The Canadian suggestions are pretty good… I’d also include William Shatner.
For Americans, I’d suggest that your president is recognized worldwide.
My first thought was Jari Kurri, former linemate of Wayne Gretzky.
But Dame Edna Everage is now officially the world’s only gigastar !
That’s difficult to believe, since country music has a somewhat limited global reach.
I think it likely that the most famous Canadian may be sir Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone. Pretty much anyone can identify Bell as the guy who invented the telephone.
For people who you KNOW are Canadian, I would imagine Wayne Gretzky is the guy.
Japan’s a hard one to judge, since there aren’t that many individuals that get globally known.
My guess for #1 worldwide would probably be the Showa Emperor Hirohito.
Current stars would probably be Ichiro Suzuki in the U.S., ‘Beat’ Takeshi Kitano in Europe and either Takuya Kimura or PM Koizumi in Asia.
As an Aussie living in the US, i can assure you that most Americans have never even heard of Don Bradman, and that while many probably know who Ian Thorpe is (especially since the Olympics were held recently), most wouldn’t recognise him on the street and even more will have forgotten him in a few months.
Elle MacPherson has done a few ads over here recently, but i don’t think she’s really in the hunt, and Kylie is nowhere near as well-known here as she is in the UK and Australia.
Now you’re talking, for the US at least. Paul Hogan has fallen by the wayside a bit, but i have yet to meet an American who doesn’t know who the Crocodile Hunter is.
Of course, i realise that fame in the United States isn’t the only criteria, and that figures like Bradman and Kylie and Thorpe are very well-known elsewhere. Still, Steve Irwin’s show is syndicated worldwide, and i reckon he’d be right near the top.
Looking back at some other Aussies who are pretty well-known outside of Australia, i’d have to add:
Germaine Greer
Joan Sutherland
Errol Flynn
Russell Crowe
Nicole Kidman
Greg Norman
Lleyton Hewitt
Dame Edna/Barry Humphries
Rupert Murdoch (yes, i know he’s now an American citizen, but i think he qualifies)
New Zealander.
Not sure if Mel Gibson counts, born in the US but mostly raised in Australia.
Michael Jordan used to be considered one of the most recognizable celebs in the world; not sure if that’s still true or not, though.
Nicole Kidman was born in Hawaii.
Does it have to be an individual? How about AC/DC?
So what.
I was born in Canada, but have spent most of my life, including my formative years, in Australia. I speak with an Australian accent, grew up immersed in Australian society and culture, and still think of Australia as “home.” I’ve spent a total of two years of my adult life in Canada. I love the place, and have lots of friends there, but am really Canadian only by birth.
It’s pretty lame to restrict people’s nationality to the place where their mother happened to be when they popped out. Take a straw poll, and compare the number of people who think Nicole Kidman is an Australian to the number who think she’s an American because she happened to be born in Hawaii.
I’ve heard of Alexander Graham Bell, but not Wayne Gretzky.
I believe he used to hit pucks into nets between the fights.
Well, if Gibson might count as an Aussie, then Crowe is surely in the running, too. According to this short bio, Crowe was raised in Australia from the age of four.
I’m not saying that his Kiwi birth is irrelevant, and indeed Crowe himself might well identify as a New Zealander, but absent other information i still think it’s pretty silly to tag someone with the nationality of a country where they’ve spent virtually none of their life.
Perhaps the test, for the purpose of this thread, should be to ask yourself which country most people would nominate if asked where the person was from.
Napoleon was a Corsican. Perhaps a better question is “most famous person associated with your country”.
OK. Most famous American: Arnold Schwarzennegger.
Arnold is just as associated with “foreign” as he is with the US. Not to mention, do you seriously think the Governator is more famous than Dubya, Elvis, Walt Disney, etc.?
I sense some rage…
Seriously, Arnie is better known than Walt Disney (the man, that is, as opposed to the company/brand) and Elvis among the young.
Dubya or Arnie as the leading American. You got to love it.
I already claimed him for Britain 
(and Googlefight agrees…)
I think Errol Flynn was born in Tasmania. Hobart, I believe.
Where’s Eve when you need her?