| Name | Occupation | Birth | Death | Known for |
|---|
| George Abbott |
Playwright |
25-Jun-1887 |
31-Jan-1995 |
Damn Yankees |
| Roy Acuff |
Country Musician |
15-Sep-1903 |
23-Nov-1992 |
Country music pioneer |
| Licia Albanese |
Singer |
22-Jul-1913 |
|
Operatic soprano, La Bohème |
| Edward Albee |
Playwright |
12-Mar-1928 |
|
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |
| Marian Anderson |
Singer |
27-Feb-1897 |
8-Apr-1993 |
Operatic contralto |
| Maya Angelou |
Poet |
4-Apr-1928 |
|
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings |
| Walter Annenberg |
Business |
13-Mar-1908 |
1-Oct-2002 |
Media mogul, created TV Guide |
| Brooke Astor |
Philanthropist |
30-Mar-1902 |
13-Aug-2007 |
Heiress, philanthropist |
| Louis Auchincloss |
Author |
27-Sep-1917 |
26-Jan-2010 |
Portrait in Brownstone |
| Mikhail Baryshnikov |
Dancer |
27-Jan-1948 |
|
Kirov ballet dancer defected to USA |
| Romare Bearden |
Painter |
2-Sep-1911 |
12-Mar-1988 |
Collagist |
| Harry Belafonte |
Singer/Songwriter |
1-Mar-1927 |
|
Calypso singer |
| Saul Bellow |
Novelist |
10-Jun-1915 |
5-Apr-2005 |
The Adventures of Augie March |
| William Bolcom |
Composer |
26-May-1938 |
|
Songs of Innocence and of Experience |
| Louise Bourgeois |
Sculptor |
25-Dec-1911 |
31-May-2010 |
Crouching Spider |
| Ray Bradbury |
Author |
22-Aug-1920 |
5-Jun-2012 |
Fahrenheit 451 |
| Dave Brubeck |
Jazz Musician |
6-Dec-1920 |
|
Take Five |
| Sarah Caldwell |
Conductor |
6-Mar-1924 |
23-Mar-2006 |
Opera Company of Boston |
| Cab Calloway |
Jazz Musician |
25-Dec-1907 |
18-Nov-1994 |
King of Hi-De-Ho |
| Frank Capra |
Film Director |
18-May-1897 |
3-Sep-1991 |
It's A Wonderful Life |
| Kitty Carlisle |
Singer |
3-Sep-1910 |
18-Apr-2007 |
A Night at the Opera |
| Benny Carter |
Jazz Musician |
8-Aug-1907 |
12-Jul-2003 |
Jazz and big bandleader |
| Betty Carter |
Singer |
16-May-1929 |
26-Sep-1998 |
Jazz vocalist |
| Elliott Carter |
Composer |
11-Dec-1908 |
|
The Defence of Corinth |
| Johnny Cash |
Country Musician |
26-Feb-1932 |
12-Sep-2003 |
The Man in Black |
| Ray Charles |
Musician |
23-Sep-1930 |
10-Jun-2004 |
Georgia On My Mind |
| Beverly Cleary |
Author |
12-Apr-1916 |
|
Children's author, Ramona Quimby series |
| Chuck Close |
Painter |
5-Jul-1940 |
|
Photo-realist portrait painter, printmaker |
| Aaron Copland |
Composer |
14-Nov-1900 |
2-Dec-1990 |
Fanfare for the Common Man |
| Hume Cronyn |
Actor |
18-Jul-1911 |
15-Jun-2003 |
Cocoon |
| Celia Cruz |
Singer |
21-Oct-1924 |
16-Jul-2003 |
Queen of Salsa |
| Merce Cunningham |
Dancer |
16-Apr-1919 |
26-Jul-2009 |
Merce Cunningham Dance Company |
| Ossie Davis |
Actor |
18-Dec-1917 |
4-Feb-2005 |
