List of Famous people born on February 17th
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan, also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. He is the principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and of 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. He played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." He was integral in helping to popularize the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming a global cultural icon in the process.
Ed Sheeran
Edward Christopher Sheeran is an English singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, actor, and businessman. After first recording music in 2004, he began gaining attention through YouTube. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project. He signed with Asylum Records the same year.
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, singer, actress, and DJ. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton, the founder of Hilton Hotels. Born in New York City and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, Hilton began her modeling career as a teenager when she signed with New York-based modeling development agency Trump Model Management. David Lachapelle soon photographed her for the September 2000 issue of Vanity Fair. Her late-night persona and reputation as a socialite made her a fixture of tabloid journalism, and Hilton was proclaimed "New York's leading It Girl" in 2001. In 2003, a leaked 2001 sex tape with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, later released as 1 Night in Paris, catapulted her into global fame, and the reality television series The Simple Life, in which she starred with her friend and socialite counterpart Nicole Richie, started its five-year run with 13 million viewers, on Fox.
Vasyl Lomachenko
Vasyl Anatoliyovych Lomachenko, more commonly referred to as Vasiliy Lomachenko, is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He is a former world champion in three weight classes, having held the WBO featherweight title from 2014 to 2015; the WBO junior lightweight title from 2016 to 2017; and the unified WBA (Super), WBC, WBO and Ring magazine lightweight titles between 2018 and 2020.
Morgenshtern
Alisher Tagirovich Morgenshtern, is a Russian rapper, record producer, and songwriter. Previously he was a full-time YouTuber.
Case Keenum
Casey Austin Keenum is an American football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Houston, where he became the NCAA's all-time leader in total passing yards, touchdowns, and completions. In the 2008 college football season, Keenum ranked first nationally in total offense and second in total passing yards.
AB de Villiers
Abraham Benjamin de Villiers commonly known as AB de Villiers is a South African cricketer. He was named as the ICC ODI Player of the Year three times during his 15-year international career and was one of the five Wisden cricketers of the decade at the end of 2019.
Denise Richards
Denise Richards is an American actress, former fashion model, and television personality. Her most recognized roles are Carmen Ibanez in Starship Troopers (1997), Kelly Van Ryan in Wild Things (1998) and Bond girl Christmas Jones in The World Is Not Enough (1999). She has also appeared in films Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), Valentine (2001), Undercover Brother (2002), Scary Movie 3 (2003), Love Actually (2003), and Madea's Witness Protection (2012).
Sivakarthikeyan
Sivakarthikeyan is an Indian film actor, playback singer, producer, lyricist and television presenter who works in Tamil films. Sivakarthikeyan began his career in television as a reality show personality on Star Vijay. In 2012, he featured in a supporting role in the Dhanush starred film 3. In 2013, Sivakarthikeyan appeared in three films: Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga, Ethir Neechal and Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam. His performances in the year won him the 2013 Vijay Award for Entertainer of the Year. He has won a Tamil Nadu State Film Award, four Edison Awards, three SIIMA Awards and three Vijay Awards. He produces films under his production company, Sivakarthikeyan Productions.
Vicente Fernández
Vicente "Chente" Fernández Gómez is a Mexican retired singer, actor, and film producer. Nicknamed "El Rey de la Música Ranchera", Fernández started his career as a busker, and has since become a cultural icon, recording more than 50 albums and contributing to more than 30 films. His repertoire consists of rancheras and other Mexican classics. He is accompanied live by a mariachi group, but he is not technically a mariachi musician, as he only sings live. Vicente's fame rose after the death of Javier Solís.
Marc Márquez
Marc Márquez Alentà is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and one of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time, with eight Grand Prix world championships to his name – six of which are in the premier MotoGP class. Márquez races for Honda's factory team since his MotoGP debut in 2013. He is nicknamed the 'Ant of Cervera' worldwide and 'el tro de Cervera' in his hometown, meaning the 'Thunder of Cervera'. He is one of four riders to have won world championship titles in three different categories, after Mike Hailwood, Phil Read and Valentino Rossi. Márquez is often considered one of the greatest innovators of modern MotoGP racing, due to his comparatively exaggerated cornering technique of leaning so far over the bike he seems to be “in constant danger of sliding out”. He is also the youngest ever champion in MotoGP history.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt is an American actor, filmmaker, singer, and entrepreneur. As a child, Gordon-Levitt appeared in the films A River Runs Through It, Angels in the Outfield, Holy Matrimony, and 10 Things I Hate About You. He played the role of Tommy Solomon in the TV series 3rd Rock from the Sun. He took a break from acting to study at Columbia University, but dropped out in 2004 to pursue acting again. He has since starred in (500) Days of Summer, Inception, Hesher, 50/50, Premium Rush, Miracle at St. Anna, The Brothers Bloom, The Dark Knight Rises, Brick, Looper, The Lookout, Manic, Lincoln, Mysterious Skin, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. He portrayed Philippe Petit in the Robert Zemeckis-directed film The Walk (2015) and whistleblower Edward Snowden in the Oliver Stone film Snowden (2016). For his leading performances in (500) Days of Summer and 50/50, he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
Natascha Kampusch
Natascha Maria Kampusch is an Austrian woman who was abducted at the age of 10 on 2 March 1998 and held in a secret cellar by her kidnapper Wolfgang Přiklopil for more than eight years, until she escaped on 23 August 2006. She has written a book about her ordeal, 3,096 Days (2010), upon which the 2013 German film 3096 Days is based.
Igor Gamula
Igor Vasilyevich Gamula is a Ukrainian-born Russian professional football coach and a former player. He works as a scout for FC Rostov. He made his debut in the Soviet Top League in 1978 for FC Zorya Voroshylovhrad. Gamula has Ukrainian and Russian citizenship.
Barry Humphries
John Barry Humphries AO CBE is an Australian comedian, actor, satirist, artist, and author. He is best known for writing and playing his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He is also a film producer and script writer, a star of London's West End musical theatre, an award-winning writer, and an accomplished landscape painter. For his delivery of dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, biographer Anne Pender described Humphries in 2010 as not only "the most significant theatrical figure of our time … [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin".
Jim Brown
James Nathaniel Brown is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He was a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one of the greatest running backs of all time, as well as one of the greatest players in NFL history, Brown was a Pro Bowl invitee every season he was in the league, was recognized as the AP NFL Most Valuable Player three times, and won an NFL championship with the Browns in 1964. He led the league in rushing yards in eight out of his nine seasons, and by the time he retired, he had shattered most major rushing records. In 2002, he was named by The Sporting News as the greatest professional football player ever.
Rita Süssmuth
Rita Süssmuth is a German politician and a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Madison Keys
Madison Keys is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high ranking of No. 7 in the world in October 2016 and has been consistently ranked inside the top 25 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) since early 2015. Keys has played in one Grand Slam tournament final at the 2017 US Open, competed at the 2016 WTA Finals, and was a semifinalist at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She has won five WTA tournaments, all at the Premier level. Her biggest title came at the 2019 Cincinnati Open, a Premier 5 event.
Jim Jordan
James Daniel Jordan is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Ohio's 4th congressional district since 2007. His district stretches from Lake Erie to just below Urbana in the north-central and western portions of the state and includes Lima, Marion, Tiffin and Elyria. A member of the Republican Party, Jordan is a former collegiate wrestler and college wrestling coach.
Justin Fairfax
Justin Edward Fairfax is an American politician and lawyer who has been serving since 2018 as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the second African American elected statewide in Virginia, following Douglas Wilder.