May 8 has rolled out the red carpet for some of the entertainment world's brightest stars. This list celebrates celebrities and historical figures, like Harry S. Truman, both living and deceased who share this springtime birthday, highlighting not just their birth date but also their contributions to culture and entertainment. From actors, such as Stephen Amell, and musicians, like Enrique Iglesias, to influential personalities, like David Attenborough, these individuals have made their mark in various ways. Curious to see which of your favorite celebrities light up the candles on May 8? Read on to find out who they are and why they stand out in their respective fields.
- Alexander Arthur van Halen (born May 8, 1953 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch American musician who is the drummer and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen. The band was formed in 1974 by Alex Van Halen; his younger brother, Eddie Van Halen; David Lee Roth; and Michael Anthony. Warner Brothers signed the band in 1977, and its debut album was released in 1978. Alex and Eddie Van Halen are the only members of Van Halen who have been in the band throughout its existence.
- Andrea Barzagli (Italian pronunciation: [anˈdrɛːa barˈtsaʎʎi, -ˈdza-]; born 8 May 1981) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. A four-time member of the Serie A Team of the Year, Barzagli is regarded as one of the best and most consistent defenders of his generation.After playing for several smaller Italian clubs in the lower divisions of Italian football in his early career, he made his Serie A debut with Chievo in 2003, and eventually came to prominence while playing for Palermo. In 2008, he was signed by German side VfL Wolfsburg, where he remained for two and a half seasons, winning a Bundesliga title in 2009. In 2011, he returned to Italy, joining Juventus, where he later won eight consecutive Serie A titles between 2012 and 2019, among other trophies, including four consecutive Coppa Italia titles between 2015 and 2018. At international level, he represented the Italian national football team on 73 occasions between 2004 and 2017, taking part at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games where he obtained a bronze medal, at two FIFA World Cups (2006 and 2014), three UEFA European Championships (2008, 2012, and 2016), and at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, where himself and the team also won bronze. He was most notably a member of the Italian 2006 World Cup winning squad, as well as a starting member of the Italian squad that reached the UEFA Euro 2012 final.
- William Walker (May 8, 1824 – September 12, 1860) was an American physician, lawyer, journalist and mercenary who organized several private military expeditions into Latin America, with the intention of establishing English-speaking colonies under his personal control, an enterprise then known as "filibustering". Walker usurped the presidency of the Republic of Nicaragua in 1856 and ruled until 1857, when he was defeated by a coalition of Central American armies. He returned in an attempt to reestablish his control of the region and was captured and executed by the government of Honduras in 1860.
- Fulton John Sheen (born Peter John Sheen, May 8, 1895 – December 9, 1979) was an American bishop (later archbishop) of the Catholic Church known for his preaching and especially his work on television and radio. Ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria in 1919, Sheen quickly became a renowned theologian, earning the Cardinal Mercier Prize for International Philosophy in 1923. He went on to teach theology and philosophy at the Catholic University of America as well as acting as a parish priest before being appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York in 1951. He held this position until 1966 when he was made the Bishop of Rochester from October 21, 1966, to October 6, 1969, when he resigned and was made the Archbishop of the titular see of Newport, Wales. For 20 years as Father Sheen, later Monsignor, he hosted the night-time radio program The Catholic Hour on NBC (1930–1950) before moving to television and presenting Life Is Worth Living (1951–1957). Sheen's final presenting role was on the syndicated The Fulton Sheen Program (1961–1968) with a format very similar to that of the earlier Life is Worth Living show. For this work, Sheen twice won an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality, and was featured on the cover of Time Magazine. Starting in 2009, his shows were being re-broadcast on the EWTN and the Trinity Broadcasting Network's Church Channel cable networks. Due to his contribution to televised preaching Sheen is often referred to as one of the first televangelists.The cause for his canonization was officially opened in 2002. In June 2012, Pope Benedict XVI officially recognized a decree from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints stating that he lived a life of "heroic virtues" – a major step towards beatification – and he is now referred to as "Venerable." On July 5, 2019, Pope Francis approved a miracle that occurred through the intercession of Archbishop Sheen, clearing the way for his beatification.
- Robert Guiney (born May 8, 1971) is an American television host. He was a contestant on the first season of The Bachelorette and later, appeared as the bachelor in the fourth season of The Bachelor. He hosted GSN Live from 2009 until the show's ending in 2011.More Bob Guiney
- Nora Arnezeder is a French actress and singer.
- Edd J. Roush (May 8, 1893 – March 21, 1988) was a Major League Baseball player who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. He played the majority of his career at center field, led the National League in hitting twice, and had his best years with the Cincinnati Reds.
- Marcus Alexander Brigstocke (born 8 May 1973) is an English comedian, actor, and satirist. He has worked in stand-up comedy, television, radio and musical theatre. He has appeared on many BBC television and radio shows.
