Famous People Born On August 17th

Amongst the best actors of his generation, Robert De Niro is known for his exceptional method acting skills. His formidable acting talent has impressed audience and critics alike in movies like Mean Streets, The Godfather Part II and Meet the Parents. The talented actor has also been applauded for his directorial skills in A Bronx Tale and The Good Shepherd.

Austin Butler is an American singer and actor. Butler started his acting career as a teenager, appearing in movies, such as Aliens in the Attic. He then went on to establish himself as a successful adult actor, playing important roles in popular films like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

A football coach, Thierry Henry began his career as a player with Monaco team and later also played for Arsenal and Barcelona. A lethal striker, he became a record goal scorer for both France and Arsenal. He played a crucial role in the French victory in 1998 FIFA World Cup and Arsenal’s win in Premier League and the FA Cup.

Donnie Wahlberg is a singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Popularly known as the bad boy of New Kids on the Block band, Wahlberg faced up to 20 years in prison after he was charged with arson for setting The Seelbach Hilton on fire. The charge was later reduced and eventually dropped after he agreed to appear in public-service videos.

Lil Pump is an American singer-songwriter and rapper. He is counted among the most important rappers of the SoundCloud rap scene. Known for his hyperactive public persona, Lil Pump has often been criticised for using drugs, such as xanax, marijuana, and lean, without discretion. He has also been arrested on a number of occasions for various reasons.

Helen McCrory is a British actress known for playing real-life characters in films. In the 2017 New Year Honours, McCrory was appointed OBE for services to drama. Apart from being an actress, she also works closely with the London-based children's charity Scene & Heard, contributing as one of its honorary patrons.

Maureen O'Hara was an Irish singer and actress. Dubbed The Queen of Technicolor due to her long and successful career throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Maureen O'Hara was popular for playing passionate, but sensible characters. In 2014, she received an Honorary Academy Award. In 2020, she was ranked first on Ireland's greatest film actors list published by The Irish Times.

Belinda Carlisle is an American singer, author, and musician. She was part of the Go-Go's where she was the lead singer; during the first half of the 1980s, the Go-Go's was one of the most successful and popular all-female bands. In 2011, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as a member of The Go-Go's.

Academy Award winner actor, Sean Penn, is known for his powerful and passionate performances. His work in Mystic River and Milk won him tremendous appreciation as an actor while Into the Wild and The Crossing Guard earned him positive review as a director. Sean Penn has also attracted media attention for his personal life, political views and humanitarian work.

Francis Gary Powers was an American pilot. His Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) U-2 spy plane was shot down in what came to be known as the 1960 U-2 incident. He was performing photographic aerial reconnaissance deep inside Soviet territory when the incident occurred. He survived and later worked as a helicopter pilot for KNBC in Los Angeles.

South Korean actor Yoo Seung-ho soared to stardom as a child actor, with the movie The Way Home. He then starred in series such as The Emperor: Owner of the Mask and movies such as Joseon Magician. He has won honors such as the KBS, MBC, and the SBS awards.

Jamaican-born British writer, socialite, and TV personality, Lady Colin Campbell, is known for publishing four books about the British royal family, including a biography of Diana, Princess of Wales. While her books about the royal family made her popular, she also faced criticism for some of her claims. She once kindled controversy for supporting sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, on TV.

Born to Indian descendants in Trinidad, V. S. Naipaul grew up to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The author of iconic novels such as Half a Life and A House for Mr. Biswas, Naipaul was also knighted. His realistic depiction of developing countries and their miseries won hearts worldwide.

Menelik II reigned as the emperor of Ethiopia from 1889 to 1913 after ruling as the king of Shewa from 1866 to 1889. He is credited with transforming the Ethiopian Empire by expanding his kingdom into Wolayta, Sidama, and Kaffa kingdoms. Fascinated by modernity, Menelik II played a major role in modernizing Ethiopia.

Chinese politician, Jiang Zemin, served as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party from 1989 to 2002. Qualified as an engineer, he joined the Chinese Communist Party when he was in college. Rising through the ranks, he eventually became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Minister of Electronic Industries. 

Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, mother of Queen Victoria of the U.K., was a German princess who became the Duchess of Kent and Strathearn by virtue of her marriage to Prince Edward. She was initially married to Charles, Prince of Leiningen. The Royal Chapel of All Saints was dedicated to her.

While he initially excelled in tennis, Nelson Piquet later made a name for himself as one of Brazil’s top racers. A 3-time world champion, the Formula One star later also ventured into business. He owned a GPS-tracking company and also launched the racing team Piquet Sports.

Credited with coining the term software engineering, computer scientist and systems engineer, Margaret Heafield Hamilton served as the Director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, overseeing the development of the on-board flight software for NASA's Apollo program.  A prolific writer, she is also the founder of two software companies; Higher Order Software and Hamilton Technologies.

Mark Felt served as the FBI associate director from 1972 to 1973. He was widely suspected of being Deep Throat, the anonymous source who provided The Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein vital information regarding the Watergate scandal, and eventually owned up a few years before his death.

Columba Bush is a Mexican-American philanthropist who came to limelight after marrying American politician Jeb Bush. From 1999 to 2007, she served as First Lady of Florida and used her platform to deal with issues, such as substance abuse and domestic violence. She has also been active in advocating the artworks of artists like Salvador Dalí and Frida Kahlo.

Gustav Schwarzenegger was better known as actor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s father than as the police chief of Austria. He was a master sergeant in Wehrmacht after his country was annexed by Nazi Germany. He was made a postal inspector after injuries he suffered in Russia ruled him out of the armed forces. He returned to the Austrian police force in 1947.

Charles I of Austria reigned from 1916 to 1918 as the last emperor of Austria. He was the last king of Croatia, Bohemia, Hungary, and the last monarch from the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. Charles is remembered for making unsuccessful attempts to end Austria-Hungary's World War I campaign. He also tried to save the Austro-Hungarian Empire from disintegration but was unsuccessful.

Well-educated and well-traveled, John III Sobieski initially joined the Swedes as a soldier, in opposing Polish ruler John Casimir. He then switched to the Polish side. He gradually rose through the ranks to become a grand marshal and a grand-hetman, and eventually became the king of Poland.