Actress. Born Winona Laura Horowitz, on October 29, 1971, in Winona, Minnesota. Named after the city where she was born, she is the third of four siblings (including one half-brother and one half-sister from her mother’s first marriage). Ryder’s parents, Michael and Cindy (née Palmer) Horowitz, were hippie intellectuals, and family friends included the likes of beat poet Allen Ginsberg, and counterculture guru Timothy Leary—who was Ryder’s godfather. Ryder’s family lived briefly in Colombia with Chilean revolutionaries before returni
Actor, dancer. Born August 18, 1952, in Houston, Texas. Swayze and his four siblings were raised by their parents Patsy and Jesse Swayze. Swayze’s mother, director of the Houston Jazz Ballet Company, introduced her son to dance at an early age. While still in grade school, Swayze developed a love for ballet and was often teased by fellow classmates. Throughout high school, he set aside his dance career to concentrate on athletics -- juggling gymnastics, swimming, and football. After graduation, he was offered both athletic and dance scholarsh
Actress, producer. Born Demetria Gene Guynes, on November 11, 1962, in Roswell, New Mexico. Raised in a poor family that was constantly on the move, Demi never knew her real father, whom her mother, Virginia, left months before Demi was born; she instead grew up believing that her stepfather, Danny Guynes, was her biological dad. As a teenager, she was shocked to learn the truth about Danny Guynes, and was also faced with the tragedy of his suicide several years later. The family was living in West Hollywood in 1978, when Demi dropped out of sc
Nuclear facility technician, union activist. Born February 19, 1946, in Longview, Texas. Silkwood, a nuclear plant laborer who died while investigating safety violations made by her employer, is viewed as a martyr by anti-nuclear activists; in 1983, her story was made into a film, Silkwood. On the night of November 13, 1974, Karen Silkwood, a technician at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron River nuclear facility in Crescent, Oklahoma, was driving her white Honda to Oklahoma City. There she was to deliver a manila folder full of alleged health and safety
Actress. Born Mary Louise Streep, on June 22, 1949, in Summit, New Jersey, to a pharmaceutical-company executive and a commercial artist. She grew up in the affluent New Jersey towns of Bernardsville and Basking Ridge. Her first “acting” experience came when, finding herself an awkward teenager, Meryl dyed her hair blonde, traded her glasses for contacts, and overnight became a cheerleader and her high school homecoming queen. She began acting in plays at Bernardsville High School and continued at the all-female Vassar College. She then won
Actress, model. Born August 14, 1968, in Cleveland, Ohio. The youngest daughter born to Jerome and Judith Berry, an interracial couple. Halle, and her older sister Heidi, spent the first few years of their childhood living in an inner-city neighborhood. In the early 1970s, Jerome Berry abandoned his wife and children, after which Judith moved her family to the predominantly white Cleveland suburb of Bedford. Berry attended a nearly all-white public school, and as a result was subjected to discrimination at an early age. Her early bouts with rac
Actress, comedienne, talk show host. Born March 21, 1962, in Commack, Long Island. Her father designed cameras for spy satellites and her mother was a homemaker. When Rosie was 10 years old, her mother died of pancreatic and liver cancer, leaving Rosie and her four brothers and sisters to fend for themselves emotionally. Rosie often sought the comfort of movies and television; finding idols and role models in Lucille Ball, Barbra Streisand, Carol Burnett, and Bette Midler. Rosie caught the acting bug when she imitated Gilda Radner’s character
Actor, director. Born January 26, 1925, in Cleveland, Ohio. The youngest child of Theresa and Arthur Newman, who was the owner of a successful sporting goods store, Newman was raised in Cleveland’s affluent suburb of Shaker Heights. As a teenager, he performed in local high school productions and developed an affinity for acting. Newman graduated high school in 1943, and immediately enlisted in the U.S. Navy in hopes of pursuing a career in aviation. While awaiting duty, he briefly attended Ohio University but was expelled for misconduct. His
U.S. Congressman. Born April 21, 1948, in Woodland Junction, Oklahoma. The son of a Baptist minister, Condit moved to Ceres, California, at the age of 19. He attended Modesto Junior College before enrolling at California State University at Stanislaus, where he majored in political science. In 1972, upon his graduation, Condit launched his political career when he was elected to the Ceres City Council. Considered a conservative Democrat, he was elected mayor of Ceres in 1974 and served until 1976, at which time he began a six-year term on the S
Actor, director, producer. Born Charles Robert Redford Jr., on August 18, 1937, in Santa Monica, California. Redford’s father, Charles Redford Sr., worked as a milkman until after World War II, when he got a job as an accountant for the Standard Oil Company. A talented athlete, the younger Redford won a baseball scholarship to the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1955. That same year, however, his mother Martha died suddenly, leaving Redford extremely shaken. His performance in college and athletics rapidly deteriorated, and he began to d
