Famous People Born 1913 Part II: 2 Still Alive And The List

These posts looking back back to see who was born 100 years ago (1908  1909  1910  1911 skipped 1912)  have been fun to do, though they take a lot of time (that's why 1912 never got finished.)  This time I'm doing it in several parts, since each will offer lots to read.  Three things I've found particularly interesting:

1. Seeing the people, born the same year,  in the same cohort, who would have been in the same class at school if they'd lived in the same place, and had the same world events shape their lives.  Yet they have different talents and different interests and they become known for different things.
2. Contemplating mortality.  I order their bios in order of death.  Even though they were all born they same year, they lived from 46 years to, well, two are still alive.  The life lottery beguiles me.  Why do some people only get a short time on earth and others longer? (And, of course, a human lifetime is is just a moment in the history of the world.)
3. Looking into their backgrounds, their family lives, their failures and triumphs.  It raises questions for me about what we think of as important and unimportant in the greater scheme of things.  Unfortunately, this year, it has been hard to find details of early upbringing and personal lives of many of the subjects. 

So, the first post gave a background on the year 1913, including a link to an interesting video with a panel talking about the cultural situation of 1913.  It was very much a time of change.  

This post has video of the two that appear to still be alive, both opera singers, Risë Stevens and Licia Albanese.   You can listen to them as you go through the table with the list in birth order.  When you think about it, as kids, six months age difference means a lot, so for the first 20 years or so, the age difference among them might have been significant. And then, it means nothing.  Especially as those who were older die and their age freezes in time and the younger ones go on living and getting older. 

Finally, I'll have two or three more posts with more information about each person. Looking at their lives, trying to find commonalities and seeing the differences, hopefully finding some insights.  As always, these lists tend to be heavy with white, Western, males, reflecting who has had power and fame - certainly during the lifetime of these folks - in the west. 

This list seems to have more unsavory characters than past lists. 


Two people on the list appear to still be alive:

Risë Stevens



And Licia Albanese






The Chart

People Born 1913 From Oldest to Youngest
Jan-June			June-December
Jan 4	Rosa Parks	Civil Rights	June 14	Gerald Ford	US President
Jan 6	Loretta Young	Actor	June 18	Sammy Cahn	Songwriter
Jan 6	Mary Leaky	Anthropologist	June 18	Red Skelton	Comic
Jan 9	Richard Nixon	US President	July 22	Licia Albanese*	Soprano
Jan 13	Mel Allen	Sportscaster	Aug 16	Menachem Begin	Israeli PM
Jan 14	Woody Hayes	Football Coach	Aug 25	Walt Kelly	Cartoonist
Jan 14	Jimmy Hoffa	Teamsters Boss	Sep 3	Alan Ladd	Actor
Jan 18	Danny Kaye	Actor	Sep 9	Bear Bryant	Football Coach
Feb 25	Jim Backus	Mr. Magoo	Sep 12	Jesse Owens	Track Star
Mar 13	William Casey	CIA Head	Sep 27	Albert Ellis	Psychologist
Mar 22	Lew Wasserman	Film Exec	Sep 29	Stanley Kramer	Film Director
Mar 26	Paul Erdos	Nobel Prize Math	Oct 10	Klaus Barbie	Nazi War Criminal
Mar 30	Richard Helms	CIA Head	Nov 2	Burt Lancaster	Actor
Apr 11	Oleg Cassini	Fashion Designer	Nov 5	Vivien Leigh	Actor
May3	William Inge	Playwright	Nov 7	Albert Camus	Novelist
May 16	Woody Herman	Jazz Clarinet	Nov 9	Hedy Lamarr	Actor
May 20	William Hewlett	Tech Exec	Nov 22	Benjamin Britten	Composer
June 11	Vince Lombardi	Football Coach	Dec 1	Mary Martin	Actor
June 11	Risë Stevens	Mezzo-Soprano	Dec 12	Delmore Schwartz	Poet
June 12	Willis Lamb	Physicist	Dec 18	Willy Brandt	German PM
June 13	Maersk McKinny Møller	Shipping Exec

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Part 3:  The list, with bios and pics, starting with the youngest one to die - Albert Camus.