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20 Famous Cancer Women Who Influence and Inspire

Cancer women are known for their extraordinary talents, resilience, and unwavering compassion. These women have impacted many individuals in their life journey and left indelible marks in the various industries they have served. They are also very inspirational and are known to possess a powerful aura around them. They continue to influence many generations behind them.

In this article, we feature 20 famous cancer women who have been influential in different industries from governance, leadership, fashion, activism, entertainment, and business. In their true spirit as Cancer women, they transform challenges into strengths and triumphs not only for them but also to inspire those who come after them Let’s delve into their inspiring stories.

1. Princess Diana

Princess Diana was born on 1 July 1961. Diana was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III and mother of Prince William and Prince Harry. Her activism and glamour made her an international icon and earned her enduring popularity. Diana remains one of the most popular members of the royal family throughout history, and she continues to influence the younger generations of royals.

As Princess of Wales, Diana was celebrated in the media for her unconventional approach to charity work. Her patronages were initially centred on children and the elderly, but she later became known for her involvement in the social attitudes towards and the acceptance of AIDS patients, and the other for the removal of landmines, promoted through the International Red Cross. She also raised awareness and advocated for ways to help people affected by cancer and mental illness. 

2. Frida Kahlo

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Frida Kahlo was born on 6 July 1907. Frida was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artefacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country’s popular culture, she employed a naïve folk art style to explore questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender, class, and race in Mexican society.

Kahlo’s work as an artist remained relatively unknown until the late 1970s, when her work was rediscovered by art historians and political activists. By the early 1990s, not only had she become a recognized figure in art history, but she was also regarded as an icon for Chicanos, the feminist movement, and the LGBTQ+ community. 

3. Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep was born on 22 June 1949. Streep is an American actress. Often described as the best actress of her generation. Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over six decades. In 2003, the French government made her a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.

In November 2014, President Barack Obama bestowed upon Streep the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honour. Streep is well known for her ability to imitate a wide range of accents which she mastered over her acting career, her most memorable accent imitation was that of Margaret Thatcher.

4. Malala Yousafzai

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Malala Yousafzai was born on 12 July 1997. She is the world’s youngest Nobel Prize laureate and a Pakistani female education activist. Yousafzai is a human rights advocate for the education of women and children in her native homeland, Swat, where the Pakistani Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school.

Yousafzai became a prominent activist for the right to education. She co-founded the Malala Fund, a non-profit organization, with Shiza Shahid. Her advocacy has grown into an international movement. Read more astonishing facts about Malala Yousafzai. 

5. Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey was born on 21 June 1985. Lana is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent references to contemporary pop culture and 1950s–1970s Americana.

Del Rey has collaborated on soundtracks for visual media; including for the romantic drama The Great Gatsby and the adventure film Maleficent.  Del Rey published the poetry and photography collection Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass in 2020.

6. Selena Gomez

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Selena Gomez was born on 22 July 1992. Gomez is an American musician. Gomez is described as a pop artist. Her work is primarily characterised as dance-pop and EDM, however, she has experimented with different music genres. 

Gomez has a large following on social media and is the most followed woman on Instagram and has over 400 million followers as of 2023. Gomez’s other ventures include makeup, clothing, handbag and fragrance lines. She has worked with many charitable organizations and served as a UNICEF ambassador since age 17.

7. Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson was born on 10 July 1980. Simpson is an American singer and actress. She signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, Sweet Kisses 1999, sold two million copies in the United States and saw the commercial success of the single I Wanna Love You Forever.

Aside from her musical pursuits, Simpson launched The Jessica Simpson Collection in 2005, a fashion-focused line with 34 product categories. To date, the brand has earned over $1 billion in revenue and is the most successful celebrity licensing brand in history. 

8. Gisele Bündchen

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Gisele Bündchen was born on 20 July 1980. Gisele is a Brazilian model. Since 2001, she has been one of the highest-paid models in the world. Bündchen was a Victoria’s Secret Angel from 1999 until 2006. She is credited with pioneering and popularizing the horse walk, a stomping movement created by a model lifting her knees high and kicking her feet to step.

Since the 2000s, Bündchen’s main focus has been on social and environmental causes. She has also supported the Breast Cancer Campaign to educate women on how to perform a breast self-exam. Bündchen started The Luz Foundation in 2007, a project to empower girls and help them deal with self-esteem issues.

9. Solange Knowles

Solange Knowles was born on 24 June 1986. Solange is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Expressing an interest in music from an early age, Knowles had several temporary stints as a backup dancer for Destiny’s Child, which featured her elder sister, Beyoncé Knowles, among its members.

Knowles says that her first passion is songwriting. Her other ventures include an endorsement deal with Rimmel London and a line of hip-hop-oriented merchandise for young children. Knowles has also ventured into performance art, working in several international museums and exhibitions.

10. Angela Merkel

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Angela Merkel was born on 17 July 1954. Merkel is a German former politician and scientist who served as chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. Merkel was the first female chancellor of Germany. During her chancellorship, Merkel was frequently referred to as the de facto leader of the European Union and the most powerful woman in the world. Beginning in 2016, she was often described as the leader of the free world.

Merkel has been described as having significantly shaped the political landscape of Germany, particularly the perceptions of those who grew up during her chancellorship; this demographic group has been referred to Merkelkinder, also known as children of Merkel.  Read additional facts about Angela Merkel. 

