Celebrity Birthdays in January
A look at the famous on the day they were born, including Dolly Parton, Nicolas Cage
AARP Members Only Access, January 2023
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PHOTO BY: Jim Bennett/WireImage/Getty Images
Jan. 31: Nolan Ryan, 76
With an astounding 27 seasons under his belt, pitcher Nolan Ryan, 76, tied the record for the longest career in MLB history. Just how long is that? His professional career started during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration and ended during the first year of Bill Clinton’s. Born on Jan. 31, 1947, in Refugio, Texas, Ryan racked up a series of impressive records, including the most no-hitters (seven) and the most strikeouts (5,714) of all time. He played for so many seasons, in fact, that he has the unique distinction of having struck out seven father-son combinations. Nicknamed the Ryan Express, he was known — and feared — for his ferocious fastball, with National League MVP Dale Murphy once calling him “the only pitcher you start thinking about two days before you face him.” Ryan retired in 1993, and by 1999, he sailed into the Baseball Hall of Fame with 98.8 percent of the vote. But he couldn’t stay away from the sport for long: Ryan served as the president and then CEO of the Texas Rangers, before joining the Houston Astros as an executive adviser, a position he held until 2019. Last year, Ryan was the subject of the documentary Facing Nolan, much of which is told from the point of view of the hitters who faced off against him. While he was undoubtedly a force of nature on the mound, the film leaves you with the feeling that Nolan was just as happy raising cattle on his ranch as he was earning MLB records. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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Jan. 30: Olivia Colman, 49
Before she emerged seemingly out of nowhere to become one of the most critically acclaimed film actresses of her generation, Olivia Colman, 49, showed off her impressive range on British television. Born in Norfolk, England, on Jan. 30, 1974, Colman first came to prominence on sitcoms like Peep Show, but it was her performance as a homicide detective on Broadchurch that made critics really sit up and take notice. She won a Golden Globe for her role in The Night Manager, an espionage thriller based on the novel by John le Carré, and before long, she was landing a slew of impressive roles on the big and small screens. Colman dazzled in The Favourite as the frail and paranoid 18th-century Queen Anne, winning an Oscar in the process, before slipping seamlessly into the role of Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown and nabbing her first Emmy to add to her ever-growing collection of awards. She added two more Academy Award nominations to her résumé in the past two years for her roles in The Father and The Lost Daughter, and in December, she teamed up with director Sam Mendes for the 1980s-set Empire of Light, in which she plays a cinema manager dealing with mental health issues who forms a bond with her much younger new employee. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Araya Doheny/WireImage/Getty Images
Jan. 29: Sara Gilbert, 48
The quintessential sarcastic teen of early ’90s TV, Sara Gilbert, 48, was born on Jan. 29, 1975, in Santa Monica to a Hollywood family, as the granddaughter of The Honeymooners cocreator Harry Crane. After seeing her stepsister, Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert, get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a 6-year-old Sara decided to follow in her footsteps, and at the age of 13, she joined the cast of Roseanne as middle daughter Darlene Conner. Over nine seasons, Gilbert earned two Emmy nominations, and the sitcom ended (for the first time) in 1997, the same year she graduated with honors from Yale University. In 2010, she joined the hosting panel of The Talk, CBS’s daytime answer to The View, and after picking up a Daytime Emmy for outstanding talk show host, she left the series behind in 2019. She joined her former TV boyfriend Johnny Galecki for a recurring guest stint as Leslie Winkle on The Big Bang Theory before returning to the role that made her career in the Roseanne reboot. When Roseanne Barr was fired from the show for making offensive statements, Gilbert took on an even more central role in the retooled The Conners, on which she also works as an executive producer. Next up, she’ll appear in the ensemble of next month’s Super Bowl–themed 80 for Brady. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Sean Gallagher/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Jan. 28: Mo Rocca, 54
Known for his thick-framed glasses and his droll sense of humor, Mo Rocca, 54, was born in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 28, 1969, and he honed his comedic skills while a student at Harvard University; in addition to being the president of Hasty Pudding Theatricals, he once starred in a production of Little Shop of Horrors opposite future Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Rocca got into TV writing and producing kids’ shows, before bringing his nerdy sensibilities in front of the camera as a correspondent on The Daily Show. He later parlayed his success as a satirical newsman to the world of real reporting when he joined CBS Sunday Morning, a gig that once allowed him to interview Pope Francis. A frequent panelist on NPR game show Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!, Rocca also hosts The Henry Ford Innovation Nation, a series about inspiring inventors, and in 2019, he turned his popular podcast on dead celebrities into the book Mobituaries: Great Lives Worth Reliving. The podcast is going strong in its third season, and in addition to covering the deaths of celebrities like Anna May Wong and Loretta Lynn, Rocca has also dedicated episodes to the “deaths” of old-fashioned names like Mildred, Bertha and Todd. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for STARZ
