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Famous atheists
From FreeThoughtPedia
Contents |
Famous Atheists, Freethinkers and others who rejected religion
Historical Figures
- Thomas Paine
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton, feminist
Scientists & Philosophers
- Jonas Anders Angstrom: founder of the field of specostropy
- Marie Curie: won the 1903 nobel prize for physics and the 1911 nobel prize for chemistry
- Richard Dawkins: an evolutionary biologist and an activist
- Daniel Dennett: leading philosopher of the mind who has developed a theory on the question of origins and a supporter of Darwin's theory of evolution
- Thomas Edison: the man who invented the light bulb
- Albert Einstein: Won the nobel prize in physics, and developer of General Relativity and Special Relativity
- Sam Harris: author, activist
- Carl Sagan: an activist and popularizer of science
- Nichola Tesla: Inventor of the electric motor, radio and alternating current
Writers & Journalists
- Douglas Adams (1952–2001): British radio and television writer and novelist, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.[1]
- Dave Barry
- Christopher Hitchens
- Ron Reagan
- Gore Vidal
Authors
Film, radio, television and theatre
- Mary Adams (1898–1984): English producer and administrator in the BBC, instrumental in setting up the BBC's television service.[2]
- Phillip Adams (1939–): Australian broadcaster, writer, film-maker, left-wing radical thinker and iconoclast. He was the Australian Humanist of the Year in 1987.[3]
- Adithya (1974–): Indian actor.[4]
- Joe Ahearne (1963–): British television writer and director, best known for his work on several 'cult' fantasy-based programmes including Ultraviolet and Doctor Who.[5]
- Brandy Alexandre (1964–): American adult actress.[6]
- Woody Allen (1935-): American film director, writer, actor, comedian, and playwright.[7]
- Robert Altman (1925–2006): American film director, recognised in 2006 with an Academy Honorary Award.[8]
- Wil Anderson (1974–): Australian comedian, radio presenter, and former host of The Glass House.[9]
- Asia Argento (1973–): Italian television and film actress, film director, and model.[10]
- Darren Aronofsky (1969–): American film director and screenwriter, known for his films Requiem for a Dream, Pi and The Wrestler [11]
- Kevin Bacon (1958–): American film and theatre actor whose notable roles include Animal House, A Few Good Men, Stir of Echoes, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River and Footloose.[12]
- Joan Bakewell CBE (1933–): English television presenter and journalist.[13]
- Javier Bardem (1969–): Spanish actor and former rugby player best known for his roles in Jamón, Jamón and No Country For Old Men.[14]
- Sarah Bernhardt (1844–1923): French stage actress referred to as "the most famous actress in the history of the world". She was asked by French composer Charles Gounod if she ever prayed. Bernhadt replied "No, never. I'm an atheist".[15]
- Paul Bettany (1971–): English actor, known for his roles in A Knight's Tale, A Beautiful Mind, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and The Da Vinci Code.[16]
- Orla Brady (1961–): Irish actress.[17]
- Brannon Braga (1965–): American TV producer and writer, creator of Star Trek: Enterprise.[18]Template:Dead link
- Jim Broadbent (1949–): English Academy Award-, Golden Globe- and BAFTA-winning theatre, film and television actor.[19]
- Jeremy Brock (1959–): British actor, producer, writer, and director, whose work includes Mrs. Brown and the BAFTA award winning screenplay for The Last King of Scotland.[20]
- Charlie Brooker (1971–): British writer and satirist best known for his TV show Screenwipe.[21]
- Derren Brown (1971–): English psychological illusionist, mentalist, and skeptic of paranormal phenomena. Professed to being an atheist in his book Tricks of the Mind and described Bertrand Russell's collection of essays Why I Am Not a Christian "an absolute joy."
