Born on the Fourth of July
It’s the birthday of America, but this year, instead of celebrating Revolutionary heroes and the like, I thought we’d salute some of the notable people born on the Fourth of July—and of course those with the more interesting names. (By the way, George M. Cohan, the ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ who famously claimed he was ‘born on the fourth of July’ was actually born on July 3rd. Similarly, PR people put the story out that Louis Armstrong was born on Independence Day: his real date of birth was August 4th.)
If you’re expecting a baby this month, these all make excellent July baby names. Here they are, with the years of their births.
Abigail Van Buren (born Pauline), 1918, “Dear Abby,” along with competing advice-giving twin sister Ann Landers (born Esther)
Eva Marie Saint, 1924, actress, On the Waterfront
Gertrude Lawrence, 1898, British singer and actress
Gina Lollobrigida, 1927, Italian movie star
Gloria Stuart, 1910, whose long movie career climaxed with Titanic
Henrietta Swan Levitt, 1868, American astronomer and inventor
Isabelli Fontana, 1983, Brazilian model (an interesting take on Isabella)
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, 1951, American politician, eldest child of Robert Kennedy
Katia Zygouli, 1977, Greek supermodel
Madeleine Barot, 1909, World War II heroine
Malia Obama, 1998, First Daughter
Pam (Pamela) Shriver, 1968, tennis star
Pilar Barbosa de Rosario, 1898, noted Puerto Rican historian
Viviane Romance, 1912, French actress
BOYS
Adrian Caldwell, 1966, retired Texas NBA forward
Alec Templeton, 1909, blind Welsh-born pianist, composer and satirist
Andrei Cherkasov, 1970, Russian tennis star
Calvin Coolidge, 1872, 30th US President
Cle Koolman , 1964 (born Christopher Clemence), US Soccer player
Emerson Boozer, 1943, former Jets running back
Flor Peeters, 1903, renowned Belgian composer and organist
George Murphy, 1902, actor-dancer-politician
George Steinbrenner, 1930, NY Yankees owner
Geraldo (born Gerald) Rivera, 1943, TV journalist and host
Giuseppe Garibaldi, 1807—Italian freedom fighter
Green Clay Smith, 1826, Civil War general and Congressman
Henri Leconte, 1963, French tennis player
Hiram Walker, 1816, grocer and distiller
Jeremy Spencer, rock guitarist, Fleetwood Mac
Jonas Kjellgren, 1977, Swedish musician (Scar Symmetry)
Lionel Trilling, 1905, American writer and literary critic
Louis B. Mayer, 1882, one of the ‘M’s in Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer
Manolete, 1917, great Spanish bullfighter
Marco Santucci, 1762, composer
Massimo Campigli, 1895, (born Max), Italian painter/illustrator
Meyer Lansky, 1902, mobster—maybe not the most inspiring namesake
Mitch (Mitchell)** Miller, 1911,** musician, conductor, record producer
Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1804, author, The Scarlet Letter et al
Neil Simon, 1927, playwright, The Odd Couple et al
Patrick Tilley, 1975, British sci-fi author—The Amtrak Wars
Phineas T. Barnum, 1810 circus magnate
Ron (Ronald) Kovic, 1946, disabled anti-war activist, author of (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_on_the_Fourth_of_July(film))_
Rube Goldberg, (born Reuben Garrett Lucius), 1883, eccentric cartoonist and inventor
Stephen Foster, 1826, composer—“O Susannah,” “My Old Kentucky Home” et al
And then last, and possibly least, there is Jersey Shore’s Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, born July 4, 1982
*** HAPPY FOURTH EVERYBERRY !! ***