Curated playlist
1978 births
- Matthew Robinson (writer)Matthew Robinson sent Ricky Gervais a script with no introduction. It became The Invention of Lying.
- Dirk NowitzkiDirk Nowitzki hit a winning Finals basket while carrying a 101-degree fever.
- Kobe BryantKobe Bryant scored 81 points against Toronto in 2006, the second-highest NBA game total ever.
- Brad RutterBrad Rutter went nearly two decades without losing a TV quiz game to a human opponent. He once worked at a record store.
- Rachel McAdamsFor the March 2006 Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair, the Canadian actress Rachel McAdams was invited to share a cover with Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley. She arrived at the photo set and discovered that the session was a nude one.…
- Zoe SaldañaZoe Saldaña is the highest grossing actor in history, a title that sits oddly beside a childhood spent speaking Spanish at home in Queens. In 2023, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Her road to…
- James FrancoFor five weeks, James Franco spent twelve hours a day in a gully built as a film set, and he left it only to use the lavatory. Between takes he read books, including academic textbooks, just to keep busy. The American actor and filmmaker…
- Scott CawthonScott Cawthon, an American game developer, once made computer games that brought in about $40 or $50 each month. That figure comes from a profile by Calum Marsh in The New York Times. Cawthon later created Five Nights at Freddy's, a horror…
- Miroslav KloseMiroslav Klose arrived in West Germany at eight knowing only two words of German.
- Usher (musician)Usher, the American singer, songwriter, dancer and actor, drew 123 million viewers within the United States to his Super Bowl LVIII halftime show in 2024. Very few performers ever stand in front of a crowd that size. Fewer still get there…
- Nicole ScherzingerIn August 2003, Nicole Scherzinger walked into the Arista Records office in New York carrying a demo CD of songs she had written herself. She was performing under her Hawaiian family name, Nicole Kea, and she wanted a solo recording…
- Geoff KeighleyAs a teenager, Geoff Keighley wrote lines for the first video game awards show on TV.
- Kate MadisonKate Madison, a zoology graduate, directed a fantasy film that millions watched. She had no formal film school training.
- Richard B. SpencerRichard B. Spencer led a torch-lit march in Charlottesville in May 2017.
- Sharmeen Obaid-ChinoySharmeen Obaid-Chinoy became the first Pakistani to win an Academy Award, for Saving Face in 2012.
- Gianluigi BuffonGianluigi Buffon reached three Champions League finals and lost all three. The Italian goalkeeper never won the trophy.