Portrait of Sarah Paulson

Birthday profile

Sarah Paulson

Sarah Paulson, American actress

Born
December 17, 1974
Age in 2026
52
Zodiac sign
Sagittarius
Birth year
1974

About Sarah Paulson

Sarah Catharine Paulson (born December 17, 1974) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2017, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Paulson began her acting career starring in the television series American Gothic (1995–1996) and Jack & Jill (1999–2001). She played Harriet Hayes in the NBC drama series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006–2007). Paulson gained fame for her collaborations with showrunner Ryan Murphy, notably starring in nine seasons of his anthology series American Horror Story from 2011 to 2021, earning five Primetime Emmy Award nominations. For her portrayal of Marcia Clark in the FX limited series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016), she earned the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. She was Emmy-nominated for her roles as Nicolle Wallace in the HBO television film Game Change (2012) and Linda Tripp in the FX miniseries Impeachment: American Crime Story (2021). She has also played a conservative activist in the FX on Hulu limited series Mrs. America (2020) and Nurse Ratched in the Netflix thriller series Ratched (2020). On film, she has had leading roles in Blue Jay (2016), Glass (2019), Run (2020), and Hold Your Breath (2024), as well as supporting roles in What Women Want (2000), Down with Love (2003), Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011), Mud (2012), 12 Years a Slave (2013), Carol (2015), The Post (2017), Ocean's 8 (2018), and Bird Box (2018). On Broadway, she acted in the Tennessee Williams revival The Glass Menagerie (2005), the Donald Margulies play Collected Stories (2010), and the Branden Jacobs-Jenkins play Appropriate (2023), the latter earning her the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.

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

Sarah Paulson timeline

  1. Paulson began her acting career starring in the television series American Gothic (1995–1996) and Jack & Jill (1999–2001).
  2. Paulson gained fame for her collaborations with showrunner Ryan Murphy, notably starring in nine seasons of his anthology series American Horror Story from 2011 to 2021, earning five Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

The world when Sarah Paulson was born

Sarah Paulson was born in 1974. 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 1974

  • #1 song"The Way We Were" – Barbra Streisand
  • Top movieThe Godfather Part II
  • Top TV showAll in the Family
  • Best-selling bookJaws – Peter Benchley

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentHank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth's all-time home run record (715)
  • Top headlinePresident Nixon resigns from office
  • Technology milestoneUniversal Product Code (UPC barcode) scanned for the first time
  • Defining fadStreaking
  • Notable inventionPost-it Note bookmark prototype
  • World population4.01 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderRichard Nixon / Gerald Ford
  • Sports championOakland Athletics (World Series)
  • Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
  • U.S. population213.9M

1974 versus 2026

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

Measure19742026
Gas$0.53$3.45/gal
Average home$25,200$435,000
Average income$14,200$67,500
Minimum wage$2.00$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$1.87$11.95
Postage stamp$0.10$0.73
Population213.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. 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.