Famous People Born in June 1917

  • Jun 1 William S. Knowles, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate, (d. 2012)
  • Jun 2 Heinz Sielmann, German photographer and filmmaker (d. 2006)
  • Jun 2 Max Showalter, American actor and composer (Kansas, Niagara, Stockard Channing Show in Caldwell), born in Caldwell, Kansas (d. 2000)
  • Jun 3 Leo Gorcey, American stage and screen comic actor, and malapropist (The Dead End Kids; The East Side Boys; The Bowery Boys), born in NYC, New York (d. 1969)
  • Jun 4 Allen Greenwood, British aeronautical engineer and aerospace executive, born in 38 Court Yard, Eltham, London (d. 2009)
  • Jun 4 Charles Collingwood, American news commentator (CBS, Chronicles), born in Three Rivers, Michigan (d. 1985)
  • Jun 4 Howard Metzenbaum, American businessman and politician (U.S. Senator from Ohio), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2008)
  • Jun 4 Robert Merrill [Moishe Miller], American operatic baritone (NY Metropolitan Opera, 1945-76), and actor, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2004)
  • Jun 6 Kirk Kerkorian, American CEO and "father of the mega-resort" (MGM, UA), born in Fresno, California (d. 2015)
  • Jun 6 Prior Jones, West Indian cricket fast bowler (9 Tests, 25 wickets; Trinidad), born in Princes Town, Trinidad (d. 1991)

Dean MartinDean Martin (1917-1995)

Jun 7 American singer ("That's Amore"; "Everybody Loves Somebody"; "Sway"), comedian and actor (Martin and Lewis, The Dean Martin Show), born in Steubenville, Ohio

  • Jun 7 Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet (Bean Eaters, Annie Allen, Pulitzer 1950), born in Topeka, Kansas (d. 2000)
  • Jun 8 Byron White, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1962-93), born in Fort Collins, Colorado (d. 2002)
  • Jun 9 Eric J. Hobsbawm, Marxist historian (The Age of Revolution; Capital; and Empire), born in Alexandria, Sultanate of Egypt, (d. 2012)
  • Jun 11 James Bostock, English wood engraver and artist, born in Hanley, Staffordshire, England (d. 2006)
  • Jun 11 Joseph B Wirthlin, American businessmen, religious leader, member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (LDS Church), born in Salt Lake City, Utah (d. 2008)
  • Jun 12 Priscilla Lane, American actress (Arsenic & Old Lace), born in Indianola, Iowa (d. 1995)
  • Jun 13 Philip Bodner, American jazz clarinetist and studio musician (also played flute, oboe, saxophone, piccolo, and English horn), born in Waterbury, Connecticut (d. 2008)
  • Jun 13 Simon "Si" Zentner, American jazz, session, and pop trombonist and big-band bandleader, born in New York City (d. 2000)
  • Jun 14 Atle Selberg, Norwegian mathematician (number theory), born in Langesund, Norway (d. 2007)
  • Jun 14 Katherine Rawls, American diver (Olympic silver 3m springboard 1932, 36) and swimmer (Olympic bronze 4×100m freestyle 1936), born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 1982)
  • Jun 15 Alfred "Lash" LaRue, American actor (Lash of the West, Wyatt Earp), born in Gretna, Louisiana, United States (d. 1996)
  • Jun 15 Lillian Bassman, American photographer and painter (Harper's Bazaar), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2012)
  • Jun 15 Michalis Genitsaris, Greek rebetiko singer and composer, born in Agia Sofia, Piraeus, Greece (d. 2005)
  • Jun 16 Aurelio Lampredi, Italian automobile and aircraft engine designer (Ferrari), born in Livorno, Italy (d. 1989)
  • Jun 16 Irving Penn, American fashion and fine art photographer, born in Plainfield, New Jersey (d. 2009)

Katharine GrahamKatharine Graham (1917-2001)

Jun 16 American newspaper publisher (The Washington Post) who led the paper as it reported on the Watergate scandal, born in NYC, New York

  • Jun 18 Akhmet Jevdet Ismail Hajiyev, Azerbaijani composer, born in Nukha, Azerbaijan (d. 2002)
  • Jun 18 Arthur Tremblay, Canadian politician (d. 1996)
  • Jun 18 Richard Boone, American actor (The Richard Boone Show, Have Gun Will Travel), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1981)
  • Jun 19 Joshua Nkomo, Zimbabwean revolutionary (ZAPU), and Matabeleland politician (Vice-President of Zimbabwe, 1990-99), born in Matopos, Southern Rhodesia (d. 1999)
  • Jun 20 Ash Brownridge, American conservationist (National Wildlife Federation), creator of Ranger Rick, born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2015)
  • Jun 20 Igor Śmiałowski, Polish actor (Lalka, Znachor, Niedaleko Warszawy), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 2006)
  • Jun 22 Davey O'Brien, American College Football Hall of Fame quarterback (Heisman Trophy 1938, Texas Christian University; NFL: Philadelphia Eagles), born in Dallas, Texas (d. 1977)
  • Jun 23 Peter Knight, English musical arranger, conductor, and composer, born in Exmouth, Devon, England (d. 1985)
  • Jun 26 Wille Hamilton, British MP, born in Houghton-le-Spring, England (d. 2000)
  • Jun 27 K. M. Rangnekar, Indian cricketer (batted in 3 Tests India v Australia 1947-48), born in Bombay, India (d. 1984)
  • Jun 27 Ron Hayward, English politician, General Secretary of the Labour Party, born in Chipping Sodbury, Oxfordshire (d. 1996)
  • Jun 28 Willem "Wim" Sonneveld, Dutch singer considered one of the 'Great Three' of Dutch cabaret (My Fair Lady), born in Utrecht, Netherlands (d. 1974)
  • Jun 30 Lena Horne, American actress and Grammy Award-winning singer (Cabin in the Sky; Stormy Weather; The Wiz), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2010)
  • Jun 30 Robert Vandekerckhove, Belgian politician, born in Ingelmunster, Belgium (d. 1980)

Susan HaywardSusan Hayward (1917-1975)

Jun 30 American actress (I Want to Live, Tulsa), born in Brooklyn, New York


About June 1917

How Old? 105 or 106 years old
Generation: Greatest Generation
Leap Year: No

Chinese Zodiac: Snake
Star Signs: Gemini (May 21 - Jun 20), Cancer (Jun 21 - Jul 22)