Celebrity Birthdays - September

Scott Patterson is living proof that grumpy can be charming — as long as you serve coffee with it. Best known as Luke Danes from Gilmore Girls, he perfected the art of glaring at townspeople while secretly being the nicest guy in Stars Hollow. Before becoming TV’s most beloved diner owner, Scott was actually a professional baseball player — meaning he went from throwing curveballs on the mound to throwing sarcastic comments at Lorelai Gilmore. These days, he’s turned that coffee obsession into real life with his own brew, because apparently seven seasons of refilling mugs wasn’t enough.

September 11, 1958, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Trivia

• Was a professional minor-league pitcher.
• Reached the Triple-A level.
• Was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 1980.
• Was traded to the Yankees for Bob Watson.
• Played a pitcher in Little Big League.
• Was Elaine's "sponge-worthy" date on Seinfeld.
• Played Luke Danes in 153 episodes of Gilmore Girls.

Peter Cetera possesses one of those voices that requires very little introduction. A few notes into a classic Chicago ballad and there he is: soaring tenor, unmistakable phrasing, and enough romantic yearning to make an entire 1980s high-school dance suddenly reappear in the memory. As Chicago's longtime bassist and one of its defining lead singers, Cetera helped take the band from adventurous horn-driven rock into enormous pop success before beginning a solo career that produced a fresh collection of hits—including one that taught an entire generation that karate training apparently works much better when accompanied by a power ballad.

September 13, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois

Trivia

• He began his musical life playing accordion.
• He was a member of Chicago-area band The Exceptions.
• Cetera joined Chicago in 1967.
• He sang lead on “25 or 6 to 4.”
• He wrote “If You Leave Me Now.”
• “Glory of Love” earned an Oscar nomination.

Michelle Stafford is the American actress who turned Phyllis Summers into one of daytime television's most enduring troublemakers on The Young and the Restless. Phyllis was originally supposed to be temporary. More than three decades later, Stafford is still causing havoc in Genoa City, which suggests the character may have slightly overstayed her welcome—in the best possible way.

September 14, 1965, in Chicago, Illinois

Trivia

• She modeled in Japan, France and Italy.
• Her first soap role was on Tribes in 1990.
• Phyllis Summers was originally intended as a short-term character.
• She originated Nina Reeves on General Hospital.
• She has won three Daytime Emmy Awards.
• She created and starred in The Stafford Project.

Charlie Weber has spent much of his acting career looking like a perfectly reasonable man who knows considerably more than he is prepared to tell you. Best known as Frank Delfino on How to Get Away with Murder, Weber turned brooding, secrets, questionable decisions and the occasional extremely serious felony into six seasons of compelling television. Before Frank came along, however, Weber had already accumulated an impressive collection of television appearances — apparently preparing himself for the day when Viola Davis would need somebody capable of making a problem disappear.

September 20, 1978, in Jefferson City, Missouri

Trivia

• He studied at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting.
• He modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch.
• He played Ben on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
• He appeared in all three CSI series.
• He voiced Staff Sergeant Dunn in Battlefield 4.

Kelsea Ballerini is the kind of country star who can sing about heartbreak, make you cry into your sweet tea, and then have you dancing barefoot in the kitchen by the next chorus. She’s got the girl-next-door charm of someone who might actually borrow sugar from you — and then turn the story into a chart-topping hit. Whether she’s lighting up the Grand Ole Opry stage, teaming up with pop stars, or dropping brutally honest breakup anthems, Kelsea has a way of making country music feel fresh, fun, and just a little bit mischievous.

September 12, 1993, in Mascot, Tennessee

Trivia

• She wrote her first song as a child.
• She studied at Lipscomb University.
• Her debut single reached No. 1 on Country Airplay.
• Her first three Country Airplay singles reached No. 1.
• She has received multiple Grammy nominations.
• Rolling Up the Welcome Mat also became a short film.

Emma Kenney is the American actress who spent eleven seasons growing up before television audiences as Debbie Gallagher on Shameless, which is certainly one way to ensure that your fictional childhood makes everybody else's look remarkably well organized. Beginning the role when she was still a child, Kenney transformed Debbie from the sweet, resourceful youngest Gallagher daughter into an increasingly complicated young woman dealing with motherhood, relationships, money, work and the general Gallagher family tradition of making questionable decisions with tremendous confidence.

September 14, 1999, in Manhattan, New York City

Trivia

• Emma began performing when she was a child.
• She directed a short film at only nine.
• She became the youngest finalist at the 2009 New Jersey International Film Festival.
• She played Debbie Gallagher in 134 episodes of Shameless.
• She portrayed Harris in both Roseanne and The Conners.
• She provided a voice in the animated film Epic.
• She co-founded the dog rescue Yogi's House.

Brigitte Bardot became so famous that two initials—BB—were enough. The French actress, singer, fashion icon and professional enemy of sensible hairstyles helped redefine screen glamour before doing something Hollywood finds almost incomprehensible: she quit while still famous and spent the rest of her life fighting for animals.

