1. Gabriel Medina (1993)

Writer

2014 ASP World Tour champion who became the first Brazilian to win the title. In 2014, he won the Billabong Pro Teahupoo, Fiji Pro, and Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast.

2. Jean Racine (1639)

Writer

A Seventeenth-century French dramatist, he is known for such neoclassical tragedies such as Phedre, Andromaque, and Athalie. His one comic theatrical work, Les Plaideurs, premiered in 1668.

3. John Woodward (1665)

Writer

English geologist, naturalist, and antiquarian who founded the Woodwardian Professorship of Geology at Cambridge University.

4. Robert Newman (1958)

Writer

Soap opera veteran who played Joshua Lewis on Guiding Light for more than eighteen years.

5. Ignacy Krasicki (1735)

Writer

Polish Enlightenment poet, author, translator, and cleric known for a 1779 work entitled Fables and Parables. He is also known for compiling a Polish encyclopedia and for writing the first...

6. Justin Zackham (1980)

Writer

Screenwriter who is best known for his work on the FX series Lights Out (2011).

7. Nikolai Gogol (1809)

Writer

A famous Russian writer of the Nineteenth Century, he is most known for his 1835 novel, Taras Bulba; his 1842 play, Marriage; and such short stories as Diary of a...

8. Ivan Turgenev (1818)

Writer

Notable for his 1862 novel Fathers and Sons and for his 1852 short story collection A Sportsman's Sketches, Turgenev was a key figure in late 19th-century Russia's literary realism movement....

9. Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821)

Writer

Russian author whose deeply psychological and philosophical novels include Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov. Another work, Notes from the Underground, established him as one of the...

10. Lew Wallace (1827)

Writer

An American lawyer, Union general, politician, and author, he wrote the novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, which was later adapted into four films.

11. Louisa May Alcott (1832)

Writer

American author of the classic novels, Little Women and Little Men. She used the pen name A. M. Barnard early in her career and, in her later life, became a...

12. Bret Harte (1836)

Writer

Nineteenth-century author and poet who wrote "The Luck of Roaring Camp" and other California pioneer-themed works. His literary works inspired several films and an opera.

13. Henry James (1843)

Writer

American-born British author who wrote The Portrait of a Lady, The Turn of the Screw, and The American. He is considered a key figure in 19th-century literary realism.

14. Selma Lagerlöf (1858)

Writer

A Swedish author and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, she is best known for her Wonderful Adventures of Nils book series. Her other literary works include The Changeling,...

15. Sholem Aleichem (1859)

Writer

Jewish writer whose stories about Tevye the Dairyman inspired the musical, Fiddler on the Roof. His actual name was Sholem Naumovich Rabinovich; he was known throughout his career by his...

16. William Butler Yeats (1865)

Writer

Major Irish Symbolist poet and Nobel Prize recipient who is remembered for The Tower, The Green Helmet, and other works. Also a playwright, he had several of his dramas, including...

17. Hilaire Belloc (1870)

Writer

A French-born, English-language author and poet, he is best known for Cautionary Tales for Children, a collection of humorous poems with satirical morals. His non-fiction works include travel essays and...

18. Jerusha Hess (1980)

Writer

Directed the hit indie comedy Napoleon Dynamite with directing partner and husband Jared Hess.

19. John Logan (1961)

Writer

Screenwriter an producer who has worked on big hollywood blockbusters such as The Last Samurai, Gladiator, Rango and Skyfall.

20. John Masefield (1878)

Writer

English poet and thirty-year U.K. Poet Laureate whose best-known works include Rosas and Salt-Water Poems and Ballads. He also wrote several children's books, including The Box of Delights and The...

21. Larry Karaszewski (1961)

Writer

Screenwriter best known for his films Ed Wood and The People vs. Larry Flynt.

22. Damon Runyon (1880)

Writer

American author who wrote short stories celebrating the Broadway of New York's post- Prohibition era. His stories inspired the popular musical, Guys and Dolls.

23. Kenneth Roberts (1885)

Writer

An American writer of historical novels, he is best known for Northwest Passage, Arundel, and Rabble in Arms. He posthumously received a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation for his body of...

24. Felix Adler (1884)

Writer

Screenwriter whose career has spanned almost 40 years and who was known most for writing for the Three Stooges.

25. Keene Thompson (1885)

Writer

American screenwriter who worked from 1920 to 1937 on many different silent and sound films.

