Famous Birthdays on July 15

Lolita Davidovich is a Canadian film and television actress, best known for portraying Blaze Starr in the 1989 film Blaze, for which she received a Chicago Film Critics Association Award nomination.

Mason Andrew Dye is an American actor. He is best known for his breakout role of Jason Carver in Stranger Things, and Bombsight in The Boys universe.

Peter Charles Lewis is one of the founding members of the band Moby Grape. Three of his better known songs with Moby Grape are "Fall on You" and "Sitting by the Window" from the self-titled first Moby Grape album and "If You Can't Learn from My Mistakes" from Moby Grape '69.

Deposed Queen Yun, of the Haman Yun clan, was the second wife of King Seongjong, the ninth monarch of Joseon, and the biological mother of the tyrannical Yeonsangun. Remembered as one of the most infamous women in Korean history, she was queen of Joseon from 1476 until her deposition in 1479. Her ousting and subsequent forced suicide by poisoning became a source of recurrent political turmoil, culminating in the Second Literati Purge.

Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani was an Italian composer and violinist. He worked in the court at Innsbruck as a violinist at least between 1656 and 1660. Between 1672 and 1676 he was director of the court music at Innsbruck, which, after the extinction of the Tyrolean Habsburgs, had come under the control of the emperor. Although in publications of 1678 Viviani still described himself as holding this position, it seems more likely that he was in fact in Venice working on his arrangement of Francesco Cavalli’s Scipione affricano and his own opera Astiage, which were both performed in Venice that year. Also that year, Viviani directed an oratorio at the Oratorio di San Marcello in Rome with Arcangelo Corelli and Bernardo Pasquini. He was probably elevated to the nobility in the same year, since he subsequently designated himself ‘Nobile del Sacro Romano Imperio’. Between 1678 and 1679 and 1681 and 1682 he was in Naples as director of a troupe of opera singers, and while he was there he performed some of his own operas and oratorios. In 1686 he was maestro di cappella to the Prince of Bisignano. From January 1687 to December 1692 he was maestro di cappella of Pistoia Cathedral.

John "Chicka" Ferguson is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative winger, in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership for the Newtown Jets, Eastern Suburbs Roosters and finally the Canberra Raiders, with whom he won the 1989 and 1990 NSWRL premierships. A prolific try-scorer, who topped the NSWRL's scoring list in 1988, Ferguson also played in England with Wigan, helping them to victory in the 1985 Challenge Cup Final. He has since been named in Australia's indigenous team of the century (1908–2008).

Archie L. Clark is an American former professional basketball player. At 6 ft 2 in, he played guard for five National Basketball Association (NBA) teams. Clark is closely associated with pioneering the regular use of the crossover dribble move in the NBA; and has been called the father of the crossover dribble. He was a two-time NBA All-Star and was named second-team All-NBA in 1972. Clark averaged over 16 points per game during his ten-year NBA career. In 1992, he co-founded the National Basketball Retired Players Association.

Michelle Jan Ford is an Australian former long-distance freestyle and butterfly swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won a gold medal in the 800-metre freestyle, bronze in the 200-metre butterfly, and 4th in the 400-metres freestyle at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. She was the only non-Eastern Bloc female swimmer to win an individual gold medal at the 1980 games. She also set two world records in her career, and was the first Australian woman to win individual Olympic medals in two distinct specialised strokes.

Einosuke Akiya is a Japanese Buddhist leader. He was the fifth president of Soka Gakkai from 18 July 1981 to 9 November 2006. After his resignation from that position, he became the chairman of the Supreme Leader Meeting of Soka Gakkai in November 2006. He also had responsibilities in many Soka Gakkai's satellites (supreme advisor of Sōka University, honorary director of Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, and president of Soka Gakkai International.

Akhter Hameed Khan was a Pakistani-Bangladeshi development practitioner and social scientist. He promoted participatory rural development in West Pakistan, East Pakistan and other developing countries, and widely advocated community participation in development. His particular contribution was the establishment of a comprehensive project for rural development, the Comilla Model (1959). It earned him the Ramon Magsaysay Award from the Philippines and an honorary Doctorate of law from Michigan State University.

Elbert Lee West was an American country music artist. Initially a session songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee, West saw his first chart success in the 1990s as a co-writer on singles for country singer Tracy Lawrence, including the Number Ones "Sticks and Stones" and "Can't Break It to My Heart". West co-wrote album tracks for other artists, including tracks for Tim McGraw and John Michael Montgomery.

Dame Carmen Thérèse Fakhry Callil, was an Australian publisher, writer and critic who spent most of her career in the United Kingdom. She founded Virago Press in 1973 and received the Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature in 2017. She has been described by Gail Rebuck as "the most extraordinary publisher of her generation".

