Robert Graysmith

Robert Graysmith, American author and illustrator

Find birthday twins Open interactive profile

Born: September 17, 1942
Age in 2026: 84
Zodiac sign: Virgo
Birth year: 1942

About Robert Graysmith

Robert Graysmith is an American true crime author and former cartoonist, known for authoring the 1986 book Zodiac, based on his work on the Zodiac Killer case. Graysmith wrote two books about the case; his 1986 book Zodiac was the basis for the 2007 film by the same name. Graysmith worked as a political cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle in 1969, when the Zodiac Killer case came to prominence. The film Zodiac (2007), directed by David Fincher, was based on his books and featured Jake Gyllenhaal as Graysmith.

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

Robert Graysmith timeline

1969Graysmith worked as a political cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle in 1969, when the Zodiac Killer case came to prominence.
1986Graysmith wrote two books about the case; his 1986 book Zodiac was the basis for the 2007 film by the same name.
2007The film Zodiac (2007), directed by David Fincher, was based on his books and featured Jake Gyllenhaal as Graysmith.

The world when Robert Graysmith was born

Robert Graysmith was born in 1942. 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 1942

#1 song"White Christmas" – Bing Crosby
Top movieCasablanca
Best-selling bookThe Song of Bernadette – Franz Werfel

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentFirst Negro League World Series
Top headlineBattle of Midway becomes turning point of WWII in the Pacific
Technology milestoneEnrico Fermi achieves first nuclear chain reaction
Defining fadRationing and war bonds
Notable inventionNapalm
World population2.35 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
U.S. population134.9M

1942 versus 2026

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

Measure	1942	2026
Gas	$0.20	$3.45/gal
Average home	$5,600	$435,000
Average income	$3,800	$67,500
Minimum wage	$0.30	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.27	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.03	$0.73
Population	134.9M	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.