Celebrity Birthdays - August

Ashley Jensen is the TV friend you didn’t know you needed—the one who’ll help you through a crisis, make you laugh about it, and then accidentally start a whole new mess just to keep life interesting.

August 11, 1969, in Annan, Scotland

Trivia

• Breakout Role: Maggie in Extras (2005–2007).
• Stateside Success: Christina in Ugly Betty.
• Holiday Favorite: Voice of Bryony in Arthur Christmas.
• Mystery Maven: Star of Agatha Raisin.
• Scottish Roots: Born and raised in Annan, Dumfriesshire.

Van Morrison has spent more than six decades proving that a singer does not need choreography, pyrotechnics or twelve costume changes to command attention. Give him a microphone, a saxophone and a decent rhythm section and “Van the Man” will take it from there—although whether he intends to explain what he is doing is another matter entirely.

August 31, 1945, in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Trivia

• Fans frequently call him “Van the Man.”
• He played saxophone, guitar and harmonica as a teenager.
• Morrison fronted the Belfast band Them.
• He wrote the rock standard “Gloria.”
• “Brown Eyed Girl” became a U.S. Top 10 hit in 1967.
• He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Chris Tucker turned a lightning-fast delivery, a remarkably elastic voice and enough nervous energy to power a small city into one of the most recognizable comedy careers of the 1990s. From the permanently unemployed Smokey in Friday to Detective James Carter in Rush Hour, Tucker mastered the art of entering a perfectly manageable situation and making it considerably louder within seconds.

August 31, 1971, in Atlanta, Georgia

Trivia

• Tucker grew up in Decatur, Georgia.
• He is the youngest of six children.
• Def Comedy Jam helped launch his career.
• He played Smokey in Friday.
• Ruby Rhod appeared in The Fifth Element.
• Jackie Chan became his Rush Hour partner.
• He appeared in Michael Jackson's “You Rock My World” video.

 Viola Davis doesn’t just play a role — she takes it, owns it, and dares you to look away. If she ever played you in a movie, you’d probably learn something about yourself you didn’t want to know… but you’d thank her anyway.

August 11, 1965, in St. Matthews, South Carolina

Trivia

• Triple Crown Winner: Oscar, Emmy, and Tony Awards.
• Oscar Win: Fences (2016).
• Historic Emmy: First Black woman to win Lead Actress in a Drama (HTGAWM).
• Stage Roots: Two Tony Awards for King Hedley II and Fences.
• Author: Penned her memoir, "Finding Me."

Jennifer Coolidge has spent decades proving that you don't need to be the leading lady to walk away with the movie. Give her three minutes, an outrageous outfit and a few lines of dialogue, and there is an excellent chance nobody remembers what the leading lady was doing anyway.

August 28, 1961, in Boston, Massachusetts

Trivia

• Studied theater at Emerson College.
• Trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
• Was a member of The Groundlings.
• Made an early TV appearance on Seinfeld.
• Mike White wrote Tanya with Coolidge in mind.
• Her New Orleans home was used in The Beguiled.
• She has won two Primetime Emmy Awards.

Usain Bolt holds the world records for both the 100 and 200 meters, won eight Olympic gold medals and occasionally started celebrating before crossing the finish line—which is normally considered showing off unless you happen to be several yards ahead of the fastest people on Earth. At 6 feet 5 inches and capable of approaching 28 miles per hour, “Lightning Bolt” made sprinting look suspiciously as though somebody had accidentally pressed fast-forward.

August 21, 1986, in Sherwood Content, Jamaica

Trivia

• At 15, he became the youngest world junior 200-meter champion at the time.
• His 9.58-second 100-meter world record, set in Berlin in 2009, still stands.
• Bolt also holds the 200-meter world record of 19.19 seconds.
• He won the Olympic 100 and 200 meters at three consecutive Games—Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016.
• Bolt officially owns eight Olympic gold medals after Jamaica's 2008 relay title was later revoked.
• After retiring from athletics, he pursued his longtime interest in professional soccer and scored twice while playing for Australia's Central Coast Mariners.

Rudolf Schenker co-founded Scorpions, plays the sort of rhythm guitar capable of rearranging nearby furniture, and has spent more than half a century helping turn a German band into an international rock institution. If you've ever attempted an air-guitar performance of “Rock You Like a Hurricane,” Rudolf deserves at least part of the blame.

