List of Famous people who born in 1961

Riaz Husein Poonawala is a former cricketer. Poonawala started his first-class cricket career playing for his native Maharashtra for whom he played 28 games between 1982–83 and 1987–88. He later emigrated to the United Arab Emirates for whom he played in the 1994 ICC Trophy. Poonawala also competed in two One Day Internationals in the 1994 Pepsi Austral-Asia Cup.

Carrie Gracie is a Scottish journalist and newsreader best-known as having been China Editor for BBC News.

Roberto Miguel Rey Júnior is a Brazilian American plastic surgeon. He was featured on the E! reality series Dr. 90210. Rey has appeared on many TV shows as a medical correspondent, including The View and Good Morning America, he has also contributed to The New York Times and appeared on the cover of Forbes Brazil.

Walter Mazzarri is an Italian former footballer and head coach.

Kazuhisa Kawahara is a Japanese actor from Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. He is known for his breakout role in Aibō where he portrays Section 7 Clerk Sergeant Keichi Itami as well as his appearances in the Initial D series as the voice of Seiji Iwaki and Kamen Rider Decade as the villain Apollo Geist. On June 26, 2012, Kawahara announced his engagement to Kio Matsumoto, eldest daughter of famous kabuki actor Matsumoto Kōshirō IX. They married on October 29, 2012, with Aibō co-star Yutaka Mizutani and his wife Ran Ito as witnesses.

Ari Emanuel is an American businessman and the CEO of Endeavor, an entertainment and media agency. He was a founding partner of the Endeavor Talent Agency and was instrumental in shaping its June 2009 merger with the William Morris Agency.

Karamba Diaby is a Senegalese-born German chemist and politician of the Social Democratic Party who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since the 2013 elections.

Joseph Ellis Pasquale is an English comedian, actor and television presenter.

Sion Sono is a Japanese filmmaker, author, and poet. Best known on the festival circuit for the film Love Exposure (2008), he has been called "the most subversive filmmaker working in Japanese cinema today".

Charles Wright, better known under his ring name The Godfather, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, and underwent several gimmick changes; the most notable were Papa Shango, Kama/Kama Mustafa and The Goodfather.