List of Famous people born on October 17th

Robert Coleman Atkins was an American physician and cardiologist, best known for the Atkins Diet, which requires close control of carbohydrate consumption and emphasizes protein and fat as the primary sources of dietary calories in addition to a controlled number of carbohydrates from vegetables.

Yordan Dinkov Minchev is a Bulgarian professional basketball player for Levski Lukoil of the NBL. Standing at 2.03 m he plays both the shooting guard and small forward positions.

Wally Lamb is an American author known as the writer of the novels She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, both of which were selected for Oprah's Book Club. He was the director of the Writing Center at Norwich Free Academy in Norwich from 1989 to 1998 and has taught Creative Writing in the English Department at the University of Connecticut.

Luiz Floriano Bonfá was a Brazilian guitarist and composer. He was best known for the compositions he penned for the film Black Orpheus.

Kenneth Casey Robinson was an American producer and director of mostly B movies and a screenwriter responsible for some of Bette Davis' most revered films. Film critic Richard Corliss once described him as "the master of the art – or craft – of adaptation."