Famous Birthdays on July 11

Sela Ann Ward is an American actress. Her breakthrough TV role was as Teddy Reed in the NBC drama series Sisters (1991–96), for which she received her first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1994. She received her second Primetime Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama for the leading role of Lily Manning in the ABC drama series Once and Again (1999–2002). Ward later had the recurring role of Stacy Warner in the Fox medical drama House, also starred as Jo Danville in the CBS police procedural CSI: NY (2010–13) and starred as Dana Mosier in the CBS police procedural series FBI (2018–19).

Thomas Lee Holland is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and former actor. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, penning the screenplay for Psycho II (1983), the sequel to the classic Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho; writing and directing the cult vampire film Fright Night (1985); and directing and co-writing Child's Play (1988), the first entry in the long-running Child's Play franchise. He also wrote and directed the Stephen King adaptations The Langoliers (1995) and Thinner (1996), and directed an episode of Masters of Horror (2007). Holland is a Saturn Award recipient for Best Writing for Fright Night, which also won the Avoriaz Dario Argento Award and the Fantasporto Critics' Award.

Rodney Strickland is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He is currently the head coach at Long Island University. Prior to LIU, he served as the program manager for the NBA G League's professional path. Strickland played college basketball for the DePaul Blue Demons, earning All-American honors. He had a long career in the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing from 1988 to 2005. Strickland was an assistant coach for the South Florida Bulls, under Orlando Antigua from 2014 to 2017. He formerly served in an administrative role for the University of Kentucky basketball team under head coach John Calipari and was the director of basketball operations at the University of Memphis under Calipari. He is the godfather of current NBA player Kyrie Irving. Strickland was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame with the Class of 2008.

Kathleen Margaret Edwards is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. Her 2002 debut album, Failer, contained the singles "Six O'Clock News" and "Hockey Skates". Her next two albums – Back to Me and Asking for Flowers – both made the Billboard 200 list and reached the top 10 of Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart. In 2012, Edwards' fourth studio album, Voyageur, became Edwards' first album to crack the top 100 and top 40 in the U.S., peaking at No. 39 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and No. 2 in Canada. In 2012, Edwards' song "A Soft Place To Land" won the SOCAN Songwriting Prize, an annual competition that honours the best song written and released by 'emerging' songwriters over the past year, as voted by the public. Her musical sound has been compared to Suzanne Vega meets Neil Young.

Allan MacInnis is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who was a defenceman for 23 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames (1981–1994) and St. Louis Blues (1994–2004). A first round selection of the Flames in the 1981 NHL entry draft, he went on to become a twelve-time All-Star. He was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the most valuable player of the playoffs in 1989 after leading the Flames to the Stanley Cup championship. He was voted the winner of the James Norris Memorial Trophy in 1999 as the top defenceman in the league while a member of the Blues. In 2017, MacInnis was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

Thomas Bowdler was an English physician known for publishing The Family Shakespeare, an expurgated edition of William Shakespeare's plays edited by his sister Henrietta Maria Bowdler, and for publishing other editions edited by himself. The two sought a version they considered more appropriate than the original for 19th-century women and children. Bowdler also published works representing an interested knowledge of continental Europe. His last work was an expurgation of Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published posthumously in 1826 with the supervision of his nephew and biographer, Thomas Bowdler the Younger. From his name derives the eponym verb bowdlerise or bowdlerize, meaning to expurgate or to censor something through the omission of elements deemed unsuited to children in literature, movies, and television.

Theodore Harold Maiman was an American engineer and physicist who is widely credited with the invention of the laser. Maiman's laser led to the subsequent development of many other types of lasers. The laser was successfully fired on May 16, 1960. In a July 7, 1960, press conference in Manhattan, Maiman and his employer, Hughes Aircraft Company, announced the laser to the world. Maiman was granted a patent for his invention, and he received many awards and honors for his work. His experiences in developing the first laser and subsequent related events are recounted in his book, The Laser Odyssey, later being republished in 2018 under a new title, The Laser Inventor: Memoirs of Theodore H. Maiman.

Piyasvasti Amranand, born 11 July 1953) is a former Thailand's Energy Minister between 9 October 2006 and 6 February 2008. He is former Secretary-General of the Thai National Energy Policy Office, Chairman of Kasikorn Asset Management, and Chairman of the Panel of Advisors to the CEO of Kasikornbank. He was President of Thai Airways International between October 2009 and June 2012 and Chairman of PTT Public Company Limited between July 2014 and 2018. He is currently Chairman of PTT Global Chemical plc., board member of Kasikorn Bank, board member of Pruksa Holding plc., and Chairman of Thai Airways Rehabilitation Plan Administrator. Piyasvasti plays active roles in three non-profit organizations as a founding and core member of the Energy Reform for Sustainability Group (ERS); Chairman of the Energy for Environment Foundation, a non-profit organization undertaking renewable energy and energy efficiency projects; and as president of the Ski and Snowboard Association of Thailand.

Mortimer Maxwell Caplin was an American lawyer and educator, and the founding member of Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered. He served under President John F. Kennedy on the Task Force on Taxation and later as Commissioner of Internal Revenue. In 1963, he appeared on the cover of Time magazine, which credited him as a leading tax expert working closely with Treasury Secretary Henry H. Fowler. During World War II, he served in the United States Navy and took part in the invasion of Normandy. Later he served as an adjunct professor at The George Washington University Law School and the University of Miami School of Law. His contributions were recognized with numerous honors, including the Légion d'honneur awarded by the president of the French Republic.

