Thurl Bailey

Thurl Bailey, American basketball player and actor

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Born: April 7, 1961
Age in 2026: 65
Zodiac sign: Aries
Birth year: 1961

About Thurl Bailey

Thurl Lee Bailey Sr. is an American former professional basketball player whose National Basketball Association (NBA) career spanned from 1983 to 1999 with the Utah Jazz and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Bailey has been a broadcast analyst for the Utah Jazz and the University of Utah— in addition to work as an inspirational speaker, singer, songwriter, and film actor. Bailey garnered the nickname "Big T" during his basketball career. Bailey was a starter with the Jazz for most of his first two seasons, but with the drafting of Karl Malone, Jazz coach Frank Layden made Bailey one of the first options off the bench. He has a daughter, Chonell, with his high school sweetheart and two sons, Thurl Jr., and TeVaun from his first marriage.

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

The world when Thurl Bailey was born

Thurl Bailey was born in 1961. 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 1961

#1 song"Tossin' and Turnin'" – Bobby Lewis
Top movieWest Side Story
Top TV showGunsmoke
Best-selling bookCatch-22 – Joseph Heller

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentRoger Maris hits 61 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth's record
Top headlineYuri Gagarin becomes the first person in space
Technology milestoneYuri Gagarin becomes first human in space
Defining fadSurfing culture
Notable inventionValium
World population3.08 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderJohn F. Kennedy
Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
U.S. population183.7M

1961 versus 2026

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

Measure	1961	2026
Gas	$0.31	$3.45/gal
Average home	$12,500	$435,000
Average income	$7,600	$67,500
Minimum wage	$1.15	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.69	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.04	$0.73
Population	183.7M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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