Also in no particular order:

1. Albert Einstein
2. Margaret Thatcher
3. Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama
4. Eva Cassidy
5. Dr. Seuss

uno: stanKubrick
dos: richPryor
tres: salDali
quattro (lazo): kevGarnett/chauBillups
cinco: ayrSenna

César Chávez Estrada
Larry Niven
Sy Safransky
Joan Didion
Jonathan Kennedy Toole

James Thurber...I break rules.

inpo:

Helen Keller (my mother attended a speech she gave at mom's nursing school.)
Rosa Parks
The sad hitchhiker I gave a ride to.
The cashier that smiled at me even though she was having a rotten day.
Me.

In no particular order, not including family. Family is family. Or people in my life.

Bret Easton Ellis, author
Henry Rollins, man
Leonardo DiCaprio, actor
Andre Johnson, Texans reciever
Alexander the Great, Greek beast

Probably heavily influenced by a weekend spent mostly reading and listening to music, my list d'jour:

Bob Wills --the Western Swing fiddler
Dmitri Shostakovich --Russian composer
Harry Turtledove --alt history author
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Warren Buffett
Your list is not a mere list of celebrities, but a list of persons (thanks, B_G) of accomplishment. Noteworthy for their achievements. Celebrities are just known for being known, though sometimes noteworthy for the transience of their celebrity.

Lindy
I especially like the Ambrose Bierce definition of the three kinds of murder:
1. Reprehensible :mad:
2. Justifiable :paranoid:
3. Commendable :thumbsup:

1. Jesus
2. Ernest Hemingway
3. Johnny Cash
4. Jack Black
5. MLK

ive been thinking about this...if i was going to choose purely famous or influencial famous people, then the list would be as follows:

again inpo...

1) Malcolm X
2) Kinte Kunte
3) Mahatma Ghandi
4) Haile Gebraselaise
5) Ibn Battuta