Purple Rain 1984 premiere

1. Prince

Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Mattie Shaw, a jazz singer and social worker, and John L. Nelson, a lyricist and pianist. His father's stage name was "Prince Rogers". His parents were both from African-American families from Louisiana. They separated during his youth, ...

2. Steven Spielberg

Producer | Schindler's List

One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...

3. Eddie Murphy

Actor | The Nutty Professor

Edward Regan Murphy was born April 3, 1961 in Brooklyn, New York, to Lillian Lynch (born: Lillian Laney), a telephone operator, and Charles Edward Murphy, a transit police officer who was also an amateur comedian and actor. After his father died, his mother married Vernon Lynch, a foreman at a ...

4. Christopher Reeve

Actor | Superman

Christopher D'Olier Reeve was born September 25, 1952, in New York City, to journalist Barbara Johnson (née Barbara Pitney Lamb) and writer/professor F.D. Reeve (Franklin D'Olier Reeve). He came from an upper-class family; his paternal grandfather was CEO of Prudential Financial, and one of his ...

5. John Mellencamp

Soundtrack | The Perfect Storm

John Mellencamp was born on October 7, 1951 in Seymour, Indiana, USA. He is a music artist and actor, known for The Perfect Storm (2000), Colors (1988) and Footloose (1984). He was previously married to Elaine Irwin, Victoria Granucci and Priscilla Diane Esterline.

6. Devo

Soundtrack | The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Devo is known for The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), Tank Girl (1995) and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1995).

7. Quiet Riot

Soundtrack | Babylon A.D.

Quiet Riot is known for Babylon A.D. (2008), Crank (2006) and Rock of Ages (2012).

8. Kevin Bacon

Actor | Footloose

Kevin Norwood Bacon was born on July 8, 1958 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Ruth Hilda (Holmes), an elementary school teacher, and Edmund Norwood Bacon, a prominent architect who was on the cover of Time Magazine in November 1964.

Kevin's early training as an actor came from The Manning Street. ...

9. Rickie Lee Jones

Soundtrack | Jerry Maguire

Rickie Lee Jones was born on November 8, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Jerry Maguire (1996), The King of Comedy (1982) and Friends with Money (2006).

10. Stevie Nicks

Soundtrack | Sweet November

Stevie Nicks was born in Phoenix, Arizona. From an early age, she showed a love and aptitude for music, singing country and western duets with her grandfather when she was 4 years old. After moving to San Francisco, she began songwriting and performing at Menlo-Atherton High School, where she met ...

11. Lionel Richie

Soundtrack | The Color Purple

Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and television judge. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recording the hit singles "Easy", "Sail On", "Three Times a Lady" and "Still",...

12. David Byrne

Soundtrack | True Stories

David Byrne is an Oscar winning composer, songwriter and singer, best known for being frontman of the New Wave/punk band Talking Heads, which was active between 1975 and 1991. Born in Scotland but raised in the United States in Maryland, Byrne began performing musically in high school.

Byrne ...

13. Debbie Allen

Producer | Fame

Deborah Kaye Allen was born in Houston, Texas, to African-American parents, Vivian Elizabeth (Ayers), a poet and art director, and Andrew Arthur Allen, an orthodontist. As a child, Debbie, her older brother, Andrew (called Tex), and her older sister, actress Phylicia Rashad, lived in Mexico to ...

14. Morgan Fairchild

Actress | Friends

This elegant lady has defined the television version of the rich, sophisticated businesswoman who knows what she wants, and will do whatever it takes to get it. She was born Patsy Ann McClenny on February 3, 1950 in Dallas, Texas. She began acting as a child, when her mother enrolled her in drama ...

15. Paul Reubens

Actor | Pee-wee's Playhouse

Paul Reubens was born Paul Rubenfeld on August 27, 1952 in Peekskill, New York, to Judy (Rosen), a teacher, and Milton Rubenfeld, a car salesman who had flown for the air forces of the U.S., U.K., and Israel, becoming one of the latter country's pioneering pilots. Paul grew up in Sarasota, Florida,...

Patricia Apollonia Kotero was born on August 2, 1959 in Santa Monica, California, to Mexican parents, Maria Socorro Torres, a caregiver, and Victor Manuel Kotero, a restaurant manager. She initially pursued fame and fortune via work as an actress, singer and model. After winning the Miss San Pedro ...

19. Donna Mills

Actress | Knots Landing

Blonde, buoyant Donna Mills began acting in local amateur and professional productions in her home town of Chicago. Donna made her Broadway bow as a harem girl in Woody Allen's play "Don't Drink the Water," then played recurring roles on the Manhattan-based TV soap operas The Secret Storm (1954) ...

20. Lisa Hartman

Actress | Tabitha

Lisa Hartman is an American actress and singer from Houston, Texas. Her best known role was playing the protagonist Tabitha Stephens in the short-lived fantasy sitcom "Tabitha" (1977-1978). Her character was depicted as a young witch who worked as a production assistant in a television station. ...

21. Paul Stanley

Soundtrack | Moulin Rouge!

Paul Stanley is the charismatic front man/lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist/songwriter for hard rock super group KISS, best known for his wailing vocals, high-energy on-stage antics and appeal to female fans. Born Stanley Eisen on January 20, 1952, in Queens, New York, Stanley took a keen interest in ...

22. Cole Hartman

23. Kate Capshaw

Actress | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Kate Capshaw was born Kathleen Sue Nail in Fort Worth, Texas, to Beverley Sue (Simon), a beautician and travel agent, and Edwin Leon Nail, an airline employee. Capshaw worked as a teacher with an MA in Learning Disabilities. Her desire to be an actress led her to New York where she landed a role on...

