October 31: Today's Notable Birthdays

If today is your birthday, then you are in excellent company.

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October 31st was the birth date of several notable individuals. Here they are:

October 31st Birthdays: Famous Artists

Meindert Hobbema, Dutch Baroque landscape painter (Entrance to a Village, Landscape with a Washer Woman, The Water Mill, The Wooded Landscape and Wooded Road), was born on October 31, 1638.

New Zealand film director Peter Jackson (Bad Taste, Heavenly Creatures, The Lord of the Rings and Meet the Feebles) was born on October 31, 1961.

Helen Lessore, British artist (Lyndhurst Gardens and The Pavilion - Berkeley Square) was born on October 31, 1907.

Dutch Baroque painter Jan (Johannes) Vermeer (Allegory of Faith, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, Girl Asleep, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Girl with a Wine Glass, Little Street, Milkmaid, Mistress and Maid, Officer and a Laughing Girl, View of Delft and Woman in Blue Reading a Letter) was born on October 31, 1632. To see some of this artist's works online, click here.

October 31st Birthdays: Famous Athletes

Alonzo Babers, American relay runner and Olympic gold medalist (1984), was born on October 31, 1961.

Lucas Brown Jackson, American basketball player and Olympic gold medalist (1964), was born on October 31, 1941.

Frank Shorter, American marathoner and Olympic gold medalist (1972), was born on October 31, 1947.

October 31st Birthdays: Famous Authors and Journalists

American astronaut and author Michael Collins (Carrying the Fire, Flying to the Moon and Other Strange Places and Liftoff: The Story of America's Adventure in Space) was born on October 31, 1930.

Richard Stanley (Dick) Francis, Welsh horse racing jockey and detective writer (Banker, Blind Chance, Blood Sport, Bolt, Bonecrack, Break In, Collision Course, Corkscrew, Dead on Red, Driving Force, Enquiry, Field of Chance, Flying Finish, For Kicks, Forfeit, High Stakes, Hot Money, Knockdown, Longshot, Nerve, Nightmare, Proof, Rat Race, Reflex, Second Wind, Silks, Slayride, Smokescreen, Sport of Queens, Spring Fever, Straight, To the Hilt, Trial Run, Twice Shy, Under Orders, Whip Hand and Wild Horses), was born on October 31, 1920.

William Hardy McNeill, Canadian historian (Plagues and People, The Pursuit of Truth and Rise of the West), was born on October 31, 1917.

American television journalist Margaret Jane Pauley (Dateline NBC, Real Life with Jane Pauley, Time and Again and The Today Show) 1950. Jane Pauley is married to cartoonist Garry Trudeau.

American television journalist (48 Hours, 60 Minutes and The CBS Evening News) and author (The American Dream: Stories from the Heart of Our Nation and The Camera Never Blinks) Dan Irvin Rather, Jr., was born on October 31, 1931.

Andrew Sarris, American film critic (The Village Voice) and author (The American Cinema, Confessions of a Cultist, Politics and Cinema and The Primal Screen), was born on October 31, 1928.

October 31st Birthdays: Famous Business Leaders

Xavier Roberts, American toy inventor and manufacturer (Cabbage Patch Kids), was born on October 31, 1955.

October 31st Birthdays: Famous Performers

Irish actress Sara Allgood (Blackmail, Cheaper by the Dozen, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Fabulous Dorseys, How Green Was My Valley, It Happened in Flatbush, Jane Eyre, Juno and the Paycock, The Keys of the Kingdom, Sabotage and Spiral Staircase) was born on October 31, 1893. She was sister to actress Maire O'Neill.

Myant (Annabella Lwin) Aye, Burmese singer (Bow-wow), was born on October 31, 1965.

British singer and songwriter (Argent and The Zombies) was born on October 31, 1947.

Norman Beaton, Guyanese calypso musician (The Four Bees) and actor (Black Joy, Desmond's, Empire Road, Eureka, The Fosters, Little Napoleons, The Mighty Quinn and Playing Away), was born on October 31, 1934.

American actress Barbara Bel Geddes (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Dallas, I Remember Mama and Vertigo) was born on October 31, 1922.

Malin Sofia Katarina (Linn) Berggren, Swedish pop singer and songwriter (Ace of Base), was born on October 31, 1970.

British pop-rock bassist Tony Bowers (Simply Red) was born on October 31, 1956.

