Baby boomer

A baby boomer is someone born in a period of increased birth rates, such as those during the economic prosperity that in many countries followed World War II. In the United States, demographers have put the generation's birth years at 1946 to 1964, despite the fact that the U.S. birth rate actually began to decline after 1957. William Strauss and Neil Howe, in their book Generations include those conceived by soldiers on leave during the war, putting the generation's birth years at 1943 to 1960. Howe and Strauss argue that persons born between 1961 and 1964 have political and cultural patterns very different from those born between 1955 and 1960 and fit into what those writers term the Thirteenth Generation or Generation X (also known as the Cold War generation) born between 1961 and 1981. As the influence of Strauss and Howe has grown, few people still accept Baby Boomers as including those born after 1961, although there are some who put the dates at 1946 to 1963 because of the number of significant "Gen-X" figures born in 1964, including Courtney Love and Eddie Vedder.

Famous Baby-Boomers

• 1946
• Aaron Grijalva ndash; All American baseball player
• William Jefferson Clinton dash; 42nd President of the United States
• Dolly Parton – country singer and songwriter, actress
• Gregory Hines – dancer, actor
• Donald Trump – entrepreneur, real estate developer
• José Carreras – Spanish tenor
• Reggie Jackson – baseball player
• George W. Bush – 43rd President of the United States
• Tommy Lee Jones – actor
• 1947
• Dan Quayle – former US Vice President
• Linda Ronstadt – singer
• Tom Daschle – US Senator
• Hillary Rodham Clinton – New York Senator and Former First Lady
• Stephen King – author
• Emmylou Harris – musician and singer
• Arnold Schwarzenegger – body builder, actor, and Governor of California
• Arlo Guthrie – folk singer
• 1948
• Bobby Orr – hockey player, former member of the Boston Bruins
• Bernadette Peters – actress, singer, entertainer
• Andrew Lloyd Webber – composer
• Al Gore – former US Vice President and 2000 Presidential candidate
• Stevie Nicks – singer & songwriter (Fleetwood Mac)
• 1949
• Bonnie Raitt – rock and blues musician
• John Belushi – actor and comedian
• George Foreman – boxer
• Bruce Springsteen – rock and roll musician, songwriter
• 1950
• Mark Spitz – Olympic swimmer, Gold Medal winner
• Peter Gabriel – rock and roll musician
• 1951
• Phil Collins – musician
• Kirstie Alley – actress
• Max Weinberg – rock and roll drummer (The "E" Street Band)
• Anjelica Huston – actress
• Rush Limbaugh – Conservative Radio Talk Show Host, The Rush Limbaugh Show
• 1955
• Steve Earle – alternative contry musician, songwriter
• Bruce Willis – film actor
• Dana Carvey – actor, comedian
• Reba McEntire – country singer
• Steve Jobs – Apple Computer founder
• Yo-Yo Ma – cellist
• 1956
• Geena Davis – actress
• Larry Bird – basketball legend
• Bjorn Borg – tennis player
• Paula Zahn – TV journalist
• Joan Allen – actress
• Andy Garcia – actor
• Sugar Ray Leonard – boxer
• Tom Hanks – actor
• 1957
• Katie Couric – Today Show host
• Princess Caroline of Monaco
• Spike Lee – film director
• Gloria Estefan – pop singer
• Donny Osmond – entertainer
• 1958
• Ellen DeGeneres – actress, comedienne
• Mary Chapin Carpenter – country singer, songwriter
• Madonna – singer, actress
• Michael Jackson– singer
• 1959
• Magic Johnson – basketball star
• Suzanne Vega – singer and songwriter
• Rosanna Arquette – actress
• 1960
• Hugh Grant – actor
• Branford Marsalis – jazz musician
• Bono – musician (U2)
• Antonio Banderas – actor
• 1961
• George Clooney – actor
• Ann Coulter – neoconservative writer and polemicist
• Diana, Princess of Wales
• The Edge – rock guitarist, U2
• Enya – new age vocalist
• Melissa Etheridge – rock vocalist
• k.d. lang – rock vocalist
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus – actress
• Michael J. Fox – actor
• Wayne Gretzky – NHL legend
• Sean Hannity – conservative tv/radio personality
• Peter Jackson – filmmaker
• Greg LeMond – cyclist, three–time Tour de France winner
• Carl Lewis – track & field legend
• George Lopez – actor/comedian
• Dan Marino – NFL quarterback, Miami Dolphins
• Dylan McDermott – actor
• Eddie Murphy – actor/comedian
• Dave Mustaine – rock vocalist/guitarist, Megadeth; Metallica
• Kirby Puckett – Baseball Hall of Famer
• Dennis Rodman – NBA forward, Detroit Pistons; Chicago Bulls; San Antonio Spurs; Los Angeles Lakers
• Henry Rollins – rock vocalist, Black Flag; Rollins Band
