Born 13 December 1925 (West Plains, Missouri, USA)
Actor and TV presenter who is best known in America for 'The Dick Van Dyke Show', and on this side of the pond for his butt-clenchingly awful attempt at a Cockney accent in 'Mary Poppins'.
Dutch film director, no relation to the German Paul Verhoeven. Known for blending social satire with Hollywood action, which sometimes goes a little over the average cinemagoer's heads (Robocop, Starship Troopers).
Italian footballer, a notorious underperformer at international level but beloved by fans of Chelsea and Sampdoria (where he and Roberto Mancini fired the club to their first scudetto). Was actually brought up in his family's 60-bedroom castle.
American SF writer. Winner of the 1981 Hugo award for 'The Snow Queen' and former wife of Vernor Vinge. Suffered brain damage in an accident in 2002 but recovered to resume writing in 2007.
Born 10 January 1945 (Skalmierzyce, Kalisz, Poland)
Controversial German anatomist, known for his plastination technique for preserving body parts. Famously performed autopsys on Channel 4 in the mid-noughties. Will plastinate his own body for display when he dies, which could be soon as he has advanced Pa