Mohamad Shahrum bin Osman was the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Lipis constituency in Pahang from 2004 to 2013. He sat in Parliament as a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party in the Barisan Nasional government and also served as the Chairman of the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN).

Sumner Gerard Jr. MBE was an American businessman, politician, and diplomat. Born in New York to a prominent family, Gerard attended Groton School and Trinity College, Cambridge. After serving in the army, navy, and Marine Corps during World War II, he moved to Montana and became involved in business, including mining and ranching, and politics.

Lieutenant General Kashmir Singh Katoch, MC was an Indian Army General and military adviser to the Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, officiating as the Chief of Staff of the State Forces during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. He later served as the Vice Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army.

Eva Krížiková was a Slovak film and stage actress, often celebrated as one of the greatest entertainers ever in her country of origin and The First Lady of Slovak Humor, respectively. Apart from her cinematic achievements, her name was credited in over five hundred productions made for television.

John Bradley St. Clair is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the third round of the 2000 NFL draft. He played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers.

Eskender was Emperor of Ethiopia and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne name was Constantine II. The son of Emperor Baeda Maryam I by his wife Queen Romna, his early years would see the jostling for power between the nobility and the ecclesiastical elite.

Dimosthenis Kourtovik is a Greek writer, literary critic and anthropologist. He studied biology in Athens and West Germany and specialized later in physical anthropology. In 1986 he obtained a doctoral degree from the University of Wroclaw, Poland, with a thesis on the evolution of human sexuality.

Ram Shri Mugali was a Kannada language writer. He was awarded the central Sahitya Akademi in 1956 for his work "Kannada Sahitya Charitre". He was the president of the 44th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana held in Siddganga, in the Tumkur district of Karnataka state, India.

Prabhash Joshi was an Indian journalist, especially Hindi journalism, writer and political analyst. He was strongly in favour of "ethics and transparency". He played a part in Gandhian movement, Bhoodan movement, and in the surrender of bandits and in the struggle against emergency.

Walter "Wat" Dumaux Edmonds was an American writer best known for historical novels. One of them, Drums Along the Mohawk (1936), was adapted as a Technicolor feature film in 1939, directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert.

Steve James was an American folk blues musician.A multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter, James operated in the fields of acoustic and folk blues. Without the benefit of promotion from a major record label, James had secured his fan base from consistent touring.

Chris Cord was an American racing driver and investment banker. He won the Group 5 SP class at the 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1987 IMSA GT Championship in the GTO class.

Harvey C. Krautschun was an American politician. He served as a Republican member of the South Dakota House of Representatives from 1985 to 1996, serving as Speaker of the House between 1995 and 1996.

Jean Hamburger was a French physician, surgeon and essayist. He is particularly known for his contribution to nephrology, and for having performed the first renal transplantation in France in 1952.

Dr. Veeramachaneni Vimala Devi was an Indian parliamentarian. She was elected to the 3rd Lok Sabha from Eluru constituency as a member of Communist Party of India in 1962.

Nicholas Paul Harberd an Emeritus Professor of Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford. He was previously Sibthorpian Professor and served as head of Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford before it became part of the Department of Biology, University of Oxford.

Boček IV of Poděbrady, was, by title, the last member of the Bohemian noble family of Poděbrady, who were descended from the Lords of Kunštát.

Ralph Hammond Innes was a British novelist who wrote over 30 novels, as well as works for children and travel books.

Jean-Pierre Richard was a French literary critic.

Sir John Alexander Noble Graham, 4th Baronet, was a British diplomat who was ambassador to Iraq, Iran and NATO.

Francis Bebey was a Cameroonian musicologist, writer, composer, and broadcaster.

Richard Garneau, was a Canadian sports journalist and writer in Quebec.

Denis Héroux, was a Canadian film director and producer.

Alicia Bridges is an American singer and songwriter who co-wrote and performed her international hit "I Love the Nightlife " in 1978.

Gary John Heale is an English former professional footballer who played for teams in England, the Netherlands, and the United States.

Nikolaos "Nikos" Filippou is a retired Greek professional basketball player. At a height of 2.02 m, he played at the power forward position.

Ain Tammus is an Estonian goalkeeping coach and a former professional footballer. He is currently a goalkeeping coach at Levadia Tallinn.

Ben Pepper is an Australian former professional basketball player who played twelve seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL).

Danny Law is a former English cricketer. Born in Lambeth, Law played for Sussex, Essex and Durham between 1993 and 2003.

Renata Kučerová is a former Czech tennis player.

Nelson Merlo is a Brazilian racing driver. In 2005, he won the Brazilian Formula Renault season, taking a win in six races.

Angelo Siniscalchi is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie D club AC Rezzato.