Celebrities Born September 1949 to August 1950
For good or ill, here is just a little of what some of the more accomplished members of our extended class have done and said. Like it or not, the world assesses who we are by these people.
Links
Profiles
Debbie Allen
- Actress, dancer, director, and choreographer: Fame, West Side Story [on Broadway]
- Member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities
- Founder and Artistic Director of the Debbie Allen Dance Academy
- Sister of Phylicia Rashād
- 3 Emmys
Out of limitations comes creativity
Richard Dean Anderson
Dogs are my favorite people |
Barbi Benton
I went from the Ramada Inn to The Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, just me and my guitar, singing in front of 8,000 people. I just remember thinking, ‘I can’t believe how quiet these people are. They’re actually listening.’ |
Sir Richard Branson
- Founder and chairman of Virgin Group consisting of over 400 companies from airlines (Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America) and wireless communications (Virgin Mobile) to space travel (Virgin Galactic).
- Knighted by Charles, Prince of Wales on March 30, 2000
- Net worth: $4.2 billion.
What does the name Virgin mean? We are a company that likes to take on the giants. In too many businesses, these giants have had things their own way. We are going to have fun competing with them.
Any fool can make something complicated. It is hard to make something simple.
Above all, you want to create something you are proud of.
My general attitude to life is to enjoy every minute of every day. I never do anything with a feeling of, ‘Oh God, I've got to do this today.’
You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and by falling over.
Most “necessary evils” are far more evil than necessary.
The brave may not live forever—But the cautious do not live at all.
Things I carry: a brilliant assistant.
Third powered test flight on January 10, 2014 of the
world’s first commercial passenger spaceship.
world’s first commercial passenger spaceship.
Karen Carpenter
- Singer and drummer with her brother Richard: Always Something There to Remind Me, All of My Life, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, For All We Know, We’ve Only Just Begun, Our Day Will Come, Yesterday Once More, I’ll Never Fall in Love Again, Close to You, Jambalaya
- The Carpenters had 3 number 1 singles and 5 number 2 singles on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
- 3 Grammys
- Performed for President Richard Nixon at the White House in 1972
- Number 29 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Women of Rock ’n’ Roll
- Contralto singing voice made her unique in the pop world
- Died 1983 from heart failure brought on by anorexia.
Not enough people in this world are happy.
The image we have would be impossible for Mickey Mouse to maintain. We're just... normal people.
Natalie Cole
I've had my share of doing things that I really wish I hadn't done.
Morgan Fairchild
- Actress: Search for Tomorrow, Dallas, Falcon Crest, Fashion House, guest star on just about everything
- Named one of the ten most beautiful women in the world by Harpers Bazaar in 1982
- Spokesman: Old Navy
- Board of Directors: Screen Actors Guild
- Actively supports AIDS-related issues, gay rights, pro-choice rights, planned parenthood, and environmental protection
You can never be too rich or too thin.
I was a very shy, very quiet, little fat kid with big thick glasses, always in advanced placement, teachers pet, never opened my mouth, and made straight A’s, and a very lonely child that had asthma, caught everything that went around, so I lived in my room, I lived with my books. My books were my world. But at one point, I decided I didn’t want to just read about interesting people…I wanted to be one of those interesting people.
Gennifer Flowers
I've always believed everything was about protecting the Clinton power structure and anyone would be sacrificed who got in the way of that. |
“Hitman” David Foster
• Record producer, composer, singer, songwriter, and arranger for: Christina Aguilera, Air Supply, The Bee Gees, Andrea Bocelli, Boz Scaggs, Toni Braxton, Michael Bublé, Mariah Carey, Cher, Chicago, Natalie Cole, Destiny’s Child, Neil Diamond, Céline Dion, Earth Wind and Fire, Gloria Estefan, Josh Groban, Hall & Oates, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Katherine Jenkins, Chaka Khan, Beyoncé Knowles, Kenny Loggins, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Olivia Newton-John, Nsync, Renee Olstead, Prince, LeAnn Rimes, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Rod Stewart, Barbara Streisand, Donna Summer, Shania Twain, …
- 16 Grammys, 1 Emmy, 1 Golden Globe
- Chairman of Verve Music Group.
- Founder and head of the David Foster Foundation to provide financing for children that need organ transplants.
The road to success is straight; it is not curved. A girlfriend, a parent, anything that pulls you off of that road is a mistake. You have to stay on that road straight. You cannot let anything get in your way.
You have to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you're not working Saturday and Sunday, sombody else is. So, you had better be working Saturday and Sunday.
“Good” is the enemy of “Great” To be “Great” takes a lot of hard work and that’s what you should strive for. Every day of my life, I’ve tried to be great. Once in a while, I’m great. The rest of the days, I’m only good. But everyday, I try to be great.
I probably wouldn’t do anything differently if I had to do it again. Every little thing that happens to you, good and bad, becomes a little piece of the puzzle of who you become. ‘Do what you love.’ I know I did.
I've been slagged my whole life for doing so-called pussy music—you know, like people say the reason I don’t go into elevators is because I’m afraid to hear my own music. That’s actually not the truth, but when I lay my hands on the piano what comes out is what comes out.