26. John Reed (1887)

Writer

Journalist and activist who is most widely remembered for his 1919 book Ten Days That Shook the World, his first-hand account of the Bolshevik Revolution. He was a Communist who...

27. Anita Loos (1889)

Writer

Famous screenwriter and playwright, most recognized for penning the international hit, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which starred Marilyn Monroe.

28. Harold Morris (1890)

Writer

Recitalist and soloist who was a highly respected composer and educator. He helped to establish the American Music Guild in New York in 1921.

29. Robert Lawson (1892)

Writer

An American children's book writer and illustrator, he is known for his art work in such children's classics as The Story of Ferdinand and Mr. Popper's Penguins. He also illustrated...

30. Mikhail Bulgakov (1891)

Writer

Became more famous posthumously for his novel The Master and Margarita. Twenty-six years after his death, his widow had the book published and it was regarded as a masterpiece.

31. J.R.R. Tolkien (1892)

Writer

English author, poet, and professor who wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He was ranked by The Times, a London newspaper, as one of the 50...

32. Jean Toomer (1894)

Writer

An American novelist and poet, he was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance. He is most famous for Cane, a series of vignettes about the lives of African-Americans.

33. Joseph Fields (1895)

Writer

Writer who won the Tony Award for Best Musical for Wonderful Town, as well as for writing screenplays like My Sister Eileen (1940), Junior Miss (1941), and The French Touch...

34. Mary McCarthy (1912)

Writer

A prominent cultural critic during the 1940s and '50s, she became known for works such as The Oasis (1949), Cast a Cold Eye (1950), and A Charmed Life (1955). She...

35. Harry Ruby (1895)

Writer

Best known for collaborating with Bert Kalmar on Three Little Words, A Kiss to Build a Dream On, and numerous other songs.

36. Ludwig Bemelmans (1898)

Writer

Famous for writing and illustrating the popular Madeline children's series, this early 20th-century author also penned travel and humor books and collaborated with Jacques Théry and Irving Brecher on the screenplay for...

37. Erich Kästner (1899)

Writer

German poet, satirist, screenwriter, and children's author who received the Hans Christian Andersen Award. His best-known literary works include Emil and the Detectives, The Flying Classroom, and Lottie and Lisa.

38. James Hilton (1900)

Writer

English novelist most well known for his novels Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips.

39. Wallace Thurman (1902)

Writer

American novelist who was active during the Harlem Renaissance. He is most famous for his 1929 work, The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life, which dealt with the...

40. Jessamyn West (1902)

Writer

An American novelist and short story writer, she is known for such works as The Friendly Persuasion and A Mirror for the Sky.

41. John Patrick (1905)

Writer

Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning playwright for his stage adaptation of the novel The Teahouse of the August Moon who wrote other other notable works such as The Curious...

42. Munro Leaf (1905)

Writer

Author and illustrator of nearly forty children's books, including the controversial 1936 work, The Story of Ferdinand. He is also known for his Watchbirds cartoon series.

43. Jim Thompson (1906)

Writer

An American author and screenwriter of pulp crime fiction, he is best known for titles such as The Killer Inside Me and Savage Night. He became posthumously known for his...

44. Gardner Fox (1911)

Writer

Twentieth-century comic book author known for his work with DC Comics. He most famously worked on the Batman, The Flash, Sandman, Justice Society of America, and Hawkman comics.

45. Tom Reed (1971)

Writer

American Republican politician who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. He had previously served as Mayor of Corning, New York.

46. Mel Dinelli (1912)

Writer

Screenwriter whose credits include: The Spiral Staircase (1946), The Window (1949), The Reckless Moment (1949), House by the River (1950), and Cause for Alarm! (1951).

47. Mu Shiying (1912)

Writer

Remembered best for his modernist works of short fiction, Mu is famous for the stories "Five in a Nightclub," "Shanghai Fox-trot," and "Craven A." Many of his literary works take...

48. Romain Gary (1914)

Writer

A Lithuanian-born author and two-time recipient of the prestigious Prix Goncourt, he is best known for such French-language works as Les racines du ciel (1956) and La vie devant soi...

49. James Purdy (1914)

Writer

A twentieth-century American fiction writer, he published over a dozen novels and was nominated for the 1985 PEN/Faulkner Award. His controversial works typically focus on the lives of social outcasts...

50. William Rose (1914)

Writer

Multi-award winning screenwriter who won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for 1967's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? as well as the BAFTA for Best British Screenplay for The...