Actors and actresses which we don't see enough

1. Linda Hunt

Actress | The Year of Living Dangerously

Linda Hunt is a veteran character actress who had only just begun acting in motion pictures when director Peter Weir required her peculiarities to animate one of cinema's most esoteric characters, Billy Kwan, the intellectual and virtuous Chinese-Australian dwarf and photographer, in the Australian...

2. Andrea Parker

Actress | The Pretender

Andrea Alexis Parker learned to walk on the sand in Newport Beach, California. Andrea's natural grace led her beloved mother Karen Macaulay to enroll Andrea in ballet lessons at 5 years old, soon turning to serious classical training by the age of 8. By the time she was 11, Andrea's passion for ...

3. Paul Freeman

Actor | Raiders of the Lost Ark

Probably one of Britain's most underrated actors, Paul Freeman has accumulated literally hundreds of screen credits over several decades, most notably as the main villain in the Steven Spielberg classic Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and he has worked extensively in the theatre, but he has managed...

4. Kathy Najimy

Actress | Hocus Pocus

Kathy Najimy was born and raised in San Diego, California. She is the daughter of Samia (Massery) and Fred Najimy, a postal worker, both of Lebanese ancestry. Kathy attended Crawford High School, and began her film career in the early 1990s, with several minor roles. Kathy got her breakthrough ...

5. Pat Crawford Brown

Actress | The Rocketeer

Pat Crawford Brown was born on June 29, 1929 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Rocketeer (1991), Reality Bites (1994) and Norbit (2007). She was married to Calvin Burdell Brown. She died on July 2, 2019 in the USA.

6. Mo Gaffney

Actress | Drop Dead Gorgeous

Mo Gaffney was born on November 5, 1958 in San Diego, California, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), Absolutely Fabulous (1992) and God Bless America (2011).

7. Piper Laurie

Actress | The Hustler

Piper Laurie was a three-time Oscar nominee, nominated by BAFTA as well as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for best performance by an actress in 'The Hustler' with Paul Newman.

Laurie was born Rosetta Jacobs in Detroit, Michigan, to Charlotte Sadie (Alperin) and Alfred Jacobs, a ...

8. Michael Biehn

Actor | Aliens

Michael Connell Biehn was born on July 31, 1956 in Anniston, Alabama, to Marcia (Connell) and Don Biehn, a lawyer. He grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, and at age 14 moved with his family to Lake Havasu, Arizona, where he won a drama scholarship to the University of Arizona. He left prematurely two ...

9. Swoosie Kurtz

Actress | Bubble Boy

Swoosie is the only child of author Margo and Frank Kurtz. As her father was a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, she moved often during her school years, living in eight different states. At the University of Southern California she majored in drama; later she attended the London Academy of Music and ...

10. Sela Ward

Actress | Independence Day: Resurgence

Hallelujah for Sela. Everyone's favorite "Sister" was born Sela Ann Ward, on July 11, 1956, in Meridian, Mississippi. Sela's parents were Annie Kate (Boswell) and Granberry Holland Ward, Jr., an electrical engineer; the three younger children in the family are Jenna (1957), Berry (1959) and Brock (...

11. Amanda Plummer

Actress | Pulp Fiction

The daughter of Canadian actor Christopher Plummer and American actress Tammy Grimes, Amanda Plummer was born in New York City on March 23, 1957. Her breakthrough role came when she starred opposite Robin Williams in The Fisher King (1991). However, Plummer may be best remembered for her work in ...

12. Virginia Madsen

Actress | Sideways

One of the hottest stars of the mid-1980s, Virginia Madsen has since played a variety of roles that have cemented her reputation as a fantastic actress who can adapt to any part.

Virginia was born in Chicago, Illinois, and belongs to an acting family -- with her brother, Michael Madsen, also an ...

13. Ryan Merriman

Actor | Final Destination 3

Ryan Earl Merriman was born in Choctaw, Oklahoma, to Nonalyn and Earl Merriman. He began his acting career doing commercials, print work, vocal performances, and local theater in Oklahoma when he was 8 years old, moving into film and television work at the age of 10.

Most recently Ryan wrapped ...

14. Michael T. Weiss

Actor | The Pretender

Michael T. Weiss is an award nominated actor. He is a Chicago native where he studied at the famed "Second City". He has a BFA in Acting from The University of Southern California's prestigious school of Drama. He has had a diverse career in film, television, and theater both as an actor and a ...

15. Patrick Bauchau

Actor | Panic Room

Patrick Nicolas Jean Sixte Ghislain Bauchau was born in Brussels, Belgium. His father, Henry Bauchau, is a noted author, psychoanalyst, and philosopher, while his mother was an educator who also helped operate a publishing company. Coming from an intellectual family, it's not surprising that ...

16. JoBeth Williams

Actress | Poltergeist

The product of a musical family, (Margaret) JoBeth Williams was born on December 6, 1948, in Houston, Texas, to Frances Faye (Adams), a dietitian, and Fredric Roger Williams, a wire/cable company manager and opera singer. Her father encouraged her early interest in theater during high school.