September 28, 1934, in Paris, France

December 28, 2025, in Saint-Tropez, France

Trivia

• She trained as a classical ballerina.
• Roger Vadim was her first husband.
• She helped popularize the bikini internationally.
• Serge Gainsbourg wrote songs for her.
• She retired from acting in 1973.
• She founded her animal foundation in 1986.

Terry Bradshaw has spent more than half a century proving that a fellow can throw footballs for a living, win four Super Bowls, enter the Hall of Fame and then begin an entirely new career being cheerfully unpredictable on television. Long before he became the laughing, wisecracking voice of FOX NFL Sunday, Bradshaw possessed one of the strongest arms in professional football — although getting Pittsburgh fans to appreciate it initially required rather more persuasion than four Lombardi Trophies might suggest.

September 2, 1948, in Shreveport, Louisiana

Trivia

• He played his entire NFL career with the Steelers.
• Bradshaw won four Super Bowls.
• He earned two Super Bowl MVP awards.
• He was the NFL MVP for the 1978 season.
• He entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989.
• He joined FOX NFL Sunday in 1994.

Paul Walker wasn’t just the guy behind the wheel — he was the guy with a big grin, a bigger heart, and a knack for making high-speed chases feel like family reunions. He made street racing cool, brotherhood emotional, and blue eyes practically a co-star. Whether he was outrunning helicopters on screen, surfing a perfect wave, or quietly funding disaster relief, Paul lived like every day mattered — and made the rest of us want to live that way too.

September 12, 1973, in Glendale, California

November 30, 2013, in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California

Trivia

• He began acting and modeling as a child.
• He studied marine biology.
• Walker was an enthusiastic surfer.
• He participated in research involving great white sharks.
• He described himself as a serious "gearhead."
• He founded Reach Out WorldWide after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Johnny Mathis has spent decades singing about romance in a voice so smooth that merely playing one of his records has probably resulted in engagements, marriages and at least a few people wondering why somebody suddenly dimmed the lights.

September 30, 1935, in Gilmer, Texas

Trivia

• He was an outstanding collegiate high jumper.
• He signed with Columbia Records in the 1950s.
• “Chances Are” reached No. 1 in 1957.
• Johnny's Greatest Hits charted for 490 consecutive weeks.
• “Misty” became one of his signature recordings.
• He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Foxy Brown arrived in hip-hop while she was still a teenager and promptly behaved as though the microphone had been waiting for her all along. With a deep, commanding voice, fearless lyrics and enough confidence to power half of Brooklyn, Foxy became one of the defining female rappers of the 1990s and helped open doors that later generations of women in hip-hop would kick considerably wider.

September 6, 1976, in Brooklyn, New York

Trivia

• Her stage name was inspired by the 1974 film Foxy Brown.
• She appeared on LL Cool J's “I Shot Ya” remix.
• Her debut album was Ill Na Na.
• She was a member of hip-hop supergroup The Firm.
• Foxy suffered serious hearing loss during the 2000s.

Kevin Sorbo became television’s Hercules by battling monsters, gods and an impressive quantity of New Zealand scenery before swapping ancient Greece for outer space in Andromeda. Apparently, once you have played a demigod, commanding a starship is simply sensible career progression.

September 24, 1958, in Mound, Minnesota

Trivia

• Sorbo appeared in more than 150 commercials.
• He was considered for TV's Superman.
• He directed episodes of Hercules.
• He starred in all five seasons of Andromeda.
• He played Kull in Kull the Conqueror.
• He met future wife Sam on Hercules.

Kelly McCreary spent nearly a decade playing one of television's most accomplished cardiothoracic surgeons on Grey's Anatomy, which meant mastering complicated medical dialogue while surrounded by romantic catastrophes, family revelations and enough hospital emergencies to make a sensible person consider changing careers. As Dr. Maggie Pierce, McCreary became an important member of the Grey Sloan Memorial family and eventually one of the longest-serving performers in a television drama famous for making sure nobody's personal life remains uncomplicated for very long.

September 29, 1981, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Trivia

• She attended Barnard College.
• She trained extensively in theater.
• Maggie Pierce first appeared in 2014.
• McCreary spent nine seasons as a Grey's regular.
• She also played Maggie on Station 19.
• She met husband Pete Chatmon through Grey's Anatomy.

Stephen King has spent decades proving that absolutely anything can become terrifying if you describe it properly. Hotels, clowns, cars, dogs, prom nights, cornfields and apparently even writers themselves are all fair game. Behind the nightmares, however, is one of America's most prolific storytellers, an author whose characters and distinctly ordinary settings have helped turn books such as Carrie, The Shining, Misery and It into landmarks of popular culture.

September 21, 1947, in Portland, Maine

Trivia

• Carrie was his first published novel.
• Tabitha King rescued the early pages of Carrie from the trash.
• He taught high-school English before writing full-time.
• He published several novels as Richard Bachman.
• Maine provides the setting for many of his stories.
• The Shawshank Redemption originated from a King novella.

