List of Famous people who born in 1926

Rudi Arnstadt was an East German border guard who died in an incident with West German border guards at the Inner German border on 14 August 1962. Arnstadt, a captain of the Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic, was shot and killed by Bundesgrenzschutz officer Hans Plüschke near Wiesenfeld during a shootout that occurred under unknown circumstances. Arnstadt's death caused an escalation of Cold War tensions.

Antonio Lamela Martínez was a Spanish architect.

Per Fredrik Wahlöö – in English translations often identified as Peter Wahloo – was a Swedish author. He is perhaps best known for the collaborative work with his partner Maj Sjöwall on a series of ten novels about the exploits of Martin Beck, a police detective in Stockholm, published between 1965 and 1975. In 1971, The Laughing Policeman won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Novel. Wahlöö and Sjöwall also wrote novels separately.

Roger William Corman is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Much of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of low-budget cult films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe.

Claude Aubrey Akins was an American character actor with a long career on stage, screen, and television. He was best known as Sheriff Lobo on the 1979–1981 television series B. J. and the Bear, and later The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, a spin-off series.

Richard Burton Matheson was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres.

David Steindl-Rast OSB is an American Catholic Benedictine monk, author, and lecturer. He is committed to interfaith dialogue and has dealt with the interaction between spirituality and science.

Vann Molyvann was a Cambodian architect. During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum regime (1955–1970) Prince Norodom Sihanouk enacted a development policy encompassing the whole kingdom with the construction of new towns, infrastructure and architecture. Vann was the foremost of a generation of architects who contributed to the unique style of architecture that emerged during this era and that has been coined New Khmer Architecture. In 1997 Darryl Collins Historian and Helen Grant Ross Architect Historian, two lecturers at the Royal University of Fine Arts, Phnom Penh, questioned the history behind this heritage of modern architecture that all could see throughout the land, but that everybody had forgotten due to the troubled history of the Kingdom. After nearly 10 years of research in 2006 they published the facts. In the meantime they produced exhibitions, participated in university conferences, and wrote many articles in the press about the phenomenon known as New Khmer Architecture, and the accomplishments of Vann Molyvann who was still alive and who they had interviewed lengthily.

Francis William Thring was an Australian character actor in radio, stage, television and film; as well as a theatre director. His early career started in London in theatre productions, before he starred in Hollywood film, where he became best known for roles in Ben-Hur in 1959 and King of Kings in 1961. He was known for always wearing black and styling his home in black decor, and for his friendship with the renowned WAAF Heather Priest.

Thích Nhất Hạnh is a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist, and founder of the Plum Village Tradition.