24. Armyan Bernstein

Producer | The Hurricane

Armyan Bernstein was born on August 12, 1947 in the USA. He is a producer and writer, known for The Hurricane (1999), Open Range (2003) and Children of Men (2006). He is married to Christine Meleo.

25. Craig Denault

Camera_department | Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Craig Denault was born on December 22, 1946 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Thief (1981) and Stand by Me (1986). He died on April 19, 1994 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

26. Lindsey Buckingham

Soundtrack | Back to the Future

Lindsey Buckingham was born on October 3, 1949 in Palo Alto, California, USA. He is a music artist and actor, known for Back to the Future (1985), Twister (1996) and Vacation (1983). He has been married to Kristen Leigh Messner since February 15, 2000. They have three children.

27. Todd Bridges

Actor | Diff'rent Strokes

Actor Todd Bridges has seen and done it all. Todd has lived and worked amongst some of the most famous and influential individuals in the world. For over twenty-five years, he has victoriously survived a rapidly changing business. He experienced his second rise to fame, as "Juice" on The Young and ...

28. 'Weird Al' Yankovic

Soundtrack | UHF

Few would have guessed that "Weird Al" Yankovic - who as a shy, accordion-playing teenager got his start sending in homemade tapes to the Dr. Demento Radio Show - would go on to become a pop culture icon and the biggest-selling comedy recording artist of all time, with classic song and music video ...

29. Carlos Cavazo

Soundtrack | Babylon A.D.

Carlos Cavazo was born on July 8, 1957 in Anaheim Hills, California, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for Babylon A.D. (2008), Footloose (1984) and Footloose (2011).

30. Rudy Sarzo

Soundtrack | Office Christmas Party

Rudy Sarzo was born on November 18, 1950 in Cuba. He is an actor, known for Office Christmas Party (2016), A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989) and Quiet Riot: Metal Health - Bang Your Head (1983). He has been married to Rebecca Garrard since June 24, 1984.

31. Robbie Robertson

Music_department | Killers of the Flower Moon

Robbie Robertson was born on July 5, 1943 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was a music artist and actor, known for Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and Ladder 49 (2004). He was married to Janet Zuccarini and Dominique Robertson. He died on August 9, 2023 in Los ...

32. Melissa Manchester

Soundtrack | The Great Mouse Detective

Melissa Manchester attended the Manhattan School of Music and Arts, where she learned to play the piano and the harpsichord. Her father is a bassoon player in the New York Metropolitan Opera orchestra. In the early 1970s, Melissa studied songwriting at New York University School of the Arts in New ...

33. Harold Ramis

Writer | Ghostbusters

Born on November 21, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois, Harold Allen Ramis got his start in comedy as Playboy magazine's joke editor and reviewer. In 1969, he joined Chicago's Second City's Improvisational Theatre Troupe before moving to New York to help write and perform in "The National Lampoon Show" ...

34. Robert Mothersbaugh

Soundtrack | The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Robert Mothersbaugh was born on August 11, 1952 in Akron, Ohio, USA. He is a composer and actor, known for The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), Sky High (2005) and Heavy Metal (1981). He is married to Alison Martinello. They have two children. He was previously married to Maria Linda Borisoff.

35. Mark Mothersbaugh

Composer | Thor: Ragnarok

Graduate of Woodridge High School in Peninsula, Ohio.

Attended Kent State University (1970-73) in Kent, Ohio, to focus on attaining an art degree. While at Kent State Mothersbaugh met Jerry Casale and Bob Lewis, who ultimately joined him in forming the 1970-80s avant-garde band Devo.

Awarded an ...

36. Gerald Casale

Soundtrack | Tank Girl

Gerald Casale was born on July 28, 1948 in Ravenna, Ohio, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for Tank Girl (1995), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1995) and Casino (1995). He has been married to Krista Napp since September 11, 2015.

37. Little Richard

Actor | Last Action Hero

Richard Wayne Penniman, better known as Little Richard, the self-proclaimed "Architect of Rock 'n' Roll", traveled in his early days with the legendary vaudeville star Spencer "Snake" Anthony. One of Richard's early bands had the young, then unknown singer James Brown (the Godfather of Soul), a ...

38. Martha Davis

Soundtrack | Mr. Church

Martha Davis was born on January 19, 1951 in Berkeley, California, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Mr. Church (2016), Death Warrant (1990) and Something Wild (1986). She was previously married to Ronald Francis Paschall.

39. Jayne Kennedy

Actress | Body and Soul

Jayne Kennedy (born Jane Harrison on October 27, 1951 in Washington, D.C.) is an American actress, model and sportscaster.

Jayne was crowned Miss Ohio USA 1970 (she was the first African American woman to win the title), and was one of the 10 semi-finalists in the 1970 Miss USA pageant. It was rare ...

40. Christopher Cross

Soundtrack | Arthur

Singer/songwriter Christopher Cross was born Christopher Charles Geppert on May 3, 1951 in San Antonio, Texas. A self-described Army brat, Christopher's father was a U.S. Army pediatrician who was stationed at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. in the mid-1950s. Cross began his career in the ...

41. Dez Dickerson

Actor | Purple Rain

Dez Dickerson was born on August 7, 1955 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for Purple Rain (1984), Soul Music Festival: Part 5 (1999) and Vanity 6: He's So Dull (1982). He was previously married to Rebecca.