Jan. 27: Patton Oswalt, 54
Born in Portsmouth, Virginia, on Jan. 27, 1969, Patton Oswalt, 54, first hit the standup comedy stage in 1988, though most Americans began to take notice of his unique talents when he co-starred on The King of Queens for 179 episodes. Even when he wasn’t on screen, Oswalt has made an impression with his instantly recognizable voice, starring as the gourmet-food-loving rodent chef Remy in Ratatouille and later narrating The Goldbergs for 10 seasons and counting. Over the years, he’s appeared (in the flesh) on acclaimed series like Veep and Veronica Mars, and he enjoyed one of the biggest sitcom roles of his career as Principal Ralph Durbin on the underrated streaming sitcom A.P. Bio. But he’s always seemed most at home on the stage, where his observational brand of standup sees him riffing on topics as diverse as KFC, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and moths. His specials have consistently earned him acclaim, with 2016’s Talking for Clapping winning both an Emmy and a Grammy. Last year, in addition to a new Netflix special, We All Scream, Oswalt starred in the indie cringe comedy I Love My Dad, as an estranged father who catfishes his own son while trying to reconnect with him. Next up, he’s set to star as war department investigator Lafayette Baker in the Apple TV+ limited series Manhunt, about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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Jan. 26: David Strathairn, 74
A working character actor for decades, David Strathairn, 74, spent several months as a clown in a traveling circus, before amassing a résumé of supporting gigs in films like Silkwood and Eight Men Out. Born in San Francisco on Jan. 26, 1949, he came to national prominence with his acclaimed performance as CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck, for which he earned a best actor Oscar nomination. The broadcasting legend was the first in a long line of historical figures portrayed by Strathairn, including scientist and mentor Dr. Carlock in Temple Grandin (for which he won an Emmy), novelist John Dos Passos in Hemingway & Gellhorn, Secretary of State William Seward in Lincoln and Howard Hughes in last year’s podcast series The Big Lie. In addition to turns in Nomadland, Nightmare Alley and Where the Crawdads Sing, Strathairn has spent the past eight years working on a wrenching solo show called Remember This, in which he channels the Polish Underground resistance fighter and diplomat Jan Karski, who reported on the conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto and extermination camps. The play — which was recently presented in Washington, D.C., Brooklyn and Berkeley — has been adapted into a filmed version that’s set to hit theaters tomorrow, Jan. 27. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Keys Soulcare
Jan. 25: Alicia Keys, 42
Few artists can boast a debut album as indelible as Alicia Keys, 42, and her multiplatinum 2001 blockbuster Songs in A Minor. Born in New York on Jan. 25, 1981, Keys began playing piano at the age of 7, before graduating from a prestigious Manhattan performing arts school as valedictorian at 16. With the help of producer Clive Davis, the musical wunderkind came out of the gate running, and Songs in A Minor earned Keys her first five Grammys, including best new artist and song of the year for “Fallin’.” Her old-school brand of R&B and soul, delivered in a contemporary package, proved irresistible to music lovers, and 28 of her singles have made it onto the Billboard Hot 100, including number one hits like “No One” and “Empire State of Mind,” a collaboration with fellow New Yorker Jay-Z. Keys’ musical stardom has seen her recording a Bond theme (“Another Way to Die” with Jack White), releasing a memoir, coaching musical newcomers on The Voice, acting in films like The Secret Life of Bees and even hosting the Grammys twice. But she always comes back to the music, and she remains quite prolific: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, she’s released a regular album (Alicia), a double album (Keys), a Christmas album (Santa Baby), a 20th-anniversary rerelease (Songs in A Minor) and an EP of lullabies (Sweet Dreams). And last November, she even picked up her 30th Grammy nod, song of the year for “A Beautiful Noise,” a duet with Brandi Carlile. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Craig Sjodin/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Jan. 24: Mary-Lou Retton, 55