Canadian comedian and actor John Franklin Candy (Blues Brothers, Cool Runnings, Home Alone, National Lampoon's Vacation, Planes Trains and Automobiles, SCTV, Spaceballs, Splash, Stripes, Summer Rental, Uncle Buck, Volunteers, Wagons East and Who's Harry Crumb) was born on October 31, 1950.

British heavy metal rock drummer Michael Kiriakos (Mikkey Dee) Delaouglou was born on October 31, 1963.

Bernard Edwards, American R&B bassist and singer (Chic), was born on October 31, 1952.

Richard (Kinky) Friedman, American country rocker, singer, bandleader: Texas Jewboys: Let Saigons be Bygones, We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to You, They Ain't Making Jews like Jesus Anymore, Asshole from El Paso was born on October 31, 1944.

American actress Lynda Goodfriend (Blansky's Beauties, Happy Days and Who's Watching the Kids) was born on October 31, 1950.

Deidre Hall, American actress (Days of our Lives and Our House), was born on October 31, 1944.

American hip-hop and rap artist Adam (King Ad-Rock) Horowitz (The Beastie Boys) was born on October 31, 1966. He is son to playwright Israel Horowitz.

Frank Anthony Iero, American alternative rock guitarist (My Chemical Romance), was born on October 31, 1981.

Jean-Baptist Illinois Jacquet, American jazz saxophonist ("Flying Home"), was born on October 31, 1922. Illinois Jacquet played with Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton and other jazz stars.

Anita Jean (Anita Kerr) Grilli, American singer and songwriter (The Anita Kerr Singers and The Mexicali Singers), was born on October 31, 1927.

Sally Kirkland, American actress, Anna, Sting, Pvt Benjamin, Big Bad Mama, actress: Eye of the Stranger, Prime Time Murder, Heat Wave, Anna, Fatal Games, Private Benjamin, A Star is Born, The Way We Were, Cinderella Liberty, Blue was born on October 31, 1944.

Shirley Dinsdale Layburn, American ventriloquist ("Judy Splinters"), was born on October 31, 1926.

John Martin (Johnny Marr) Maher, British rock guitarist, keyboardist and singer (Modest Mouse and The Smiths), was born on October 31, 1963.

American actor Brian Stokes Mitchell (Frasier, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Prince of Egypt and Trapper John MD) was born on October 31, 1957.

Larry Mullen, Jr., Irish rock drummer (U2), was born on October 31, 1961.

Dermot Mulroney, American actor (About Schmidt, Angels in the Outfield, Bad Girls, Dante's Inferno, The Family Stone, Flash of Genius, How to Make an American Quilt, Kansas City, The Last Outlaw, Longtime Companion, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Must Love Dogs, My Best Friend's Wedding, Point of No Return, The Safety of Objects, Staying Together, Sunset, The Thing Called Love, The Trigger Effect, Undertow, Young Guns and Zodiac), was born on October 31, 1963.

Mike O'Malley, American actor (Deep Impact, Pushing Tin and Yes Dear) was born on October 31, 1969.

American actor Eugene Maurice (Michael Landon) Orowitz (Bonanza, Highway to Heaven, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Little House on the Prairie and Us) was born on October 31, 1936.

Tom Paxton, American folk guitarist, singer and songwriter ("All the Way Home," "Forest Lawn," "Goin' to the Zoo," "I Can't Help but Wonder Where I'm Bound," "Is This Any Way to Run an Airline," "The Last Thing on My Mind," "Leaving London," "Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation," "Talking Vietnam Pot-Luck Blues" and "The Willing Conscript"), was born on October 31, 1937.

Carlo (Bud Spencer) Pedersoli, Italian actor (Ace High, Banana Joe, Blackie the Pirate, Boot Hill, Crime Busters, Double Trouble, Miami Supercops, Odds and Evens, Quo Vadis, They Call Me Trinity, Troublemakers and Two Missionaries), was born on October 31, 1929.

American actress Piper Lisa Perabo (Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Cheaper by the Dozen, Coyote Ugly, Edison, George and the Dragon, House, Lost and Delirious, Perfect Opposites and She Gets What She Wants) was born on October 31, 1976.

Graham Stephen Rea, Irish actor (Citizen X, Crime of the Century, The Crying Game, The Halo Effect, Michael Collins, Pret-a-Porter and Snow in August), was born on October 31, 1943.

Saul M. (Ron) Rifkin, American actor (Alias, The Big Fix, Boiler Room, Dragonfly, Husbands and Wives, JFK, Keeping the Faith, L.A. Confidential, The Majestic, Manhattan Murder Mystery, The Negotiator, One Day at a Time, Pulse, The Rockford Files, Silent Running, The Substance of Fire, The Sum of All Fears, The Sunshine Boys, The Trials of Rosie O'Neill and Wolf), was born on October 31, 1939.

