* Austin Osman Spare ( 1886 – 1956 ), English artist and magician

* 1956 – Sebastian Spreng, Argentinean artist and journalist

* 1956 – Dilip Vengsarkar, Indian cricketer and administrator

* 1956 – Andy García, Cuban actor

* 1956 – Herbert Grönemeyer, German singer

* 1956 – Former Vice President and Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia.

* 1956 – Lars von Trier, Danish director

* 1956 – After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena in New York in the Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena series.

* 1956 – Stepfanie Kramer, American actress

* 1878 – Aino Kallas, Finnish-Estonian author ( d. 1956 )

* 1956 – Fulvio Melia, Italian-American physicist, astrophysicist, and author

* 1956 – Jim Neidhart, American wrestler

* 1956 – Isabel Pantoja, Spanish singer

* 2003 – Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong actor and singer ( b. 1956 )

* 1956 – Tom Leykis, American radio host

* 1956 – Kirk Brandon, English singer-songwriter and guitarist ( Theatre of Hate, Spear of Destiny and Dead Men Walking )

* 1956 – Balwinder Sandhu, Indian cricketer

* 1956 –, the world's first successful container ship, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas.

Prominent leaders include co-founders Lucien Febvre ( 1878 – 1956 ) and Marc Bloch ( 1886 – 1944 ).

* 1867 – Emil Nolde, German painter ( d. 1956 )

* 1956 – Chris Foreman, English guitarist and songwriter ( Madness )

* 1956 – David Grant, English singer ( Linx )

* 1956 – Branscombe Richmond, American actor

* 1956 – Cecilia Roth, Argentine actress

In 1956, he and Peter Breck appeared in John Bromfield's syndicated series Sheriff of Cochise in the episode " The Turkey Farmers ".

* 1956 – Peter Buck, American guitarist ( R. E. M.

* 1956 – Peter Holsapple, American musician ( The dBs and The Continental Drifters )

* 1956 – Peter Pagel, German footballer ( d. 2010 )

* 1956 – Peter Hook, English bassist ( Joy Division and New Order )

* 1956: Gigi, by Anita Loos, director Sir Peter Hall, New Theatre, London

In 1956 he co-starred with Peter Graves in the B-grade science fiction movie It Conquered the World.

* 1956 – Jan Peter Balkenende, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands

* 1956 – Peter Mullan, Scottish actor

* 1956 – Peter David, American author

* 1956 – Peter Šťastný, Slovak ice hockey player

The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d ( 1956 ) starring Peter Sellers was the first attempt to translate Goons humour to TV ; it was followed by A Show Called Fred and Son of Fred, both made during 1956 and directed by Richard Lester, who went on to work with The Beatles.

* November 14 – Peter R. de Vries, Dutch crime reporter ( b. 1956 )

" In 1955 and 1956, she received, first, a Tony Award for Peter Pan, and then an Emmy for appearing in the same role on television.

* Producers ' Showcase: Peter Pan ( twice, in 1955 and 1956 )

Several notable films based on stories from Australian literature ( generally with strong rural themes ) were made in Australia in the 1950s-but by British and American production companies, including A Town Like Alice ( 1956 ) which starred Virginia McKenna and Peter Finch ; The Shiralee ( 1957 ) also starring Peter Finch with Australian actors Charles Tingwell, Bill Kerr and Ed Devereaux in supporting roles ; Roberry Under Arms, again starring Finch in 1957 ; and Summer of the Seventeenth Doll ( 1959 ), starring Ernest Borgnine, John Mills and Angela Lansbury ; and in 1960, The Sundowners was shot in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales with foreign leads Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, and Peter Ustinov but a supporting cast including Australians Chips Rafferty, John Meillon and Leonard Teale.

* Peter Dengate Thrush ( born 1956 ), New Zealand barrister

His roles include Brutus in Julius Caesar ( 1953 ), Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel and The Desert Rats, the amoral valet turned spy in Joseph Mankiewicz's 5 Fingers, the declining actor in the first remake of A Star Is Born ( 1954 ), Captain Nemo in 20, 000 Leagues Under the Sea ( also 1954 ), a small town school teacher driven insane by the effects of cortisone in Bigger Than Life ( 1956 ), a suave master spy in North by Northwest ( 1959 ), a determined explorer in Journey to the Center of the Earth ( also 1959 ), Humbert Humbert in Stanley Kubrick's Lolita ( 1962 ), a river pirate who betrays Peter O ' Toole's character in Lord Jim ( 1965 ), the evil Doctor Polidori in Frankenstein: The True Story ( 1973 ), the vampire's servant, Richard Straker, in Salem's Lot, and surreal Royal Navy Captain Hughes in Yellowbeard ( 1983 ).

Peter Michael Ainsworth ( born 16 November 1956 ) is a former Conservative politician in the United Kingdom.

" Pop art " as a moniker was then used in discussons by IG members in the Second Session of the IG in 1955, and the specific term " pop art " first appeared in published print in an article by IG members Alison and Peter Smithson in Arc, 1956.

* Peter David ( born 1956 in Fort Meade ), science fiction / fantasy author known for his comic book and Star Trek novel work .< font color =" blue ">( B )</ font >