At just 4-foot-9, gymnast Mary-Lou Retton, 55, was a pocket-size powerhouse who took the sports world by storm at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where she became the first American woman to win an individual all-around gold medal in gymnastics. Her perfect 10s in the floor exercise and vault were even more impressive when you know that she had undergone arthroscopic surgery just six weeks before the Olympics! Born in West Virginia on Jan. 24, 1968, Retton left those Games with a team silver and an individual gold, two silvers and two bronzes — enough to land her on the Wheaties box and earn her the title of Sports Illustrated Sportswoman of the Year. The first gymnast to be inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, Retton announced her retirement from the sport in 1986, and in the years since, she’s become a motivational speaker, a commentator and a competitor on Season 27 of Dancing With the Stars. Retton and her ex-husband, University of Texas quarterback Shannon Kelley, had four daughters, all of whom dabbled in gymnastics at some level, and Retton and her second oldest child, McKenna, are currently hosting a women’s gymnastics tour with a portion of the proceeds going toward her daughter’s mental-health-focused foundation. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Scott Kirkland/Sipa USA via AP Images
Jan. 23: Tiffani Thiessen, 49
For nearly the entirety of the ’90s, you couldn’t turn on your television without seeing actress Tiffani Thiessen, 49. Born on Jan. 23, 1974, in Long Beach, California, Thiessen got an early start in acting and modeling at the age of 8, and she catapulted to early stardom upon winning the Miss Junior America pageant in 1987. Two years later, she joined one of the most iconic ensemble casts of her generation as the popular cheerleader Kelly Kapowski in Saved by the Bell. Following the short-lived Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Thiessen played against type as bad girl Valerie Malone on Beverly Hills, 90210, and she’s remained a TV fixture for more than three decades, later starring as a series regular on Fastlane, White Collar and most recently Netflix’s Alexa & Katie, in which she played the overprotective mother of a teenager dealing with cancer. Being on a teen-centered sitcom after all these years, Thiessen told US Weekly, was “truly like seeing myself over again in a flashback.” Even more of a flashback? She played a grownup Kelly Kapowski-Morris in the 2020 Saved by the Bell streaming sequel series on Peacock, in which the character is now the First Lady of California! —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Jody Cortes/Getty Images for ABA
Jan. 22: Linda Blair, 64
It might be hard to believe Linda Blair, 64, had only appeared in two small film roles before her head-turning breakout performance as the possessed teenager Regan MacNeil in 1973’s The Exorcist. She was such a force of nature that she went on to receive a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and an Oscar nomination, and the character landed at number 9 on AFI’s list of the greatest villains in American film history. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, on Jan. 22, 1959, Blair followed up her Exorcist role playing other damsels in distress in TV movies like Born Innocent and Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic and throughout the ’80s, she starred in B-movies like the women-in-prison exploitation classic Chained Heat and the teen vigilante flick Savage Streets. For years, Blair has parlayed her reputation as a beloved scream queen into horror-adjacent gigs, such as hosting the travel series Scariest Places on Earth, but her interests off-screen run decidedly more wholesome: 2023 marks 20 years since she founded the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, which is dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals that have been neglected or abused. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Helene Pambrun/Paris Match/Contour by Getty Images
Jan. 21: Cat Power, 51
Born Jan. 21, 1972, in Atlanta, singer-songwriter Charlyn “Chan” Marie Marshall began performing as Cat Power in 1992, and 30 years later she’s still living up to the slinky feline ferocity promised by her stage name. Over the years, she dabbled in different genres, from the experimental rock sound of 1996’s What Would the Community Think? to 2006’s soul-tinged The Greatest, which she recorded with Memphis legends. She had her first top 10 album with 2012’s Sun, and when Rolling Stone included it on the magazine’s list of 50 best albums of the year, the editors wrote: “The idea of the brilliantly morose Chan Marshall making a dance-rock record is almost absurd. Yet the groove-powered Sun is a perfect fit.” Last January, she released Covers, her third collection of cover songs, with tunes originally recorded by the likes of Bob Seger, Jackson Browne and Iggy Pop. She recently told Vulture that she feels a deep need to cover certain songs, resulting in interpretations that are almost as powerful as the ones she’s written herself. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival
Jan. 20: Rainn Wilson, 57