Do The Right Thing |
| Willem de Kooning |
Painter |
24-Apr-1904 |
19-Mar-1997 |
Abstract expressionist |
| Ruby Dee |
Actor |
27-Oct-1924 |
|
The Jackie Robinson Story |
| Fats Domino |
Singer/Songwriter |
26-Feb-1928 |
|
Ain't That A Shame |
| Kirk Douglas |
Actor |
9-Dec-1916 |
|
Spartacus |
| Katherine Dunham |
Dancer |
22-Jun-1910 |
21-May-2006 |
Dunham School of Dance |
| Ralph Ellison |
Novelist |
1-Mar-1914 |
16-Apr-1994 |
Invisible Man |
| Suzanne Farrell |
Dancer |
16-Aug-1945 |
|
Ballerina, NYC Ballet |
| Jose Ferrer |
Actor |
8-Jan-1909 |
26-Jan-1992 |
The Caine Mutiny |
| Ella Fitzgerald |
Singer |
25-Apr-1917 |
15-Jun-1996 |
The First Lady of Jazz |
| Horton Foote |
Playwright |
14-Mar-1916 |
4-Mar-2009 |
To Kill a Mockingbird |
| Helen Frankenthaler |
Painter |
12-Dec-1928 |
27-Dec-2011 |
Mountains and Sea |
| Aretha Franklin |
Singer |
25-Mar-1942 |
|
R-E-S-P-E-C-T |
| Leonard Garment |
Attorney |
11-May-1924 |
|
Former Special Counsel to Nixon |
| Frank Gehry |
Architect |
28-Feb-1929 |
|
Postmodern architect |
| Dizzy Gillespie |
Jazz Musician |
21-Oct-1917 |
7-Jan-1993 |
Be-bop jazz trumpeter |
| Martha Graham |
Dancer |
11-May-1894 |
1-Apr-1991 |
Innovator of modern dance |
| Buddy Guy |
Musician |
30-Jul-1936 |
|
Damn Right, I've Got the Blues |
| Uta Hagen |
Actor |
12-Jun-1919 |
14-Jan-2004 |
Renowned thespian and acting teacher |
| Armand Hammer |
Business |
21-May-1898 |
10-Dec-1990 |
Soviet agent of influence |
| Julie Harris |
Actor |
2-Dec-1925 |
|
East of Eden |
| Helen Hayes |
Actor |
10-Oct-1900 |
17-Mar-1993 |
First Lady of the Theater |
| Al Hirschfeld |
Artist |
21-Jun-1903 |
20-Jan-2003 |
Pen and ink caricaturist |
| Bob Hope |
Comic |
29-May-1903 |
27-Jul-2003 |
Centenarian comic |
| Marilyn Horne |
Singer |
16-Jan-1934 |
|
Operatic mezzo soprano |
| Vladimir Horowitz |
Pianist |
1-Oct-1903 |
5-Nov-1989 |
Virtuoso pianist |
| Ron Howard |
Actor |
1-Mar-1954 |
|
Richie Cunningham on Happy Days |
| Judith Jamison |
Dancer |
10-May-1943 |
|
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre |
| Jasper Johns |
Painter |
15-May-1930 |
|
Neo-Dadaist painter of US Flag |
| George Jones |
Country Musician |
12-Sep-1931 |
|
Country singer, White Lightning |
| James Earl Jones |
Actor |
17-Jan-1931 |
|
Voice of Darth Vader and CNN |
| Gene Kelly |
Actor |
23-Aug-1912 |
2-Feb-1996 |
Singin' in the Rain |
| B. B. King |
Musician |
16-Sep-1925 |
|
King of the Blues |
| Stanley Kunitz |
Poet |
29-Jul-1905 |
14-May-2006 |
US Poet Laureate, 2000 |
| Erich Kunzel |
Conductor |
21-Mar-1935 |
1-Sep-2009 |
Conductor, Cincinnati Pops, 1977-2009 |
| Angela Lansbury |
Actor |
16-Oct-1925 |
|
Murder She Wrote |
| Norman Lear |