- Naomi Klein (born May 8, 1970) is a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses and criticism of corporate globalization and of capitalism. On a three-year appointment from September 2018, she is the Gloria Steinem Chair in Media, Culture, and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University.Klein first became known internationally for her book No Logo (1999); The Take (2004), a documentary film about Argentina's occupied factories, written by her, and directed by her husband Avi Lewis; and significantly for The Shock Doctrine (2007), a critical analysis of the history of neoliberal economics that was adapted into a six-minute companion film by Alfonso and Jonás Cuarón, as well as a feature-length documentary by Michael Winterbottom.Klein's This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate (2014) was a New York Times Bestseller List non-fiction bestseller and the winner of the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction in its year. In 2016, Klein was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize for her activism on climate justice. Klein frequently appears on global and national lists of top influential thinkers, including the 2014 Thought Leaders ranking compiled by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, Prospect magazine's world thinkers 2014 poll, and Maclean's 2014 Power List. She is a member of the board of directors of the climate activist group 350.org.
- Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and producer. Rossellini was one of the directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such as Rome, Open City (1945), Paisan (1946), Germany, Year Zero (1948), and General Della Rovere (1959).
- Jenny Guzon-Bae is a former contestant on the reality television show Survivor: Cook Islands.
- Marie Galouzeau de Villepin (born 8 May 1986) is a French model, actress and singer. The daughter of former Prime Minister and diplomat Dominique de Villepin, she spent most of her childhood in India before moving to various countries in Latin America and Africa. This vagabond upbringing left her with a longing to experience the world’s diversity of cultures, characters, and languages, but most importantly it developed in her a talent for shapeshifting. From an early age she had a passion for theater and film. As a young girl she landed a role in Danielle Thompson’s movie La Bûche and then took acting classes at the prestigious Cours Florent as well as from Raymond Acquaviva, both in Paris. When she turned 18 and after graduating with a degree in applied mathematics from Dauphine University Paris, she moved to New York to pursue a modeling career. After several seasons on the catwalks of New York, Milan and Paris, appearing in ad campaigns of major designers shot by the likes of Mario Sorrenti , Inez and Vinoodh, and Gilles Bensimon, Marie was selected to be the face of Givenchy’s perfume Ange ou Démon, following in the footsteps of Audrey Hepburn and Liv Tyler. In her starring role in Veit Helmer’s Baikonur, shot in the steppes of Kazakhstan and in Moscow, Marie completed a full cosmonaut training course in zero gravity, and indeed she is no stranger to extreme physical situations. She has over four years training in kickboxing and Judo, and she excels in all hi-octane water sports, and has been an excellent equestrian since the age of six. In 2009 she formed a 4 piece band called PINKMIST in which she sings, writes and plays guitar. After recording their first EP they performed many shows all over Europe, including, London, Paris, Brussels and Berlin. She is currently working on her latest music collaboration to be revealed in early 2019. Marie de Villepin also held the role of Betty Catroux in the movie Yves Saint Laurent (2014) directed by Jalil Lespert.
- David Lemuel Keith (born May 8, 1954) is an American actor and director. His breakthrough role was that of aspiring Navy pilot Sid Worley in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), for which he was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards. The positive reception for this role led to leading parts in the films The Lords of Discipline (1983), Firestarter (1984) and White of the Eye (1987). Keith had notable supporting roles in features including The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), U-571 (2000), Men of Honor (2000) and Daredevil (2003).
Buakaw Banchamek
Sombat Banchamek (Thai: สมบัติ บัญชาเมฆ, born May 8, 1982) a.k.a Buakaw Banchamek (Thai: บัวขาว บัญชาเมฆ, Buakaw meaning "white lotus") is a Thai welterweight Muay Thai kickboxer of Kuy descent, who formerly fought out of Por. Pramuk Gym, in Bangkok, Thailand, under the ring name Buakaw Por. Pramuk (Thai: บัวขาว ป.ประมุข). He is the former two-time Omnoi Stadium champion, Lumpinee Stadium Toyota Marathon champion, former ranked #1 fighter in Lumpinee Stadium, Thailand Featherweight champion and two time K-1 World MAX champion. As of 1 November 2018, he is ranked the #10 lightweight in the world by Combat Press.In addition, Buakaw also played professional football as a forward in Regional League Division 2 for RBAC F.C.- Tommaso Whitney is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Tommaso Ciampa. He was signed to Ring of Honor, while also working for several independent promotions, including Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Beyond Wrestling and Brew City Wrestling.