It takes a truly gifted comedian to turn an antagonistic nerd into a beloved sitcom icon, but Rainn Wilson, 57, is just the man for the job. Born Jan. 20, 1966, in Seattle, he appeared in a number of Broadway and touring productions before breaking out on HBO’s Six Feet Under as funeral home intern Arthur Martin. His career took off in 2005, when the British cult sitcom The Office moved across the pond with an American adaptation. Wilson took on the role of the socially awkward, beet-farming paper salesman Dwight K. Schrute, and despite being a bit of a malevolent weirdo, he quickly became an audience favorite, earning the actor a trio of Emmy nominations and landing the character’s spectacled face on everything from bobblehead dolls and action figures to T-shirts. His forays into film included The Rocker, in which he starred as a failed drummer with a second shot at fame, and the giant shark horror flick The Meg. In the past year, Wilson appeared in the AMC Navajo cop drama Dark Winds and the biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, but he earned even bigger headlines for an off-screen stunt: A board member of Arctic Basecamp, Wilson announced via Twitter that he was changing his name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson to bring attention to climate change. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Jan. 19: Dolly Parton, 77
What more can be said about country legend Dolly Parton, 77, that hasn’t been said before? Born Jan. 19, 1946, in the tiny Tennessee hamlet of Locust Ridge, Parton grew up to become one of the most iconic American musicians of the 20th century, known as much for her refreshing candor and her glitzy persona as her chart-topping country hits, including “Jolene” and “Islands in the Stream.” Sure, she’s a 10-time Grammy winner with 54 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, but she’s also an actress (9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas), a Tony-nominated composer and the owner of a theme park called Dollywood based on her childhood. Parton is also quite the do-gooder, and she’s earned a reputation for her outsize generosity, whether she’s giving away free books to children as part of her Imagination Library program (over 195 million books and counting!) or donating $1 million to help fund development of the COVID-19 vaccine. In 2022, when she wasn’t busy reuniting with her 9 to 5 costars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin on the series finale of Grace and Frankie, Parton was exploring her rock ‘n’ roll side. When she was first nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the spring, she announced on social media that she was declining the nod because she didn’t feel she had earned it. She eventually had a change of heart, out of respect for the fans who voted for her, and she showed up at the induction ceremony in a black leather jumpsuit, an electric guitar and a new tune called “Rock Song.” “I figure if I’m gonna be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” she said, “I’m gonna have to earn it.” —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images
Jan. 18: Dave Bautista, 54
Much like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and John Cena before him, professional wrestler Dave Bautista, 54, has parlayed his imposing yet charismatic ring persona into a surprisingly robust film career. Born in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 18, 1969, Bautista earned the nickname “The Animal” for his ferocity in the ring. And he’s brought that same level of intensity to his burgeoning acting career, which saw him appearing in such films as The Man With the Iron Fists, Riddick and Spectre. Movie audiences may know him best for playing the super-strong Drax the Destroyer in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, a role he most recently returned to in last fall’s Disney+ holiday special. Following his turn in Dune, Bautista costarred in another critically acclaimed film, the sequel Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, in which he played a chauvinistic men’s rights activist named Duke Cody. But, trust us, he’s much more of a softie in real life: If you need proof, check out his recent Twitter video, in which he gave the film’s director, Rian Johnson, his WWE championship belt during a sweet wrap speech on set. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images
Jan. 17: Jim Carrey, 61
A rubber-faced funnyman with a knack for lovably zany characters, Jim Carrey, 61, honed his slapstick skills on the sketch comedy series In Living Color before branching out with films like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Dumb and Dumber and The Mask. Born in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, on Jan. 17, 1962, he made a successful leap to more dramatic fare with The Truman Show and Man on the Moon, in which he played the unpredictable comedian Andy Kaufman, and he picked up two Golden Globe wins for the pair of very different roles. In 2004, Carrey starred opposite Kate Winslet in the critically acclaimed romance Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and to this day critics still view his Oscar nomination snub as one of the most egregious in Academy Awards history. More recently, Carrey returned to his TV roots with the Showtime tragicomedy Kidding, about a children’s television host dealing with the unraveling of his family, plus a stint playing Joe Biden on Saturday Night Live. But he’s also been showing off a widening set of talents that has included publishing his first novel, Memoirs and Misinformation, in 2020, and getting into political paintings. Last year, Carrey returned to the deliciously villainous role of Dr. Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and he recently announced that he was “fairly serious” about retiring from acting — or at least taking a break unless a very special role comes along. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images
