Pure human beings

1. David Lynch

Born in precisely the kind of small-town American setting so familiar from his films, David Lynch spent his childhood being shunted from one state to another as his research scientist father kept getting relocated. He attended various art schools, married Peggy Lynch and then fathered future ...

2. John Waters

Writer | Pecker

Growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s, John Waters was not like other children; he was obsessed by violence and gore, both real and on the screen. With his weird counter-culture friends as his cast, he began making silent 8mm and 16mm films in the mid-'60s; he screened these in rented Baltimore ...

3. Steve Buscemi

Actor | Fargo

Steve Buscemi was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Dorothy (Wilson), a restaurant hostess, and John Buscemi, a sanitation worker. He is of Italian (father) and English, Dutch, and Irish (mother) descent. He became interested in acting during his last year of high school. After graduating, he moved to...

4. Eric André

Actor | The Eric Andre Show

Eric Samuel André is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, television host and writer. He is best known as the creator, host, and co-writer of the Adult Swim comedy series The Eric Andre Show (2012-present). He also played Mike on the FXX series Man Seeking Woman (2015-2017) and voiced ...

5. Joaquin Phoenix

Actor | Walk the Line

Joaquin Phoenix was born Joaquin Rafael Bottom in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Arlyn (Dunetz) and John Bottom, and is the middle child in a brood of five. His parents, from the continental United States, were then serving as Children of God missionaries. His mother is from a Jewish family from New ...

6. Rooney Mara

Actress | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Actress and philanthropist Rooney Mara was born on April 17, 1985 in Bedford, New York. She made her screen debut in the slasher film Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005), went on to have a supporting role in the independent coming-of-age drama Tanner Hall (2009), and has since starred in the horror ...

7. Bob Ross

Self | Bob Ross: The Joy of Painting

Bob Ross was born on October 29, 1942 in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA. He was married to Lynda Lucille Freeman, Jane Ross and Vicky Ross. He died on July 4, 1995 in Orlando, Florida, USA.

8. Alex Trebek

Producer | Jeopardy!

Born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, Alex Trebek graduated from the University of Ottawa with a degree in Philosophy. After his first decision to become a newscaster, he joined the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company), Canada's premier network in 1961. As he was working, he helped organize national ...

9. Josh Peck

Actor | Drake & Josh

Joshua Michael Peck is an American actor, comedian, and YouTuber. Peck began his career as a child actor in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and had an early role on The Amanda Show from 2000 to 2002. Peck rose to prominence for his role as Josh Nichols alongside Drake Bell's character in the ...

10. James Gandolfini

Actor | The Sopranos

James Gandolfini was born in Westwood, New Jersey, to Santa (Penna), a high school lunchlady, and James Joseph Gandolfini, Sr., a bricklayer and head school janitor. His parents were both of Italian origin. Gandolfini began acting in the New York theater. His Broadway debut was in the 1992 revival ...

11. Zendaya

Actress | Spider-Man: Homecoming

Zendaya (which means "to give thanks" in the language of Shona) is an American actress and singer born in Oakland, California. She began her career appearing as a child model working for Macy's, Mervyns and Old Navy. She was a backup dancer before gaining prominence for her role as Rocky Blue on ...

12. Hunter Schafer

Actress | The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

Hunter Schafer is an actress and artist best known for playing 'Jules Vaughn' in HBO's Emmy-Award Winning series EUPHORIA. Hunter was just seen in Francis Lawrence's THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES, starring alongside Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, Tom Blyth, and Rachel Zegler for ...

13. Jerry Trainor

Actor | Evolution

Jerry Trainor was born on January 21, 1977, and is an American television and movie actor. Jerry graduated from the University of San Diego High School, which is now known as Cathedral Catholic High School, and Jerry's mother teaches both pre-calculus and calculus there. It has been said that Jerry...

14. Nicolas Cage

Actor | Face/Off

Nicolas Cage was born Nicolas Kim Coppola in Long Beach, California, the son of comparative literature professor August Coppola (whose brother is director Francis Ford Coppola) and dancer/choreographer Joy Vogelsang. He is of Italian (father) and Polish and German (mother) descent. Cage changed his...

15. Jack Black

Actor | School of Rock

Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black was born on August 28, 1969 in Santa Monica, California and raised in Hermosa Beach, California to Judith Love Cohen & Thomas William Black, both satellite engineers. He is of Russian Jewish & British-German ancestry. Black attended the University of California at Los ...

16. Jim Henson

Soundtrack | The Muppet Show

Jim Henson never thought that he would make a name of himself in puppetry; it was merely a way of getting himself on television. The vehicle that achieved it was Sam and Friends (1955), a late-night puppet show that was on after the 11:00 news in Washington DC. It proved to be very popular and ...

17. Keanu Reeves

Actor | The Matrix

Keanu Charles Reeves, whose first name means "cool breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian, was born September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is the son of Patric Reeves, a showgirl and costume designer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, a geologist. Keanu's father was born in Hawaii, of British, Portuguese...

18. Werner Herzog

Director | Fitzcarraldo

Director. Writer. Producer. Actor. Poet. He studied history, literature and theatre for some time, but didn't finish it and founded instead his own film production company in 1963. Later in his life, Herzog also staged several operas in Bayreuth, Germany, and at the Milan Scala in Italy. Herzog has...

19. Leslie Nielsen

Actor | Airplane!

Leslie William Nielsen was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, and raised in Tulita (formerly Fort Norman), Northwest Territories. His mother, Mabel Elizabeth (Davies), was Welsh. His father, Ingvard Eversen Nielsen, was a Danish-born Mountie and a strict disciplinarian. Leslie studied at the Academy of ...

