1917 births

Emilia Ortiz Pérez (Tepic, 1917 – Tepic, November 24, 2012) was a Nayarit Mexican painter, cartoonist, caricaturist, and poet, best known for her watercolors she made of the indigenous groups in her area, and the caricatures she created from an early age of political figures and those she knew. Emilia would go on to create over 4,000 works that varied in subject matter. Her father, Abraham D. Ortiz, had arrived at Tepic originally from Oaxaca where he married Elvira Perez and engaged in haberdashery and the hardware trade. Emilia studied painting at the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City. Her drawings and paintings were exhibited in 1940. An author as well, her prizewinning book, De mis soledades vengo, was published in 1986. The Museo Emilia Ortiz in Lerdo houses Ortiz's photography and art, as well as local art. She is survived by her daughter Gabriela, who is the current curator of the Contemporary Art Center Emilia Ortiz.

Clifford Gilpin Snyder (March 1, 1917 – January 17, 1998), professionally Cliffie Stone, was an American country singer, musician, record producer, music publisher, and radio and TV personality who was pivotal in the development of California's thriving country music scene after World War II during a career that lasted six decades. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989.

Bartus A. Quinn (February 19, 1917 – March 3, 2013) was an American basketball player. He was an All-American college player at the University of Toledo and played one season in the National Basketball League (NBL) of the United States, one of the major American leagues that later became the National Basketball Association.
Quinn, a 6'2", 200-pound forward from Fort Wayne, Indiana, went on to play for his hometown Fort Wayne General Electrics of the NBL directly out of high school. In the 1937–38 season, he averaged 9.4 points per game and was named to the All-NBL Second Team.After his season in the NBL, Quinn went to Toledo to play college basketball. He was a three-year starter for the Rockets, finishing his career with 702 points. As a senior in 1941–42, Quinn led the Rockets to the 1942 National Invitation Tournament. He was named All-Ohio and a first-team All-American by Madison Square Garden. Following his college career, he served in the United States Navy during World War II.Quinn died on March 3, 2013, at the age of 96.

Ramón Gay (born Ramón García Gay; November 28, 1917 – May 28, 1960) was a Mexican film actor. He was one of the stars of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, known to horror film fans for his role in The Aztec Mummy trilogy of films in the late 1950s.He was killed in 1960, when he was shot dead during a dispute with another man over the actress, Evangelina Elizondo (1929–2017).

William Franklin Ash MBE (30 November 1917 – 26 April 2014) was an American-born British writer, broadcaster and Marxist, who served as a fighter pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. He was shot down, made a prisoner of war, and was noted as an escaper.

Shirley Ann Richards (13 December 1917 – 25 August 2006) was an Australian actress and author who achieved notability in a series of 1930s Australian films for Ken G. Hall before moving to the United States, where she continued her career as a film actress, mainly as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starlet. Her best known performances were in It Isn't Done (1937), Dad and Dave Come to Town (1938), An American Romance (1944), and Sorry, Wrong Number (1948). In the 1930s, she was the only Australian actor under a long-term contract to a film studio, Cinesound Productions. She subsequently became a lecturer and poet.

Carlos González Nova (14 August 1917 – 19 August 2009) was a Mexican businessman who co-founded the Comercial Mexicana supermarket chain in 1930. Comercial Mexicana is the third largest supermarket chain in Mexico as of 2009.In 2000 Gonzáles Nova was in charge of a powerboat that killed UK singer Kirsty MacColl in a restricted beach diving area on Cozumel, Mexico. MacColl was struck saving her son from the speeding boat. It was widely reported that the boathand José Cen Yam, who took the blame for the death, was paid to do so by González Nova.

Víctor Ciriaco Junco Tassinari (18 June 1917 – 6 July 1988), known professionally as Víctor Junco, was a Mexican actor. He was considered a star of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. During his career, Junco received two Ariel Award nominations for his supporting performances in La Otra (1946) and Misterio (1980), he won for the latter.

Silvestre Santana Herrera (July 17, 1917 – November 26, 2007) was a private first class of the United States Army who received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in Mertzwiller, France, during World War II.
After he mounted a one-man charge on an enemy stronghold which resulted in the solo capture of eight enemy soldiers, his unit was again attacked by a machine gun placement across another minefield. Herrera again that day single-handedly took on the enemy. While crossing the second minefield, he lost one of his legs to a land mine explosion then the other leg to a second explosion. Unable to continue his 1-man advance and despite a severe loss of blood, he single-handedly held the forward position to provide covering fire pinning down the enemy with his M1 Garand. His accurate rifle fire allowed his comrades to overrun the enemy position in a flanking action clear of the minefield.Born in Mexico of Hispanic heritage, Herrera was the only living person authorized to wear both the Medal of Honor and Mexico's Order of Military Merit (First Class) at the time of his death. A legend in the state of Arizona, he was honored by the city of Phoenix officially renaming the portion of 3rd Street that runs from Indian School Road North into the park, "S. Herrera Way".

Armando Frigo (5 August 1917 – 10 September 1943) was an Italian-American football (soccer) player who played as a midfielder. He was known as the second American-born player after Alfonso Negro to have played in Serie A.