* 1961 – Rory Bremner, Scottish comedian

* 1961 – The Russian ( Soviet ) cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first manned orbital flight, in Vostok 3KA-2 ( Vostok 1 ).

* 1961 – Enedina Arellano Félix, Mexican drug trafficker

* 1961 – Lisa Gerrard, Australian singer, musician, and composer ( Dead Can Dance )

* 1961 – Charles Mann, American football player

* 1961 – Magda Szubanski, Australian actress

* 1961 – K-19, the first Soviet nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, is commissioned.

* 1961 – Isiah Thomas, American basketball player

* 1961 – Yolanda Adams, American singer, producer, and actress

* 1961 – Tom Ford, American fashion designer and director

* 1961 – Helmut Winklhofer, German footballer

* 1881 – Leo Carrillo, American actor ( d. 1961 )

* 1961 – Brad Gilbert, American tennis player

* 1961 – John Key, New Zealand politician, 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand

* 1961 – Amy Stiller, American comedian and actress

* 1961 – East Germany closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin to thwart its inhabitants ' attempts to escape to the West.

* 1961 – Sam Champion, American weatherman

* 1961 – Christos Christodoulou, Greek basketball player

* 1961 – Dawnn Lewis, American actress

* 1961 – Stuart Maconie, English journalist, author, and broadcaster

* 1961 – Neil Mallender, England cricketer

* 1961 – Tom Perrotta, American novelist

* 1961 – Sunil Shetty, Indian actor and producer

* 1961 – Cary Stayner, American serial killer

* 1886 – John Alexander Douglas McCurdy Canadian pilot and engineer ( d. 1961 )

Heaven Has No Favorites was serialized ( as Borrowed Life ) in 1959 before appearing as a book in 1961 and was made into the 1977 movie Bobby Deerfield.

She returned to theatre ( between films ) more often in the 1950s and 1960s, playing in London and on tour in such roles as Edith Fenton in The Hat Trick ( 1950 ); Felicity, Countess of Marshwood, in Relative Values ( 1951 and 1953 ); Grace Smith in A Question of Fact ( 1953 ); Lady Yarmouth in The Night of the Ball ( 1954 ); Mrs. St. Maugham in The Chalk Garden ( 1955 – 56 ), Dame Mildred in The Bright One ( 1958 ); Mrs. Vincent in Look on Tempests ( 1960 ); Mrs. Gantry ( Bobby ) in The Bird of Time ( 1961 ); Mrs. Moore in A Passage to India ( 1962 ); Mrs Tabret in The Sacred Flame ( 1966 and 1967 ); Prue Salter in Let's All Go Down the Strand ( 1967 ); Emma Littlewood in Out of the Question ( 1968 ); Lydia in His, Hers and Theirs ( 1969 ); and others.

As of November 2011, Foyt stands as only the third-oldest living winner of the Indianapolis 500 ( Parnelli Jones and Bobby Unser are older ), but the longest-ago living winner ( 1961 ).

While Nicklaus officially turned professional in late 1961, he debated heavily the idea of remaining an amateur in order to further emulate his idol, Bobby Jones.

In 1961 she appeared in the romantic comedy Come September, with Rock Hudson, Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin, for which she won a Golden Globe award.

At the elite Bled 1961 event, Keres shared 3rd – 5th places, on 12. 5 / 19 (+ 7 = 11 − 1 ), behind only Mikhail Tal and Bobby Fischer.

The technique also appears in the instrumental break in Bobby Lewis ' 1961 US # 1 hit " Tossin ' and Turnin '".

* Robert " Bobby " Shatford – Born March 22, 1961, Bobby was a native of Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Subsequently it has become a standard, being recorded by Frank Sinatra in London in June 1962, Rod Stewart on the 2004 album Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3, Nat King Cole on the 1961 album The Touch of Your Lips, Carmen McRae, Glenn Miller, Perry Como on his 1977 The Best of British album, Stephane Grappelli, Bobby Darin on the 1962 album Oh!

A stained-glass window depicting the player, designed by Francis Skeat, was unveiled in St Francis's Church, the parish church for the Priory Estate, by Matt Busby in 1961, and a statue in the town centre was dedicated by his mother and Bobby Charlton in 1999.

Several books and films have been based on Bobby's life, including the novel Greyfriar's Bobby ( 1912 ) by Eleanor Atkinson and the films Greyfriars Bobby ( 1961 ) and The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby ( 2006 ).

The 1961 Walt Disney film Greyfriars Bobby: The True Story of a Dog was based on this book.

In 1961 – 62, Bathgate and Bobby Hull led the league in points, but Bathgate lost the Art Ross Trophy to Bobby Hull because Hull had more goals.

* Moon Bowl ( added c. 1961 )-A performing arts stage and dance floor that featured celebrity performers and guests, including Paul Anka, Count Basie, Dick Clark, Brenda Lee, Patti Page, the Everly Brothers, the Benny Goodman Orchestra, the Harry James Orchestra, Xavier Cugat and Abbe Lane, Ricky Nelson, the Lennon Sisters, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Darin, and the stars of Car 54, Where Are You ?, Fred Gwynne and Joe E. Ross.

Mark Anthony McDermott ( born October 26, 1961 ), better known by his professional name of Dylan McDermott, is an American actor, known for his role as lawyer and law firm head Bobby Donnell on the television legal drama The Practice which earned him a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination and his role in the series American Horror Story as Dr. Ben Harmon.

In 1961, this collaboration produced " I Like It Like That ", his first and biggest hit, peaking at # 2 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart ( covered in 1965 by The Dave Clark Five ) and " Something You Got " ( covered by Alvin Robinson, the Ramsey Lewis Trio, Chuck Jackson, Earl Grant, Maxine Brown, Bobby Womack, Fairport Convention and Bruce Springsteen ).

The Coca-Cola 600 has been the site of many drivers ' first wins, including future champions David Pearson ( 1961 ), Jeff Gordon ( 1994 ), Bobby Labonte ( 1995 ), and Matt Kenseth ( 2000 ).

Robert " Bobby " Williamson ( born 13 August 1961 in Glasgow, Scotland ) is a former association footballer who is currently manager of the Uganda national football team.

* Bobby Burgess, dancer ( 1961 – 1982 )