Hanif Kureishi

Hanif Kureishi, English author and playwright

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Born: December 5, 1954
Age in 2026: 72
Zodiac sign: Sagittarius
Birth year: 1954

About Hanif Kureishi

Hanif Kureishi (born 5 December 1954) is a British playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He wrote the screenplay for Stephen Frears's My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), earning Academy Award and BAFTA Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay. He is also known for his novel The Buddha of Suburbia (1990), which was adapted into a four-part BBC drama series. Following a spinal injury in 2022, he wrote Shattered (2024) to wide acclaim. The book was a finalist for the 2025 National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography. He is known for his Oscar-nominated screenplay for 1985's My Beautiful Laundrette and the 1990 novel The Buddha of Suburbia.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Hanif Kureishi was born

Hanif Kureishi was born in 1954. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1954

#1 song"Sh-Boom" – The Crew-Cuts
Top movieOn the Waterfront
Top TV showI Love Lucy
Best-selling bookLord of the Flies – William Golding

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentRoger Bannister breaks the 4-minute mile
Top headlineSupreme Court rules school segregation unconstitutional
Technology milestoneFirst nuclear power plant begins operation (USSR)
Defining fadRock and roll emerges
Notable inventionNonstick pan (Tefal)
World population2.72 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderDwight D. Eisenhower
Sports championNew York Giants (World Series)
Also wonMinneapolis Lakers (NBA)
U.S. population162.0M

1954 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Hanif Kureishi's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1954	2026
Gas	$0.29	$3.45/gal
Average home	$10,250	$435,000
Average income	$5,800	$67,500
Minimum wage	$0.75	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.49	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.03	$0.73
Population	162.0M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.