List of Famous people who are 97

Maria Elizabeth Riva is an American actress, writer and activist. She worked on television in the 1950s. She is the daughter of actress Marlene Dietrich, about whom she published a memoir in 1992.

Viktor Ivanovich Balashov was a Soviet and Russian radio and television presenter. He was best known as the host for the USSR Union Radio, from 1944. From 1947 to 1991 he worked for the Soviet Central Television and its Russian successor. In 1997 he was awarded the People's Artist of Russia. Balashov was a veteran of the Second World War and was a member of the Red Army.

Kenneth David Kaunda, also known as KK, is a Zambian former politician who served as the first President of Zambia from 1964 to 1991.

Anne Vernon is a French actress. She appeared in 40 films between 1948 and 1970, including three films that were entered into the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. She is perhaps best known today for her role as Madame Emery, the umbrella-shop owner, in Jacques Demy's 1964 musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg starring Catherine Deneuve. She was born in Saint-Denis, near Paris.

Renée Marcelle "Zizi" Jeanmaire was a French ballet dancer, actress and singer. She became famous in the 1950s after playing the title role in the ballet Carmen, produced in London in 1949, and went on to appear in several Hollywood films and Paris revues. She was the wife of dancer and choreographer Roland Petit, who created ballets and revues for her.

Mitsuhiro Momota , better known as Rikidōzan (力道山), was a Korean-Japanese wrestler who competed in professional wrestling and sumo wrestling. He known as The Father of Puroresu, and one of the most influential men in professional wrestling history. Initially, he had moved from his native country Korea to Japan to become a sumo wrestler. He was credited with bringing the sport of professional wrestling to Japan at a time when the Japanese needed a local hero to emulate and was lauded as a national hero. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017, becoming the first Korean inductee and the third puroresu star to be inducted after Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami. He was killed by a member of the Yakuza in 1963.

Tomiichi Murayama is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1994 to 1996. He led the Japanese Socialist Party, and was responsible for changing its name to the Social Democratic Party of Japan in 1996. Upon becoming Prime Minister, he was Japan's first socialist leader in nearly fifty years. He is most remembered today for his speech "On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the War's end", in which he publicly apologised for Imperial Japanese atrocities committed during World War II. Of the eleven living former Prime Minister of Japan, he is currently the oldest living prime minister, following the death of Yasuhiro Nakasone on 29 November 2019.

Georg Ratzinger PA was a German Catholic priest and musician, known for his work as the conductor of the Regensburger Domspatzen, the cathedral choir of Regensburg. He was the elder brother of Pope Benedict XVI. His great-uncle was the German politician Georg Ratzinger.

Roza Georgiyevna Shanina was a Soviet sniper during World War II who was credited with 59 confirmed kills, including twelve soldiers during the Battle of Vilnius. Shanina volunteered for the military after the death of her brother in 1941 and chose to be a sniper on the front line. Praised for her shooting accuracy, Shanina was capable of precisely hitting enemy personnel and making doublets.

Reuel Abraham, born Karl Heinz Schneider, is a former Hitler Youth member and Luftwaffe pilot during World War II reported to be the first former Nazi to convert to Judaism.