List of Famous people born on April 17th

Donald Christopher Barber OBE was an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit with "Petite Fleur" in 1959, he helped the careers of many musicians. These included the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with Barber triggered the skiffle craze of the mid-1950s and who had his first transatlantic hit, "Rock Island Line", while with Barber's band. He provided an audience for Donegan and, later, Alexis Korner, and sponsored African-American blues musicians to visit Britain, making Barber a significant figure in launching the British rhythm and blues and "beat boom" of the 1960s.

Dr Joseph Sampson Gamgee, MRCS, FRSE was a surgeon at the Queen's Hospital in Birmingham, England. He pioneered aseptic surgery, and, in 1880 invented Gamgee Tissue, an absorbent cotton wool and gauze surgical dressing.

Josie Long is a British comedian. She started performing as a stand-up at the age of 14 and won the BBC New Comedy Awards at 17.

Brian VanGorder is an American football coach and player. He is the defensive coordinator at Bowling Green State University, a position he had held since 2019. Prior to that, he was defensive coordinator at the University of Louisville. He served as the head football coach at Wayne State University from 1992 to 1994, and Georgia Southern University in 2006, compiling a career college football record of 19–25. VanGorder was the defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL) from 2008 to 2011, and also worked in the same capacity for the University of Georgia (2001–2004) and Auburn University (2012). VanGorder is married to the former Ruth Jones. His children are Molloy, Morgan, Mack, Montgomery, Malone and Freddie.

Heidi Alexander is a British Labour Party politician who is the Deputy Mayor of London for Transport under Sadiq Khan and Deputy Chair of Transport for London. She served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham East from the 2010 general election, resigning in May 2018 to join the mayoral team. She was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Health on 13 September 2015, but resigned from the shadow cabinet on 26 June 2016.

Ding Dang, born as Wu Xian, better known by her stage name, Della, is a Mainland Chinese female singer who developed her career in Taiwan. She left home when she was 18 years old to pursue a singing career and was signed by Rock Records in 2003.

Claire Jane Sweeney is an English actress, singer and television personality, best known for playing the role of Lindsey Corkhill in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside and playing the role of Roxie Hart in the musical, Chicago, in London's West End. She also starred opposite Patrick Swayze in the 2005 West End revival of Guys and Dolls, the musical.

Yvonne Ann Blake was a British-Spanish costume designer. She won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design for the film Nicholas and Alexandra along with Antonio Castillo. She won four Goya Awards and was nominated for BAFTA Awards and the Emmy Awards as well.

Edmonde Charles-Roux was a French writer.

Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan stateswoman. She was the world's first female prime minister, when she became Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960. She served three terms: 1960–1965, 1970–1977 and 1994–2000.