← Fame through time1972
1972
Whose working lives fell in 1972. 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 1972, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Saddam Hussein6 decades - 2
Jack Nicholson5 decades - 3
Morgan Freeman3 decades - 4
Jane Fonda6 decades - 5
Anthony Hopkins5 decades - 6
Dustin Hoffman6 decades - 7
Valentina Tereshkova6 decades - 8
Ridley Scott4 decades - 9
Bill Cosby6 decades - 10
Harald V of Norway0 decades - 11
Colin Powell4 decades - 12
Warren Beatty6 decades - 13
Bobby Charlton2 decades - 14
Vanessa Redgrave6 decades - 15
George Takei1 decades - 16
Thomas Pynchon5 decades - 17
Hunter S. Thompson4 decades - 18
George Carlin5 decades - 19
Andrei Konchalovsky0 decades - 20
Queen Sonja of Norway0 decades - 21
Madeleine Albright3 decades - 22
Yoshirō Mori0 decades - 23
Suzanne Pleshette3 decades - 24
Connie Francis5 decades - 25
Ratan Tata3 decades - 26
Anna Hazare1 decades - 27
Jared Diamond3 decades - 28
Claude Lelouch6 decades - 29
David Hockney5 decades - 30
Philip Glass4 decades - 31
Ned Beattynot measured- - 32
Shirley Bassey3 decades - 33
Tom Stoppard6 decades - 34
Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gothanot measured- - 35
Mengistu Haile Mariam5 decades - 36
Waylon Jenningsnot measured- - 37
Dyan Cannonnot measured- - 38
Egon Krenz5 decades - 39
Abdelaziz Bouteflikanot measured- - 40
Renzo Piano6 decades - 41
Roberta Flack5 decades - 42
Lionel Jospin6 decades - 43
Ahmed Yassin1 decades - 44
Boris Spassky4 decades - 45
Sally Kellermannot measured- - 46
Edward Foxnot measured- - 47
Fernando de la Rúa6 decades - 48
Gordon Banks1 decades - 49
Billy Dee Williamsnot measured- - 50
Queen Paola of Belgiumnot measured- - 51
Merle Haggardnot measured- - 52
Anatoly Sobchaknot measured- - 53
Sandy Dennisnot measured- - 54
Juvénal Habyarimana5 decades - 55
Frank Vincentnot measured- - 56
Ryutaro Hashimoto2 decades - 57
Olusegun Obasanjo5 decades - 58
Rubin Carternot measured- - 59
Neilia Hunter Bidennot measured- - 60
Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naplesnot measured- - 61
Don Bluthnot measured- - 62
André Glucksmannnot measured- - 63
Tom Courtenaynot measured- - 64
Gennady Yanayevnot measured- - 65
Tung Chee Hwanot measured- - 66
Keizō Obuchinot measured- - 67
Roger Zelazny4 decades - 68
Richard Pettynot measured- - 69
Joseph Estrada3 decades - 70
Joseph Kobzonnot measured- - 71
Loretta Switnot measured- - 72
Eduard Streltsovnot measured- - 73
Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabahnot measured- - 74
Sajida Talfahnot measured- - 75
Hibari Misoranot measured- - 76
Jackie Collinsnot measured- - 77
Colleen McCullough1 decades - 78
Yılmaz Güneynot measured- - 79
Princess Birgitta of Swedennot measured- - 80
Angelo Badalamentinot measured- - 81
Alain Badiou6 decades - 82
Facundo Cabralnot measured- - 83
Seymour Hershnot measured- - 84
Barbara Windsornot measured- - 85
Edita Piekhanot measured- - 86
Marlo Thomasnot measured- - 87
Manoj Kumarnot measured- - 88
Steven Berkoffnot measured- - 89
Bella Akhmadulina6 decades - 90
Dick Dalenot measured- - 91
Francis Vebernot measured- - 92
Alice Coltranenot measured- - 93
Ferdinand Piëchnot measured- - 94
Polly Hollidaynot measured- - 95
Lois Lowrynot measured- - 96
Eduard Uspensky3 decades - 97
Cüneyt Arkınnot measured- - 98
Jerry Reednot measured- - 99
Thomas Nagelnot measured- - 100
Yvonne Craignot 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.