Peter Cincotti is an American singer-songwriter. He began playing piano at the age of three. While in high school, he regularly performed in clubs throughout Manhattan. In 2003, Cincotti's debut album, produced by Phil Ramone, reached No. 1 on the Billboard jazz chart, making Cincotti the youngest musician to do so. This led to performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall, L'Olympia, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and the Montreux Jazz Festival where he won an award in the piano competition. Over the course of seven albums and international collaborations, Cincotti has distinguished himself as one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters and pianists of his generation, building a sound that moves fluidly between pop, jazz, soul, and contemporary songwriting.

Harry Gustaf Nikolai Gädda, better known as Nicolai Gedda, was a Swedish operatic tenor. Debuting in 1951, Gedda had a long and successful career in opera until the age of 77 in June 2003, when he made his final operatic recording. Skilled at languages, he performed operas in French, Russian, German, Italian, English, Czech and Swedish, as well as one in Latin. In January 1958, he created the role of Anatol in the world premiere of Samuel Barber's Vanessa at the Metropolitan Opera. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is one of the most widely recorded opera singers in history. His singing is best known for its beauty of tone, vocal control, and musical perception.

John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825; minister to Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia; and senator for Massachusetts. After his presidency, Adams uniquely returned to Congress as a member of the lower house until his death in 1848. He was the eldest son of John Adams, the second president, and First Lady Abigail Adams. Among his children were Charles Francis Adams Sr. Initially a Federalist like his father, Adams spent his presidency as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, and later, in the mid-1830s, became affiliated with the Whig Party.

Ernesto Frits Hoost is a Dutch retired professional kickboxer. A four-time K-1 World Champion, Hoost is considered to be one of the greatest kickboxers of all time. Debuting in 1993 at the K-1 World Grand Prix 1993, where he came just one win short of the world title, Hoost announced his retirement thirteen years later on 2 December 2006 after the K-1 World GP Final tournament in Tokyo Dome, Japan. Hoost holds notable victories over Peter Aerts (4x), Branko Cikatić, Mirko Cro Cop (3x), Jérôme Le Banner (3x), Andy Hug (3x), Ray Sefo (3x), Musashi (2x), Mike Bernardo, Francisco Filho (2x), Sam Greco, Stefan Leko (3x), Mark Hunt, Cyril Abidi, and Glaube Feitosa.

Leonard George Goodwin CMG FRS was a British protozoologist noted for his work on testing the effectiveness of chemical compounds in treating tropical diseases. He was born in London to a shoe shop manager, and became interested in nature thanks to holidays spent with his grandfather, a gamekeeper, and his uncle, a pharmacist. He was educated at William Ellis School before being accepted into University College London to study botany and zoology. After graduating he went to the College of the Pharmaceutical Society and studied pharmacy, graduating in 1935. He became a demonstrator at the college under J H Burn and at his urging took further degrees in medicine and physiology.

Giorgio Armani was an Italian fashion designer and founder of the Armani luxury fashion house. Widely regarded as among the most influential designers in contemporary fashion, Armani initially gained recognition for his work with fashion house Cerruti 1881, before founding his own label in 1975. He became known for minimalist, deconstructed silhouettes—especially his jackets and suits—which are said to have redefined masculine and feminine elegance in a contemporary form. Armani also played a pivotal role in shaping celebrity style, particularly red-carpet fashion. By the early 2000s, he was recognized as the most successful Italian designer, with his brand expanding into music, sport, and luxury hotels.

Lisa Rinna is an American actress, television personality, author, and model. She portrayed Billie Reed on the NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives and Taylor McBride on Fox's television drama Melrose Place. Between 2014 to 2022, Rinna starred on Bravo's reality television series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Other television credits include being a contestant on NBC's The Celebrity Apprentice, ABC's Dancing with the Stars, and Peacock's The Traitors, as well as guest-starring roles on Entourage, Hannah Montana, Veronica Mars, Community, The Middle, and American Horror Stories. Rinna made her Broadway debut in Chicago as Roxie Hart in June 2007.

Justin Willman Chambers is an American actor and former model best known for his role as Dr. Alex Karev in Grey's Anatomy (2005–2020). Born in Ohio, he went to Southeastern High School, South Charleston, and later studied acting at New York's HB Studio. Chambers began modeling after being approached by a modeling scout in Paris. He went on to represent fashion brands including Calvin Klein, Armani, and Dolce & Gabbana. Chambers began his acting career with a recurring role in the soap opera Another World and made his feature film debut with a supporting role in the comedy drama Liberty Heights (1999).

Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine, later Princess Henry of Prussia, was the third child and third daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. Her maternal grandparents were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her paternal grandparents were Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Elisabeth of Prussia. She was the wife of Prince Henry of Prussia, a younger brother of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and her first cousin. The SS Prinzessin Irene, a liner of the North German Lloyd was named after her.

Ryan Edward Gaston Strome is a Canadian ice hockey player who is a centre for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected fifth overall in the 2011 NHL entry draft by the New York Islanders and began playing with the team during their 2013–14 season. Previously, Strome played in the major junior level as a member of the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) before being traded to the Niagara IceDogs during his first season in the league. He is the brother of Washington Capitals forward Dylan Strome and Hershey Bears forward Matthew Strome.