producer Mary Beard, English classicist Akissi Kouamé, Ivorian army general (d. 2022) Simon Schaffer, English academic and historian of science and philosophy Mulatu Teshome, Ethiopian politician and 8th President of Ethiopia January 4 – Mark Hollis, English musician (d. 2019) January 5 – Mamata Banerjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal January 6 – Rowan Atkinson, English comic actor January 7 – Belinda Meuldijk, Dutch actress January 8 – Mike Reno, Canadian musician January 9 Michiko Kakutani, American literary critic J. K. Simmons, American actor January 10 Michael Schenker, German guitarist (Scorpions, UFO, Michael Schenker Group) Jimmy Vivino, American guitarist January 12 – Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Canadian politician January 13 Paul Kelly, Australian musician Jay McInerney, American writer January 15 Andreas Gursky, German photographer Enrico Mentana, Italian journalist January 16 Mary Karr, American poet J. S. G. Boggs, American artist January 17 – Steve Earle, American musician January 18 Kevin Costner, American actor, producer and director Frankie Knuckles, American disk jockey and record producer (d. 2014) Marilyn Mazur, Danish percussionist January 19 Sir Simon Rattle, English orchestral conductor Paul Rodriguez, Mexican American actor and comedian January 20 – Wyatt Knight, American actor (d. 2011) January 21 – Jeff Koons, American artist January 22 – Sonja Morgenstern, German figure skater January 25 – Olivier Assayas, French film director January 26 Björn Andrésen, Swedish actor Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-American rock musician (Van Halen) (d. 2020) Lucía Méndez, Mexican film actress January 27 John Roberts, Chief Justice of the United States Ratnottama Sengupta, Indian journalist January 28 Vinod Khosla, Indian-born American venture capitalist Nicolas Sarkozy, 23rd President of France January 29 Rachid Mouffouk, Algerian sculptor Femi Pedro, Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Nigeria January 30 – Mychal Thompson, Bahamian basketball player January 31 – Virginia Ruzici, Romanian tennis player February February 1 – Hans Werner Olm, German television and film comedian February 2 – Leszek Engelking, Polish poet, writer and translator (d. 2022) February 3 Kirsty Wark, Scottish television presenter February 4 – Joseph D. Kernan, American military officer, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence February 6 Michael Pollan, American journalist Irinej Dobrijević, American-born Serbian Bishop of Australia and New Zealand February 7 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor (d. 2017) February 8 Janusz Cisek, Polish historian (d. 2020) Jim Neidhart, American professional wrestler (d. 2018) John Grisham, American novelist Ethan Phillips, American actor Xu Bing, Chinese artist February 9 – Charles Shaughnessy, English