Forty-third president of the United States; former governor of Texas (1994-2000). Born July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut. Bush—often referred to as simply W.—is the eldest son of former President George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Pierce Bush. He grew up in Midland, Texas, where his father worked in the oil business. His siblings include Jeb (now governor of Florida), Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. Another younger sister, Robin, died tragically of leukemia in 1953, at the age of three. Like his father, Bush attended the prestigious Ph
Secretary of State Colin Luther Powell served as national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan, and under President George Bush became the first African American to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-1993). In 2001 he was confirmed as the Secretary of State by the U.S. Senate. Colin Luther Powell was born in Harlem, New York City on April 5, 1937, the son of a shipping clerk and a seamstress, both of whom were immigrants from Jamaica. Powell spent most of his childhood in the South Bronx, then regarded as a step
Actor, producer, director. Born Michael Kirk Douglas, on September 25, 1944, to actor Kirk Douglas and mother Diana Dill. He is the brother of Joel, Peter, and Eric. Douglas studied drama at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and in New York at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the American Place Theatre. He began his Hollywood career as an assistant director on some of father Kirk Douglas’ 1960s films. After roles in several TV dramas, he gained notoriety by costarring with Karl Malden in the 1970s television series The Streets of San
Actor, director, writer. Born July 6, 1946, in New York City. A one-time beauty school student, Stallone discovered a passion for acting while studying on scholarship at the American College in Switzerland. He returned to the United States and studied drama at the University of Miami, dropping out before graduation to move back to New York and pursue an acting and screenwriting career. His first substantial role was in The Lords of Flatbush (1974), after which he moved to Hollywood. Stallone reportedly wrote the screenplay to Rocky (1976
Actor, former bodybuilder. Born July 30, 1947, in the sleepy town of Graz, Austria. As a teenager, Schwarzenegger was so determined to become the greatest bodybuilder in history that he would break into the gym to train on Sundays, pumping iron until he collapsed from exhaustion. His dream was realized in 1967, when the 20-year-old Schwarzenegger won his first Mr. Universe contest. Several bodybuilding titles followed, which led many to credit Schwarzenegger with single-handedly popularizing the sport. In 1968, Schwarzenegger moved to the Unite
Actor, producer, director. Born November 17, 1944, in Neptune, New Jersey. A one-time hairdresser—his sister owned a beauty salon—DeVito studied at New York City’s American Academy of Dramatic Arts in the mid-1960s. He made his feature film debut as a bit player in the 1967 film Dreams of Glass and appeared in an Off-Off-Broadway production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in the early 1970s. The play led to his breakthrough film role, as he reprised his stage role in the 1975 film version, starring Jack Nicholson and directed by Milo
Actor, born February 8, 1941, in Omaha, Nebraska. He was raised in Iowa and Nebraska, the son of Frank Nolte, an irrigation pump salesman and Helen Nolte (nee King), a department store buyer. He showed little interest in theater and movies growing up, finding the football field the best outlet for his hefty build and aggression. He attended Arizona State University to play football, but flunked out and proceeded to fail academically at four other colleges in an attempt to continue playing (Nolte did not learn to read until adulthood). At age 21
Singer, actress, producer, and director. Born Barbara Joan Streisand, on, New York. After graduating from high school in 1959, she moved to Manhattan to pursue an acting career. In the early 1960s, she sang in various New York nightclubs and landed a 1961 appearance on The Tonight Show. She made her Broadway debut in 1962 in I Can Get It For You Wholesale, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. Her success on Broadway led to a recording contract with Columbia Records; in 1963, the success of her self-titled debut album made her the top-s
Actor. Born Eugene Alden Hackman, on January 30, 1930, in San Bernardino, California. Raised mostly by his maternal grandmother in Danville, Illinois, Hackman dropped out of high school at age 16 to join the U.S. Marines. He trained as a radio operator and worked as a disc jockey during tours in Asia and the Pacific. After his discharge, he briefly studied journalism at the University of Illinois but soon moved to New York City to pursue a career in radio. During the 1950s, Hackman studied at New York’s School of Radio Technique and worked at
Actor, rap musician. Born Willard Smith, on September 25, 1968, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second of four children. He started rapping at the age of 12, and he is reported to have given up a scholarship at the prestigious Masshusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in order to pursue his entertainment career. That was apparently a smart move, as by the age of 18, Smith was a millionaire. Smith formed the group DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince with his childhood friend Jeff Townes (his nickname, "Prince", supposedly came from h