January 2 – Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. is an American actor. After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in Boyz n the Hood (1991) he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor playing a football star in Jerry Maguire (1996). His other notable films include Outbreak (1995), As Good as It Gets (1997), What Dreams May Come (1998), Men of Honor (2000), Pearl Harbor (2001), Rat Race (2001), The Fighting Temptations (2003), Radio (2003), American Gangster (2007), Red Tails (2012), The Butler (2013), and Selma (2014). He voiced Buck the Horse in the animated feature film Home on the Range (2004).
January 14 – James Todd Smith known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip hop acts Beastie Boys and Run-DMC.
February 1 – Lisa Marie Presley (February 1, 1968 – January 12, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter. She was the only child of singer and actor Elvis Presley and actress Priscilla Presley, as well as the sole heir to her father’s estate after her grandfather and her great-grandmother died. Her musical career consisted of three studio albums: To Whom It May Concern (2003), Now What (2005) and Storm & Grace (2012), with To Whom It May Concern being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Presley also released non-album singles, including duets with her father using archival recordings.
February 12 – Josh James Brolin is an American actor. A son of actor James Brolin, he gained fame in his youth for his role in the adventure film The Goonies (1985). After years of decline, Brolin had a resurgence with his starring role in the crime film No Country for Old Men (2007). Brolin received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for portraying Dan White in the biopic Milk (2008).
February 13 – Kelly Ann Hu is an American actress, former fashion model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Teen USA 1985 and Miss Hawaii USA 1993. Hu starred as Dr. Rae Chang on the American television soap opera Sunset Beach and as Michelle Chan on the American television police drama series Nash Bridges. She has starred in numerous films including The Scorpion King (2002) as Cassandra, Cradle 2 the Grave (2003) as Sona, X2 (2003) and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) as Yuriko Oyama / Lady Deathstrike, The Tournament (2009) as Lai Lai Zhen, and White Frog (2012).
February 19 – Molly Ringwald was born in Roseville, California, to Adele Edith , a chef, and Robert Ringwald, a blind jazz pianist.
February 22 – Jeri Lynn Ryan is an American actress best known for her role as the former Borg drone Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager (1997–2001), for which she was nominated four times for a Saturn Award and won in 2001. She reprised her role as Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023), for which she won another Saturn Award.
March 2 – Daniel Craig. Daniel Craig, the renowned British actor, was born on March 2, 1968, in Chester, England.
March 12 – Aaron Eckhart. Aaron Edward Eckhart (born March 12, 1968) is an American actor. Born in Cupertino, California,
March 23 – Damon Albarn is an English musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer from Whitechapel, London. He is the frontman and main lyricist of the rock band Blur and the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual band Gorillaz.
March 29 – Lucille Frances Lawless is a New Zealand actress. She is best known for her roles as Xena in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess, as D’Anna Biers on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series, and Lucretia in the television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand and associated series. Since 2019, she has starred as Alexa in the television series My Life Is Murder.
April 8 – Patricia Arquette is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) and has since starred in several film and television productions. She has received several awards, including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.
April 14 – Michael Anthony Hall better known as Anthony Michael Hall, is an American actor
April 19 –Ashley Judd is an American actress. She grew up in a family of performing artists, the daughter of country music singer Naomi Judd and the half-sister of country music singer Wynonna Judd. Her acting career has spanned more than three decades, and she has become heavily involved in global humanitarian efforts and political activism. Judd made her television debut in 1991 with a guest role on Star Trek: The Next Generation and her film debut in 1992’s Kuffs.
April 24 – Aidan Murphy better known as Aidan Gillen is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of three Irish Film & Television Awards and has been nominated for a British Academy Television Award, a British Independent Film Award, and a Tony Award.
April 29 – Carnie Wilson is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is the daughter of Brian Wilson and in 1989 co-founded the pop music trio Wilson Phillips with her younger sister Wendy. From 1995 onwards, she has also been a host or guest star on a variety of television shows.
May 28 – Kylie Ann Minogue is an Australian singer and actress. She is the highest-selling female recording artist from Australia, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognized for reinventing herself in music as well as fashion, and is referred to by the European press as the “Princess of Pop” and a style icon. Her accolades include two Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards and eighteen ARIA Music Awards. In 2024, Time named her one of the most influential people in the world.
August 9 – Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series The X-Files (1993–2002; 2016–2018), ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies’s film The House of Mirth (2000), DSU Stella Gibson in the BBC/RTÉ crime drama television series The Fall (2013–2016), sex therapist Jean Milburn in the Netflix comedy drama Sex Education (2019–2023), and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of Netflix drama series The Crown (2020). Among other honors, she has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.
August 14 – Catherine Lisa Bell is a British-American actress and model known for her roles as Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie in the television series JAG from 1997 to 2005, Denise Sherwood in the series Army Wives from 2007 to 2013, and Cassandra “Cassie” Nightingale in Hallmark’s The Good Witch films and television series from 2008 to 2021.
August 17 – Helen Elizabeth McCrory was an English actress. After studying at the Drama Centre London, she made her stage debut in The Importance of Being Earnest in 1990. Other stage roles include playing Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at Shakespeare’s Globe, Olivia in Twelfth Night, Rosalind in As You Like It in the West End, and Medea in the eponymous play in the Royal National Theatre.
September 25 – Willard Carroll Smith II is an American actor, rapper and film producer. He has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BAFTA Award, and four Grammy Awards. As of 2024, his films have grossed over $9.3 billion globally, making him one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.
September 28 – Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 1968) is a British actress. After her family moved to Australia, she made her film debut there in the drama For Love Alone (1986) and then appeared in three television series, Hey Dad..! (1990), Brides of Christ (1991), and Home and Away (1991), and the film Flirting (1991). After moving to the United States, Watts initially struggled as an actress, taking roles in small-scale films until she starred in David Lynch’s psychological thriller Mulholland Drive in 2001 as an aspiring actress. The role began her rise to international prominence.
October 12 – Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, Jackman landed his breakthrough role as Wolverine in the X-Men film series (2000–2017, 2024), a role that earned him the Guinness World Record for “longest career as a live-action Marvel character”, until 2022. Prominent on both screen and stage, he has received various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Grammy Award and two Tony Awards, along with nominations for an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award. Jackman was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2019.
December 3 – Brendan Fraser. Brendan Fraser, a Canadian-American actor, is renowned for his versatility in both dramatic and comedic roles.