List of Famous people born in Beirut Governorate, Lebanon
Keanu Reeves
Keanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in Youngblood (1986). He had his breakthrough role in the science fiction comedy Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), and he later reprised his role in its sequels. He gained praise for playing a hustler in the independent drama My Own Private Idaho (1991), and established himself as an action hero with leading roles in Point Break (1991) and Speed (1994).
Mia Khalifa
Mia Khalifa is a Lebanese-American media personality, webcam model, and former pornographic actress. She began acting in pornography in October 2014, becoming the most viewed performer on Pornhub in two months. Her career choice was met with controversy in the Middle East, especially for a video in which she performed sexual acts while wearing a hijab.
Amal Clooney
Amal Clooney is a Lebanese-born British barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, specialising in international law and human rights. Her clients include Maria Ressa, co-founder of Rappler; Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, in his fight against extradition; the former prime minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko; Egyptian-Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy; and Nobel Prize laureate Nadia Murad.
Léa Salamé
Hala Salamé, known as Léa Salamé, is a Lebanese-born French journalist.
Steve Kerr
Stephen Douglas Kerr is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is an eight-time NBA champion, having won five titles as a player as well as three with the Warriors as a head coach. Kerr has the highest career three-point field goal percentage (45.4%) in NBA history for any player with at least 250 three-pointers made. He also held the NBA record for highest three-point percentage in a season at 52.4% until the record was broken by Kyle Korver in 2010.
Ardem Patapoutian
Ardem Patapoutian is an American molecular biologist, neuroscientist, and Nobel Prize laureate of Armenian descent. He is known for his work in characterizing the PIEZO1, PIEZO2, and TRPM8 receptors that detect pressure, menthol, and temperature. Patapoutian is a neuroscience professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California. He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2021 jointly with David Julius.
Josef Fares
Josef Fares is a Swedish-Lebanese film director and game designer. His brother is the actor Fares Fares, who has appeared in many of his films. He is the founder of Hazelight Studios.
Mika
Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr., known by his stage name Mika, is a Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter.
Hovik Keuchkerian
Hovik Keuchkerian is a Spanish-Armenian actor best known for the role of Bogotá in Money Heist.
Fairuz
Nouhad Wadie' Haddad, known as Fairuz, also spelled Fairouz, Feyrouz or Fayrouz, is a Lebanese singer. She is considered by many as one of the leading vocalists and most famous singers in the history of the Arab world. Fairuz is considered the musical icon of Lebanon, and popularly known as "the soul of Lebanon"[9], comparable to Edith Piaf in France, Elvis Presley in the United States and Lys Assia in Switzerland.