Biographies of notable people — their path, achievements and key facts.
Simone de Beauvoir
Born: January 9, 1908 Paris, France Died: April 14, 1986 Paris, France French author and writer The work of Simone de...
Alison Bechdel
Graphic novelist and cartoonist Born September 10, 1960, in Lock Haven, PA; daughter of Bruce Allen (a high school English teacher, antiques dealer, and funeral director) and ...
Brian Becker
Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Clear Channel Entertainment Born c. 1957, in Texas; son of Allen Becker (an insurance salesman and event promoter); married Stacy; children: f...
Samuel Beckett
Born: April 13, 1906 Dublin, Ireland Died: December 22, 1989 Paris, France Irish novelist, playwright, and poet Samue...
Deborah Bedford
Author Born June 12, 1958, in Fort Worth, TX; daughter of Calvin and Tommie Pigg; married Jack Bedford, 1982; children: Jeff, Avery. Education: Texas...
Geoffrey Beene
Born August 30, 1927, in Haynesville, LA; died of complications from pneumonia, September 28, 2004, in New York, NY. Fashion designer. Geoffrey Beene helped define American style in women'...
Ludwig van Beethoven
Born: December 16, 1770 Bonn, Germany Died: March 26, 1827 Vienna, Austria German composer German composer Ludwig van...
Frances Beinecke
President of the Natural Resources Defense Council Born Frances Gillespie Beinecke, c. 1960, in Summit, New Jersey; daughter of William S. Beinecke (former executive) and Elizabet...
Gabrielle Bell
Comic artist Born c. 1975, in London, England. Education: Attended San Francisco Community College. Addresses: Contact ...
Alexander Graham Bell
Born: March 3, 1847 Edinburgh, Scotland Died: August 2, 1922 Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada Scottish-born American inventor ...
Kristen Bell
July 18, 1980 • Huntington Woods, Michigan Actress By the time she was twenty-four years old, actress Kristen Bell had a resume that most seasoned performers would envy...
Clyde Bellecourt
Born: 1939 White Earth Reservation, Minnesota Native American tribal activist As one of the original founders of the American Indian Movement (AIM), ...
Wendy Bellissimo
Home-furnishings designer Born c. 1967, in Connecticut; daughter of Jay (a tool designer) and Lonnie (a furniture-store owner) Jarmolinski; married Joe Bellissimo (a marketing ...
Saul Bellow
Born Solomon Bellows, June 10, 1915, in Lachine, Quebec, Canada; died April 5, 2005, in Brookline, MA. Author. Saul Bellow was one of the greatest American novelists of the second half of ...
Saul Bellow
Born: July 10, 1915 Lachine, Quebec, Canada Canadian-born American author, essayist, and dramatist An American author of fiction, essays, and drama, Sa...
Carlos Beltran
April 24, 1977 • Manati, Puerto Rico Baseball player In baseball circles outfielder Carlos Beltran is known as a five-tool player. He has amazing fielding skills and a ...
Baruj Benacerraf
Venezuelan-born medical researcher Baruj Benacerraf (born 1920) shared the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his investigations into the workings of the human immune s...
Peter Benchley
Born Peter Bradford Benchley, May 8, 1940, in New York, NY; died of pulmonary fibrosis, February 11, 2006, in Princeton, NJ. Author. Peter Benchley wrote the immensely successful 1974 nove...
William Bennett
Born: July 3, 1943 Brooklyn, New York American agency director, scholar, teacher, and government official American teacher and scholar William Bennett ...
Dierks Bentley
Singer and songwriter Born Dierks Bentley, November 20, 1975, in Phoenix, AZ; son of Leon (a stockbroker) and Cathy (a homemaker) Bentley; married Cassidy Black, December 14...