Top 10 January 17 Birthdays

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1732: Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski. Stanislaus II Augustus was the last King of Poland before the Partitions of the 1790s.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1820: Anne Brontë. The least-accomplished of the 3 literary sisters, she is still renowned for writing Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Somewhat Honorable Mention: January 17, 1876: Frank Hague. Mayor of Jersey City from 1917 to 1947, he was an old-time political boss, doing a lot of good thanks to voter fraud and graft, but also holding a lot of reforms back. He became known as "Frank 'I Am the Law' Hague," and New Jersey's current State Constitution, ratified in 1947, was specifically designed to take power away from local bosses.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1928: Vidal Sassoon. The 20th Century's leading producer of hair care products: "If you don't look good, we don't look good." Probably the reason the 1979 New York Rangers sang, "Ooh, la la, Sassoon," when they were doing a commercial for Sasson jeans, pronounced "Sah-SAHN": They were too interested in their hair.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1959: Susanna Hoffs. Lead singer of The Bangles.

Dishonorable Mention: January 17, 1899: Al Capone. Until John Gotti came alone, Capone was the standard by which American gangsters were measured.

Dishonorable Mention: January 17, 1971: Kid Rock. Yes, Robert James Ritchie is a country boy from Michigan. But what he grew up on isn't so much a farm as it's an estate. And he took "Werewolves of London" and "Sweet Home Alabama," 2 great songs, put 'em together, and made 1 awful song. And he's a Trump fanboy. Yes, dishonorable mention.

Dishonorable Mention: January 17, 1991: Trevor Bauer. It looked like he might become one of the best pitchers of his generation. Then he got in trouble. And because he already had a bad attitude, we have tended to believe the allegations.

10. January 17, 1863: David Lloyd George. "The Welsh Wizard" was Prime Minister of Britain from 1915 to 1922, including the victory in World War I.

9. January 17, 1982: Dwyane Wade. You're reading that right: He doesn't spell his name "Dwayne." You win 3 NBA Championships and get Gabrielle Union to marry you, and you can spell your name any damn way you want.

8. January 17, 1922: Nicholas Katzenbach. He was U.S. Attorney General from 1964 to 1966, and was in charge of implementing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

But his greatest service came earlier, as Deputy Attorney General under Robert F. Kennedy: He was the man that Bobby and his brother, President John F. Kennedy, sent to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to tell Governor George Wallace to get his sorry scrawny white-supremacist ass out of the schoolhouse door, so that the University of Alabama could be integrated. (As a Princeton graduate, Katzenbach put it more artfully than that.)

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1926: Newton Minow. As Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in 1961, he gave a speech describing television as "a vast wasteland." It's gotten both better and worse since, depending on when and what you're watching. He is one of the last surviving officials of the Kennedy Administration.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1931: Douglas Wilder. In 1989, he was elected the 1st black Governor of any Southern State since Reconstruction -- Virginia, which had been the capital of the Confederacy.

7. January 17, 1940: Kipchoge Keino. Won Gold Medals in long-distance events at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics, and essentially founded Kenya's tradition of long-distance running greatness. Later, became one of Africa's great humanitarians, earning him a Sportsman of the Year share from Sports Illustrated... in 1987.

6. January 17, 1929: Jacques Plante. 8 All-Star Games, 7 Vezina Trophies, a Hart Memorial Trophy, 6 Stanley Cups, and the NHL's 1st goaltender to regularly weak a mask.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1908: Cus D'Amato. One of the greatest trainers in boxing history, he trained 2 Heavyweight Champions, Floyd Patterson and Mike Tyson. His death before Tyson could become Champion changed, at the very least, the course of Tyson's life and career, and maybe the entire history of boxing.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1911: Harvey "Busher" Jackson. Part of the "Kid Line" with Charlie Conacher and Joe Primeau, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to the 1932 Stanley Cup.