11. Selma Blair

Selma Blair was born on 23 June 1972. Selma is an American actress and author. She is best known for her roles in Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde and the Hellboy franchise. Blair participates in various charity work and philanthropic causes. 

In 2021, Blair starred in Introducing, Selma Blair, a documentary about her life since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In June 2022, Blair became Chief Creative Officer of Guide Beauty, a company which creates cosmetic products for those with mobility challenges. 

12. Khloe Kardashian

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Khloe Kardashian was born on 27 June 1984. Khloe is an American media personality, socialite and model. She rose to fame starring with her family in the reality television series Keeping Up with the Kardashians.  Kardashian is involved in the retail and fashion industries with her sisters Kourtney and Kim. They have launched several clothing collections and fragrances and additionally released the book Kardashian Konfidential in 2010. 

Kardashian supports the recognition of the Armenian genocide and has visited Tsitsernakaberd, the memorial to the victims in Yerevan, Armenia. In April 2021, Kardashian praised President Joe Biden for officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide, thus becoming the first US president to do so.

13. Diane Kruger

Diane Kruger was born on 15 July 1976. Kruger is a German actress. Early in her career, Kruger gained worldwide recognition and received the Trophée Chopard from the Cannes Film Festival. 

In 2014, she was made an Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres which is run by the Minister of Culture in France and whose purpose is the recognition of significant contributions to the arts, literature, or the propagation of these fields.

14. Ariana Grande 

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Ariana Grande was born on 26 June 1993. Grande is an American singer, she began her music career at age 15 in the 2008 Broadway musical 13. Grande is one of the world’s best-selling music artists; she has sold over 90 million records globally and all of her studio albums have been certified platinum or higher. Ariana is regarded as a pop icon, she is noted for her four-octave vocal range and whistle register, which have garnered her critical acclaim. 

In June 2021, Grande, along with a dozen other celebrities signed an open letter to Congress to pass the Equality Act highlighting the Act would protect marginalized communities. In the same month, Grande partnered with the online portal BetterHelp and gave away $2 million worth of therapy to fans.  Here is all you need to know about Ariana’s sexuality. 

15. Jhumpa Lahiri

Jhumpa Lahiri was born on 11 July 1967. Lahiri is a Bengali-American author known for her short stories, novels, and essays in English and, more recently, in Italian. In these works, Lahiri explored the Indian-immigrant experience in America. 

In 2011, Lahiri moved to Rome, Italy and has since then published two books of essays, and in 2018, published her first novel in Italian called Dove mi trovo and also compiled, edited and translated the Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories which consists of 40 Italian short stories written by 40 different Italian writers. She has also translated some of her own writings and those of other authors from Italian into English.

16. Kathy Bates

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Kathy Bates was born on 28 June 1948. Bates is an American actress and director. Known for her roles in comedic and dramatic films and television programs, she has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades. 

Bates has battled ovarian cancer since her diagnosis in 2003. In 2014,  Bates became a national spokesperson for lymphedema and chairperson for the Lymphatic Education & Research Network’s honorary board.

17. Sofia Vergara

Sofia Vergara was born on 10 July 1972.  Vergara is a Colombian and American actress and television personality. She rose to prominence while co-hosting two television shows for the Spanish-language television network Univision in the late 1990s. 

From 2009 to 2020, Vergara played Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in the ABC comedy series Modern Family, for which she was nominated for four Golden Globe Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards. Since 2020, she has been a judge on the television talent show America’s Got Talent. Read more about 60 Most Beautiful Women Of All Time Around The World. 

18. Priyanka Chopra

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Priyanka Chopra was born on 18 July 1982. Chopra is an Indian actress and producer. Chopra is one of India’s highest-paid actresses and has received numerous awards. Chopra starred as Alex Parrish in the ABC thriller series Quantico, becoming the first South Asian to headline an American network drama series. On Instagram, Chopra is the most-followed Indian actor.

Priyanka promotes social causes such as environment and women’s rights and is vocal about gender equality, the gender pay gap, and feminism. Her foundation for health and education works towards providing support to underprivileged Indian children. 

19. Helen Mirren

Helen Mirren was born on 26 July 1945. Mirren is an English actor and is the only performer to have achieved both the American and the British Triple Crowns of Acting. Mirren has received an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen.

In the Queen’s 2003 Birthday Honours, Mirren was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama, with investiture taking place at Buckingham Palace in December. In January 2009, Mirren was named on The Times’ list of the top 10 British actresses of all time. 

20. Cheryl Cole

Cheryl Cole was born on 30 June 1983. Cheryl is an English singer and television personality. Cheryl was the first British female solo artist to have five number-one singles in the UK, and she held the record for the British female solo artist with the most UK number-one singles until 2018.

Cheryl became a judge on the UK show, The X Factor in 2008. She mentored two of the eventual winners of the competition. Cheryl has become a recognized and photographed style icon, being referred to as a fashionista by the press.

In conclusion and from the examples highlighted above, these women have impacted many individuals in their life journey and left indelible marks in the various industries they have served. They also continue to inspire and uplift other women as they also make strides in their industries. Theirs are big shoes to be filled even by the upcoming generations.