May 1 isn't just about May Day celebrations; it's also a day that boasts the birthdays of some pretty notable celebrities. Featuring living and deceased famous people, these celebrity May 1 birthdays also includes historical figures, like American frontierswoman Calamity Jane, and superstar athletes, like former NFL wide receiver Wes Welker.
From silver screen legends to chart-topping musicians, this list is packed with stars, like Jamie Dornan and Tim McGraw, who share this springtime birthdate. Why care? Well, it's always fun to find out which famous faces might be blowing out birthday candles alongside you! So, whether you're a Taurus yourself or just curious about star-studded birthday twins, read on to discover the diverse talents born on this day.
- James Badgett Dale (born May 1, 1978), known professionally as James Badge Dale, is an American actor. He is known for playing Chase Edmunds in 24, State Trooper Barrigan in Martin Scorsese's The Departed, and Eric Savin in Iron Man 3.
- Malcolm Scott Carpenter (May 1, 1925 – October 10, 2013), (Commander, USN), was an American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, astronaut, and aquanaut. He was one of the Mercury Seven astronauts selected for NASA's Project Mercury in April 1959. Carpenter was the second American (after John Glenn) to orbit the Earth and the fourth American in space, after Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, and Glenn. Commissioned into the U.S. Navy in 1949, Carpenter became a naval aviator, flying a Lockheed P-2 Neptune with Patrol Squadron 6 (VP-6) on reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare missions along the coasts of Russia and China during the Korean War and the Cold War. In 1954, he attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland in 1954 and became a test pilot. In 1958 he was named Air Intelligence Officer of the USS Hornet, which was then in dry dock at the Bremerton Navy Yard. The following year, Carpenter was selected as one of the Mercury Seven astronauts. He was backup to Glenn during the latter's Mercury Atlas 6 orbital mission. Carpenter flew the next mission, Mercury-Atlas 7, in the spacecraft he named Aurora 7. Due to a series of malfunctions, the spacecraft landed 250 miles (400 km) downrange from its intended splashdown point, but both pilot and spacecraft were retrieved. Carpenter obtained permission from NASA to take a leave of absence to join the U.S. Navy SEALAB project as an aquanaut. During training he suffered injuries which grounded him, making him unavailable for further spaceflights. In 1965, he spent 28 days living on the ocean floor off the coast of California as part of SEALAB II. He returned to NASA as Executive Assistant to the Director of the Manned Spacecraft Center, then joined the Navy's Deep Submergence Systems Project in 1967 as Director of Aquanaut Operations for SEALAB III. He retired from NASA in 1967, and from the Navy in 1969.
- Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on Billboard magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and then-husband Kris Kristofferson. Her recordings include "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher", "We're All Alone", and the theme song for the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy: "All Time High".More Rita Coolidge
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- Michael Craig Russell (born May 1, 1978) is a retired American professional tennis player, who is now a tennis coach. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 60 in August 2007. His 23 United States Tennis Association (USTA) Pro Circuit singles titles were the all-time record, as of November 2013. That month he became the third-highest-ranked American in the world. In 1994 Russell was ranked No. 1 in both singles and doubles in the USTA Boys' 16 rankings, and in 1996 he was ranked No. 1 in singles in the U.S. Boys' 18-Under. Playing for the University of Miami in 1996–97, he was named National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Rookie of the Year, before he turned pro in 1997. A high school valedictorian, Russell was one of the few Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) players while he played who had a college degree, having earned a B.S. from the University of Phoenix with a 3.94 grade point average. Russell struggled with knee injuries for much of his professional career. He is perhaps best known for, on two occasions, holding surprise two-set leads in Grand Slam tournaments against former Grand Slam champions, before eventually being defeated both times. In the fourth round of the 2001 French Open (his best run at a Grand Slam) against defending and eventual champion Gustavo Kuerten (the world's # 1-ranked player), Russell led two-sets-to love and 5–3 in the third set, and held a match point, but was defeated in five sets. In the 2007 Australian Open, he held a two-sets-to-love lead over former U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt, before succumbing in five sets. Other career highlights include a fourth-round showing at the 2007 Indian Wells Masters event, a semi-final appearance at the 2012 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, and wins against top-10 players Mardy Fish and Tomas Berdych. On the Challenger Tour, he finished his career at No. 8 in match wins (276) and tied for fifth in titles (15). Russell started Michael Russell Tennis, a private tennis coaching business in 2015. He also has coached Frances Tiafoe, Ryan Harrison, Sam Querrey, Taylor Fritz and Mackenzie McDonald through USTA Player Development.