Film/TV Producer |
27-Jul-1922 |
|
Creator of All in the Family |
| Eva Le Gallienne |
Actor |
11-Jan-1899 |
3-Jun-1991 |
New York Civic Repertory Theater |
| James Levine |
Conductor |
23-Jun-1943 |
|
Music Director, NY Metropolitan Opera |
| Roy Lichtenstein |
Painter |
27-Oct-1923 |
29-Sep-1997 |
Whaam! |
| Yo-Yo Ma |
Cellist |
7-Oct-1955 |
|
Cellist, The Silk Road Ensemble |
| Paul Mellon |
Philanthropist |
11-Jun-1907 |
1-Feb-1999 |
Yale Center for British Art benefactor |
| Bob Merrill |
Songwriter |
17-May-1921 |
17-Feb-1998 |
How Much Is That Doggie In The Window? |
| Robert Merrill |
Singer |
4-Jun-1917 |
23-Oct-2004 |
Operatic baritone, NY Metropolitan Opera |
| Arthur Miller |
Playwright |
17-Oct-1915 |
10-Feb-2005 |
Death of a Salesman |
| Czeslaw Milosz |
Poet |
30-Jun-1911 |
14-Aug-2004 |
Polish novelist and poet, The Captive Mind |
| Arthur Mitchell |
Dancer |
27-Mar-1934 |
|
Dance Theatre of Harlem |
| Robert Motherwell |
Painter |
24-Jan-1915 |
16-Jul-1991 |
Abstract expressionist |
| Lewis Mumford |
Historian |
19-Oct-1895 |
26-Jan-1990 |
Technics and Civilization |
| Howard Nemerov |
Poet |
1-Mar-1920 |
5-Jul-1991 |
US Poet Laureate, 1987-88 |
| Louise Nevelson |
Sculptor |
23-Sep-1899 |
17-Apr-1988 |
Ukrainian-American abstract sculptor |
| Mike Nichols |
Film Director |
6-Nov-1931 |
|
Primary Colors |
| Georgia O'Keeffe |
Painter |
15-Nov-1887 |
6-Mar-1986 |
American abstract and landscape painter |
| Odetta |
Singer |
31-Dec-1930 |
2-Dec-2008 |
Queen of American Folk Music |
| Gordon Parks |
Film Director |
30-Nov-1912 |
7-Mar-2006 |
Shaft |
| Les Paul |
Guitarist |
9-Jun-1915 |
13-Aug-2009 |
Electric guitar/multitrack recording pioneer |
| Minnie Pearl |
Singer |
25-Oct-1912 |
4-Mar-1996 |
Her hat cost $1.98 |
| Gregory Peck |
Actor |
5-Apr-1916 |
12-Jun-2003 |
To Kill A Mockingbird |
| Jan Peerce |
Singer |
3-Jun-1904 |
15-Dec-1984 |
Operatic tenor, NY Metropolitan Opera |
| I. M. Pei |
Architect |
26-Apr-1917 |
|
Designed Louvre's glass pyramid |
| Itzhak Perlman |
Violinist |
31-Aug-1945 |
|
Israeli violinist |
| Roberta Peters |
Singer |
4-May-1930 |
|
Coloratura soprano, NY Metropolitan Opera |
| Leontyne Price |
Singer |
10-Feb-1927 |
|
Operatic soprano |
| Harold Prince |
Theatre Producer |
30-Jan-1928 |
|
Broadway musical producer, 21 Tony awards |
| Tito Puente |
Musician |
20-Apr-1923 |
31-May-2000 |
Popular Latin bandleader |
| Robert Rauschenberg |
Sculptor |
22-Oct-1925 |
13-May-2008 |
American modern sculptor and painter |
| Robert Redford |
Actor |
18-Aug-1936 |
|
The Sundance Kid |
| Jason Robards |
Actor |
26-Jul-1922 |
26-Dec-2000 |
All The President's Men |
| Jerome Robbins |
Choreographer |
