in both American Samoa and Santa Barbara, California, where by the age of 14, he was earning money by playing piano for the local musical theater productions...
27.		Forest Whitaker Actor, Platoon Forest Whitaker has packaged a king-size talent into his hulking 6' 2", 220 lb. frame. The athletically-inclined Whitaker initially found his way into college via a football scholarship. Later, however, he transferred to USC where he set his concentration on music and earned two more scholarships training as an operatic tenor...
28.		Bonnie Hunt Writer, Cars
29.		Janet McTeer Actress, Tideland Janet was born in Newcastle, UK, to parents Jean and Allan McTeer. She was raised in York from the age of 6. She attended Queen Anne Grammar School for Girls, where there wasn't much opportunity for drama. She became interested in acting at age 16, when she saw "She Stoops to Conquer" at the York Theater...
30.		John Corbett Actor, Raising Helen
31.		Liam Cunningham Actor, Clash of the Titans Irish actor Liam Cunningham was an electrician in the mid 80's. He saw an ad for an acting school and he decided to give acting a try. His first film role was as a policeman in "Into the West." Since then, he has been involved in many films and theater productions on both sides of the Atlantic.
32.		Jane Leeves Actress, James and the Giant Peach Jane Leeves has made her mark in the entertainment world, acting in television, theater and film over the past 20 years. Leeves stars in the Emmy® Award-winning TV Land series, Hot in Cleveland, which in 2011 was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award® for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series...
33.		Jared Harris Actor, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Jared Harris was born Jared Francis Harris on August 24th 1961 in London, England. Son of famous Irish actor Richard Harris and Elizabeth Harris (Elizabeth Rees) and brother of Damian Harris (director, born in 1958) and Jamie Harris (actor, born in 1965). Most of his childhood was spent in boarding schools and Central School in London...
34.		Nia Peeples Actress, General Hospital Nia Peeples was born in Hollywood, California, on December 10, 1961. Her family moved to West Covina, California, where she and her two sisters, Paula and Cynthia, grew up. At eight years old she began performing with her family, giving concerts for community groups and conventions and doing dances of different cultures...
35.		Elizabeth Peña Actress, The Incredibles Her love for the arts came naturally as her father was a well-known playwright, actor, director and novelist, so its not hard to understand that by the time she was eight, Cuban-American Elizabeth Pena already had designs to become an actress. Born in New Jersey and raised in New York, her parents, who opened off-Broadway's Latin American Theatre Ensemble...
36.		Joanne Whalley Actress, Willow An arresting, dark-haired stunner of 1980s and 1990s continental filming, Joanne Whalley should have made far more of an impact in Hollywood than she did. She was born in Manchester, England and prodded by her parents into acting at an early age, performing in school plays and winning a recurring role at age 10 on the popular long-running British TV serial Coronation Street...
37.		Tom Sizemore Actor, Saving Private Ryan Tom Sizemore rose in prominence throughout the 1990s, establishing himself as a memorable tough guy character, sought after by the most respected directors in the business. Born in Detroit on 29 November, 1961, Sizemore grew up idolizing the tough guy characters of the movies he watched. After attending Wayne State University, he got his master's degree in theater from Temple University in 1986...
38.		Carey Lowell Actress, Licence to Kill Daughter of an important North American Geologist, Petroleum Exploration Geologist James David Lowell, she has traveled around the world since she was very young. She spent her childhood in Libya. After traveling to different countries, she went back to the States, where she became a model, appreciated by people like Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein...
39.		Aaron Sorkin Writer, A Few Good Men Aaron Sorkin grew up in Scarsdale, a suburb of New York City where he was very involved in his high school drama and theater club. After graduating from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater, Sorkin intended to pursue a career in acting. It took him only a short time to realize that his true love...
40.		Sharon Lawrence Actress, Aftershock: Earthquake in New York
41.		Jodi Benson Actress, Toy Story 3 Jodi Benson, a native of Rockford, Illinois, has received worldwide recognition and critical acclaim as the voice of "Ariel" in the Academy Award-winning Walt Disney animated feature film, The Little Mermaid, as well as the bubbly voice of "Tour Guide Barbie" in Disney's Toy Story 2, winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture...
42.		D.B. Sweeney Actor, Dinosaur Daniel Bernard Sweeney was born on November 14, 1961 in Shoreham, Long Island, New York. He got his start in the New York theatre with appearances in dozens of productions including a run on Broadway in "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial". He was selected by Francis Ford Coppola to star in the Vietnam era drama Gardens of Stone...
43.		Peri Gilpin Actress, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Born in Waco, Texas, Peri Gilpin grew up in Dallas, where her family encouraged her acting abilities. After studying at the Dallas Theater Center, she pursued acting at the University of Texas at Austin and then at London's British-American Academy. She appeared in guest roles on such popular situation comedies as Designing Women...
44.		Raymond Cruz Actor, Training Day
45.		Billy Ray Cyrus Actor, Mulholland Dr.
46.		Campbell Scott Actor, The Amazing Spider-Man
47.		Shane Black Writer, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Considered one of the pioneer screenwriters of the action genre, Black made his mark with his Lethal Weapon screenplay. He also collaborated on the story of the sequel, Lethal Weapon 2. Each successive script he turned in had a higher price attached it, from The Last Boy Scout to The Long Kiss Goodnight, and in between a re-write on the McTiernan/Schwarzenegger Last Action Hero script.
48.		Titus Welliver Actor, The Town Titus Welliver was born on March 12, 1961 in New Haven, Connecticut. His father was famous landscape painter Neil Welliver. His mother was a fashion illustrator. He has three brothers, one was killed overseas. He was raised in Philadelphia and New York City, surrounded by poets and painters. He credits them for his creativity...
49.		Amy Sedaris Actress, Strangers with Candy
50.		Scott Cohen Actor, One Life to Live Scott Cohen was born in the Bronx, New York, on December 19th. The son of a jazz musician (Jack Cohen), Scott's original aspirations were toward music - and to this day he remains an accomplished and talented pianist. Scott attended the State University of New York at New Paltz where a course in clowning led to the start of his acting career...

1-50 of 3,381 names.