* 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 )

* 1918 – Jeff Chandler, American actor ( d. 1961 )

* December 15 – Jeff Chandler, American actor ( d. 1961 )

* Jeff Hostetler ( born 1961 ), quarterback for the New York Giants ' victory in Super Bowl XXV, lived in Hillsdale for his remaining seasons with the team.

Other appearances included The Twilight Zone episodes " A Hundred Yards Over the Rim " ( 1961 ) and " The Dummy " ( 1962 ) followed by guest-starring roles in such series as the NBC medical drama about psychiatry The Eleventh Hour ( 1963 ) in the role of Jeff Dillon, " The Man Who Came Home Late ".

Goodson-Todman Productions were also involved with three westerns: Jefferson Drum ( 1958 – 1959 ), starring Jeff Richards as a newspaper editor in the Old West ; The Rebel ( 1959 – 1961 ), starring Nick Adams as an ex-Confederate soldier who traveled to the West after the Civil War ( Johnny Cash sang the theme ); and Branded, starring Chuck Connors as a soldier who had wrongly been given a dishonorable discharge from the Army.

Jeff Dee ( born May 15, 1961 ) is an American artist and game designer.

Jeffrey Lee " Jeff " Probst ( born November 4, 1961 ) is an American game show host, executive producer and a reporter.

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 ).

He then played from 1961 to 1979 with the Vikings and finished with a then-record 282 consecutive games ( since surpassed by Jeff Feagles ).

* Jeff Chandler ( actor ) ( 1918 – 1961 ), American film actor and singer in the 1950s

Jeff Chandler ( December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961 ) was an American film actor and singer in the 1950s, best remembered for playing Cochise in Broken Arrow ( 1950 ), and for being one of Universal International's most popular male stars of the decade.

Another stalwart of the Sydney jazz scene, Bertles was a powerful and commanding tenor sax player who also had also gained extensive experience playing rock ' n ' roll as a member of Johnny O ' Keefe's backing band The Dee Jays from 1961 – 65, and he was also a regular session player on pop recordings by emerging performers such as Jeff St John.

Jeff Tedford ( born November 2, 1961 ) is an American football coach and the current head coach of the California Golden Bears football team, a position he has held since 2002.

* Jeff Hostetler ( born 1961 ), former NFL quarterback

Jeffrey Brian " Jeff " Yagher ( born January 18, 1961 ) is an American actor.

Changing his name to Gene Chandler ( a surname taken from that of the actor Jeff Chandler ), the song was released at the end of 1961, quickly rising to become number 1 on both the pop and R & B charts.

In the Civil War television series The Americans, broadcast by NBC in 1961, he played Jeff, the younger brother who joined Confederate Army, in opposition to Ben, the older brother ( played by Darryl Hickman ), who joined the Union Army.

* Jeff Green ( writer ) ( born 1961 ), former PC gaming editor-in-chief of 1UP. com

Hulbert married Joy E. Husband 1960 ; they have three children: Greg ( b. 1961 ); Samantha ( b. 1962 ); Jeff ( b. 1968 ) and ten grandchildren.