Jan. 16: Debbie Allen, 73
A true triple threat who became known as one of the most influential choreographers of her generation, Debbie Allen, 73, burst onto the scene with a Tony-nominated turn as Anita in the 1980 revival of West Side Story. Soon, Allen — who was born in Houston on Jan. 16, 1950 — brought her fancy footwork to the 1980 film Fame and its TV spin-off; in addition to playing dance instructor Lydia Grant, she won her first two Emmys for her choreography on the series. (She’d later go on to open an acclaimed nonprofit youth dance academy in Los Angeles.) A graduate of Howard University in D.C., Allen stepped behind the camera to produce and direct The Cosby Show spin-off A Different World, and she would go on to direct episodes of shows like Everybody Hates Chris, Scandal and dozens more. She began a fruitful second act when she joined Grey’s Anatomy, for which she has directed nearly three dozen episodes and costarred as the influential surgeon Catherine Fox. Luckily, the entertainment industry has begun to take notice of her more than a half century of excellence, and she was named a 2020 Kennedy Center Honoree and the 2021 recipient of the Governors Award from the Television Academy. Never one to rest on her laurels, she earned the honorary Emmy the same year she took home two competitive trophies, for producing and choreographing the Dolly Parton musical Christmas on the Square. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Frazer Harrison/WireImage/Getty Images
Jan. 15: Andrea Martin, 76
Funnywoman Andrea Martin, 76, earned her comedy bonafides in Toronto more than 50 years ago, breaking out with a legendary 1972 production of Godspell that featured Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Paul Shaffer and Victor Garber. She’d reteam with Levy on SCTV, Canada’s answer to Saturday Night Live, earning her two Emmys for outstanding writing. Martin — who was born in Portland, Maine, on Jan. 15, 1947 — has brought her zany energy to roles on the big screen (My Big Fat Greek Wedding as Aunt Voula) and small screen, most notably in the underrated Tina Fey–produced sitcom Great News, on which she played a New Jersey mom who gets an internship at her adult daughter’s office. Over the decades, she’s remained a fixture on the Broadway stage, earning two Tonys for 1993’s My Favorite Year and the 2013 revival of Pippin, a role that required her to sing from a trapeze. Set to return to the Big Fat Greek Wedding universe in the upcoming Athens-set “threequel,” Martin has recently been earning raves for her spooky turn as nun Sister Andrea in the Paramount+ supernatural drama Evil. If you’ve never seen a 70-something nun go demon hunting, you’re in for a real treat. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Evans Vestal Ward/NBC via Getty Images
Jan. 14: Holland Taylor, 80
Known for her penchant for playing formidable and often intimidating women, Holland Taylor, 80, was born in Philadelphia on Jan. 14, 1943, and she first broke out on the sitcom Bosom Buddies as Kip and Henry’s ad agency boss Ruth Dunbar. Taylor won the 1999 best supporting actress Emmy for her turn as Judge Roberta Kittleson on The Practice, and she’d return to the legal profession as a scene-stealing Harvard law professor in Legally Blonde. She spent more than 100 episodes playing the matriarch Evelyn Harper on the long-running CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men, and Taylor has gone on to appear in a slew of prestige streamers: as 1940s studio executive Ellen Kincaid in the Ryan Murphy miniseries Hollywood, as Chaucer scholar Dr. Joan Hambling in The Chair and as network chairwoman Cybil Richards in The Morning Show. But she found another level of creative fulfillment when she wrote and starred in the one-woman show Ann about the former Democratic governor of Texas, Ann Richards. Since its debut in 2010, the passion project earned Taylor a Tony nomination, and she’s toured it around the country, most recently saying goodbye to the feisty politician with a run this year at the Pasadena Playhouse. If you missed the performance, you’re in luck: A filmed version is available to stream on BroadwayHD and PBS. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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Jan. 13: Shonda Rhimes, 53
Few creators in recent television history have remade the medium in their own image as dramatically as Shonda Rhimes, 53. Born in Chicago on Jan. 13, 1970, the screenwriter of such films as Crossroads and Introducing Dorothy Dandridge launched her game-changing hospital drama Grey’s Anatomy in 2005, and it represented something radical for network TV: a fiercely feminist soap with a diverse ensemble that actually looks like the American public. Grey’s is still going strong 19 seasons in, spawning two successful spinoffs (Private Practice and Station 19), and the intervening years have seen her pushing into darker territory with Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder, featuring two of the most complex Black antiheroines on TV. In 2017, she made the leap from ABC to Netflix with a multiyear deal reported to be worth at least $100 million. Her early projects for the streamer have included the scammer miniseries Inventing Anna and the sexy period drama Bridgerton, which was seen by 82 million viewers in the first month after its release. In the works are a Bridgerton prequel following fan-favorite Queen Charlotte and a “screwball whodunnit” called The Residence, set at the White House. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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Jan. 12: Walter Mosley, 71
