1
William Shakespeare
(English Playwright & Poet Who is Regarded as the Greatest Writer in the English Language)
692
201
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: April 26, 1564
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Stratford-upon-Avon, England
Died: April 23, 1616
2
Winston Churchill
(Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1940 - 1945, 1951 - 1955))
289
111
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: November 30, 1874
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Blenheim Palace, England, United Kingdom
Died: January 24, 1965
3
Woody Harrelson
(Actor and Playwright)
164
50
Listed In: Activists
Birthdate: July 23, 1961
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Midland, Texas, United States
Height: 5'10" (178 cm)
4
W. E. B. Du Bois
(Civil Rights Activists)
191
29
Listed In: Media Personalities
Birthdate: February 23, 1868
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Great Barrington, Massachusetts, United States
Died: August 27, 1963
5
William Wordsworth
(Poet)
188
75
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: April 7, 1770
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Kingdom of Great Britain
Died: April 23, 1850
6
William Blake
(English Poet Who is Considered a Seminal Figure in the History of the Poetry of the Romantic Age)
86
28
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: November 28, 1757
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: London, England, United Kingdom
Died: August 12, 1827
7
Walt Whitman
(One of the Most Influential Poets in the American Canon, Regarded as the 'Father of Free Verse')
78
11
Listed In: Media Personalities
Birthdate: May 31, 1819
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: West Hills, New York, United States
Died: March 26, 1892
8
W B Yeats
(One of the Greatest English-Language Poets of the 20th Century and 1923 Nobel Prize for Literature Winner)
101
21
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: June 13, 1865
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Sandymount, Ireland
Died: January 28, 1939
9
William Faulkner
(Regarded as One of the Most Significant American Writers of All Time)
53
17
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: September 25, 1897
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: New Albany, Mississippi, United States
Died: July 6, 1962
10
Woody Guthrie
(Singer-songwriter)
53
20
Listed In: Singers
Birthdate: July 14, 1912
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Okemah, Oklahoma, United States
Died: October 3, 1967
11
Walter Raleigh
(English Statesman, Soldier, Writer, Explorer and One of the Most Notable Figures of the Elizabethan Era)
28
8
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: 1552 AD
Birthplace: Hayes Barton,United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Died: October 29, 1618
12
William S. Burroughs
(Best Known for His Third Novel 'Naked Lunch')
25
10
Listed In: Film & Theater Personalities
Birthdate: February 5, 1914
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Died: August 2, 1997
13
Washington Irving
(Author, Historian, Diplomat)
55
8
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: April 3, 1783
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: New York City, New York
Died: November 28, 1859
14
Wilfred Owen
(Poet)
72
35
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: March 18, 1893
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Oswestry
Died: November 4, 1918
15
William Penn
(Writer)
33
6
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: October 14, 1644
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: London, England
Died: July 30, 1718
16
Walter Scott
(Novelist and Poet known for his Works Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, and The Lady of the Lake)
37
11
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: August 15, 1771
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Edinburgh, Scotland
Died: September 21, 1832
17
Wole Soyinka
(Author, Poet, Playwright)
94
13
18
William F. Buckley, Jr.
(Editor)
20
2
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: November 24, 1925
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: February 27, 2008
Height: 6'1" (185 cm)
19
Wayne Dyer
(Self-Help Author and Motivational Speaker)
25
8
20
W. H. Auden
(One of the Greatest Authors of 20th Century)
15
2
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: February 21, 1907
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: York, England, United Kingdom
Died: September 29, 1973
21
William Golding
(Novelist)
25
4
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: September 19, 1911
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Newquay
Died: June 19, 1993
22
William Morris
(Textile Designer, Poet)
32
21
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: March 24, 1834
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Walthamstow, England
Died: October 3, 1896
23
Wendell Berry
(American Novelist, Poet and the First Living Writer to Be Inducted Into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame)
21
6
24
William Goldman
(Novelist)
9
1
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: August 12, 1931
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Highland Park, Illinois, USA
Died: November 16, 2018
Height: 6'1" (185 cm)
25
Wilbur A. Smith
(Zambian-born British-South African novelist Who Specialised in Historical Fiction )
12
2
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: January 9, 1933
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Kabwe, Zambia
Died: November 13, 2021
26
Willa Cather
(Author)
12
3
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: December 7, 1873
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Winchester
Died: April 24, 1947
27
Walter Benjamin
(German Jewish Philosopher, Cultural Critic and Essayist)
12
7
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: July 15, 1892
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Berlin, Germany
Died: September 26, 1940
28
William Cowper
(Poet)
69
17
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: November 26, 1731
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Berkhamsted
Died: April 25, 1800
29
W. Kamau Bell
(Comedian)
7
1
Listed In: Film & Theater Personalities
Birthdate: January 26, 1973
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Palo Alto, California, United States U.S.