August 31, 1948, in Hildesheim, West Germany

Trivia

• He founded Scorpions in 1965.
• Michael Schenker is his younger brother.
• Rudolf primarily plays rhythm guitar.
• He is strongly associated with Flying V guitars.
• He co-wrote “Rock You Like a Hurricane.”
• He has occasionally sung lead vocals.
• Scorpions once announced—and abandoned—their retirement.

Most people celebrate finishing one home improvement project by sitting down with a cup of coffee. Martha Stewart celebrates by reorganizing the pantry, planting a vegetable garden, baking a pie, arranging fresh flowers, and somehow making it all look effortless before lunchtime. She has built an empire by convincing millions that folding a napkin beautifully is a perfectly reasonable life goal—and, somehow, she's made it fun.

August 3, 1941, in Jersey City, New Jersey

Trivia

• Graduated from Barnard College.
• Worked as a successful Wall Street stockbroker.
• Started her own catering business before becoming famous.
• Published her bestselling cookbook Entertaining in 1982.
• Founded Martha Stewart Living magazine in 1990.
• Created Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
• Has written dozens of bestselling books.
• Hosted numerous cooking and lifestyle television series.
• Enjoys gardening and maintains extensive gardens at her homes.
• Became the first self-made female billionaire in the United States according to Forbes.

Evanna Lynch somehow managed to walk into the Harry Potter universe looking as though she had already been living there for years and had merely popped out to Ireland for a sandwich. With her soft-spoken delivery, wonderfully unconventional presence, and ability to make Luna Lovegood seem perfectly sensible while everyone else looked confused, Lynch created one of the franchise's most memorable characters. More impressively, she won the role after competing against thousands of hopeful actresses, proving that sometimes showing up to an enormous open audition really does work. Please don't tell every aspiring actor this or casting directors will never forgive us.

August 16, 1991, in Termonfeckin, Ireland

Trivia

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was her professional film debut.
• Lynch personally made the radish earrings worn by Luna in Order of the Phoenix.
• J.K. Rowling gave Lynch a necklace featuring a hare and moon; Luna's Patronus is a hare.
• She played Luna Lovegood in four Harry Potter films and also voiced the character in tie-in video games.
• Lynch reached the final of Dancing with the Stars Season 27 and finished in third place.
• Her performance in My Name Is Emily earned her an Irish Film & Television Academy Best Actress nomination.

Patrick Swayze could dance ballet, ride horses, handle an action scene, sing a hit song and convince an entire generation that carrying a watermelon was a perfectly reasonable way to arrive at a party. From Dirty Dancing and Ghost to Road House and Point Break, Swayze combined the toughness of an action star with the grace of a professional dancer and an unusually convincing sensitive side. Hollywood has produced plenty of tough guys and plenty of romantic leading men, but very few could throw somebody through a window and then perform a perfectly respectable pirouette.

August 18, 1952, in Houston, Texas

September 14, 2009, in Los Angeles, California

Trivia

• His mother, Patsy Swayze, was a dancer, choreographer and dance instructor who taught him from an early age.
• Swayze trained at both the Harkness Ballet School and Joffrey Ballet School in New York.
• One of his earliest professional jobs was playing Prince Charming in Disney on Parade.
• He co-wrote and sang "She's Like the Wind," which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Swayze received three Golden Globe acting nominations, for Dirty Dancing, Ghost and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.
• IMDb credits him with 51 acting credits as well as soundtrack, choreography and producing work.
• He and Lisa Niemi were married for more than 34 years, remaining together until his death in 2009.

Robert De Niro has spent more than half a century playing gangsters, boxers, cab drivers, criminals, fathers, grandfathers and men you should absolutely not ask whether they are talking to you. One of cinema's most celebrated actors, he helped make intense preparation and complete immersion in a character practically part of the job description. Then, just when audiences had decided that nobody could glare more convincingly, De Niro wandered into comedy and started terrorizing Ben Stiller over the dinner table. Apparently, even legendary actors occasionally need to discuss whether someone can milk a cat.

August 17, 1943, in New York City

Trivia

• His first stage role was the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz when he was about 10 years old.
• He learned Sicilian dialogue to portray young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II.
• De Niro reportedly drove a New York taxi while preparing to play Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver.
• He trained seriously as a boxer for Raging Bull and then gained substantial weight to portray the older Jake LaMotta.
• De Niro and Marlon Brando both won Oscars for portraying Vito Corleone at different ages.
• He made his feature-film directing debut with A Bronx Tale in 1993.