With more than 60 books under his belt, Walter Mosley, 71, is one of the most respected crime novelists writing in America today, and he’s created a sprawling pantheon of memorable characters, including Los Angeles private detective Easy Rawlins. Born in Los Angeles on Jan. 12, 1952, Mosley has always had a knack for the cinematic, and his works have been adapted into a number of films, including Devil in a Blue Dress, starring Denzel Washington, and Always Outnumbered, starring Laurence Fishburne. Beyond the confines of the mystery genre, Mosley has dabbled in sci-fi, short stories, memoir and non-fiction, and in 2018, he signed on as a producer and writer for Snowfall, John Singleton’s FX drama series about the early days of the crack epidemic in 1980s L.A. (The series returns for its sixth and final season next month, with Mosley continuing the artistic legacy of Singleton, who died in 2019.) In 2020, he was the first Black man awarded the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and this year, he adapted his novel The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey into an Apple TV+ limited series starring Samuel L. Jackson as a lonely man living with dementia. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Rich Fury/VF22/Getty Images for Vanity Fair
Jan. 11: Amanda Peet, 51
Born in New York City on Jan. 11, 1972, Amanda Peet, 51 — who studied with acting legend Uta Hagen — appeared in TV and films starting in 1995 before starring in 2000’s The Whole Nine Yards, in which she played aspiring hitwoman Jill St. Claire. She’d bring that killer charisma to films like Igby Goes Down and Something’s Gotta Give, but she had perhaps even more success on the small screen: Following two seasons on the WB dramedy Jack & Jill, Peet would earn raves for her turns in HBO’s Togetherness and IFC’s Brockmire. In 2020, she took a dark turn in the second season of true-crime anthology series Dirty John, starring as real-life killer Betty Broderick, who was convicted of shooting her ex-husband and his new wife. Flexing new creative muscles, Peet stepped behind the camera as the creator and writer of Netflix’s university-set The Chair, starring Sandra Oh as an English professor, and she’ll next appear as Beth Gallagher, the jilted wife, in Paramount+’s upcoming series adaptation of Fatal Attraction. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Wade Payne/AP Photo
Jan. 10: Shawn Colvin, 67
Born in South Dakota on Jan. 10, 1956, singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin, 67, started playing guitar at the age of 10, and she developed a folk-tinged Americana sound that was somehow both timeless and completely of the moment. Her 1989 debut Steady On picked up a Grammy for best contemporary folk album, but she’d soon gain national fame with her platinum-charting 1996 fourth album A Few Small Repairs. Colvin showed off her fierce skills as a storyteller with the single “Sunny Came Home,” about a woman who burns her house down to escape some unnamed past trauma; her only top 10 hit, the dark tale went on to win Grammys for song and record of the year. Colvin wrote about her own struggles with depression and addiction in the 2012 memoir Diamond in the Rough, and she’s continued releasing new music, including a duets album with Steve Earle. During the pandemic, Colvin recorded an album called Lockdown: Live From Arlyn Studios, and this month, she heads back out on a tour that she’s co-headlining with Marc Cohn and Sarah Jarosz. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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Jan. 9: J.K. Simmons, 68
A character actor known for his intimidating persona, J.K. Simmons, 68, was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, on Jan. 9, 1955, and he’s shown off an impressive range with roles that include everything from the voice of the Yellow M&M to six seasons as a vindictive white supremacist in the HBO prison drama Oz. After playing tough-talking newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man franchise, Simmons took on perhaps his most terrifying character to date as the emotionally and physically abusive musical instructor Fletcher in Whiplash, a role that earned him an Oscar, a BAFTA, a SAG Award and a Golden Globe. One of the few actors to straddle the Marvel/DC divide, Simmons recently appeared as Commissioner Gordon in Justice League, and last year he earned his second Oscar nod for playing I Love Lucy actor William Frawley in the biopic Being the Ricardos. Most recently, he and Sissy Spacek starred as a married couple with a sci-fi secret — their backyard shed holds a portal to another planet! — in the Amazon Prime drama Night Sky. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Kate Green/Getty Images for EON Productions & Prime Video
Jan. 8: Shirley Bassey, 86