- Luis Buñuel (1900–1983): Spanish film-maker, activist of the surrealist movement. Known for his one-liner, "Thank God I'm still an atheist."[22]
- Gabriel Byrne (1950–): Irish actor and film producer, star of over thirty-five films including The Usual Suspects, Miller's Crossing, and Stigmata.[23]
- Peter Caffrey (1949–2008): Irish actor, best known for playing Padraig O'Kelly in Series 1-4 of Ballykissangel.[24]
- Simon Callow (1949–): English stage, film and television actor.[25]
- Dean Cameron (1962–): American television and film actor known for his role as Francis "Chainsaw" Gremp in the 1987 Mark Harmon comedy Summer School.[26]
- Richard Carleton (1943–2006): Current affairs journalist for Australia's 60 Minutes.[27]
- Adam Carolla (1964–): American comedic radio personality and television personality, best known for co-hosting the radio program Loveline and the television series The Man Show.[28]
- Jimmy Carr (1972–): English comedian, author, actor and presenter of radio and television.[29]
- Asia Carrera (1973–): Former American pornographic actress.[30]
- Billy Connolly (1942–): Scottish comedian, actor, former musician.[31]
- Sir Noël Coward (1899–1973): English actor, playwright and composer of popular music.[32]
- David Cronenberg (1943–): Canadian film director, one of the principal originators of the 'body horror' genre.[33]
- Mackenzie Crook (1971–): English actor and comedian, known for playing Gareth Keenan in The Office and Ragetti in Pirates of the Caribbean.[34]
- Adrianne Curry (1982–): American model, television host, and film actress, well-known as the winner of the modelling competition America's Next Top Model.[35]
- Alan Davies (1966–): English comedian, writer and actor.[36]
- Russell T Davies (1963–): Welsh television producer and writer, most famous for reviving Doctor Who on British television.[37]
- Terence Davies (1945–): English screenwriter, film director, actor and novelist.[38]
- William B. Davis (1938–): Canadian actor, known for his role as the Cigarette Smoking Man in The X-Files.[39]
- Andrew Denton (1960–): Australian comedian and television presenter host of the ABC's weekly interview program Enough Rope.[40]
- Marlene Dietrich (1901–1992): German-born American actress, singer and entertainer. She is considered to be the first German actress to flourish in Hollywood.[41]
- Stanley Donen (1924–): American film director, best known for his musicals including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Singin' in the Rain; awarded honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement.[42]
- Amanda Donohoe (1962–): English film, stage and television actress.[43]
- Natalie Dormer (1982–): English film and television actress.[44]
- John Doyle (1953–): Australian comedian, actor and writer, famous as "Rampaging" Roy Slaven in the comedy duo Roy & HG.[45]
- Christopher Eccleston (1964–): English stage, film and television actor, known for his roles in Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later, and as the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who.[46]
- David Edgar (1948–): British playwright, noted for his adaptation of Charles Dickens's novel Nicholas Nickleby.[47]
- Frances Farmer (1913–1970): American film, television and theater actress.[48]
- Diane Farr (1969–): American actress perhaps best known for her role as FBI agent Megan Reeves in the television CBS series NUMB3RS.[49]
- Harvey Fierstein (1962—): American Tony award-winning actor, playwright, and Emmy-nominated screenwriter best known for his work in the Torch Song Trilogy.[50]
- Brian Flemming (1966–): American film director and playwright, notable for his 2005 film The God Who Wasn't There.[51]
- Dave Foley (1963–): Canadian actor best known for his work in The Kids in the Hall and NewsRadio.[52]
- Sir Denis Forman (1917–): British Director (1949–1954) and later Chair (1971–1973) of The British Film Institute, Chairman and Managing Director of Granada Television, and Director of the Royal Opera House in London.[53]
- Jodie Foster (1962–): American film actress, director, and producer. Two-time Academy Award-winner.[54]
- Nick Frost (1972–): Award-winning English actor, comedian and writer.[55]
- Stephen Fry (1957–): British humourist, writer, actor and filmmaker.[56][57][58]
- Ricky Gervais, British (voice)actor, film and tv director, (screen)writer, producer and comedian. [59]
- Paul Giamatti (1967–): American film and television actor.[60]
- Richard E. Grant (1957–): British actor perhaps most well known for portraying the world-weary, drug-crazed alcoholic Withnail in Withnail and I.[61]
- Eva Green (1980–): Award-winning French actress and model, notable for her roles in Casino Royale and The Golden Compass.[62]
- Seth Green (1974–): American actor, comedian, voice actor, and televison producer.[63]
- Peter Greenaway, CBE (1942–): Welsh-born English film director.[64]
- Rachel Griffiths (1968–): Australian Golden Globe- and SAG Award-winning, Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-nominated film and television actress.[65]
- Kamal Haasan (1954–): Indian film actor and film director, considered among the leading method actors of Indian cinema.[66]
- Tony Hancock (1924–1968): British actor and comedian, star of the popular Hancock's Half Hour.[67]
- Sir David Hare (1947–): Award-winning English dramatist and theatre and film director.[68]
- Nina Hartley (1959–): American pornographic actress, film director, author and sex educator.[69]
- Amber Heard (1986–): American film and television actress.[70]
- Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003): American actress who appeared in 53 films from 1932 to 1994; winner of four Academy Awards for Best Actress.[71]
- Mathew Horne (1978–): English comedian and actor, best known for playing Gavin Shipman in the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey.[72]
- Kenny Hotz (1973–): Canadian comedian, filmaker, actor, producer, director, photographer and co-star of the Canadian television show Kenny vs. Spenny.[73]
- John Huston (1906–1987): American Academy Award-winning film director and actor, especially known for the classic films The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Asphalt Jungle, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, The African Queen, The Misfits and The Man Who Would Be King.[74]
- Jamie Hyneman (1956–): American visual effects expert, best known as the co-host of the television series Mythbusters.[75]
- Eddie Izzard (1962–): British standup comedian. His latest tour (Stripped, in Canada in 2010) featured the history of the Earth, including how (based on Paleozoic life) God is either nonexistent or "on crack cocaine".