Height: 6'4" (193 cm)
30
Win Butler
(Songwriter, Singer, Composer, Poet, Guitarist)
8
4
Listed In: Singers
Birthdate: April 14, 1980
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Truckee, California, United States
Height: 6'4" (193 cm)
31
William Gibson
(Science-Fiction Writer Known for His Novel ‘Neuromancer’ and a Pinoeer of 'Cyberpunk' Genre)
8
5
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: March 17, 1948
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Conway, South Carolina, United States
32
Wilhelm Reich
(One of the Most Radical Figures in the History of Psychiatry)
7
4
Listed In: Intellectuals & Academics
Birthdate: March 24, 1897
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Dobryanychi, Ukraine
Died: November 3, 1957
33
William Saroyan
(American-Armenian novelist)
8
1
34
William Hazlitt
(English Writer & Literary Critic)
15
3
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: April 10, 1778
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Maidstone, Kent, England
Died: September 18, 1830
35
William Maugham
(Novelist & Playwright)
31
6
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: January 25, 1874
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: December 15, 1965
36
Will Durant
(American Writer Best Known for His Work 'The Story of Civilization')
5
1
Listed In: Intellectuals & Academics
Birthdate: November 5, 1885
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: North Adams, Massachusetts, United States
Died: November 7, 1981
37
Will Eisner
(Cartoonist)
9
0
Listed In: Media Personalities
Birthdate: March 16, 1917
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died: January 3, 2005
38
Wisława Szymborska
(Polish Poet, Essayist, Translator and Winner of 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature)
17
1
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: July 2, 1923
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Kórnik, Poland
Died: February 1, 2012
39
Wallace Stegner
(Author)
13
1
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: February 18, 1909
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Lake Mills
Died: April 13, 1993
40
Walter Dean Myers
(Writer)
31
10
41
William Carlos Williams
(Poet)
6
3
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: September 17, 1883
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Rutherford, New Jersey, United States
Died: March 4, 1963
42
Wallace Stevens
(Modernist poet)
4
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: October 2, 1879
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Reading, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: August 2, 1955
43
Winston Graham
(Novelist)
6
1
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: June 30, 1908
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Victoria Park, Manchester, England
Died: July 10, 2003
44
William Cullen Bryant
(Romantic Poet)
11
2
Listed In: Media Personalities
Birthdate: November 3, 1794
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Cummington, Massachusetts
Died: June 12, 1878
45
Wilkie Collins
(Novelist, Playwright)
4
1
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: January 8, 1824
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: London
Died: September 23, 1889
46
William Makepeace Thackeray
(Author & Novelist)
16
4
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: July 18, 1811
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Died: December 24, 1863
47
W. S. Gilbert
(Dramatist)
4
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: November 18, 1836
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Southampton Street, London, England
Died: May 29, 1911
48
Warsan Shire
(Writer)
6
0
49
Wilhelm Grimm
(German Anthropologist, Author and One Half of the Popular Literary Duo, 'The Brothers Grimm')
8
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: February 24, 1786
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Hanau
Died: December 16, 1859
50
William L. Shirer
(Journalist, Historian, Writer)
6
2
Listed In: Intellectuals & Academics
Birthdate: February 23, 1904
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Chicago
Died: December 28, 1993
