Michael Caine- A great actor who literally came from nothing. Just your everyday Cockney- he couldn't even afford drama school but just worked part time in productions and kept persisting and just having fun and going for it until he became the epic he still is today. Impressive. And is entirely upfront about the rags-to-riches story.
Meryl Streep- It never occurred to me till recently just how many Meryl Streep films I have and have seen. But looking across them all, I have to say she is one of the, if not the best modern actress today. She's amazingly talented and versatile- if it wasn't for recognizing her looks you wouldn't know it was her in each of the part she plays because she becomes that part so completely. (And I don't think there's an accent she can't do, haha) And to hit on an old cliché, she is incredibly grounded about her career which makes it all the more impressive. Quite a feat for someone who only ended up going further into drama because she slept in on the morning of her law school interview....
Anne Boleyn- I'm not sure why...but she was just always a person in history that intrigued me and fascinated me since I was very little- around six or seven years old.
Rosa Parks- Not technically famous, but still, the fact that she had the guts to not move to the back of the bus.....like Anne Boleyn, I can't think of a further reason.