David Foster and Renee Olstead performing
Midnight Man for The David Foster Foundation.
Midnight Man for The David Foster Foundation.
“First Lady of Disco” Gloria Gaynor
Singer: I Will Survive
Well, we all know that self-esteem comes from what you think of you, not what other people think of you. |
Erin Gray
- Model: Breck Girl, Camay, Clairol, CoverGirl, English Leather (“All my men wear English Leather or they wear nothing at all.”), Ford Thunderbird, L’Oréal (“I’m worth it.”), Max Factor, Maybelline, Sports Illustrated
- Actress: Silver Spoons, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Baywatch, Port Charles, Profiler, numerous guest star roles, finalist for the role of Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek, Voyager
- T’ai Chi instructor at UCLA
- Founder and CEO of Heroes for Hire, agency representing:
- Star Trek: Robert Beltran (Commander Chakotay), Levar Burton (Geordi LaForge), Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar), Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov), Anthony Montgomery (Travis Mayweather), Nichelle Nichols (Lieutenant Uhura), Robert Picardo (Emergency Medical Hologram), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), and Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher).
- DC Universe: Stephen Amell (Green Arrow), Gerard Christopher (Superboy), Erica Durance (Lois Lane), Cassidy Freeman (Tess Mercer), Stacy Haiduk (Lana Lang), Sam Jones III (Pete Ross), Lee Meriwether (Catwoman), Dina Meyer (Batgirl), Brandon Routh (Superman), Helen Slater (Supergirl), and Michael Ulsan (Executive Producer “Batman” movies).
- Battlestar Galactica: Jamie Bamber (Lee “Apollo” Adama), Dirk Benedict (Lieutenant Starbuck), James Callis (Dr. Gaius Baltar), Aaron Douglas (Galen Tyrol), Herbert Jefferson Jr (Lieutenant Boomer), Alessandro Juliani (Felix Gaeta), Bodie Olmos (Brendan “Hot Dog” Constanza), Edward James Olmos (William Adama), and Tahmoh Penikett (Karl “Helo” Agathon).
- Others: Richard Anderson (Six Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman), Bruce Campbell (Xena, Hercules), Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four), Shelly Hack (Charlie’s Angels), Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), Stan Lee (creator of Spiderman and X-Men), Lee Majors (Six Million Dollar Man), Kent McCord (Adam 12), Billy Mumy (Lost in Space), Renee O’Connor (Xena), Kevin Sorbo (Hercules), Lea Thompson (Back to the Future), Lindsay Wagner (Bionic Woman), Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit), …
- Motivational speaker and spokesman: UPS, Lady Remington, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Athletes & Entertainers for Kids, Mothers Against Sexual Abuse, YWCA
- Board of Directors: Haven House
Freedom is the will to be responsible for yourself.
[Re: Buck Rogers] I was the first female colonel. I enjoyed being that kind of role model for young women watching the show. A woman can be a colonel! A woman can be in charge!
In television, you get cast for qualities that you have as a person. So I look for qualities that I like to portray.
[Re: Heros for Hire] It’s important for actors to meet their fans because those fans are so loyal and will show up at any movie or tune in to any television show you’re on.
Watching Erin Gray as Colonel Wilma Deering on Buck Rogers was a joy! She was an emotionless, cold as ice officer until smitten by this man from the 20th century frozen in space for 500 years. She was proud of her unemotional objectivity then she discovered she was human after all.
Wilma pauses before saying “A-ok” to acknowledge that, as a 20th century astronautical term, she learned it from him. She is showing how things of him have become part of her. (NASA engineers started using A-ok because the “A” sound cut through static better than “O”.)
Caitlyn (Bruce) Jenner
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I learned that the only way you are going to get anywhere in life is to work hard at it. Whether you’re a musician, a writer, an athlete or a businessman, there is no getting around it. If you do, you’ll win—if you don’t, you won’t.
Nobody has milked one performance better than me—and I’m damned proud of it.
Waving the flag at the 1976 Olympics wasn’t my idea. It was too much apple pie and ice cream. Not that I don't love my country, but I felt it was my victory up there, I put all the time into it.
Bruce was "always telling lies." Caitlyn, "doesn't have any lies."
Jay Leno
I think high self-esteem is overrated. A little low self-esteem is actually quite good. Maybe you’e not the best, so you should work a little harder. |
If I have one advantage, it’s that I will try to work harder than the next guy.
You cannot be mad at somebody who makes you laugh... it’s as simple as that.
Huey Lewis
Lead singer of Huey Lewis and the News
I know my choices will be creative so long as I follow my heart.
Anne, Princess Royal
- Daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Sister of Charles, Prince of Wales.
- Untiring patroness of over 200 charitable organizations.
- Equestrian extraordinaire.
- First member of Royal Family to participate in the Olympics
When I’m approaching a water jump, with dozens of photographers waiting for me to fall in, and hundreds of spectators wondering what’s going to happen next, the horse is just about the only one who doesn’t know I am Royal!
