Birthdays

TODAY: Sir Richard Attenborough, actor, producer and director, 69; Mrs Dorothy Carter, consultant on energy, 64; Sir Julius Chan, former prime minister, Papua New Guinea, 53; Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, chairman, NM Rothschild & Sons, 61; Dame Mary Donaldson, former Lord Mayor of London, 71; Sir Nigel Foulkes, former chairman, Civil Aviation Authority, 73; Mr Richard Gere, actor, 43; Mr Elliott Gould, actor, 54; Mr Thom Gunn, poet, 63; Professor Denys Hay, historian, 77; Mr Lenny Henry, comedian, 34; Mr James Hunt, racing driver, 45; Mr Marmaduke Hussey, chairman of the BBC, 69; Mr Michael Jackson, rock singer, 34; Lord King of Wartnaby, chairman of British Airways, 74; Mr Antony Newton MP, Lord President of the Council, 55; Mr Norman Platt, former artistic director of Kent Opera, 72; Mr Greg Pope MP, 32.

TOMORROW: Mr Jonathan Aitken MP, Minister of State, Defence, 50; Dr Barbara Ansell, rheumatologist, 69; Miss Elizabeth Ashley, actress, 53; Sir Harold Atcherley, former chairman, Toynbee Hall, 74; Miss Shirley Booth, actress, 85; Sir Patrick Branigan QC, former Attorney-General, Gold Coast, 86; Sir Keith Bright, former chairman, London Regional Transport, 61; Mr Allan Davis, actor, director and producer, 79; Mr Kenneth Gill, trade union leader, 65; Dr Alan Gilmour, former director, NSPCC, 64; Mr Martin Harris, chartered accountant and company director, 70; Lord Healey former MP, 75; Air Marshal Sir Frank Holroyd, former Chief Engineer, RAF, 57; Miss Jayne Irving, broadcaster, 36; Lord Keith of Castleacre, merchant banker, 76; Sir Desmond Lee, former president, Hughes Hall, Cambridge, 84; The Countess of Longford, writer, 86; Mr William McAlister, director, Creative Research Ltd, 52; Miss Sue MacGregor, broadcaster, 51; Dr Peter North, principal, Jesus College, Oxford, 56; Sir Peter Parker, company chairman, 68; Mr John Peel, disc jockey, 53; Sir Henry Phillips, former colonial administrator, 78; Miss Audrey Scott, headmistress, Queen Anne's School, Caversham, 58; Mr George Stevenson MP, 54; Professor John Thoday, geneticist, 76; The Very Rev Professor Thomas Torrance, theologian, 79; Sir Philip Woodfield, former senior civil servant, 69.