1-50 of 761 names.

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1. Chris Penn Chris Penn Actor, Reservoir Dogs Chris Penn was a well known actor, belonging to a family whose roots were set in the production of movies. Although his life ended before his time, Penn racked up an impressive number of performances in his career, in films now treasured as classics. Born on October 10, 1965 in Los Angeles, California...
2. Walter Matthau Walter Matthau Actor, The Odd Couple Born Walter Matthow on October 1, 1920, to a pair of Russian-Jewish immigrants in New York City, Matthau grew up in poverty on the Lower East Side and started out selling soft drinks and playing bit parts at a Yiddish theater troupe at age 11. He was paid 50 cents for each of his occasional on-stage appearances...
3. Troy Donahue Troy Donahue Actor, The Godfather: Part II Troy Donahue was a journalism student at Columbia University when he began playing in stock productions. He made his film debut in Man Afraid and in 1959 signed as a contract player with Warner Bros., which promoted him to stardom with A Summer Place that year. He was soon a teenage heartthrob...
4. Dorothy McGuire Dorothy McGuire Actress, Gentleman's Agreement A genuine model of sincerity, practicality and dignity in most of the roles she inhabited, actress Dorothy McGuire offered Tinseltown more talent than it probably knew what to do with. A quiet, passive beauty, she had a soothing quality to her open-faced looks and voice. She was a natural when he came...
5. Barbara Stanwyck Barbara Stanwyck Actress, Double Indemnity Today Barbara Stanwyck is remembered primarily as the matriarch of the family known as the Barkleys on the TV western The Big Valley, wherein she played Victoria, and from the hit drama The Colbys. But she was known to millions of other fans for her movie career, which spanned the period from 1927 until 1964...
6. Stewart Granger Stewart Granger Actor, Scaramouche Stewart Granger was born James Leblanche Stewart in London, the grandson of the actor "Luigi Lablache". He attended Epsom College but left after deciding not to pursue a medical degree. He decided to try acting and attended Webber-Douglas School of Dramatic Art, London. By 1935, he made his stage debut in "The Cardinal at Hull"...
7. Farrah Fawcett Farrah Fawcett Actress, Logan's Run Farrah Fawcett, was a fresh-faced woman from Corpus Christi, Texas. In the early 1960s, she was voted the "Beautiful Woman" by her high school colleagues. In the late 1960s, she had her first break in guest-starring roles in television series such as I Dream of Jeannie, The Flying Nun and The Partridge Family...
8. Jean Simmons Jean Simmons Actress, Spartacus Demure British beauty Jean Simmons was born January 31, 1929 in Crouch End, London. As a 14-year-old dance student, she was plucked from her school to play Margaret Lockwood's precocious sister in Give Us the Moon, and she went on to make a name for herself in such major British productions as Caesar and Cleopatra...
9. William Holden William Holden Actor, The Bridge on the River Kwai William Holden came from a wealthy family (the Beedles) that moved to Pasadena, California, when he was three. His father William Franklin Beedle was an industrial chemist and his mother Mary Blanche Ball a teacher. In 1937, while studying chemistry at Pasadena Junior College, he was signed to a film contract by Paramount...
10. Dom DeLuise Dom DeLuise Actor, All Dogs Go to Heaven As might be said for the late and great comedians Harvey Korman and Madeline Kahn, it seems that Mel Brooks was the only director on the planet who knew how to best utilize this funnyman's talents on film. Brooks once quipped that, whenever he hired Dom DeLuise for one of his films, he would...
11. Joan Blondell Joan Blondell Actress, Grease With blonde hair, big blue eyes and a big smile, Joan was usually cast as the wisecracking working girl who was the lead's best friend. Born into vaudeville to a comic named Eddie, Joan was on the stage when she was three years old. For years, she toured the circuit with her parents and joined a stock company when she was 17...
12. George Carlin George Carlin Actor, Dogma Born and raised by his mother in various places in The United States. They moved frequently in order to avoid his father, who in Carlin's words, was a stalker and alcoholic. His mother (as well as his father) worked in marketing, where they met. The long hours the mother worked left the young George by himself for long hours every day...
13. Walter Pidgeon Walter Pidgeon Actor, Forbidden Planet Walter Pidgeon, a handsome, tall and dark-haired man, began his career studying voice at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He then did theater, mainly stage musicals. He went to Hollywood in the early 1920s, where he made silent films, including Mannequin and Sumuru. When talkies arrived...
14. Patrick McGoohan Patrick McGoohan Actor, Braveheart Though born in America, Irish actor Patrick McGoohan rose to become the number-one British TV star in the 1950s to 1960s era. His parents moved to Ireland when he was very young and McGoohan acquired a neutral accent that sounds at home in British or American dialogue. He was an avid stage actor and...