One of the first Black British artists to gain international acclaim, Shirley Bassey, 86, was born in Wales on Jan. 8, 1937, and grew up in a working-class suburb of Cardiff. In the U.K., Bassey had her first hit single in the 1950s with “Banana Boat Song,” but she’d forever be best known for singing the sultry themes to three James Bond films: “Goldfinger” in 1964, “Diamonds Are Forever” in 1971 and “Moonraker” in 1979. In fact, she’s the only singer to have performed more than one Bond theme! With a booming voice and a glitzy wardrobe of gowns and jewels, Bassey earned a reputation as one of the century’s great divas, and she’d go on to be named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the year 2000. This year, she helped celebrate the 60th anniversary of the film franchise with a performance of “Diamonds Are Forever” at the BAFTA Awards in March, and she later headlined the star-studded concert “The Sound of 007: Live From Royal Albert Hall.” —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Tommaso Boddi/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Jan. 7: Nicolas Cage, 59
Few Hollywood A-listers have had a career as hard to pin down as Nicolas Cage, 59, whose choices have swung wildly from blockbusters to cult classics to critical hits. Born in Southern California on Jan. 7, 1964, Cage is a member of the Coppola acting clan, and despite his reputation for intense Method acting, he quickly became known for roles in comedies like Raising Arizona and Moonstruck. In 1996, he won a best actor Oscar for his role in Leaving Las Vegas, in which he starred as a Hollywood screenwriter who plans to drink himself to death in Sin City. The next few years would see Cage enter his big blockbuster phase, with movies like The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off and later the National Treasure franchise, but he’d once again earn critical raves (and a second Oscar nomination) for his daring performance in Adaptation, in which he played a fictionalized version of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman — and his fake twin brother, Donald. In recent years, Cage has taken on some less-than-stellar projects (with a slew of Golden Raspberry Award nominations to show for it), but he’s experienced a bit of a career renaissance of late, with highlights including 2021’s Pig and 2022’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. In the gonzo action-comedy, Cage plays “Nick Cage,” an actor with a career very much like his own who’s offered $1 million to attend the birthday party of a crazed superfan while also being recruited by the CIA. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: David Levenson/Getty Images
Jan. 6: Elizabeth Strout, 67
Born in Portland, Maine, on Jan. 6, 1956, novelist Elizabeth Strout, 67, often mines the small towns of her home state for her quietly profound novels about everyday people. Following a very brief career as a lawyer — only six months — she turned full-time to writing, and she had her breakthrough smash hit with 2008’s Olive Kitteridge. Made up of 13 interconnected stories in the small town of Crosby, Maine, the novel won the Pulitzer Prize and was adapted into an eight-time Emmy-winning miniseries starring Frances McDormand. Strout has a knack for writing realistic characters that seem to leap off the page, and her 2016 novel My Name is Lucy Barton was later adapted into a stage production starring Laura Linney. In recent years, she has kept coming back to the characters she loves, with Olive, Again (2019) and Oh, William! (2021), a Booker Prize finalist about Lucy Barton’s ex-husband, William. In the fall, she published her latest novel, a pandemic-era story called Lucy by the Sea, which imagines Lucy and William facing lockdown together in a little windswept house on the Maine coast, with appearances from characters from a number of her other novels. “I have such a deep relationship with them,” she told The Washington Post. “In order for me to write about them, I need to inhabit them as fully as possible.” —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Dia Dipasupil/WireImage/Getty Images
Jan. 5: Bradley Cooper, 48
Perhaps no actor since George Clooney has had as seamless a transition from TV to film star as Bradley Cooper, 48, who has emerged in recent years as one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood. Born in Philadelphia on Jan. 5, 1975, Cooper first came to national prominence with a popular supporting turn on the spy series Alias. He soon made the transition to the big screen with roles in Wet Hot American Summer and Wedding Crashers, before taking the lead in the Hangover franchise. A fan favorite from the start, Cooper began to catch the attention of critics with his role as Pat Solitano, a man recently discharged from a mental institution, in David O. Russell’s 2012 dramedy Silver Linings Playbook. He earned his first Oscar nomination for the role, kicking off an impressive run that included nods in 2014 for American Hustle and two more the following year for producing and starring in the military drama American Sniper. Soon, he was throwing himself into one of his biggest passion projects to date, when he wrote, directed and starred in a remake of A Star is Born, opposite Lady Gaga, which landed him three more Oscar nominations and a Grammy win for the chart-topping duet “Shallow.” In addition to higher-brow fare like Licorice Pizza and Nightmare Alley, Cooper joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2014 when he began voicing Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy, a part he has returned to several times, including in a new Disney+ holiday special that debuted in November. The furry fan favorite will take center stage in this year’s Guardians of the Galaxy 3, which will tell the story of how he was transformed from a regular raccoon into a genetically engineered warrior. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Jan. 4: Michael Stipe, 63
