Check out this really good piece over at the Independent. It talks about the rise of statisticians as rockstars, naming Hans Rosling, Nate Silver, and Chris Volinsky among others. I think that those guys are great and deserve all the attention they get.
I only hope that more of the superstars that fly under the radar of the general public but have made huge contributions to science/medicine (like Ross Prentice, Terry Speed, Scott Zeger, or others that were highlighted in the comments here) get the same kind of attention (although I suspect they might not want it).
I think one of the best parts of the article (which you should read in it’s entirety) is Marie Davidian’s quote:
There are rock stars, and then there are rock bands: statisticians frequently work in teams