She ...

17. Martin Cummins

Actor | Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

Martin Cummins was born on November 28, 1969 in North Delta, British Columbia, Canada. He is an actor and director, known for Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989), Riverdale (2017) and We All Fall Down (2000). He has been married to Christine Wallace since July 12, 2013. He was ...

18. Robbi Chong

Actress | Poltergeist: The Legacy

Robbi Chong was born on May 28, 1965 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She is an actress and producer, known for Poltergeist: The Legacy (1996), Ellie Parker (2005) and Shelter (2007).

19. Helen Shaver

Actress | Desert Hearts

Helen Shaver has built a lasting legacy, both behind and in front of the camera. She has directed hundreds of hours of television ranging from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) to Castle (2009), from The Unit (2006) to The Outer Limits (1995). Her film, Summer's End (1999), a Showtime ...

20. Charles S. Dutton

Actor | Gothika

Charles S. Dutton was born on January 30, 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Gothika (2003), Alien³ (1992) and A Time to Kill (1996). He was previously married to Debbi Morgan.

21. Brooke Adams

Actress | Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Brooke Adams was born on February 8, 1949 in New York City, to Rosalind (Gould), an actress, and Robert Kaufmann Adams, a former CBS vice president. She was educated at the prestigious High School for the Performing Arts and the School of the American Ballet.

Starting her career on the stage, her ...

22. Ally Walker

Actress | Universal Soldier

Ally Walker was born in Tullahoma, Tennessee and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Actress Ally Walker studied biology and chemistry at the University of California Santa Cruz and went on to work for a genetic engineering firm in San Francisco. While spending a semester at Richmond College of the ...

23. Monte Markham

Actor | We Are Still Here

Monte Markham- Actor, Director, Filmmaker

While enjoying a substantial career as a versatile, award winning actor/director/writer in feature motion pictures, television, and on Broadway, in 1992, Monte, with his son Jason Markham and wife Klaire Markham, founded their independent production company,...

24. Fionnula Flanagan

Actress | The Others

Fionnula Flanagan was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland. From an early age she grew up speaking both English and Irish on a daily basis. Her parents weren't native Irish speakers but wanted Fionnula and her four siblings to learn the language. Her mother used to say, "A nation without a language ...

25. William McNamara

Actor | Copycat

William McNamara studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and has since notched up over one hundred and sixty-five film and TV appearances. One of his first roles was that of Joel in the teen movie Dream a Little Dream (1989) with Corey Feldman and Corey Haim. He followed this up ...

26. Brenda Vaccaro

Actress | Midnight Cowboy

A leading lady on screen, stage and sometimes television, Brenda Vaccaro, was born in Brooklyn but was actually raised in Dallas, Texas.

Her appetite for acting increased following several appearances in high school productions, and she finally started a professional career in the 1960s. Memorable ...

27. Marta DuBois

Actress | Star Trek: The Next Generation

Marta DuBois was born on December 15, 1952 in David, Panama. She was an actress, known for Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), Tales of the Gold Monkey (1982) and Magnum, P.I. (1980). She was married to Salvatore Jack Giordano. She died on May 8, 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

28. Yancy Butler

Actress | Kick-Ass 2

Yancy Butler was born and grew up in Greenwich Village, New York City during the 1970s, so it's not unusual that she chose to be an actor, being third generation showbiz. Her father is Joe Butler, the lead singer and drummer for the reunited Lovin' Spoonful; her mother, Leslie , was a company ...

29. Brian McNamara

Actor | Army Wives

Brian McNamara is a character actor, director and producer who has made over 100 TV and film appearances. His first major role was in the Garry Marshall comedy drama The Flamingo Kid (1984) with Matt Dillon. He then went on to star opposite Ally Sheedy and Steve Guttenberg in the John Badham ...

30. Kathleen Quinlan

Actress | Apollo 13

Kathleen Quinlan was born in Pasadena, California, the only child of Josephine (Zachry), a military-supply supervisor, and Robert Quinlan, a television sports director. She grew up in Mill Valley, Ca, and got her break in acting when George Lucas came to her high school to cast for his movie ...

31. Chris Cooper

Actor | Adaptation.

Christopher Walton Cooper was born in Kansas City, Missouri, to Mary Ann (Walton), a homemaker, and Charles Sherwood Cooper, a cattleman and internist who served as a doctor in the US Air Force. His parents were from Texas, where Cooper was raised.

Educated at the University of Missouri school of ...

32. Peter Wingfield

Actor | Highlander

Born in Cardiff, Peter trained as a doctor at Brasenose College, Oxford and St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, but chose an acting career just prior to graduation. Peter caught the acting bug as a teenager at the National Youth Theatre in Wales and his drama training was at the Guildhall ...