As the front man of R.E.M., Michael Stipe, 63, has been one of the most influential American musicians of the past half century, reshaping the sound of post-punk rock with his cryptic lyrics and shape-shifting persona. Born on Jan. 4, 1960, in Decatur, Georgia, Stipe grew up as a military brat, and he formed R.E.M. while studying photography at the University of Georgia in 1980. Throughout the ’80s and ’90s, the band became a dominant force on the radio, with top 10 hits like “The One I Love,” “Stand” and the Grammy-winning “Losing My Religion.” While it always maintained its indie cred, R.E.M. would go on to sell millions of records, and the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 before officially calling it quits in 2011. Stipe returned to photography with a 2021 book that includes QR codes linking to behind-the-scenes audio anecdotes. This year, the always-innovative rocker released his solo single “Future If Future” on the first commercially available bioplastic record, a proof of concept showing how the music industry can move away from vinyls made with fossil fuels and toward a sustainable solution. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images
Jan. 3: Danica McKellar, 48
Forever known as the dream-girl-next-door Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years, Danica McKellar, 48, avoided the pitfalls of child stardom by making a pivot into the world of academia. Born in Southern California on Jan. 3, 1975, she graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with a degree in mathematics and even proved a new theorem that sports her name. Later, when she wasn’t busy appearing as a contestant on Dancing With the Stars, McKellar began writing a series of best-selling math books for kids and teens, with attention-grabbing titles like Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape and Hot X: Algebra Exposed! But she never strayed too far from Hollywood, and she’s remained a consistent presence in made-for-TV romances, including a slew for the Hallmark Channel. In 2021, she signed a new deal with GAC Media, which saw her not only starring in films but also executive producing and developing storylines. Her first project, which premiered in November, was the rom-com Christmas at the Drive-In. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Leon Bennett/Getty Images
Jan. 2: Gabrielle Carteris, 62
For Gen Xers, actress Gabrielle Carteris, 62, will always be remembered for her breakout role on Beverly Hills, 90210 as Andrea Zuckerman, the high-achieving editor of the school newspaper who went on to graduate as valedictorian. Born in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Jan. 2, 1961, Carteris was famously 29 years old when she started filming the series, on which she played a 16-year-old! In the years after graduating from the poshest zip code in Southern California, Carteris would go on to appear in a slew of TV movies, though she’d make the biggest splash as a houseguest on the VH1 reality series The Surreal Life. Much like Andrea, Carteris proved to be a go-getter with big aspirations, and in 2013, she was elected the executive vice president of SAG-AFTRA. Upon the previous president’s death, she took over as leader of the union, handily winning reelection campaigns in 2017 and 2019. Following a hilarious turn playing herself in the meta reboot BH90210, she has become a welcome presence in TV guest roles, including as a blimp copilot on 9-1-1 and the head of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force in HBO’s We Own This City. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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PHOTO BY: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Jan. 1: Grandmaster Flash, 65
How many musicians can boast that they created an entire new genre of music? Born on Jan. 1, 1958, in the South Bronx in New York, Grandmaster Flash was a pioneer in the world of hip-hop, and he’s widely credited with elevating DJing to an art form. He invented a technique called the Quick Mix Theory, which included innovative techniques like cutting, scratching and transforming. And even if you don’t know what those words mean exactly, you’d certainly be able to recognize the culture-changing sound he helped create. He and a quintet of rappers called the Furious Five moved beyond their fun-loving early singles, like “Freedom” and “Birthday Party,” to push hip-hop in socially conscious directions; later songs saw them tackling urban decline (“The Message”) and drug abuse (“White Lines”), and Rolling Stone later ranked “The Message” the greatest hip-hop song of all time. Over the years, Grandmaster Flash has been revered as a musical elder statesman: In 2007, he and the Furious Five were the first hip-hop artists to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and they earned a lifetime achievement award from the Grammys in 2021. In 2022, he appeared in the A&E docuseries Origins of Hip-Hop and received perhaps the biggest honor that a cultural icon can achieve: He was immortalized as an action figure, complete with a mini turntable. —Nicholas DeRenzo
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