← Fame through time1977
1977
Whose working lives fell in 1977. 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 1977, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Joe Biden4 decades - 2
Stephen Hawking4 decades - 3
Muhammad Ali8 decades - 4
Muammar Gaddafi2 decades - 5
Paul McCartney6 decades - 6
Harrison Ford4 decades - 7
Martin Scorsese5 decades - 8
Barbra Streisand6 decades - 9
Hu Jintao6 decades - 10
Aretha Franklin6 decades - 11
Ian McShane0 decades - 12
Isabel Allende4 decades - 13
Ted Kaczynski2 decades - 14
Eusébionot measured- - 15
Michael Crichton5 decades - 16
Michael Bloomberg2 decades - 17
Werner Herzog6 decades - 18
Lou Reed5 decades - 19
Ronnie James Dio0 decades - 20
Bob Hoskins4 decades - 21
Mitch McConnell4 decades - 22
Wen Jiabao5 decades - 23
Brian Wilson5 decades - 24
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo4 decades - 25
Billy Connolly3 decades - 26
Amitabh Bachchan4 decades - 27
Calvin Klein5 decades - 28
John Cale3 decades - 29
Carole King5 decades - 30
Junichiro Koizumi2 decades - 31
Dino Zoff4 decades - 32
Michael Haneke3 decades - 33
David Ogden Stiers1 decades - 34
Isaac Hayes5 decades - 35
Ehud Barak4 decades - 36
Jacob Zuma2 decades - 37
Roger Ebert4 decades - 38
Bob Rossnot measured- - 39
Emmerson Mnangagwa0 decades - 40
Erica Jong5 decades - 41
John Wayne Gacynot measured- - 42
Scatman Johnnot measured- - 43
Steve Biko5 decades - 44
Giancarlo Giannini6 decades - 45
Terry Jones4 decades - 46
Britt Ekland1 decades - 47
Rajesh Khannanot measured- - 48
Thabo Mbeki3 decades - 49
Barry Levinson4 decades - 50
Margaret Court1 decades - 51
Vicente Fox4 decades - 52
John Irving8 decades - 53
Peter Handke7 decades - 54
Larry Flynt4 decades - 55
Tobin Bellnot measured- - 56
Muslim Magomayev6 decades - 57
Daniel Barenboim5 decades - 58
Jerry Garcianot measured- - 59
Bob Einsteinnot measured- - 60
Michael Yorknot measured- - 61
Alassane Ouattara4 decades - 62
Daniel Dennett3 decades - 63
Fred Wardnot measured- - 64
Toyohiro Akiyamanot measured- - 65
Fred Thompsonnot measured- - 66
Tony Siriconot measured- - 67
Marc Bolannot measured- - 68
Tammy Wynettenot measured- - 69
Gilberto Gilnot measured- - 70
Felipe González8 decades - 71
Sandra Deenot measured- - 72
Madeline Kahnnot measured- - 73
Muhammadu Buhari4 decades - 74
Prince Michael of Kentnot measured- - 75
Joe Liebermannot measured- - 76
Chris Sarandonnot measured- - 77
Geneviève Bujoldnot measured- - 78
Curtis Mayfieldnot measured- - 79
Giacinto Facchetti2 decades - 80
Linda Evansnot measured- - 81
Caetano Velosonot measured- - 82
Scott Wilsonnot measured- - 83
Richard Roundtreenot measured- - 84
Sixto Rodrigueznot measured- - 85
Huey P. Newtonnot measured- - 86
John McLaughlinnot measured- - 87
Graham Nashnot measured- - 88
David Bradleynot measured- - 89
Gemma Jonesnot measured- - 90
Wolfgang Schäuble4 decades - 91
Ronnie Van Zantnot measured- - 92
Nobby Stilesnot measured- - 93
Marsha Masonnot measured- - 94
Neil Kinnocknot measured- - 95
Sandro Mazzolanot measured- - 96
Jeetendranot measured- - 97
José Eduardo dos Santos0 decades - 98
Giorgio Agambennot measured- - 99
Peter Greenawaynot measured- - 100
Anita Pallenbergnot 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.