- Clive James AM (1939–): Australian expatriate author, poet, critic, memoirist, travel writer and cultural commentator, though perhaps best known as a talk show host and television presenter.[76]
- Penn Jillette (1955–): American magician, co-host of the television show Bullshit!.[77] He has also taken the Blasphemy Challenge.
- Sarah Kane (1971–1999): English playwright.[78]
- Jonathan Katz (1946–): American comedian, actor, and voice actor who is best known for his starring role in the animated sitcom Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. When asked by Bill Maher on the talk show Politically Incorrect if he was an atheist, Katz responded "Yes. And my parents were atheists".[15]
- Skandar Keynes (1991–): English actor (Chronicles of Narnia films).[79]
- Rajeev Khandelwal (1975–): Indian Television actor.[80]
- Margot Kidder (1948–): Canadian-American film and television actress best known for playing Lois Lane in the Superman movies of the 1970s and 1980s.[81]
- Michael Kinsley (1951–): American political journalist, commentator, and television host.[82]
- Jerzy Kawalerowicz (1922–2007): Polish film director.[83]
- Jan Kott (1914–2001): Polish theatre theoretician and influential critic.[84]
- Burt Lancaster (1913–1994): American Academy Award-winning film actor.[85]
- Hugh Laurie OBE (1959–): English actor, comedian and writer, star of the television show House.[86]
- Nigella Lawson (1960–): English journalist, food writer, broadcaster and television presenter.[87]
- Bruce Lee (1940–1973): Martial artist and philosopher. When asked in 1972 if he believed in God, he responded, "To be perfectly frank, I really do not."[88]
- Tom Leykis (1956–): American radio talk-show host.[89]
- Rebecca Lord (1973–): French pornographic actress.[90]
- Kevin Macdonald (1967–): Scottish two-time BAFTA winning director, most famous for his films The Last King of Scotland and Touching the Void.[91]
- Seth MacFarlane (1973–): Creator, animator, executive producer, actor, writer for American Dad and Family Guy.[92]Template:Dead link[93]
- John Malkovich (1953–): Emmy Award-winning American actor, producer and director.[94]
- Paul Mazursky (1930–): American director, producer and actor.[95]
- Sir Ian McKellen (1939–): English stage and screen actor.[96]
- Butterfly McQueen (1911–1995): American actress, most renowned for her performance as Prissy, the young maid in Gone with the Wind.[97]
- Stephen Merchant (1974–): British actor and writer, co-creator of The Office.[98][99]
- George Meyer (1956–): American television producer and writer, notably for The Simpsons.[100]
- Helen Mirren (1945–): English stage, television and Oscar-winning film actress.[101]
- Warren Mitchell (1926–): English actor, most famously in the long-running BBC TV series Till Death Us Do Part.[102]
- Julianne Moore (1960–): Academy and BAFTA Award-nominated, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning American actress.[103]
- Cillian Murphy (1976–): Irish stage and screen actor.[104]
- Jonathan Myerson (1960–): British television and radio dramatist.[105]
- Jack Nicholson (1937—): American actor, three time Academy Award-winner. Nicholson told Vanity Fair he doesn't believe in God anymore but envies people with faith.[106]
- Dara Ó Briain (1972–): Irish comedian and television presenter. Describes himself as an atheist, but "ethnically Catholic" for comic effect.[107]
- Bree Olson (1986–): American pornographic actress and Penthouse Pet.[108]
- Bruce Parry (1969–): English former Royal Marine instructor who presents the BBC / Discovery Channel documentary Tribe.[109]
- Julia Pascal (1949–): British Jewish playwright and theatre director. [110]
- Guy Pearce (1967–): Award-winning English-born Australian-raised actor, perhaps best known for his crticially acclaimed roles in Rules of Engagement, The Count of Monte Cristo and L.A. Confidential as well as a starring role in The Proposition.[111]
- Sam Perrin (1901–1998): American Emmy Award-winning screenwriter.[112]
- Peter Purves (1939–): English actor and television presenter, best known for a role in Doctor Who and presenting Blue Peter.[113]
- Julia Phillips (1944–2002): Academy Award-winning film producer and author, the first woman to win an Oscar as a producer.[114]
- Michael Pitt (1981–): American actor and musician.[115]
- Sarah Polley (1979–): Canadian actress and director.[116]
- Gail Porter (1971–): Scottish television presenter.[117]