20. Adèle Haenel

Actress | Portrait de la jeune fille en feu

Adèle Haenel was born on February 11, 1989 in Paris, France. She is an actress, known for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), The Unknown Girl (2016) and Love at First Fight (2014).

21. Freddie Mercury

Soundtrack | Flash Gordon

Freddie Mercury was born on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar. His parents, Bomi and Jer Bulsara, sent him off to a private school in India, from 1955 til 1963. In 1964, he and his family flew to England. In 1966 he started his education at the Ealing College of Art, where he graduated in 1969. He ...

22. David Bowie

Soundtrack | Labyrinth

David Bowie was one of the most influential and prolific writers and performers of popular music, but he was much more than that; he was also an accomplished actor, a mime and an intellectual, as well as an art lover whose appreciation and knowledge of it had led to him amassing one of the biggest ...

23. Isabella Rossellini

Actress | Blue Velvet

Isabella Rossellini, the Italian actress and model who has made her home in America since 1979 and holds dual Italian and American citizenship, was born cinema royalty when she made her debut on June 18, 1952 in Rome. She is the daughter of two legends, three-time Oscar-winning Swedish-born actress ...

24. Bo Burnham

Writer | Bo Burnham: Inside

Robert Pickering Burnham is an American actor, director, writer and producer. He is known for writing and directing the middle school comedy film Eighth Grade. He also acted in Funny People, Rough Night, American Virgin, Hall Pass, The Big Sick and Promising Young Woman.

25. Nathan Lane

Actor | The Producers

Nathan Lane is an American actor and singer from New Jersey who is known for playing Timon from The Lion King, Spot Helperman/Scott Leadready II from Teacher's Pet, Max Bialystock from The Producers, Snowball from Stuart Little, Hamegg from Astro Boy and Ernie Smuntz from Mouse Hunt. He is married ...

26. Tim Curry

Actor | Congo

Timothy James Curry was born on April 19, 1946 in Grappenhall, Cheshire, England. His mother, Maura Patricia (Langmead), was a school secretary, and his father, James Curry, was a Methodist Royal Navy chaplain. Curry studied Drama and English at Birmingham University, from which he graduated with ...

27. Rick Moranis

Actor | Parenthood

Rick began his career as a radio DJ while he was still at high school which led to him writing, producing and being on air in his own show. He joined the Canadian TV series, SCTV (1976), winning an Emmy for writing and portraying the character, Bob McKenzie, which became the basis for the film, ...

28. John Candy

Actor | Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Candy was one of Canada's greatest and funniest character actors. His well-known role as the big hearted buffoon earned him classics in Uncle Buck (1989) and Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). His career has handed him some dry spells but Candy always rebounded.

Born in Newmarket, Ontario, in ...

29. James Rolfe

Writer | The Angry Video Game Nerd

James D. Rolfe is an American video game and film reviewer, filmmaker and YouTuber from Philadelphia. He started The Angry Video Game Nerd, a seminal video game reviewing series in 2004, which eventually became part of his YouTube channel. He is considered one of the most influential reviewers of ...

30. Kevin McDonald

Actor | The Kids in the Hall

Born in Montreal Canada. Drama major at Humber College, but kicked out for only being good at comedy. Enrolled in an improv class and met David Foley. They began working as a comedy team while employed as movie ushers. In 1984 they merged with another comedy team and formed The Kids in the Hall.

31. Scott Thompson

Actor | The Kids in the Hall

Scott Thompson was raised in Brampton, Ontario. He is the second oldest of four boys (the others are Craig, Derek and Dean). At 19, Scott got involved in an educational program called "Canada World Youth", and spent some time in the Phillipines. After CWY, Scott enrolled in York University but, in ...

32. Alice Cooper

Soundtrack | Wayne's World

Alice Cooper was born Vincent Damon Furnier, in Detroit, Michigan, the son of a minister. He moved to Phoenix, Arizona, at a young age and still lives in the state today. At age 17, he formed a rock band called the Earwigs, who changed their name to The Spiders and then The Nazz, before finally ...

33. Tom Kenny

Actor | SpongeBob SquarePants

Tom Kenny grew up in East Syracuse, New York. When Tom was young he was into comic books, drawing funny pictures and collecting records. Tom turned to stand-up comedy in Boston and San Francisco. This led to appearances on every cable show spawned by the stand-up epidemic of the '80s and '90s as ...

34. Alan Rickman

Actor | Die Hard

Alan Rickman was born on a council estate in Acton, West London, to Margaret Doreen Rose (Bartlett), of English and Welsh descent, and Bernard Rickman, of Irish descent, who worked at a factory. Alan Rickman had an older brother (David), a younger brother (Michael), and a younger sister (Sheila). ...

35. Roger Ebert

Cinematographer | Siskel & Ebert & the Movies

Roger Joseph Ebert was the all-time best-known, most successful movie critic in cinema history, when one thinks of his establishing a rapport with both serious cineastes and the movie-going public and reaching more movie fans via television and print than any other critic. He became the first and ...

36. Biz Markie

Actor | Men in Black II

Biz Markie was an African-American rapper, disk jockey and actor. He was known for his hit 1989 song "Just a Friend". He played a beatboxing alien in Men in Black II (2002) alongside Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. He was originally going to voice The Grizz in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (2013) but...

37. Danny DeVito

Actor | Matilda

Danny DeVito has amassed a formidable and versatile body of work as an actor, producer and director that spans the stage, television and film.

Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. was born on November 17, 1944, in Neptune, New Jersey, to Italian-American parents. His mother, Julia (Moccello), was a homemaker. ...