October 17 is the birthday of 53 notable people we've found so far, including actors, authors, politicians and entrepreneurs, and 1 of them is a billionaire.
$8Breported estimate as of September 2026 · Forbes
Clifford Scott Asness is an American hedge fund manager and the co-founder of AQR Capital Management. As of September 2026, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$8 billion.
Share of the 53 people we list, by documented field. People can belong to more than one.
Actors30% (16 people)
Authors25% (13 people)
Politicians23% (12 people)
Entrepreneurs21% (11 people)
Athletes15% (8 people)
Creators15% (8 people)
Scientists9% (5 people)
Countries
22 countries, most often United States
Citizenship as recorded on Wikidata, one country per person.
United States21 (21 people)
United Kingdom5 (5 people)
Spain4 (4 people)
Canada2 (2 people)
France2 (2 people)
Japan2 (2 people)
Russia2 (2 people)
Life timeline
What were people born on October 17 doing at your age?
Dated milestones from Wikidata (company foundings, awards, top jobs, notable works), placed at the age each person reached them. Add your birth year above to see the ones you have passed.
Barry Keoghan is an Irish actor. His accolades include a BAFTA Award, along with nominations for an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number 27 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Senior Airman Austin Pate, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Rita Hayworth was an American actress, dancer, and pin-up girl. She achieved fame in the 1940s as one of the top stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and appeared in 61 films over 38 years.
Columbia Pictures, photograph by Ned Scott, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Norman Gene Macdonald was a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and writer whose style was characterized by deadpan delivery, eccentric understatement, and the use of folksy, old-fashioned turns of phrase.
David Matthew Macfadyen is an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he gained prominence for his role as Mr. Darcy in Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice (2005).
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), and A View from the Bridge (1955).
Wolfgang Fischer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Felicity Rose Hadley Jones is an English actress. She began acting as a child, appearing in The Treasure Seekers (1996) and playing Ethel Hallow for one series of the television series The Worst Witch (1998).
Gabriel Hutchinson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo is an Indonesian politician, businessman, and retired military officer who has served as the eighth president of Indonesia since 2024. He previously served as the 26th minister of defence under President Joko Widodo from 2019 to 2024.
.1./.I. .Pradika Indra Putra Presiden Jendral ⭐ 5. .Negara Republik Indonesia.N.R.I., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
William Alison Anders was a United States Air Force major general, electrical engineer, nuclear engineer, NASA astronaut, and businessman. In December 1968, he was a member of the crew of Apollo 8, the first three people to leave low Earth orbit and travel to the Moon.
Carl Douglas McMillon is an American businessman who was the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Walmart from 2014 to 2026 when he retired. He also sits on the retailer's board of directors.
Lawrence Bender is an American film producer. Throughout his career, Bender-produced films have received 36 Academy Award nominations, resulting in eight wins.
Bev Moser at https://www.flickr.com/photos/momentsbymoser/, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Patrick Lloyd McCrory is an American politician and businessman who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 53rd mayor of Charlotte from 1995 to 2009.
Hal Goodtree from Cary, North Carolina, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lucas Alamán was a Mexican scientist, conservative statesman, historian, and writer. He came from an elite Guanajuato family and was well-traveled and highly educated.
Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Edward Montgomery Clift was an American actor. A four-time Academy Award nominee, he was known for his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men", according to The New York Times.
The original uploader was Prew at English Wikipedia., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Margaret Ruth Kidder was a Canadian and American actress and activist. She amassed several film and television credits in her career spanning five decades, including her widely known role as Lois Lane in the original Superman films (1978–1987).
Peters & Carroll, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
George Robert Wendt Jr. was an American actor. Wendt played Norm Peterson on the NBC sitcom Cheers from 1982 to 1993, which earned him six consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Pope John Paul I was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal history, giving rise to the first year of three popes since 1605.
Mae Carol Jemison is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She became the first African-American woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992.
Sardar Milkha Singh, also known as "The Flying Sikh", was an Indian track and field sprinter who was introduced to the sport while serving in the Indian Army. He is the first Indian athlete to win gold at 400 metres at the Asian Games as well as the Commonwealth Games.
Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas is a Portuguese sports executive and former football manager, who is the president of Portuguese sports club Porto.
James Oliver Rigney Jr., known by his pen name Robert Jordan, was an American author of epic fantasy. His The Wheel of Time series, which comprises 14 books and a prequel novel is among the highest-selling book series of all time, with 90 million copies sold.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, also spelled Sayyid Ahmad Khan, was an Indian Muslim reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British India.
The original uploader was Rama's Arrow at English Wikipedia. Later versions were uploaded by Megapixie, Arslan1080, Raul, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Robert Doyle Marshall Jr. is an American film and theater director, producer, and choreographer. He is best known for directing the film version of the Broadway musical Chicago, which was based on the play of the same name by playwright Maurine Dallas Watkins.
Angela George, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Marsha Hunt was an American actress with a career spanning nearly 80 years. She was blacklisted by Hollywood film studio executives in the 1950s during McCarthyism.
CBS Television, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon, better known as Henri de Saint-Simon, was a French political, economic and socialist theorist and businessman whose thought had a substantial influence on politics, economics, sociology and the philosophy of science.
Godefroy Engelmann the Elder, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Washington Sebastián Abreu Gallo, nicknamed El Loco, is a Uruguayan football manager and former footballer who played as a striker. He is the head coach of Mexican club Tijuana.
Agencia de Noticias ANDES, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Warren Minor Christopher was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, and United States Navy officer who served as the 63rd United States secretary of state from 1993 to 1997.
U.S. Department of State, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Aleksei Andreyevich Miranchuk is a Russian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or forward for Major League Soccer club Atlanta United and the Russia national team. He is the twin brother of player Anton Miranchuk.
Pablo Iglesias Turrión is a Spanish political scientist and former politician. During his political career, he served as Second Deputy Prime Minister and as Minister of Social Rights and 2030 Agenda of the Government of Spain from 2020 to 2021.
Dami Im is an Australian-Korean singer and songwriter. She represented Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 held in Stockholm, Sweden with the song "Sound of Silence", placing second and achieving the highest Eurovision Song Contest score for Australia.
Sergio Javier Goycochea is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is best known for helping his country reach the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final with his penalty kick saves.
Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals.
Tarell Alvin McCraney is an American playwright. He is the chair of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble.
Gordon Correll, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Saki Kumagai is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or defender for Women's Super League club London City Lionesses and the Japan national team.
Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Dr. Bibi Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim GCSK is a Mauritian politician and biodiversity scientist who served as the sixth president of Mauritius from 2015 to 2018. In December 2014, she was selected to be the presidential candidate of the Alliance Lepep.
Rachna Seenauth, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This page lists 53 people born on October 17, every one traced to a Wikidata record and, where shown, a Wikipedia summary (CC BY-SA) and a licensed Wikimedia Commons photo. 1 of them carry a dated net-worth estimate citing Forbes or Bloomberg; combined wealth is the sum of the low end of those estimates, the newest as of September 2026. Rankings compare all 366 dates in the dataset built on 2026-09-28. Milestone ages come from dated Wikidata statements; a tilde marks year-only dates. Nothing on this page is a prediction about anyone born on October 17. Read the full methodology.
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