11-Oct-1918 |
29-Jul-1998 |
West Side Story |
| Smokey Robinson |
Singer/Songwriter |
19-Feb-1940 |
|
Motown singer, A Quiet Storm |
| Philip Roth |
Novelist |
19-Mar-1933 |
|
Portnoy's Complaint |
| William Schuman |
Composer |
4-Aug-1910 |
15-Feb-1992 |
Symphony No. 6 |
| Earl Scruggs |
Musician |
6-Jan-1924 |
28-Mar-2012 |
Bluegrass banjo pioneer |
| Vin Scully |
Baseball |
29-Nov-1927 |
|
Voice of the Dodgers |
| Pete Seeger |
Singer/Songwriter |
3-May-1919 |
|
We Shall Overcome |
| Maurice Sendak |
Author |
10-Jun-1928 |
8-May-2012 |
Where The Wild Things Are |
| Rudolf Serkin |
Pianist |
28-Mar-1903 |
8-May-1991 |
Czech-American piano prodigy |
| Richard M. Sherman |
Songwriter |
12-Jun-1928 |
|
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang |
| Robert B. Sherman |
Songwriter |
19-Dec-1925 |
5-Mar-2012 |
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang |
| Beverly Sills |
Singer |
25-May-1929 |
2-Jul-2007 |
Soprano at the New York City Opera |
| Leonard Slatkin |
Conductor |
1-Sep-1944 |
|
Music Director, Detroit Symphony |
| Stephen Sondheim |
Composer |
22-Mar-1930 |
|
West Side Story |
| Frank Stella |
Painter |
12-May-1936 |
|
Minimalist painter, later mixed media artist |
| George Strait |
Country Musician |
18-May-1952 |
|
Fool Hearted Memory |
| Barbra Streisand |
Singer |
24-Apr-1942 |
|
You Don't Bring Me Flowers |
| William Styron |
Novelist |
11-Jun-1925 |
31-Oct-2006 |
The Confessions of Nat Turner |
| Maria Tallchief |
Dancer |
24-Jan-1925 |
|
New York City Ballet |
| Jessica Tandy |
Actor |
7-Jun-1909 |
11-Sep-1994 |
Driving Miss Daisy |
| Billy Taylor |
Jazz Musician |
24-Jul-1921 |
28-Dec-2010 |
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free |
| Twyla Tharp |
Dancer |
1-Jul-1941 |
|
Choreographer |
| Wayne Thiebaud |
Artist |
15-Nov-1920 |
|
California pop artist |
| Virgil Thomson |
Composer |
25-Nov-1896 |
30-Sep-1989 |
Four Saints in Three Acts |
| Tommy Tune |
Dancer |
28-Feb-1939 |
|
6'6" Broadway dancer |
| John Updike |
Novelist |
18-Mar-1932 |
27-Jan-2009 |
Rabbit, Run |
| Robert Venturi |
Architect |
25-Jun-1925 |
|
Postmodernist architect |
| Frederica von Stade |
Singer |
1-Jun-1945 |
|
Operatic mezzo-soprano |
| Robert Penn Warren |
Poet |
24-Apr-1905 |
15-Sep-1989 |
First US Poet Laureate |
| Doc Watson |
Guitarist |
2-Mar-1923 |
29-May-2012 |
Two Days in November |
| Eudora Welty |
Author |
13-Apr-1909 |
23-Jul-2001 |
The Optimist's Daughter |
| Richard Wilbur |
Poet |
1-Mar-1921 |
|
Second U.S. Poet Laureate |
| Billy Wilder |
Film Director |
22-Jun-1906 |
27-Mar-2002 |
Sunset Blvd. |
| Robert Wise |
Film Director |
10-Sep-1914 |
14-Sep-2005 |
The Sound of Music |