You are a pest, by the very nature of that camera in your hand.
Short interview and review of Princess Anne’s life by the BBC on her 60th birthday.
Victoria Principal
How you feel is very important to how you look—healthy equals beautiful. |
No one can make me work harder than I do, so I’m generally not interested in who I am competing with.
Success doesn’t mean that you are healthy, success doesn't mean that you’re happy, success doesn’t mean that you’re rested. Success really doesn’t mean that you look good, or feel good, or are good.
You can’t be responsible for the way people respond to you. You’re only responsible for yourself.
Don’t strive to be perfect. Strive for excellence.
I used to walk into a room full of people and think, do they like me? And one day I walked in and I thought, do I like them?
I try to treat people the way I would like to be treated, but I can’t worry about what everyone’s going to think.
When I don't plumb the depths or the opportunities of each day, I don’t have joy.
My greatest fear in life is not to be challenged, is to grow weary of life, and not to be passionate about it.
André Rieu
I’m an un-healable positive optimist. |
Critics or musicians who attack me are jealous of my success and the fact that I make people feel so happy.
I believe that music in itself heals and that everything is about the power of the mind. I thought if you are happy, you don’t get ill. Your health is in your head. When you are satisfied with your work, you don’t get ill.
I know that when I like music, when it touches my heart, that it will touch your heart, too. That, I think, is the secret to my success.
I think there are people who use classical music to say, ‘I am better than you, because I know all the rules and you don’t.’ You’re not allowed to have fun or entertain.
It doesn’t matter as long as there’s interaction between me and the audience. That’s why they come.
People don’t come to my concerts because they know the program. They come because they love the atmosphere and because they know that when I offer them a program it will be a night they never forget.
We should make decisions in life with our hearts, not our brains, not only in music but in daily life.
André Rieu performing Victory [The Barber of Seville] with Bond string quartet.
Garry Shandling
Comedian, actor, and writer: It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, The Larry Sanders Show.
Which is, I’m an optimist that two people can be together to work out their conflicts. And that commitment, I think, might be what love is, because they both grow from their relationship. |
Cybill Shepherd
I had the serendipity of modeling during a temporary interlude between Twiggy and Kate Moss, when it was actually okay for women to look as if we ate and enjoyed life. |
I think the measure of your success to a certain extent will be the amount of things written about you that aren’t true.
I did the nasty with Elvis Presley. This man loved to eat. But there was one thing he wouldn’t eat… ’til he met me.
Marilyn Monroe had curves in places most other women don’t even have places.
I never wanted to be Jane. I always wanted to be Tarzan. I didn’t want to vacuum the tree house. I wanted to swing from the vines.
We have to keep trying things we’re not sure we can pull off. If we just do the things we know we can do… you don’t grow as much. You gotta take those chances on making those big mistakes
I was born and bred to be a great flirt.
I've chosen to treat my life more like a party than something to stress about.
No one is any one thing.
“The Boss” Bruce Springsteen
It’s a sad man my friend who’s livin’ in his own skin and can’t stand the company. |
Getting an audience is hard. Sustaining an audience is hard. It demands a consistency of thought, of purpose, and of action over a long period of time.
I don’t deny anything, I don’t advocate anything, I just live with it.
Pessimism and optimism are slammed up against each other in my records, the tension between them is where it’s all at, it’s what lights the fire.
The best music is essentially there to provide you something to face the world with.
When it comes to luck, you make your own.
Every good writer or filmmaker has something eating at them, right? that they can’t quite get off their back. And so your job is to make your audience care about your obsessions.
If you’re good, you’re always looking over your shoulder.
We all have stories we’re living and telling ourselves.
I worked hard and made my own way just as my father had. And just, I’m sure, as he hoped I would, I learned, from observing him the satisfaction that comes from striving and seeing a dream fulfilled.
It’s rare when you have everything going perfectly all at the same time.
[Re Galaxy Quest] It was actually a relief for me to play an actor who was scared, who didn’t know where everything was, who didn’t know what buttons to push, and for me to be able to play all that.
Usually it’s the guys that don’t follow you around, who you’re attracted to!
Some of the most intense affairs are between actors and characters. There’s a fire in the human heart and we jump into it with the same obsession as we have with our lovers.
I don't have ambitions, I believe in taking what comes. I have that philosophy about life in general. I go in and try to transform it into the best it can be.
The movie business divides women into ice queens and sluts, and there have been times I wanted to be a slut more than anything.
Stevie Wonder
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Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.
You can't base your life on other people's expectations.
I am what I am. I love me! And I don't mean that egotistically—I love that God has allowed me to take whatever it was that I had and to make something out of it.
Life has meaning only in the struggle. Triumph or defeat is in the hands of the Gods. So let us celebrate the struggle!
Music, at its essence, is what gives us memories. And the longer a song has existed in our lives, the more memories we have of it.
If you don’t ask, you don't get.
[My favorite song?] I haven’t written it yet.
Stevie Wonder accepting the Music Makes One Global Ambassador Award
at the 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) in Hong Kong.
at the 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) in Hong Kong.