Famous People Born In 1903

The king of dystopia and satire, George Orwell, the pen name adopted by Eric Arthur Blair, was a well-known novelist and critic of the 20th century. A man with a strong mind of his own, Orwell never backed down from stating his views on the socio-political climate he lived in, which he expressed profusely through his influential essays and novels.

Bing Crosby was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Widely regarded as the first multimedia star, Bing was a leader in motion picture grosses, radio ratings, and record sales from 1930 to 1954. His intimate singing style influenced several popular singers, such as Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, John Lennon, and Elvis Presley among others.

Lou Gehrig was an American baseball player. Nicknamed The Iron Horse for his durability and prowess as a hitter, Lou Gehrig played for the New York Yankees of the Major League Baseball (MLB). His life and career inspired the 1942 film The Pride of the Yankees in which he was portrayed by actor Gary Cooper.

Born Jerome Lester Horwitz and nick named Curly by his brothers, Curly Howard is an American vaudevillian actor who was known for his comic skills, childlike mannerism and exaggerated walk. His performance as a member of The Three Stooges was particularly popular among children in 1930s and early 1940s. He was forced to retire early from his career because of stroke.

Lawrence Welk was an American accordionist and bandleader. From 1951 to 1982, Welk hosted the popular musical variety show, The Lawrence Welk Show. Also known for his entrepreneurship skills, Welk had investments in music publishing and real estate. He also owned a club and restaurant. In 1994, he was made an inductee of the International Polka Music Hall of Fame.

Considered part of the New York school of painters of the 1940s, Mark Rothko was best known for his signature color field paintings, consisting of vertically set rectangular patches of color. A significant figure of the Abstract Expressionist movement, he also experimented with murals and mythological themes.

Olav V of Norway served as the king of Norway from 1957 to 1991. Olav became heir apparent to the throne in 1905 when his father was crowned king of Norway. His leadership skills during World War II earned him the position of Norwegian Chief of Defence in 1944. Nicknamed The People's King, Olav was popular for his down-to-earth style.

Claudette Colbert was an American actress best remembered for her performance in the 1934 romantic-comedy film It Happened One Night, which earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress. A versatile actress, Colbert achieved immense popularity in the 1930s and 1940s, during which she was one of the highest-paid stars. Colbert also received a Golden Globe Award during her career.

French-Cuban-American diarist, essayist, and novelist Anais Nin wrote several volumes of journals, erotica, novels, critical studies, essays, and short stories. Her journals and diaries are among her most studied works. She had a deep interest in psychoanalysis and studied it extensively with René Allendy and Otto Rank. Critics consider her one of the finest writers of female erotica.

Maurice Tillet was a Russian professional wrestler. A two-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion, Tillet was a very successful and popular wrestler at that time. He even appeared as The Swedish Angel in the 1949 American fantasy film Mighty Joe Young. Maurice Tillet was posthumously inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012.

Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh was an English author, known for his novels, biographies, and travelogues. Hailed as the most brilliant satirical novelist of his day, he wrote mostly satires before WWII. But during the war, his writings took a serious turn; he published Brideshead Revisited in 1945, a book that continues to appear on the best books list till now.

Jeanette MacDonald was an American actress and singer best remembered for her performances in the musical films of the 1930s. Renowned for her singing skills, MacDonald appeared in opera and concerts. One of the 20th century's most influential sopranos, Jeanette MacDonald is credited with inspiring a generation of singers and introducing opera to film-going audiences.

Popularly known as The King of Country Music, Roy Acuff was also a talented fiddler. Initially a budding baseball player, he ditched his sports career due to repeated injuries and focused on music instead. He was part of the radio broadcast Grand Ole Opry and later won a Grammy Lifetime Award.

American paediatrician Benjamin Spock was the first paediatrician who studied psychoanalysis to comprehend needs of children and family dynamics. He penned Baby and Child Care, a best-seller book of the twentieth-century. His concepts of child-rearing influenced generations of parents. Spock was also an Olympic gold-medallist in rowing and ran during the 1972 United States presidential election as People's Party nominee.

One of the most prominent intellectuals of the 20th century, Theodor Adorno was a pioneer of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory and despised the culture industry. Born to a singer mother, the German sociologist grew up amid music and could even play Beethoven on the piano by 12.

Arthur Godfrey was an American entertainer and television and radio broadcaster. In the early and mid-1950s, Godfrey was seen on television and heard on the radio up to six days a week. His career inspired two films, namely The Great Man and A Face in the Crowd. Arthur Godfrey was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1987.

Empress Kōjun was an Empress consort of Japan. As the wife of Emperor Shōwa, Kōjun was one of the most important members of the Imperial House of Japan. She reigned as empress consort from 1926 to 1989, becoming the longest-serving empress consort in the history of Japan. Kōjun performed her ceremonial duties and accompanied Emperor Shōwa on his foreign tours.

Nobel Prize-winning Austrian zoologist Konrad Lorenz is remembered as a pioneer of ethology. The son of a surgeon father and a physician mother, Lorenz was a qualified physician himself. A university degree awarded to him was rescinded posthumously due to his association with the Nazi party

Georges Simenon was a Belgian writer who published nearly 500 novels during his illustrious career that spanned several years. Simenon is credited with creating one of the most popular fictional detectives of all time, Jules Maigret. A self-proclaimed Casanova, Simenon claimed in 1977 to have had sex with 10,000 women since his 13th birthday.

Ernst Kaltenbrunner was an SS official who played a major role in the Holocaust during the Nazi era. From 1943 to 1945, Kaltenbrunner served as chief of the Reich Main Security Office, which housed the offices of SD, Kripo, and Gestapo. His most influential period as an SS official coincided with the period during which the genocide of Jews intensified.

Yasujiro Ozu often ran away from school to watch movies at a local theater and later began his career as a camera assistant. He directed both silent films and talkies, including the masterpiece Tokyo Story, and is best remembered for his signature static camera effect and the use of the color red.

Sadegh Hedayat was an Iranian translator and writer best remembered for his book The Blind Owl, which inspired the 1987 French film La Chouette aveugle. Hedayat was one of the earliest writers from Iran to make literary modernism an important aspect of his work and career. Sadegh Hedayat's life and career have inspired several documentary films like From No. 37.

John Wyndham was an English writer best remembered for writing science fiction stories set in post-apocalyptic landscapes, such as The Day of the Triffids. His books have inspired other works of art like movies and radio. John Wyndham’s 1957 science fiction novel The Midwich Cuckoos was filmed twice under the title Village of the Damned.