List of Famous people born on January 1st

Bruce Nicholson is a special effects artist who received the Special Achievement Academy Award in 1980 for the visual effects of the film The Empire Strikes Back, which he shared with Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund and Dennis Muren. He won his first competitive Oscar for Raiders of the Lost Ark at the 1981 in the category of Best Visual Effects. Which he shared his award with Richard Edlund, Kit West and Joe Johnston. He got one more Oscar nomination, at the 1982 for the film Poltergeist, which lost to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Stephen Norrington is an English filmmaker and special effects artist known for his work in the horror and action genres. Beginning his career as a sculptor and makeup artist, he worked under Dick Smith, Rick Baker, and Stan Winston on a number of well-known, effects-driven films of the 1980s and 90s. His directorial credits include the cult sci-fi horror film Death Machine and the comic book adaptations Blade and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. He portrayed Michael Morbius in the alternate ending to Blade.

Vasik Rajlich is an International Master in chess and the author of Rybka, previously one of the strongest chess playing programs in the world. Rajlich is a dual Czechoslovakian-American citizen by birth; he was born in the United States of America to Czech parents, at that time graduate students, but grew up in Prague. He later spent years in the United States as a student, graduating from MIT.

Geraldine Hughes is an actress from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Born in West Belfast, Hughes has appeared in films such as Duplex, Rocky Balboa, and Gran Torino. She also played Mary Todd Lincoln in Killing Lincoln. More recently, she performed a solo play written by herself, Belfast Blues.

Geoffrey Simpson is an Australian cinematographer. He has received critical praise for his work on films including Shine, Oscar and Lucinda (1997) and Romulus, My Father (2007). He has won Australian Film Institute awards for Best Cinematography for The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988), Shine and Oscar and Lucinda.

Todd Dezago is an American comic book writer best known for his collaborations with artist Mike Wieringo on The Sensational Spider-Man and their creator-owned fantasy series Tellos.