Personal details
- Birth Date: 1965-09-11
- Height: 5′ 7¼″ (1.71 m)
- Birth Location: New York City, New York, USA
- Professions: Composer, Music Department, Actor
Richard Melville Hall—better known as Moby—popped into the world on September 11, 1965, right in the thick of Harlem, Manhattan. His mom, Elizabeth, juggled life as a medical secretary, and his dad, James Frederick Hall, taught chemistry. The nickname “Moby” wasn’t some random thing he picked up on the playground; his dad handed it to him, nodding to their supposed family link to Herman Melville, the “Moby-Dick” guy—Moby swears that’s his great-great-great-uncle, which, if true, is kinda wild. Life flipped upside down when Moby was just two—his dad died in a car accident. After that, he and his mom bounced around: first San Francisco, then shuffling between Darien and Stratford in Connecticut. Moby wasn’t just noodling around as a kid; by nine, he was already into classical guitar and piano, then started messing with jazz, music theory, and percussion. 1983 rolls around, and he’s jamming in a punk band called the Vatican Commandos. Pretty soon, he’s got his own post-punk project, AWOL, dropping an EP under the name Moby Hall. He tried out college life, studying philosophy at UConn and SUNY Purchase, dabbling with photography, but honestly, the academic grind just didn’t stick. Instead, he dove headlong into DJing and electronic music. He’s more than beats and synths, though. Moby kicked off the Little Idiot Collective, which mashed up clothes, comics, and animation, plus opened a vegan spot in NYC called TeaNY, and later, Little Pine in LA, where profits go straight to animal welfare. These days, everyone knows Moby as an electronic music trailblazer, hardcore vegan, and loud voice for animal rights and climate activism.
reference content nRobert Downey Jr. actually grew up with a pretty tight circle of friends, but one of the lesser-known facts is that he had a close childhood friend who ended up taking a very different path—totally separate from Hollywood glitz. They hung out in New York back when Downey’s dad was making those wild indie films in the ‘70s. Their friendship was more about skateboarding through the city and sneaking into late-night diners than any red carpet nonsense. Funny thing is, while Downey Jr. shot to fame, his friend kept it low-key, sticking to normal gigs and a regular life. But even as Downey turned into Iron Man and all that, he’d still drop a text now and then, just to check in. Not everyone from your childhood ends up in the tabloids, right? Sometimes, the real stories are about the people who stay out of the spotlight but helped shape those who end up in it.
September 11, 1965
5′ 7¼″ (1.71 m)
Konidela Ram Charan
New York City, New York, USA
59 years old