Raoul Trujillo
Raoul Maximiano Trujillo de Chauvelon (born May 8, 1955) is an American actor, dancer, choreographer, and theatre director. A former soloist with the Nikolais Dance Theatre, he is the original choreographer and co-director for the American Indian Dance Theatre. Trujillo's career spans more than 30 years in film, television, and theatre, as well as hosting a series of dancing programs. He is a Critics' Choice Award nominee. Trujillo is best known for playing Zero Wolf, a ruthless Mayan slave catcher and the main antagonist of Mel Gibson's Apocalypto (2006), and for playing the Iroquois chief Kiotseaton in the film Black Robe. He has appeared in numerous high-profile and acclaimed films, including The New World, Cowboys and Aliens, Riddick, Blood Father, Sicario, and its sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado. He also starred in dozens of television programs in both supporting and starring roles, including True Blood, Lost Girl, Da Vinci's Demons, Salem, The Blacklist, and Jamestown. He currently stars on Mayans M.C. as Che "Taza" Romero.Darren Hayes
Darren Stanley Hayes (born 8 May 1972) is an Australian singer-songwriter, and podcaster. Hayes was the frontman and singer of the pop duo Savage Garden until it disbanded in 2001. Their 1997 album Savage Garden peaked at No. 1 in Australia, No. 2 in United Kingdom and No. 3 in United States. It spawned the singles "I Want You", "To the Moon and Back", and Australian and US No. 1 "Truly Madly Deeply". The duo followed the success of their debut album with Affirmation (1999), which provided additional hits such as US No. 1 "I Knew I Loved You", and Australian No. 3 "The Animal Song". Savage Garden parted ways in 2001. They have sold more than 23 million albums worldwide.Hayes released his first solo album Spin in 2002. The album sold two million copies worldwide, debuted at No. 2 in the UK and No. 3 in Australia. It delivered the hit single "Insatiable". Hayes's second solo album The Tension and the Spark marked a change of direction for the singer-songwriter, showing experimentation with electronica and darker lyrics. NME wrote about its first single, "Pop!ular" saying it was "A twistered masterclass in career reintervention...This guy is a genius." While The Observer said "This album is no folly and succeeds, often to the point of all out triumph, on its own terms." Hayes parted way with his record label Columbia Records in 2006 and started his own independent record label, Powdered Sugar, from which he would release his third solo album, This Delicate Thing We've Made (2007). In mid-2010, Hayes announced the completion of recording his fourth solo album, Secret Codes and Battleships, featuring three songs co-written and produced by Brian West and mixed by Robert Orton, who is best known for working with Lady Gaga. On 17 April 2011, Hayes signed with Mercury Records' Australian division and in August 2011 with EMI Records in the UK. The album was released in Australia on 21 October 2011, 24 October in the UK, and 25 October in the US, with singles "Talk Talk Talk", "Bloodstained Heart", and "Black Out the Sun" released before the album. In 2013, Hayes relocated from London to Los Angeles, where he studied improv sketch comedy at The Groundlings Theatre and School. In 2015, he created a comedy podcast titled The He Said He Said Show. In 2016 he launched another comedic podcast - a movie review show with co-host Anthony Armentano called ‘We Paid to See This’. Hayes announced publicly on 13 March 2016 that he has been writing an original musical with writer and comedian Johnny Menke.- Michele Sindona (May 8, 1920 – March 22, 1986) was an Italian banker and convicted felon. Known in banking circles as "The Shark", Sindona was a member of Propaganda Due (#0501), a secret lodge of Italian Freemasonry, and had clear connections to the Sicilian Mafia. He was fatally poisoned in prison while serving a life sentence for the murder of lawyer Giorgio Ambrosoli.
- Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille (born May 8, 1940) is an American singer-songwriter and keyboardist, best known as one-half of the 1970s duo Captain & Tennille with her former husband Daryl Dragon; their signature song is "Love Will Keep Us Together". Tennille has also done musical work independently of her husband, including solo albums and session work.
- Arnold Isaacs (May 8, 1930 – August 3, 2015), known as Arnold Scaasi, was a Canadian fashion designer who has created gowns for First Ladies Mamie Eisenhower, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush, in addition to such notable personalities as Joan Crawford, Ivana Trump, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, Lauren Bacall, Diahann Carroll, Elizabeth Taylor, Catherine Deneuve, Brooke Astor, Arlene Francis, and Mary Tyler Moore.
- Paul Frappier (May 8, 1977 – February 11, 2011), better known by his stage name Bad News Brown (at times, also as BNB and Briz Brown), was a Montreal-based Canadian entertainer, musician, and hip hop MC of Haitian origin. He was well known for pairing the sound of his chief instrument, the harmonica, with hip-hop beats and rhymes. Frappier started out busking in Montreal, taking his signature sound as a teenager to the streets and subway stations. He later toured and opened for many well-known hip hop acts or as background musician. He also appeared as an impromptu host in Music for a Blue Train, the 2003 documentary about busker musicians in the Montreal Metro subway train system. In 2004, he signed a management deal with E-Stunt Entertainment Group. In 2009, he established his own record label Trilateral Entertainment Inc and released his debut studio album Born 2 Sin. Brown was found murdered in an alley near the Lachine Canal in Montreal on February 11, 2011. Police said "there was evidence of violence at the scene". The long feature film BumRush featuring him in a leading role premiered posthumously on April 1, 2011.