Worth noting: His former coach, Conn Smythe, became the Chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Conacher and Primeau were each elected during their lifetimes. But Jackson fell victim to crippling injuries and alcoholism, and the moralist Smythe refused to allow his election. Jackson died in 1966. In 1971, the Hall's selection committee overruled Smythe's veto, and elected Jackson. Smythe resigned on the spot.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1931: Don Zimmer. A decent player, who played both the infield and the outfield, and helped the Dodgers win a World Series in Brooklyn (1955) and another in Los Angeles (1959). But he's best known as a manager and a coach. He managed the Chicago Cubs to the postseason. From 1945 to 1998, he and Jim Frey were the only men to do that.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1960: Charles "Chili" Davis. The 1st native of Jamaica to make it to Major League Baseball, he was a 3-time All-Star, who hit 350 home runs in a 19-season career. He won the World Series with the Minnesota Twins in 1991, and with the New York Yankees in 1998 and 1999.

5. January 17, 1931: James Earl Jones. People will come, and they will debate whether he was at his best as Jack Jefferson, Darth Vader, Terence Mann or Mufasa.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1880: Mack Sennett. Director of the Keystone Kops silent comedies.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1882: Noah Beery. Brother of Wallace, and father of Noah Jr., he was one of the actors who guided Hollywood from the silent era to the sound era.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1927: Eartha Kitt. Who else came close to tempting both Santa Claus and Batman?

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1932: Sheree North. She was supposed to be the next Marilyn Monroe. But her career stalled while Marilyn was still alive, and she became "one of those actors who's on every show." Today, she's probably remembered best as Babs, Kramer's mother, on Seinfeld.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1933: Shari Lewis. One of the great puppeteers, she created, operated and voiced Lamb Chop. She also co-wrote an episode of the original Star Trek series. Unfortunately, it was one of the worst episodes, "The Lights of Zetar."

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1933: Dalida. Born in Cairo to Italian parents as Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, she was Miss Egypt 1954, she moved to Paris in 1956 and having hit songs right away. The hits and the adulation never stopped coming.

But her private life was stormy, and her ex-husband, two lovers and a close male friend each took their own lives. She followed them in 1987, leaving a note: "Life is unbearable for me. Forgive me."

Or maybe her real suicide note was her 1973 hit "Je Suis Malade" (I Am Sick): It contains lines which, when translated, read as, "I do not dream anymore," "I do not want anymore to live my life," "My life ends when you leave, I have no more life," "I pour my blood into your body, and I'm like a dead bird," "You deprived me of all my songs, you drained me of all my words," and "If this keeps up, I will die alone with me." 

Somewhat Honorable Mention: January 17, 1949: Andy Kaufman. I was not a fan, but lots of people have called him a comedy genius.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1957: Steve Harvey. He was a funny guy long before he became the host of Family Feud.

Somewhat Honorable Mention: January 17, 1962: Jim Carrey. Yes, he's funny. But sometimes, it looks like he's trying too hard to be the new Robin Williams. And he's an anti-vaxxer.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1966: Joshua Malina. He's done other shows since The West Wing. But once you've done The West Wing, that's what you get remembered for.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1980: Zooey Deschanel. Perhaps not as famous as her sister Emily, she starred in a film titled The New Guy and a TV series titled New Girl.

Honorable Mention: January 17, 1989: Kelly Marie Tran. She deserves it after the online abuse she got over her role in the Star Wars sequels.

4. January 17, 1922: Betty White. Only Number 4? You were expecting her to end up as Number 1? Well, it takes some pretty special people to top her.

3. January 17, 1964: Michelle Obama. Betty White might have been the First Lady of Game Shows, but Michelle Obama was THE First Lady.

2. January 17, 1942: Muhammad Ali. Okay, who tops "The Greatest"? Well, if it wasn't for this guy, this list, and a lot of others, would be very different:

1. January 17, 1706: Benjamin Franklin. He's been called "The First American," and remains one of the greatest and most important.

Still alive as of this writing: Hoffs, Kid Rock, Bauer, Wade, Minow, Wilder, Keino, Davis, Jones, Harvey, Carrey, Malina, Deschanel, Tran, Mrs. Obama. I really thought Betty was going to make it.