- Keanu Reeves (1964–): Canadian-American actor best known for his portrayal of Neo in the action film trilogy The Matrix and Ted Logan in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey.[118]
- Carl Reiner (1922–): American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian, winner of nine Emmy Awards.[119]
- Griff Rhys Jones (1953–): Welsh comedian, writer, actor and television presenter.[120][121]
- Anna Richardson (1971–): English presenter, television producer, writer and journalist.[122]
- Fyfe Robertson (1902–1987): Scottish television journalist.[123]
- Richard Rodgers (1902–1979): was an American composer of the music for more than 900 songs and 40 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. [124]
- Adam Savage (1967–): American television co-host on the program MythBusters.[125]
- Andy Serkis (1964–): English actor and director, best known for his portrayal of Sméagol/Gollum in The Lord of the Rings.[126]
- Elyse Sewell (1982–): American fashion model based in Hong Kong, and a finalist in the reality television modeling competition America's Next Top Model.[127]
- Omar Sharif (1932–): Academy Award-nominated Egyptian actor who has starred in many Hollywood films; an Egyptian Melkite Catholic who converted to Islam, but is now an atheist.[128]
- Don Siegel (1912–1991): Influential American film director and producer.[129]
- Steven Soderbergh (1963–): American filmmaker, Academy Award-winning director of such films as Traffic, Erin Brockovich, Ocean's Eleven, and Sex, Lies and Videotape.[130]
- Todd Solondz (1959–): American screenwriter and independant film director known for his style of dark, thought-provoking satire.[131]
- David Starkey CBE (1945–): English historian, television and radio presenter, and specialist in the Tudor period.[132]
- Juliet Stevenson (1956–): English actress.[133]
- J. Michael Straczynski (1954–): American writer and producer, creator of Babylon 5.[134]
- Paul Taylor (1930–): American choreographer, one of the foremost of the 20th century.[135]
- Teller (magician) (1948–): American magician, co-host of the television show Bullshit!.[136]
- Fernando Trueba (1955–): Academy award-winning Spanish book editor, screenwriter and film director.[137]
- Kenneth Tynan (1927–1980): Influential and often controversial British theatre critic and writer.[138]
- Theo van Gogh (1957–2004): Dutch film director, television producer, publicist and actor, murdered following the broadcasting of his film Submission.[139]
- Ram Gopal Varma (1962–): Indian film director, writer and film producer.[140]
- Wynford Vaughan-Thomas CBE (1908–1987): Welsh newspaper journalist and radio and television broadcaster with a lengthy career.[141]
- Paul Verhoeven (1938–): Dutch BAFTA Award nominated film director, screenwriter, and film producer, filming in both the Netherlands and the United States, best known for the American feature films RoboCop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct and Starship Troopers and Dutch films Black Book and Soldier of Orange.[142]
- Paolo Villaggio (1932–): Italian actor, writer, director and comedian, especially famous for his grotesque irony and satire, who often worked with Federico Fellini.[143]
- Joss Whedon (1964–): American screenwriter and director, most famous for creating the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise and the Cult TV series "Firefly" and subsequent movie "Serenity" both of which dealt with religious arguments.[144]
- Lalla Ward (1951–): English actress and illustrator, best known for playing Romana in Doctor Who; she is married to evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.[145]
- Peter White (1947–): English broadcast journalist and DJ; blind since birth, he is closely associated with disability issues.[146]
- Gene Wilder (1933–): American actor best known for his role as Willy Wonka.[147]
- Robyn Williams (1944–): Australian science journalist and broadcaster, interviewer and host of the Science Show on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.[148]
- Ted Willis (1914–1992): British television dramatist, also politically active in support of the Labour Party.[149]
Internet Pundits
- Dan Barker - Co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation
- Reginald Finley, the Infidel Guy
- Annie Laurie Gaylor Co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation
- Paul "PZ" Myers
External links