Lyova Haskell (Lee Grant) Rosenthal, American actress (Airport '77, Backstairs at the White House, The Balcony, Citizen Cohen, The Detective Story, Fay, In the Heat of the Night, Landlord, Little Miss Marker, Mod Squad, Peyton Place, Shampoo, Valley of the Dolls and Voyage of the Damned) and Academy Award winner (1975), was born on October 31, 1927.

Amanda Sandrelli, Italian actress (The Brave Little Tailor, The Keyand Nirvana), was born on October 31, 1964.

American rock bassist Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne and Ivy) was born on October 31, 1967.

Eduard Franz Schmidt, American actor (Beyond This Place, Breaking Point, Embezzled Heaven, First Stop to Heaven, The Magnificent Yankee, Sins of Jezebel, The Ten Commandments, The Thing from Another Planet, Wake of the Red Witch and Zorro), was born on October 31, 1902.

American comedian and actor Robert Michael (Rob) Schneider (50 First Dates, The Benchwarmers, The Beverly Hillbillies, Big Daddy, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, Down Periscope, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, The Hot Chick, Little Nicky, Men Behaving Badly, Muppets from Space, Necessary Roughness, Saturday Night Live, Surf Ninjas and The Waterboy) was born on October 31, 1963.

Robert Layne (Bob) Siebenberg (Bob C. Benberg), British rock percussionist (Supertramp), was born on October 31, 1949.

American country singer ("Happy Trails to You") and actress Lucille Wood Frances Octavia (Dale Evans) Smith was born on October 31, 1912. Dale Evans was married to cowboy singer Roy Rogers. Onscreen, Dale Evans rode a horse named Buttermilk, while Roy Rogers rode Trigger.

David Ogden Stiers, American actor (The Accidental Tourist, Doc, Harry's War, M*A*S*H, North and South and Oh God), was born on October 31, 1942.

American actor Eddie Kaye Thomas (American Pie, Black and White, Freddy Got Fingered, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Illtown, Off Centre, The Rage: Carrie 2 and 'Til Death) was born on October 31, 1980.

Darryl Worley, American country singer ("Awful Beautiful Life," "Family Tree," "A Good Day to Run," "Have You Forgotten," "I Just Came Back from a War," "I Love Her - She Hates Me," "I Miss My Friend," "I Will Hold My Ground," "If Something Should Happen," "Livin' in the Here and Now," "Nothin' but a Love Thang," "Second Wind," "Sideways," "Tennessee River Run," "Tequila on Ice" and "When You Need My Love"), was born on October 31, 1964.

Ethel Waters, American blues-jazz singer ("Stormy Weather") and actress (Africana, At Home Abroad, Beulah, Blackbirds, Cabin in the Sky, Mamba's Daughters, A Member of the Wedding, Pinky, Rhapsody in Black, Stage Door Canteen and Thousands Cheer), was born on October 31, 1896.

American rapper Robert Matthew (Vanilla Ice) Van Winkle ("Ice - Ice Baby") was born on October 31, 1968.

October 31st Birthdays: Famous Scientists

Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist, electrical engineer and pioneer in alternating current research, was born on October 31, 1847.

British chemist and physicist Sir Joseph Wilson Swan was born on October 31, 1828. He is best remembered as inventor of the incandescent light bulb.

Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer, German organic chemist and Nobel Prize winner (1905), was born on October 31, 1835.

Karl Theodor Wilhelm Weierstrass, German mathematician (Weierstrass Functions), was born on October 31, 1815. Weierstrass has been called "The Father of Modern Mathematical Analysis."

Austrian-British polar explorer and author George Hubert Wilkins (Flying the Arctic) was born on October 31, 1888.

October 31st Birthdays: Famous World (and Other) Leaders

Ferdinand I, King of Portugal, was born on October 31, 1345.

Chinese military leader and Republic of China President Chiang Kai-shek (Chiang Chung-cheng) was born on October 31, 1887.

American activist and Girl Scouts of America founder Juliette (Daisy) Gordon Low was born on October 31, 1860.

Do you know any others who are celebrating birthdays on October 31st?

If you know additional notable people (including yourself) who may be celebrating a birthday on October 31st, please indicate so in a comment below. Thank you!

Happy Birthday, October 31st.

Other Notable Birthdates:

Click here to check other calendar dates for notable birthdates.

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