← Fame through time1980
1980
Whose working lives fell in 1980. 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 1980, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Bob Marley5 decades - 2
Helen Mirren4 decades - 3
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva1 decades - 4
Eric Clapton5 decades - 5
Aung San Suu Kyi4 decades - 6
Rodrigo Duterte1 decades - 7
Franz Beckenbauer5 decades - 8
Goldie Hawn5 decades - 9
Daniel Orteganot measured- - 10
Rod Stewart5 decades - 11
Neil Young5 decades - 12
Gerd Müller7 decades - 13
Radovan Karadžić1 decades - 14
Mia Farrow6 decades - 15
Anni-Frid Lyngstad0 decades - 16
Steve Martin5 decades - 17
Eddy Merckx5 decades - 18
Bette Midler5 decades - 19
Wim Wenders5 decades - 20
Lemmy5 decades - 21
Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein2 decades - 22
John Lithgow4 decades - 23
Priscilla Presley1 decades - 24
Björn Ulvaeus0 decades - 25
John Bonham2 decades - 26
Tom Selleck4 decades - 27
Nikita Mikhalkov4 decades - 28
Debbie Harry3 decades - 29
Ritchie Blackmore0 decades - 30
Abdelmadjid Tebbounenot measured- - 31
Vince McMahon2 decades - 32
Ian Curtis2 decades - 33
Barry Bostwick0 decades - 34
Van Morrison5 decades - 35
Ian Gillan0 decades - 36
Pete Townshend4 decades - 37
Bon Scott1 decades - 38
Bryan Ferry2 decades - 39
Rainer Werner Fassbinder5 decades - 40
Linda Hunt3 decades - 41
Brenda Frickernot measured- - 42
James Avery2 decades - 43
Henry Winklernot measured- - 44
Jupp Heynckes3 decades - 45
Ehud Olmert6 decades - 46
John McAfeenot measured- - 47
Phil Jacksonnot measured- - 48
Ram Nath Kovind0 decades - 49
George Millernot measured- - 50
John Fogertynot measured- - 51
Loni Andersonnot measured- - 52
Jaclyn Smithnot measured- - 53
Adrienne Barbeaunot measured- - 54
José Felicianonot measured- - 55
Franco Battiatonot measured- - 56
Slobodan Praljak0 decades - 57
Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadinot measured- - 58
Don McLeannot measured- - 59
Ernie Hudsonnot measured- - 60
Bob Segernot measured- - 61
Mehran Karimi Nasserinot measured- - 62
Daniel Cohn-Bendit6 decades - 63
Carmen Mauranot measured- - 64
Itzhak Perlman7 decades - 65
Roger Glovernot measured- - 66
Keith Jarrettnot measured- - 67
Pat Rileynot measured- - 68
Sanjay Gandhinot measured- - 69
Joanna Cassidynot measured- - 70
Yoshinori Ohsumi0 decades - 71
Dean Koontznot measured- - 72
Patrick Modiano5 decades - 73
Edie McClurg0 decades - 74
Dennis Radernot measured- - 75
Kim Carnesnot measured- - 76
Jacqueline du Prénot measured- - 77
Davy Jonesnot measured- - 78
Marsha P. Johnsonnot measured- - 79
Alain Juppé5 decades - 80
Anselm Kiefer4 decades - 81
Rita Coolidgenot measured- - 82
Dusty Rhodesnot measured- - 83
Bob Guntonnot measured- - 84
Herman Cainnot measured- - 85
Carrie Snodgressnot measured- - 86
Moshe Katsav0 decades - 87
Elis Reginanot measured-
- 88
Stephen Stillsnot measured- - 89
Birendra of Nepal0 decades - 90
Javed Akhtarnot measured- - 91
Bubba Smithnot measured- - 92
Mircea Lucescunot measured- - 93
Dirk Benedictnot measured- - 94
Jim Davisnot measured- - 95
Muqrin bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saudnot measured- - 96
Maud Adamsnot measured- - 97
Thongloun Sisoulithnot measured- - 98
Diane Sawyernot measured- - 99
Azim Premjinot measured- - 100
Golden State Killernot 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.