33. Nicholas Lea

Actor | Vertical Limit

Nicholas Lea was born on June 22, 1962 in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for Vertical Limit (2000), The X-Files (1993) and Chaos (2005).

34. Elizabeth Gracen

Actress | Highlander

Elizabeth Gracen arrived in New York City from a small town in Arkansas a year after traveling the world as Miss America 1982. She used her scholarship prize money to study acting at HB Studios and photography at the New School. She later moved to Los Angeles where she has worked as an actress for ...

35. Tia Carrere

Actress | Wayne's World

Tia Carrere, born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, was discovered in a grocery store and landed the female lead in the film Aloha Summer. She then moved to Los Angeles and continued her ascent in the acting world as a series regular on General Hospital as well as a string of guest starring roles on ...

36. Karen Allen

Actress | Raiders of the Lost Ark

Karen Jane Allen was born in Carrollton, rural southern Illinois, to Patricia (Howell), a teacher, and Carroll Thompson Allen, an FBI agent. She spent her first 10 years traveling around the country with her parents and two sisters. She was always "the new girl in school." Acting did not really ...

37. Mercedes Ruehl

Actress | The Fisher King

Ruehl received her first Academy Award nomination and win for her performance as Anne Napolitano, the emotionally driven girlfriend to fallen radio personality, (played by Jeff Bridges), in Terry Gilliam's masterpiece, The Fisher King (1991). In addition to an Oscar, and a Golden Globe, Ruehl's ...

38. Veronica Cartwright

Actress | Alien

Born in Bristol, England, Veronica is the older sister of the popular child actress Angela Cartwright. In her early career, Veronica was cast in a number of popular movies such as William Wyler's The Children's Hour (1961), Spencer's Mountain (1963) and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). As such,...

39. Laurie Holden

Actress | The Boys

Laurie Holden is best known to audiences as Andrea in the hit AMC drama series The Walking Dead. However, Laurie's big acting break came much earlier in her career, starring with Vanessa Redgrave in the critically acclaimed TNT mini-series Young Catherine. Since that auspicious beginning, she has ...

40. Annette O'Toole

Actress | Superman III

Annette O'Toole grew up in the Houston dance studio run by her mother. She made her television debut at the age of two, as a kid on The Don Mahoney Kiddie Trooper Show. When she was 13, with ten years of singing and dancing lessons behind her, she and her mother went to L.A. for a year to see if ...

41. Kathy Burke

Actress | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Ms. Burke was born in Camden, London in 1964 at the Royal Free Hospital. Kathy's mother died when she was a baby and she was in foster homes for a short time until her father, who was a heavy drinker, could regain custody of Kathy and live with her two brothers. Kathy attended the Maria Fidelis ...

42. Geraldine James

Actress | Calendar Girls

Geraldine James, Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) was born on July 6, 1950 in Maidenhead, Berkshire. She was educated at Downe House, a girls' independent school in Newbury, Berkshire, and later, at Drama Centre London. Geraldine has made several film and television appearances, she ...

43. Isabelle Huppert

Actress | Elle

Isabelle Huppert was born March 16, 1953, in Paris, France, but spent her childhood in Ville d'Avray. Encouraged by her mother Annick Huppert (who was a teacher of English), she followed the Conservatory of Versailles and won an acting prize for her work in Alfred de Musset's "Un caprice". She then...

44. Hanna Schygulla

Actress | Die Ehe der Maria Braun

Lead icon of the influential New German Cinema of the 70's & 80's, Schygulla's natural blonde beauty and amazing versatility keep her among the world's top actresses. She won best actress at Cannes in 1983 for The Story of Piera (1983) (aka "The Story of Piera"), an Italian/German co-production. The...

45. Jasmine Guy

Actress | Harlem Nights

Actress-dancer-director Jasmine Guy has enjoyed a diverse career in television, theatre and film. She began her professional career at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. Jasmine starred on Broadway in the original productions of Beehive and Leader of the Pack, and reprised hit...

46. Christine Baranski

Actress | Mamma Mia!

Christine Baranski is an American actress from Buffalo, New York. She has had a relatively lengthy career in both film and television. She has been nominated for 15 Emmy Awards, winning once. One of her most popular roles was that of neuroscientist Dr. Beverly Hofstadter in the sitcom " The Big ...

47. Kyle Chandler

Actor | Argo

Kyle M. Chandler is an Emmy-winning American actor who was born in Buffalo, New York in 1965. He resides in the United States with his wife, Kathryn Chandler, and their two children, Sawyer and Sydney. Some of his most notable credits include "Friday Night Lights" (Friday Night Lights (2006)), "...

48. Adam Baldwin

Actor | Serenity

Adam Baldwin is an American actor who is from Illinois. He is known for playing Jayne Cobb from Firefly and Serenity, Hal Jordan in various DC cartoons and games and Animal Mother from Full Metal Jacket. He also acted in Independence Day, The Patriot, Predator 2, American Underdog, Superman: ...