← Fame through time1961
1961
Whose working lives fell in 1961. 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 1961, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Elizabeth II8 decades - 2
Marilyn Monroe7 decades - 3
Fidel Castro10 decades - 4
David Attenborough5 decades - 5
Michel Foucault8 decades - 6
Jiang Zemin9 decades - 7
Miles Davis7 decades - 8
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing8 decades - 9
Harper Lee7 decades - 10
Chuck Berry6 decades - 11
Mel Brooks5 decades - 12
Alfredo Di Stéfano4 decades - 13
Leslie Nielsen5 decades - 14
Hugh Hefner6 decades - 15
Jerry Lewis7 decades - 16
Allen Ginsberg7 decades - 17
John Coltrane6 decades - 18
Klaus Kinski5 decades - 19
Tony Bennett6 decades - 20
Svetlana Alliluyeva1 decades - 21
Patricia Neal7 decades - 22
Sathya Sai Baba4 decades - 23
Cloris Leachman4 decades - 24
Yevgeny Leonov5 decades - 25
René Goscinny5 decades - 26
Harry Dean Stanton4 decades - 27
Don Rickles5 decades - 28
Alan Greenspan5 decades - 29
Ingvar Kamprad1 decades - 30
Ingeborg Bachmann8 decades - 31
Thích Nhất Hạnhnot measured- - 32
Andy Griffithnot measured- - 33
George Martin10 decades - 34
Leopoldo Fortunato hdp4 decades - 35
Andrzej Wajda6 decades - 36
Gus Grissom3 decades - 37
Roger Cormannot measured- - 38
Ian Paisleynot measured- - 39
Peter Gravesnot measured- - 40
Richard Crennanot measured- - 41
Prince Claus of the Netherlandsnot measured- - 42
Necmettin Erbakan3 decades - 43
Vasily Arkhipovnot measured- - 44
Murray Rothbard4 decades - 45
Richard Matheson4 decades - 46
Norman Jewisonnot measured- - 47
Ivan Illich5 decades - 48
Dario Fo7 decades - 49
Jean-Pierre Serrenot measured- - 50
Julie Londonnot measured- - 51
Elisabeth Kübler-Rossnot measured- - 52
Abdus Salam7 decades - 53
Paul Bocusenot measured- - 54
Steve Reevesnot measured- - 55
John Schlesingernot measured- - 56
Jack Brabham1 decades - 57
Jeffrey Hunternot measured- - 58
Sultan bin Abdulaziznot measured- - 59
Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabahnot measured- - 60
Yusuf al-Qaradawi1 decades - 61
John Dereknot measured- - 62
Jimmy Savilenot measured- - 63
Christine Jorgensennot measured- - 64
John Bergernot measured- - 65
Julie Adamsnot measured- - 66
George Habashnot measured- - 67
Michael Rockefellernot measured- - 68
Maria Schellnot measured- - 69
Vivian Maiernot measured- - 70
John Fowles6 decades - 71
Mickey Hargitaynot measured- - 72
Louise Haynot measured- - 73
Alcides Ghiggianot measured- - 74
Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelonot measured- - 75
Poul Anderson7 decades - 76
Jean Petersnot measured- - 77
Shohei Imamuranot measured- - 78
Big Mama Thorntonnot measured- - 79
Bal Thackeraynot measured- - 80
Tsung-Dao Lee0 decades - 81
Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Albanot measured- - 82
Beji Caid Essebsi2 decades - 83
Sydney Chaplinnot measured- - 84
Wolfgang von Tripsnot measured- - 85
Neal Cassadynot measured- - 86
Thorbjörn Fälldinnot measured- - 87
Richard Andersonnot measured- - 88
James Bestnot measured- - 89
Ann B. Davisnot measured- - 90
Abdoulaye Wade5 decades - 91
Peter Alexandernot measured- - 92
Michael Bondnot measured- - 93
Frank Finlaynot measured- - 94
Siegfried Lenz8 decades - 95
Anne McCaffreynot measured- - 96
Henry Silvanot measured- - 97
Noor Jehannot measured- - 98
Valdas Adamkus1 decades - 99
Hilary Putnam5 decades - 100
Francisco Rabalnot 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.