Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.

Famous People Born in December 1911

  • Dec 1 Calvin Griffith, Canadian baseball team owner (Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins 1955-84), born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 1999)
  • Dec 1 Franz Binder, Austrian soccer striker and manager (19 caps Austria, 9 caps Germany; Rapid Vienna), born in St. Pölten, Austria (d. 1989)

Walter Alston (1911-1984)

Dec 1 American Baseball Hall of Fame manager (World Series 1955, 59, 63, 65; Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers), born in Venice, Ohio

  • Dec 3 Nino Rota [Giovanni Rota Rinaldi], Italian classical and film score composer (Il cappello di paglia di Firenze; The Godfather (I & II); 16 Federico Fellini films), born in Milan, Italy (d. 1979)
  • Dec 5 Alfred Manessier, French painter (leaded windows), born in Saint-Ouen, Somme, France (d. 1993)
  • Dec 5 Władysław Szpilman, Polish pianist and classical composer, born in Sosnowiec, Congress Poland, Russian Empire (d. 2000)
  • Dec 6 Alfred James Broomhall, British Protestant Christian medical missionary to China, born in Shandong, China (d. 1994)
  • Dec 8 Lee J. Cobb [Leo Jacoby], American actor (Virginian, 12 Angry Men, On the Waterfront), born in New York City (d. 1976)
  • Dec 8 Nikos Gatsos, Greek poet and lyricist, born in Asea, Greece (d. 1992)

Broderick Crawford (1911-1986)

Dec 9 American actor (All the King's Men, Highway Patrol), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Dec 9 Ryūzō Sejima, Japanese army officer and educator, born in Toyama, Japan (d. 2007)
  • Dec 10 Chet Huntley, American newscaster (NBC Huntley-Brinkley Report), born in Cardwell, Montana (d. 1974)
  • Dec 11 Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian novelist (Palace Walk, Sugar Street) and first Arabic writer to win a Nobel Prize (1988), born in Cairo, Egypt (d. 2006)
  • Dec 13 Buzz Borries, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Navy 1932–34), born in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 1969)

Kenneth Patchen (1911-1972)

Dec 13 American poet and novelist (Cloth of the Tempest), born in Niles, Ohio

  • Dec 13 Trygve Haavelmo, Norwegian economist and 1989 Nobel laureate for his contributions to econometrics, born in Skedsmo, Norway (d. 1999)
  • Dec 14 Hans von Ohain, German-American aerospace engineer, developed 1st turbojet engine, born in Dessau, Duchy of Anhalt German Empire (d. 1998) [1]
  • Dec 14 Ota Adler, Czech-British fur trader and founder (Federal Trust), born in Kraslice, Czechoslovakia (d. 1995)
  • Dec 14 Spike Jones [Lindley Armstrong Jones], American bandleader (Der Fueher's Face, Cocktails For Two), born in Long Beach, California (d. 1965)
  • Dec 15 Nicholas P. Dallis, American psychiatrist and comic strip writer (Rex Morgan, M.D.), born in New York City (d. 1991)
  • Dec 15 Stan Kenton, American musician, jazz pianist, arranger and bandleader (Artistry In Rhythm), born in Wichita, Kansas (d. 1979)
  • Dec 17 William Roerick, American actor (The Wasp Woman, Guiding Light), born in Hoboken, New Jersey (d. 1995)
  • Dec 18 Helen Vlachos, Greek newspaper publisher (closed her newspapers in protest at military junta), born in Athens, Greece (d. 1995)
  • Dec 18 Jules Dassin, American film director (The Naked City; Night And The City; Rififi), blacklisted during McCarthy era, born in Middletown, Connecticut (d. 2008)
  • Dec 18 Peg Leg Sam [Arthur Jackson], American country blues harmonica player, singer and comedian, born in Jonesville, South Carolina (d. 1977)
  • Dec 20 Hortense Calisher, American novelist (President of the American Academy of Arts and Letters), born in New York City (d. 2009)

Josh Gibson (1911-1947)

Dec 21 American Baseball HOF catcher (Negro World Series 1943, 44; 12 × NL All-Star; Triple Crown 1936, 37; batting average .466 1943), born in Buena Vista, Georgia

  • Dec 21 Paul Burkhard, Swiss composer, born in Zürich, Switzerland (d. 1977)
  • Dec 22 Grote Reber, American radio astronomer (1st parabolic radio telescope), born in Wheaton, Illinois (d. 2002)
  • Dec 23 James Gregory, American actor (My Favorite Martian, Barney Miller), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 2002)
  • Dec 23 Niels Jerne, Danish immunologist (1984 Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology), born in London, England (d. 1994)
  • Dec 24 Eric Briault, British educationalist (d. 1996)
  • Dec 24 Malcolm MacEwen, Scottish conservationist & communist activist, born in Inverness, Scotland (d. 1996)
  • Dec 25 Burne Hogarth, American strip-cartoon artist (Tarzan), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1996)
  • Dec 25 Louise Bourgeois, French American artist (Femme Maison), born in Paris, France (d. 2010)
  • Dec 26 Renato Guttuso, Italian painter (Flight From Etna; Crucifixion), theater set designer, and politician, born in Bagheria, Sicily, Italy (d. 1987)
  • Dec 26 Steve Kordek, American pinball machine designer, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2012)
  • Dec 27 Anna Russell, English music satirist and composer, born in London, England (d. 2006)
  • Dec 27 Endre Szervánszky, Hungarian composer (Dark Heaven Requiem), born in Budatétény, Budapest, Hungary (d. 1977)
  • Dec 28 Phani Majumdar, Indian filmmaker (Street Singer), born in Faridpur Sadar Upazila, British India (d. 1994)
  • Dec 28 Sam Levenson, American humorist (Sam Levenson Show, Masquerade Party), born in New York City (d. 1980)
  • Dec 29 (Robert) "Cutty" Cutshall, American jazz trombonist (Benny Goodman Orchestra; Eddie Condon), born in Huntington County, Pennsylvania (d. 1968)

Klaus Fuchs (1911-1988)

Dec 29 German-British atomic physicist and spy for the Soviet Union, born in Rüsselsheim, German Empire

  • Dec 30 Jeanette Nolan, American actress (Richard Boone Show, Virginian), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1998)
  • Dec 31 Dal Stivens, Australian novelist, born in Blayney, Australia (d. 1997)

About December 1911

How Old? 112 years old
Generation: Greatest Generation
Leap Year: No

Chinese Zodiac: Pig
Star Signs: Sagittarius (Nov 22 - Dec 21), Capricorn (Dec 22 - Jan 19)