July 29, 1953

1953Ken Burns, American director and producer^[†]

Kenneth Lauren Burns is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the National Endowment for the Humanities and distributed by PBS. Burns lives in the small town of Walpole, New Hampshire.

1953Tim Gunn, American television host and actor^[†]

Timothy MacKenzie Gunn is an American author, academic, and television personality. He served on the faculty of Parsons School of Design in Greenwich Village, New York from 1982 to 2007 and was chair of fashion design at the school from August 2000 to March 2007, after which he joined Liz Claiborne as its chief creative officer. Over 16 seasons, Gunn became well known as the on-air mentor to designers on the reality television program Project Runway. Gunn's popularity on Project Runway led to two spin-off shows; Bravo's Tim Gunn's Guide to Style and Lifetime's Under the Gunn, and he wrote five books. In addition to being an executive producer, Gunn has been a mentor for teen designers on Project Runway: Junior. He also provides the voice of Baileywick, the castle steward in the Disney Jr. television show Sofia the First and narrated the sitcom Mixology.

1953Geddy Lee, Canadian musician^[†]

Geddy Lee Weinrib is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the rock band Rush. Lee joined the band in September 1968 at the request of his childhood friend Alex Lifeson, replacing original bassist and frontman Jeff Jones. Along with Lifeson, Lee is one of the only two members to appear on every Rush album, and he remained in the band until its hiatus, which lasted from 2015 to 2025. Lee's solo effort, My Favourite Headache, was released in 2000.

1953Frank McGuinness, Irish poet and playwright^[†]

Professor Frank McGuinness is an Irish writer. As well as his own plays, which include The Factory Girls, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me and Dolly West's Kitchen, he is recognised for a "strong record of adapting literary classics, having translated the plays of Racine, Sophocles, Ibsen, Garcia Lorca, and Strindberg to critical acclaim". He has also published six collections of poetry, and two novels. McGuinness was Professor of Creative Writing at University College Dublin (UCD) from 2007 to 2018.