Annie Oakley became one of the most famous sharpshooters in American history without carrying herself like the swaggering gunslinger Hollywood would later associate with the Old West. She was small, modestly dressed, remarkably disciplined and capable of performing feats with a firearm that left audiences wondering whether somebody ought to check the laws of physics.

August 13, 1860, in Darke County, Ohio

Greenville, Ohio, on November 3, 1926

Trivia

• Oakley joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West in 1885.
• Sitting Bull called her "Little Sure Shot."
• She performed for audiences throughout the United States and Europe.
• She appeared during Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee celebrations.
• Oakley could shoot targets while using a mirror.
• She famously shot playing cards.
• Shooting cigarettes from a person's mouth became one of her exhibition tricks.
• She encouraged women to learn marksmanship.

Hollywood has plenty of leading men, but every great movie also needs that one actor who quietly walks into a scene, steals it without raising his voice, and leaves everyone wondering, "Wait... I've seen him in everything!" That actor is John Carroll Lynch. Whether he's playing a kind-hearted husband, a determined detective, or someone who makes you double-check that your front door is locked, he has a remarkable talent for making every character memorable.

August 1, 1963, in Boulder, Colorado

Trivia

• Studied theater at The Catholic University of America.
• Performed for nearly a decade with the Guthrie Theater.
• Played Norm Gunderson in the Oscar-winning Fargo.
• Portrayed Arthur Leigh Allen in David Fincher's Zodiac.
• Played the chilling Twisty the Clown in American Horror Story: Freak Show.
• Made his feature directorial debut with Lucky (2017).
• Has appeared in more than 150 film and television productions.
• Is widely regarded as one of Hollywood's finest character actors.
• Frequently works across drama, comedy, thriller, and horror genres.
• Is known for disappearing completely into his roles.

Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in one NBA game, grabbed 55 rebounds in another and once averaged 48.5 minutes per game in a sport where regulation games last 48 minutes. At some point you stop describing those numbers as impressive and begin wondering whether Wilt had been informed that basketball records were supposed to be difficult to break.

August 21, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

October 12, 1999, in Bel-Air, California

Trivia

• Chamberlain stood 7 feet 1 inch tall and was an accomplished track-and-field athlete as well as a basketball player.
• He spent a season with the Harlem Globetrotters before entering the NBA.
• As a rookie, he won both NBA Rookie of the Year and league MVP.
• Chamberlain scored 100 points against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962, a record that still stands.
• During the 1961–62 season, he averaged an almost unbelievable 50.4 points and 48.5 minutes per game.
• His 55 rebounds in a single game remain another NBA record.
• After years of dominating as a scorer, Chamberlain led the NBA in total assists in 1967–68.
• He retired with 23,924 rebounds, still the highest career total in NBA history.

Melissa Fumero proved that obsessive organization, color-coded binders and an almost alarming enthusiasm for office supplies can indeed be the foundations of great television comedy. As Amy Santiago on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Fumero transformed an ambitious, rule-following NYPD detective into one of the show's funniest and most lovable characters. Amy wanted promotions, respected authority, adored paperwork and regarded a properly organized binder with the enthusiasm most people reserve for winning the lottery.

August 19, 1982, in Lyndhurst, New Jersey

Trivia

• Fumero graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama before beginning her professional television career.
• Her first professional television role was Adriana Cramer on One Life to Live in 2004.
• She met her future husband, David Fumero, through One Life to Live, where he played Cristian Vega.
• Fumero played Amy Santiago in 153 episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine from 2013 through 2021.
• She was part of the Brooklyn Nine-Nine cast nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
• Fumero won the 2022 Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress – Comedy for Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Geri Halliwell didn’t just kick down the door of pop stardom—she high-kicked it in platform boots and left glitter in the hinges. She could turn a tea towel into a fashion statement, a catchphrase into a movement, and a cheeky wink into a cultural reset. If confidence were a currency, Geri would’ve been funding Spice Girl world domination before breakfast.

August 6, 1972, in Watford, England

Trivia

• DIY Icon: The infamous Union Jack dress? It was a black Gucci dress customized with a tea towel. British resourcefulness at its finest.
• Writer at Heart: Geri has published multiple books, including a best-selling autobiography and a children’s series called Ugenia Lavender.
• Comeback Queen: She reunited with the Spice Girls for several tours, proving you can zig-a-zig-ah twice.
• Titles & Tiaras: Now known as Geri Horner, she’s married to Formula 1 racing boss Christian Horner and lives a charming countryside life—less "Spice World," more Pride & Prejudice… with horsepower.

