← Fame through time1955
1955
Whose working lives fell in 1955. 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 1955, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Pope John Paul II5 decades - 2
Isaac Asimov7 decades - 3
James Dean9 decades - 4
Federico Fellini8 decades - 5
Toshiro Mifune5 decades - 6
Ray Bradbury7 decades - 7
Charles Bukowski5 decades - 8
Frank Herbert10 decades - 9
Yul Brynner7 decades - 10
Mickey Rooney9 decades - 11
Ravi Shankar6 decades - 12
Montgomery Clift8 decades - 13
Rosalind Franklin4 decades - 14
Walter Matthau6 decades - 15
Mario Puzo5 decades - 16
Shelley Winters7 decades - 17
Farouk of Egypt2 decades - 18
Timothy Leary6 decades - 19
Charlie Parker7 decades - 20
Maureen O'Hara8 decades - 21
Clarice Lispector4 decades - 22
Gene Tierney8 decades - 23
Alberto Sordi7 decades - 24
Richard von Weizsäcker5 decades - 25
Sergei Bondarchuk6 decades - 26
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman6 decades - 27
George Shultz6 decades - 28
Dave Brubeck7 decades - 29
Traudl Jungenot measured- - 30
Emmett Tillnot measured- - 31
Boris Vian8 decades - 32
Éric Rohmer5 decades - 33
Ricardo Montalbánnot measured- - 34
DeForest Kelleynot measured- - 35
Sun Myung Moonnot measured- - 36
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi4 decades - 37
Peggy Lee8 decades - 38
Pran10 decades - 39
Richard Farnsworthnot measured- - 40
Ray Harryhausennot measured- - 41
Paul Celan6 decades - 42
Gianni Rodari6 decades - 43
P. D. Jamesnot measured- - 44
Sadako Sasaki0 decades - 45
Alf Ramseynot measured- - 46
Jack Wardennot measured- - 47
John Demjanjuknot measured- - 48
Melina Mercouri5 decades - 49
Tony Randallnot measured- - 50
Fritz Walter10 decades - 51
James Doohannot measured- - 52
Kocheril R. Narayanannot measured- - 53
Michèle Morgan8 decades - 54
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar4 decades - 55
Patrick Troughtonnot measured- - 56
Eileen Changnot measured- - 57
Amália Rodrigues0 decades - 58
José López Portillonot measured- - 59
Mario Benedettinot measured- - 60
Jack Elamnot measured- - 61
Setsuko Haranot measured- - 62
Helmut Newtonnot measured- - 63
Tom of Finlandnot measured- - 64Zecharia Sitchinnot measured-
- 65
Virginia Mayonot measured- - 66
Nanette Fabraynot measured- - 67
William Conradnot measured- - 68
Ivan Kozhedubnot measured- - 69
Bella Abzugnot measured- - 70
Marcel Reich-Ranickinot measured- - 71
Kaysone Phomvihanenot measured- - 72
Yoshiko Yamaguchinot measured- - 73
Saul Bassnot measured- - 74
Jack Lordnot measured- - 75
Frank Sheerannot measured- - 76
Juan Antonio Samaranch6 decades - 77
Henri Verneuilnot measured- - 78
Ovadia Josephnot measured- - 79
Viveca Lindforsnot measured- - 80
Laraine Daynot measured- - 81
Mahendra I of Nepalnot measured- - 82
Thomas Szasznot measured- - 83
Richard Adamsnot measured- - 84
John Paul Stevensnot measured- - 85
Prem Tinsulanonda1 decades - 86
Roy Jenkinsnot measured- - 87
Clive Dunn0 decades - 88
Esther Rollenot measured- - 89
Denver Pylenot measured- - 90
Helen Thomasnot measured- - 91
Ben Ferencznot measured- - 92
Arthur Haileynot measured- - 93
Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesanot measured- - 94
Miguel Delibesnot measured-
- 95
Stan Musialnot measured- - 96Karl Hans Albrechtnot measured-
- 97
Mehdi Ben Barkanot measured- - 98
Christopher Robin Milnenot measured- - 99
Jean Carmetnot measured- - 100
Le Duc Anhnot 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.