List of Famous people who born in 1956

Karl Rüdiger "Purple" Schulz is a German pop singer. The nickname "Purple" came from covering Deep Purple tunes as a 13-year-old. He had his greatest successes in the 1980s. Some of Purple Schulz's songs are noted for highbrow literary references; his „Sehnsucht“ of 1983 cites the poet Eichendorff's „Sehnsucht.“

Hanefi Avcı is a former chief of police in Turkey, and author of the best-selling book Haliç’te Yaşayan Simonlar, in which Avcı claimed that the Gülen movement had infiltrated the police and manipulated key trials such as the Ergenekon trials through judges and prosecutors close to the movement. Avcı, a conservative Islamist, was himself once close to the movement, and his children were educated in a Gülen school. Avcı, who in the 1990s testified to parliament in relation to the Susurluk scandal and in 2009 to prosecutors about the mafia links of the Ergenekon organization, was the first Turkish state official to confirm the existence of the Turkish Gendarmerie's JITEM intelligence unit.

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins is a Welsh actor, composer, director and film producer. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTAs, two Emmys and the Cecil B. DeMille Award. In 1993, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. Hopkins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003, and in 2008 he received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Daniel Patrick Pugh, known professionally as Dan Patrick, is an American sportscaster, radio personality, and actor. He hosts The Dan Patrick Show broadcast on radio on Premiere Radio Networks and streaming on Peacock. He co-hosted NBC's Football Night in America and serves as a senior writer for Sports Illustrated. He worked at ESPN for 18 years, where he often anchored the weeknight and Sunday 11 p.m. edition of SportsCenter.

Yuen Kwok-yung is a Hong Kong microbiologist, physician and surgeon. He is a prolific researcher, with most of his nearly 800 papers related to research on novel microbes or emerging infectious diseases. He led a team identifying the SARS coronavirus that caused the SARS pandemic of 2003–4, and traced its genetic origins to wild bats. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, he has acted as expert adviser to the Hong Kong government.

José Manuel Durão Barroso is a Portuguese politician and university teacher, currently serving as non-executive Chairman of Goldman Sachs International. He previously served as the 11th President of the European Commission and the 115th Prime Minister of Portugal.

Kevin J Worthen is the 13th and current president of Brigham Young University (BYU). He also serves as an area seventy in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Worthen served previously at BYU as the Advancement Vice President and as dean of the J. Reuben Clark Law School (JRCL).

Archibald William Roach is an Aboriginal Australian musician. He is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, as well as a campaigner for the rights of Indigenous Australians.

Robert B. Rivkin, better known by the stage name Bobby Z., is an American musician and record producer, most known as being the original drummer for Prince's band from 1978 to 1986, and as a member of The Revolution.

Jean-Paul Garraud is a former member of the National Assembly of France. He represented the 10th constituency of the Gironde department, and was a member of the Union for a Popular Movement, later The Republicans. He is currently an independent; however, he was elected under the National Rally list along with other independent, Thierry Mariani, in the 2019 European Parliament election in France.