- Charles Thomas "Charlie" Schlatter (born May 1, 1966) is an American actor and voice actor, who has appeared in numerous films and television series. He is best known for playing Dr. Jesse Travis, the student of Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyke), in the CBS series Diagnosis: Murder and for starring in the big screen comedy 18 Again!, opposite George Burns. Since the early 1990s, he has been primarily a voice actor.
- Ray Erskine Parker Jr. (born May 1, 1954) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. As a solo performer, he wrote and performed the theme song to the 1984 movie Ghostbusters. He also performed with his band, Raydio, and with Barry White.
- Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 June 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard Steele, with whom he founded The Spectator magazine.
- Nicholas Joseph Braun (born May 1, 1988) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his role in the HBO series Succession (2018) and has appeared in several films, including Sky High (2005), Princess Protection Program (2009), Red State (2011), Prom (2011), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), Date and Switch (2014), and How to Be Single (2016).
- D'arcy Elizabeth Wretzky-Brown (born May 1, 1968) is an American musician. She is the original bass player of the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins and is credited on their first five studio albums. She left the band in 1999.
- Charles Philip Bednarik (May 1, 1925 – March 21, 2015), nicknamed Concrete Charlie, was a professional American football player, known as one of the most devastating tacklers in the history of football and the last full-time two-way player in the National Football League (NFL). A Slovak American from the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, Bednarik played for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1949 through 1962 and, upon retirement, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967, his first year of eligibility.More Chuck Bednarik
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- James Lee Lindsey Jr. (May 1, 1980 – January 13, 2010), better known by the stage name Jay Reatard, was an American musician from Memphis, Tennessee. Lindsey was signed to Matador Records. He released recordings as a solo artist and as a member of the Reatards and Lost Sounds.More Jay Reatard
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- Carver Andress Mead (born 1 May 1934) is an American scientist and engineer. He currently holds the position of Gordon and Betty Moore Professor Emeritus of Engineering and Applied Science at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), having taught there for over 40 years. Mead is an enthusiastic instructor, and he advised the first female electrical engineering student at Caltech, Louise Kirkbride. His contributions as a teacher include the classic textbook Introduction to VLSI Systems (1980), which he coauthored with Lynn Conway. A pioneer of modern microelectronics, he has made contributions to the development and design of semiconductors, digital chips, and silicon compilers, technologies which form the foundations of modern very-large-scale integration chip design. In the 1980s, he focused on electronic modelling of human neurology and biology, creating "neuromorphic electronic systems." Mead has been involved in the founding of more than 20 companies. Most recently, he has called for the reconceptualization of modern physics, revisiting the theoretical debates of Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein and others in light of later experiments and developments in instrumentation.
- Carrie Stevens (born May 1, 1969) is an American model, actress, and entrepreneur. She was Playboy's Playmate of the Month for June 1997, and was the cover model for the fall 2002 issue of Gene Simmons' magazine, Gene Simmons Tongue (which also included a feature article, Carrie Stevens: Confessions of a Rock Starlet).
- Darius Jaren McCrary (born May 1, 1976) is an American film and television actor and singer. McCrary is best known for his role as Edward "Eddie" Winslow, the oldest child of Carl and Harriette Winslow on the ABC/CBS television sitcom Family Matters, which ran from 1989–1998. Another one of McCrary's notable roles was as Scam in the 1987 comedy film Big Shots, which was his film debut. He provided the voice of Jazz in the 2007 Transformers reboot. From December 2009 to October 2011, he portrayed photographer Malcolm Winters on the CBS daytime drama The Young and the Restless.
- Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux (French pronunciation: [da.niɛl i.vɔn ma.ʁi ɑ̃.twa.nɛt daʁ.jø]; 1 May 1917 – 17 October 2017) was a French actress of stage, television and film, as well as a singer and dancer. Beginning in 1931, she appeared in more than 110 films. She was one of France's great movie stars and her eight-decade career was among the longest in film history.
- Louis Nye (May 1, 1913 – October 9, 2005) was an American comedic actor. He was an entertainer to the troops during World War II and is best known for his work on countless television, film and radio programs.
- Shirley Valerie Horn (May 1, 1934 – October 20, 2005) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz greats including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and others. She was most noted for her ability to accompany herself with nearly incomparable independence and ability on the piano while singing, something described by arranger Johnny Mandel as "like having two heads", and for her rich, lush voice, a smoky contralto, which was described by noted producer and arranger Quincy Jones as "like clothing, as she seduces you with her voice".
- Alan Mark Poul (born May 1, 1954) is an American film and television producer and director.
- Bobbie Ann Mason (born May 1, 1940) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and literary critic from Kentucky. Her memoir was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
- Drew Sidora Jordan (born May 1, 1985), better known by her stage name Drew Sidora, is an American actress and singer known for her recurring role as Chantel in the Disney Channel Original Series That's So Raven, also as Lucy Avila in the 2006 movie Step Up and starred as Tionne Watkins in the VH1 TLC biographical film CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story. She is also known for portraying a fictionalized version of herself on the BET comedy-drama television series The Game.
- Clint Malarchuk (born May 1, 1961) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1981 and 1992. He has been a coach for four NHL teams and two minor league teams, most recently the Calgary Flames. He was born in Grande Prairie, Alberta, raised in Edmonton, Alberta, and lives in Alberta and Nevada.Malarchuk survived a life-threatening injury during a 1989 NHL game when Steve Tuttle's skate blade sliced his carotid artery, causing immediate massive blood loss.
- Arthur Fleming Fazzin (May 1, 1924 – April 25, 1995) was an American actor and television host. He is most notable for being the original host of the television game show Jeopardy!, which aired on NBC from 1964 until 1975.More Art Fleming
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Denise Masino
Denise Masino (born Denise Sánchez on May 1, 1968) is an American professional female bodybuilder and model.- Marilyn Milian (born May 1, 1961) is an American television personality, lecturer, and retired Florida Circuit Court judge who currently presides over the American courtroom television series The People's Court. She is the first Hispanic arbitrator to preside over a court show. By the end of the show's 28th season (2012–13), Milian had completed twelve-and-a-half seasons presiding over The People's Court, making her the longest-presiding arbitrator on the series.
- Tommy Robredo Garcés (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtomi roˈβɾeðo ɣaɾˈθes], Catalan: [ɡəɾˈses]; born 1 May 1982) is a Spanish professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the Hamburg Masters earlier in the year. Robredo has reached the quarterfinals of seven Grand Slam singles tournaments. He was a semifinalist at three editions of the US Open doubles tournament, and one Australian Open in mixed doubles. He turned professional in 1998 and was coached by José Manuel "Pepo" Clavet and is now coached by Karim Perona. Robredo considers his forehand to be his best shot, and red clay is his favorite surface. Robredo remains the only player in Open Era history to mount three consecutive comebacks from two sets down, a feat achieved en route to the quarterfinals of Roland-Garros 2013. He also has the ATP World Tour record for the highest percentage of five-set matches won with 77.3 per cent (17–5 win-loss record).More Tommy Robredo
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- Tom Tobin (1823–1904) was an American adventurer, tracker, trapper, mountain man, guide, US Army scout, and occasional bounty hunter. Tobin explored much of southern Colorado, including the Pueblo area. He associated with men such as Kit Carson, "Uncle Dick" Wootton, Ceran St. Vrain, Charley Bent, John C. Fremont, "Wild Bill" Hickok, William F. Cody, and the Shoup brothers. Tobin was one of only two men to escape alive from the siege of Turley's Mill during the Taos Revolt. In later years he was sent by the Army to track down and kill the notorious Felipe Espinosa and his nephew; Tobin returned to Ft. Garland with their heads in a sack.