- Edmund Wilson (May 8, 1895 – June 12, 1972) was an American writer and critic who explored Freudian and Marxist themes. He influenced many American authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose unfinished work he edited for publication. His scheme for a Library of America series of national classic works came to fruition through the efforts of Jason Epstein after Wilson's death.
- Alexander Crichlow "Lex" Barker Jr. (May 8, 1919 – May 11, 1973) was an American actor best known for playing Tarzan of the Apes and leading characters from Karl May's novels.
- David Winning (born May 8, 1961) is a Canadian and American dual Citizen film and television director, screenwriter, producer, editor, and occasional actor. Although Winning has worked in numerous film and TV genres, his name is most commonly associated with science fiction, thrillers and drama.
- Danny Ray Whitten (May 8, 1943 – May 18, 1972) was an American musician and songwriter best known for his work with Neil Young's backing band Crazy Horse, and for the song "I Don't Want To Talk About It", a hit for Rod Stewart and Everything but the Girl.More Danny Whitten
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- Michael Andrew D'Antoni (born May 8, 1951) is an American-Italian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). While head coach of the Phoenix Suns, he won NBA Coach of the Year honors for the 2004–05 NBA season after the Suns posted 33 more wins than the previous season. He coached the New York Knicks starting in 2008 before resigning in 2012. He was hired by the Lakers seven games into the 2012–13 season. On June 1, 2016, D'Antoni was named head coach of the Rockets, and he received his second NBA Coach of the Year award for the 2016–17 season. D'Antoni, who holds American and Italian dual citizenship, is known for favoring a fast-paced, offense-oriented system.More Mike D'Antoni
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- Franco Baresi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈfraŋko baˈreːzi; -eːsi]; born 8 May 1960) is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club Milan, captaining the club for 15 seasons. He is considered one of the greatest defenders of all-time and was ranked 19th in World Soccer magazine's list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century. With Milan, he won three UEFA Champions League titles, six Serie A titles, four Supercoppa Italiana titles, two European Super Cups and two Intercontinental Cups. With the Italy national team, he was a member of the Italian squad that won the 1982 FIFA World Cup. He also played in the 1990 World Cup, where he was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team, finishing third in the competition. At the 1994 World Cup, he was named Italy's captain and was an integral part of the squad that reached the final, although he would miss a penalty in the resulting shoot-out as Brazil lifted the trophy. Baresi also represented Italy at two UEFA European Championships, in 1980 and 1988, and at the 1984 Olympics, reaching the semi-finals on each occasion. The younger brother of former footballer Giuseppe Baresi, after joining the Milan senior team as a youngster, Franco Baresi was initially nicknamed "Piscinin", Milanese for "little one". Due to his skill and success, he was later known as "Kaiser Franz", a reference to fellow sweeper Franz Beckenbauer. In 1999, he was voted Milan's Player of the Century. After his final season at Milan in 1997, the club retired Baresi's shirt number 6. He was named by Pelé one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at the FIFA centenary awards ceremony in 2004. Baresi was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame in 2013.More Franco Baresi
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- Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. (, commonly ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist. A MacArthur Fellow, he is noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, science, and mathematics. For Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon won the 1973 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction.Hailing from Long Island, Pynchon served two years in the United States Navy and earned an English degree from Cornell University. After publishing several short stories in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he began composing the novels for which he is best known: V. (1963), The Crying of Lot 49 (1966), and Gravity's Rainbow (1973). His 2009 novel Inherent Vice was adapted into a feature film of the same name by director Paul Thomas Anderson in 2014. Pynchon is notoriously reclusive; few photographs of him have been published, and rumors about his location and identity have circulated since the 1960s. Pynchon's most recent novel, Bleeding Edge, was published on September 17, 2013.
- Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American jazz and classical music pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success as a group leader and a solo performer in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music. His improvisations draw from the traditions of jazz and other genres, especially Western classical music, gospel, blues, and ethnic folk music. In 2003, Jarrett received the Polar Music Prize, the first recipient of both the contemporary and classical musician prizes, and in 2004 he received the Léonie Sonning Music Prize. His album The Köln Concert (1975) became the best-selling piano recording in history. In 2008, he was inducted into the Down Beat Hall of Fame in the magazine's 73rd Annual Readers' Poll.More Keith Jarrett
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- Garrett Bartholomew Temple (born May 8, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the LSU Tigers from 2005 until 2009, leading them to a Final Four alongside "Big Baby" Davis and Tyrus Thomas.More Garrett Temple
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