← Fame through time1954
1954
Whose working lives fell in 1954. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in 1954, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi4 decades - 2
Edmund Hillary7 decades - 3
Doris Lessing7 decades - 4
J. D. Salinger7 decades - 5
Mikhail Kalashnikov4 decades - 6
Pierre Trudeau6 decades - 7
Pete Seeger7 decades - 8
Nat King Cole6 decades - 9
Zhao Ziyang7 decades - 10
Donald Pleasence6 decades - 11
Jennifer Jones8 decades - 12
Jackie Robinson8 decades - 13
Primo Levi11 decades - 14
Jack Palance7 decades - 15
Giulio Andreotti8 decades - 16
Desmond Dossnot measured- - 17
Kiichi Miyazawa4 decades - 18
George Wallacenot measured- - 19
Ian Douglas Smith0 decades - 20
Lino Venturanot measured- - 21
Liberacenot measured- - 22
Eva Gabornot measured- - 23
Iris Murdoch7 decades - 24
Martin Balsamnot measured- - 25
Dino De Laurentiisnot measured- - 26
Elena Ceaușescunot measured- - 27
Fausto Coppi8 decades - 28
Siad Barre5 decades - 29
Robert Stacknot measured- - 30
Red Buttonsnot measured- - 31
I. K. Gujral1 decades - 32
Walter Scheel7 decades - 33
Vikram Sarabhainot measured- - 34
Georgios Papadopoulosnot measured- - 35
Amrita Pritam3 decades - 36
Lex Barkernot measured- - 37
Margot Fonteyn8 decades - 38
James Lovelock3 decades - 39
Chavela Vargasnot measured- - 40
Jon Pertweenot measured- - 41
Bob Paisleynot measured- - 42
Madalyn Murray O'Hairnot measured- - 43
Amir-Abbas Hoveydanot measured- - 44
Moïse Tshombenot measured- - 45
Choi Kyu-hahnot measured- - 46
Howard Keelnot measured- - 47
Ashraf Pahlavinot measured- - 48
Boris Shcherbinanot measured- - 49
Oleg Penkovskynot measured- - 50
Dan O'Herlihynot measured- - 51
Licio Gellinot measured- - 52
Pauline Kaelnot measured- - 53
Andreas Papandreou6 decades - 54
Art Blakeynot measured- - 55
Alan Youngnot measured- - 56
Gérard Ourynot measured- - 57
Mohamed Boudiafnot measured- - 58
Lauri Törninot measured- - 59
Richard Toddnot measured- - 60
Marek Edelmannot measured- - 61
Tennessee Ernie Fordnot measured- - 62
Gene Barrynot measured- - 63
Eileen Heckartnot measured- - 64
Uta Hagennot measured- - 65
Slim Pickensnot measured- - 66
Lawrence Tierneynot measured- - 67
Ryszard Kaczorowskinot measured- - 68
Gerhard Barkhornnot measured- - 69
Kathleen Freemannot measured- - 70
Hermine Braunsteinernot measured- - 71
Nehemiah Persoffnot measured- - 72
Pierre Soulagesnot measured- - 73
Marie Windsornot measured- - 74
Gillo Pontecorvonot measured- - 75
Betty Garrettnot measured- - 76
Osvaldo Dorticósnot measured- - 77
Gayatri Devinot measured- - 78
Bernhard Wickinot measured- - 79
Morteza Motahharinot measured- - 80
Joe Weidernot measured- - 81
Stig Dagermannot measured- - 82
François Périernot measured- - 83
G. E. M. Anscombenot measured- - 84
Charles Sweeneynot measured- - 85
Sam Wanamakernot measured- - 86
Abdel Hakim Amernot measured- - 87
Frederik Pohlnot measured- - 88
Marge Championnot measured- - 89
Leon Festingernot measured- - 90
Maurice Herzognot measured- - 91
Lawrence Ferlinghettinot measured- - 92
James M. Buchanan6 decades - 93
César Manriquenot measured- - 94
René Emilio Barrientos Ortuñonot measured- - 95
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carringtonnot measured- - 96
Merce Cunninghamnot measured- - 97
Strother Martinnot measured- - 98
Jean Lefebvrenot measured- - 99
Maurice Hillemannot measured- - 100
Jayne Meadowsnot measured-
How to read these rankings
- People sit in their own time. Everyone is placed in the century their working life belongs to, and never in one that came after their death.
- Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record, read across every language rather than one. It is not a judgement on the life.
- Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus. Those decades are closed, so each curve is measured once and kept.
- Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, or a name belongs to more than one notable person, we would rather show nothing than guess.