Lily Tomlin has spent more than sixty years proving that one woman can play a telephone operator, a bratty five-year-old, a philosophical bag lady, a country singer, a secretary plotting against her boss and a free-spirited septuagenarian—and somehow make every one of them believable. Armed with impeccable timing and one of comedy's most expressive faces, she has made being delightfully peculiar into a very distinguished profession.

September 1, 1939, in Detroit, Michigan

Trivia

• Lily originally planned to study medicine.
• She joined Laugh-In in 1969.
• Ernestine earned her a Grammy Award.
• Her first film earned an Oscar nomination.
• She voiced Ms. Frizzle on The Magic School Bus.
• She married Jane Wagner in 2013.

Danielle Brooks has the sort of presence that makes it difficult to imagine her ever being overlooked. From the funny, fiercely loyal Taystee in Orange Is the New Black to the formidable Sofia in The Color Purple, Brooks has moved between television, Broadway and film with enough awards and nominations following behind to require additional luggage. She even played Sofia twice — apparently one acclaimed performance simply wasn't enough.

September 17, 1989, in Augusta, Georgia

Trivia

• Taystee was her breakthrough role in Orange Is the New Black.
• Sofia marked her Broadway debut.
• Her Broadway Sofia earned a Tony nomination.
• Her film Sofia earned an Oscar nomination.
• She portrayed gospel legend Mahalia Jackson.
• She co-founded Black Women on Broadway.

Larenz Tate is an American actor who can make a character charming, dangerous, or thoroughly untrustworthy with little more than a change of expression. From the unforgettable O-Dog in Menace II Society to the ambitious Rashad Tate in Power, he has built a career playing men who are rarely short of confidence and occasionally short of good judgment. Fortunately, the actor himself has made considerably better career decisions than many of his characters.

September 8, 1975, in Chicago, Illinois

Trivia

• He is the youngest of three acting brothers.
• His brothers are Larron and Lahmard Tate.
• He made his television debut in 1985.
• The Hughes brothers initially doubted his casting as O-Dog.
• He played poet Darius Lovehall in Love Jones.
• He portrayed Quincy Jones in Ray.
• He played twin brothers in Gun Hill.

Constance Marie is the American actress who made Angie Lopez the steady hand in a household where George Lopez could turn an ordinary family problem into a full-scale comedy emergency. Best known for George Lopez, Switched at Birth, and Selena, she has built a career playing strong, memorable women with warmth, humor, and a healthy tolerance for other people’s nonsense. Fortunately, her acting career has involved considerably fewer actual family emergencies than her television characters have had to endure.

September 9, 1965, in East Los Angeles, California

Trivia

• Grew up in East Los Angeles.
• Danced on David Bowie’s Glass Spider Tour.
• Played Penny in the television version of Dirty Dancing.
• Portrayed Selena’s mother in the 1997 film.
• Won an Imagen Award for George Lopez.
• Learned sign language for Switched at Birth.
• Voiced Doña Paloma in Elena of Avalor.

Christina Milian apparently looked at the traditional idea of choosing one career and decided it seemed unnecessarily restrictive. Singer, songwriter, actress, television personality and entrepreneur have all appeared on her résumé, while "AM to PM" provided the perfect title for someone who seems perfectly willing to work both.

September 26, 1981, in Jersey City, New Jersey

Trivia

• She is of Cuban heritage.
• "AM to PM" became her breakthrough hit.
• She co-wrote Jennifer Lopez's "Play."
• "Dip It Low" earned Grammy recognition.
• She competed on Dancing with the Stars.
• She has starred in several Netflix romances.

Harriet Walter spent decades mastering Shakespeare before television discovered that nobody delivers aristocratic disapproval quite like a Dame. From Succession and Ted Lasso to The Crown, she can reduce a room to nervous silence without the vulgar necessity of raising her voice.

September 24, 1950, in London, England

Trivia

• She trained at LAMDA.
• Sir Christopher Lee was her uncle.
• Walter won an Olivier for her RSC work.
• She played Brutus in an all-female Julius Caesar.
• She earned a Tony nomination for Mary Stuart.
• Walter became a Dame in 2011.
• She has received five Emmy nominations.

Evan Rachel Wood celebrates her birthday on September 7, and the Thirteen and Westworld actress has spent much of her career choosing characters for whom an ordinary day would be a welcome novelty. From troubled teenagers and Wild West androids to queens, wrestlers and Beatles-inspired musicals, Wood has rarely taken the uncomplicated route.

September 7, 1987, in Raleigh, North Carolina

Trivia

• She began acting professionally as a child.
• Thirteen earned her a Golden Globe nomination.
• She performed her own vocals in Across the Universe.
• She played a vampire queen in True Blood.
• Dolores made her a Westworld star.
• She voiced Queen Iduna in Frozen II.
• She has testified before the U.S. Congress.