Jennifer Lawrence became one of Hollywood's biggest stars by combining serious dramatic talent with the remarkable ability to behave as though being a movie star is slightly ridiculous. She has battled dystopian governments, played a shape-shifting mutant, collected an Academy Award, worked with some of Hollywood's most respected directors and tripped on the stairs while going to accept the biggest prize in acting. Most people would prefer that last part be forgotten. Lawrence turned it into another reason audiences liked her.

August 15, 1990, in Indian Hills, Kentucky

Trivia

• She did not attend drama school before beginning her professional acting career.
• She received her first Academy Award nomination at age 20 for Winter's Bone.
• Lawrence won Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook when she was 22.
• She famously tripped on the stairs while going to accept that Oscar.
• She received four Academy Award acting nominations by the age of 25.
• Lawrence played Mystique in four X-Men films.
• She trained extensively in archery for her role as Katniss Everdeen.

Joanna García is like that friend who shows up with a casserole when you’re sick, remembers everyone’s birthday, and still somehow manages to look like she’s on the set of a Hallmark movie. She’s the on-screen neighbor you’d trust with your spare house key—and, let’s be honest, she’d probably bring it back with cookies.

August 10, 1979, in Tampa, Florida

Trivia

• Hometown Pride: Born and raised in Tampa, Florida.
• Disney Connection: Appeared in the 2001 Disney Channel movie Motocrossed.
• Fairy-Tale Turn: Played Ariel (yes, that Ariel) in Once Upon a Time.
• Magnolia Magic: Sweet Magnolias became one of Netflix’s comfort-watch hits during the pandemic.

Robert Plant possesses one of those voices that requires very little introduction. A few seconds of “Whole Lotta Love,” “Black Dog,” or “Immigrant Song” and anyone within reasonable earshot knows exactly who has arrived. As the towering voice of Led Zeppelin, Plant helped redefine what a rock singer could sound like, while the years since Zeppelin have shown that he was never interested in spending the rest of his life simply polishing old trophies. More than half a century later, he remains musically curious, occasionally unpredictable, and quite capable of reminding younger singers who helped write the instruction manual.

August 20, 1948, in West Bromwich, England,

Trivia

• Before pursuing music professionally, he briefly trained to become a chartered accountant.
• Plant recommended his friend John Bonham when Jimmy Page was looking for a drummer for the band that became Led Zeppelin.
• His fascination with J.R.R. Tolkien influenced lyrics in several Led Zeppelin songs.
• Plant wrote the lyrics to “Stairway to Heaven,” while Jimmy Page composed the music.
• Led Zeppelin was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
• Plant and Alison Krauss won Album of the Year at the 2009 Grammys for Raising Sand.
• He was appointed a CBE for services to music in 2009.

Bob Balaban has spent more than half a century perfecting the art of appearing completely reasonable while surrounded by people who have clearly lost control of the situation. Whether navigating Christopher Guest's wonderfully peculiar world in A Mighty Wind, joining the enormous ensemble of Gosford Park, or calmly investigating extraterrestrial musical communication in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Balaban has become one of Hollywood's great "Oh, I know that guy!" actors — which, after hundreds of performances, is practically an honorary title.

August 16, 1945, in Chicago, Illinois

Trivia

• Balaban made his Broadway debut in the original 1968 production of Neil Simon's Plaza Suite.
• He appeared in the 1969 Academy Award-winning film Midnight Cowboy early in his screen career.
• In Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Balaban played interpreter and cartographer David Laughlin alongside real-life French director François Truffaut.
• Balaban played fictional NBC president Russell Dalrymple in several memorable episodes of Seinfeld.
• He received an Academy Award nomination as one of the producers of Gosford Park.
• In addition to acting and directing, Balaban wrote the McGrowl series of children's books about a bionic dog.

Ryan Eggold is the kind of TV doctor who makes you wish your next check-up came with dramatic lighting and background music. Whether he’s delivering a heartfelt speech to save the hospital or staring down danger with perfect stubble, he has that rare TV magic that makes you think, “Yep… I’d trust this guy with my life—and my Netflix queue.”

August 10, 1984, in Lakewood, California

Trivia

• Triple Threat: Actor, writer, and director.
• Music Man: Plays guitar and piano, and has been in bands.
• Blacklist Mystery: His Blacklist character had one of the show’s most unpredictable arcs.
• Indie Spirit: Wrote, directed, and starred in the indie film Literally, Right Before Aaron (2017).