December 17: Today's Notable Birthdays

With Whom Do You Share Your Birthday?

Is December 17th your birthday? Was someone special to you born on December 17th? With whom will you choose to celebrate this excellent occasion?

If today is your birthday, then you are in excellent company.

(If someone you love is celebrating another year today, why not forward this list to the birthday boy or girl? Click SHARE at the bottom of this page to email the entire article with your "Happy Birthday" message.)

December 17th was the birth date of several notable (or even notorious) individuals. Here they are:

December 17th Birthdays: Famous Artists

David Butler, American film director (April in Paris and Calamity Jane), was born on December 17, 1895.

American painter Paul Cadmus (Aspects of Suburban Life: Main Street, Aviator, Bar Italia, Coney Island, The Fleet's In, Greenwich Village Cafeteria, Manikins, Playground, Pocahontas and John Smith, Sailors and Floozies, The Seven Deadly Sins, Shore Leave and Sunday Sun) was born on December 17, 1904.

Domenico Cimarosa, Italian operatic composer (Il Matrimonio Segreto), was born on December 17, 1749.

American screenwriter and film director Peter John Farrelly (Dumb and Dumber, The Heartbreak Kid, Me Myself and Irene, and There's Something About Mary) was born on December 17, 1956.Peter Farrelly's brother is screenwriter and film director Bobby Farrelly.

Dmitri B. Kabalevsky, Russian composer (In the Fire), was born on December 17, 1904.

December 17th Birthdays: Famous Athletes

Ference Bene, Hungarian soccer player and Olympic gold medalist (1964), was born on December 17, 1944.

Tatyana Kazankina, Russian runner and Olympic gold medalist (1976), was born on December 17, 1951.

American basketball player Albert King (New Jersey Nets) was born on December 17, 1959.

Nikki McCray, American professional basketball player and Olympic gold medalist (1996), was born on December 17, 1971.

American professional baseball player and manager Calvin Edwin (Cal) Ripken, Sr. (Baltimore Orioles), was born on December 17, 1935. Cal Ripken, Sr., was father to baseball players Cal Ripken, Jr., and Billy Ripken.