• Tim Roth – actor
• Meg Ryan – actress
• Isiah Thomas – NBA guard, Detroit Pistons
• Irvine Welsh – writer
• Reggie White – NFL defensive lineman, Philadelphia Eagles; Green Bay Packers
• Steve Young – NFL quarterback, San Francisco 49ers
• 1962
• Paula Abdul – pop vocalist
• Matthew Broderick – actor
• Garth Brooks – country vocalist
• Jon Bon Jovi – rock vocalist, Bon Jovi
• Cliff Burton – rock bassist, Metallica
• Jim Carrey – actor
• Steven Curtis Chapman – contemporary Christian music vocalist
• Roger Clemens – MLB pitcher
• Tom Cruise – actor
• Joan Cusack – actress
• Sheryl Crow – rock vocalist
• Clyde Drexler – NBA guard, Houston Rockets
• Anthony Edwards – actor
• Emilio Estevez – actor
• Patrick Ewing – NBA center, New York Knicks; Seattle SuperSonics
• David Fincher – filmmaker
• Flea – rock bassist, Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Doug Flutie – CFL & NFL quarterback, Calgary Stampeders; Toronto Argonauts; Buffalo Bills; San Diego Chargers
• Jodie Foster – actor
• Bobcat Goldthwait – actor
• MC Hammer – (a.k.a. Hammer) rapper
• John Hannah – actor
• Steve Irwin – herpetologist and TV personality (The Crocodile Hunter)
• Eddie Izzard – comedian
• Bo Jackson – MLB & NFL player
• Craig Kilborn – comedian/talk show host
• Andrew McCarthy – actor
• Dylan McDermott – actor, theatrical director
• Demi Moore – actress
• Rosie O'Donnell – comedian/actress/talk show host, "The Rosie O'Donnell Show"
• Chuck Palahniuk – novelist
• Ralph E. Reed – conservative political figure, former head of the Christian Coalition
• Jerry Rice – NFL receiver, San Francisco 49ers; Oakland Raiders; Seattle Seahawks
• Axl Rose – rock vocalist, Guns N' Roses
• Ally Sheedy – actress
• Jon Stewart – comedian/actor
• John Stockton – NBA point guard, Utah Jazz
• 1963
• Charles Barkley – NBA forward, Phoenix Suns
• Len Bias – NBA player (died 1986)
• Jack Del Rio – NFL coach, Jacksonville Jaguars
• Johnny Depp – actor
• Eazy-E – rapper (died 1995)
• Whitney Houston – pop vocalist
• Randy Johnson – MLB pitcher, Seattle Mariners; Arizona Diamondbacks
• Michael Jordan – NBA guard, Chicago Bulls; Washington Wizards
• Garry Kasparov – chess champion
• Julian Lennon – vocalist; son of John Lennon
• Heather Locklear – actress
• Karl Malone – NBA forward, Utah Jazz; Los Angeles Lakers
• Mark McGwire – MLB player, Oakland Athletics; St. Louis Cardinals
• Natalie Merchant – rock vocalist, 10,000 Maniacs
• Mike Myers – actor
• Hakeem Olajuwon – NBA center, Houston Rockets
• Conan O'Brien – comic/talk show host, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"; "Saturday Night Live"
• Tatum O'Neal – actress
• Brad Pitt – actor
• Vijay Singh – golfer
• Steven Soderbergh – filmmaker
• Quentin Tarantino – filmmaker
• Vinny Testaverde – NFL quarterback, New York Jets; Dallas Cowboys
• Jeanne Tripplehorn – actress
• 1964
• Laura Linney – actress
• Tracy Chapman – singer
• Janeane Garofalo – actress and comedianne
• Bonnie Blair – Olympic Gold Medalist
• Russell Crowe – New Zealand-born actor

Two U.S. Presidents were born during the years 1943-1960: Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. It is estimated that the Boom Generation will not hold a plurality in Congress until 2015, the White House until 2021, and will have a majority in the Supreme Court from 2010 to 2030.

Related Topics:
Bill Clinton - George W. Bush

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Non-U.S. peers of the Boomers include U2 frontman Bono, Daniel Ortega, Charles, Prince of Wales, and former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Related Topics:
U2 - Bono - Daniel Ortega - Charles, Prince of Wales - Benazir Bhutto

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Their cultural endowments have included the following:

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• Doonesbury (comic, Garry Trudeau)
• All the President's Men (book, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, later a movie)
• Forest Gump (film, Robert Zemeckis)
• The Fate of the Earth (Jonathan Schell)
• The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
• Cathy (comic, Cathy Guisewite)
• "American Pie" (song, Don McLean)
• Saturday Night Live (television show)
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind (film, Steven Spielberg)
• Strawberry Statement (James Kunen)
• Green Rage (Christopher Manes)
• Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Maya Lin)
• Do the Right Thing (film, Spike Lee)