15. Fred MacMurray Fred MacMurray Actor, Double Indemnity Born to Maleta Martin and Frederick MacMurray (concert violinist). Fred sang and played in orchestras to earn tuition. He was educated at Carroll College, Wis. Fred played with a Chicago orchestra for more than a year. Then he joined an orchestra in Hollywood where he played, did some recording and played extra roles...
16. Robert Taylor Robert Taylor Actor, Quo Vadis Spangler Arlington Brugh - for such was the impressive name with which Robert Taylor was born - was already displaying a diversity of talents in his youth on the plains of Nebraska. At Beatrice High School he was a standout track athlete, but also showed a talent for using his voice, winning several oratory awards...
17. Lorne Greene Lorne Greene Actor, Earthquake Lorne Greene was born Lyon Himan "Chaim" Greene on February 12, 1915 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He began acting while attending Canada's Queen's University, and after graduation got a job in radio broadcasting. His rich, deep, authoritarian voice quickly propelled him to prominence as Canada's top newscaster...
18. Gene Roddenberry Gene Roddenberry Writer, Star Trek: The Next Generation
19. Cesar Romero Cesar Romero Actor, Batman Tall, suave and sophisticated Cesar Romero actually had two claims to fame in Hollywood. To one generation, he was the distinguished Latin lover of numerous musicals and romantic comedies, and the rogue bandit The Cisco Kid in a string of low-budget westerns. However, to a younger generation weaned on television...
20. Ralph Bellamy Ralph Bellamy Actor, Pretty Woman Ralph Bellamy, the veteran actor who was so well-liked and respected by his peers that he was the recipient of an honorary Oscar in 1987 for his contributions to the acting profession, was born on June 17, 1904, in Chicago, Illinois. He began his career as a player right out of high school in 1922, joining a traveling company that put on Shakespearean plays...
21. Roberts Blossom Roberts Blossom Actor, Home Alone Roberts Blossom was a marvelously quirky, talented, and versatile character actor who was especially adept at portraying cantankerous old oddballs. Born in 1924 in New Haven, Connecticutt, Blossom graduated from the prestigious Asheville School in 1941 and attended Harvard. Roberts initially planned on being a therapist...
22. Jackie Coogan Jackie Coogan Actor, The Kid Jackie Coogan was born into a family of vaudevillians where his father was a dancer and his mother had been a child star. On the stage by four, Jackie was touring at the age of five with his family in Los Angeles, California. While performing on the stage, he was spotted by Charles Chaplin, who then and there planned a movie in which he and Jackie would star...
23. Anna May Wong Anna May Wong Actress, Shanghai Express Anna May Wong, the first Chinese-American movie star, was born Wong Liu Tsong on January 3, 1905, in Los Angeles, California, to laundryman Wong Sam Sing and his wife, Lee Gon Toy. A third-generation American, she managed to have a substantial acting career during a deeply racist time when the taboo...
24. James Dunn James Dunn Actor, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn James Dunn worked on the stage, in vaudeville and as an extra in silent movies before he was signed by Fox in 1931. His first movie with Fox was 1931's Sob Sister. While at Fox, he appeared with Shirley Temple in her first three features: Baby Take a Bow, Stand Up and Cheer! and Bright Eyes. Dunn's screen character was usually the boy next door or the nice guy...
25. Barbara Billingsley Barbara Billingsley Actress, Airplane!
26. Blake Edwards Blake Edwards Writer, The Party Blake Edwards' stepfather's father J. Gordon Edwards was a silent screen director, and his stepfather Jack McEdward was a stage director and movie production manager. Blake acted in a number films, beginning with Ten Gentlemen from West Point and wrote a number of others, beginning with Panhandle and including six for director Richard Quine...
27. Margaux Hemingway Margaux Hemingway Actress, Lipstick Born in Portland, Oregon, she grew up in on a farm in Ketchum, Idaho. But dad was Jack Hemingway, son of the Nobel prize winning author Ernest Hemingway and, with that heritage, fame was almost foreordained. By the time she was 21, after the lead in the rape melodrama Lipstick, she had a budding movie career...
28. Stan Laurel Stan Laurel Actor, The Flying Deuces Stan Laurel was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson on the 16th of June in Ulverston, Cumbria in England, 1890. His father was a vaudeville performer and this led Arthur to being a stage performer too. He didn't get much schooling and this led to the joining of Fred Karno's Troupe where Arthur understudied the future star...
29. Victor Jory Victor Jory Actor, Papillon Victor Jory was the boxing and wrestling champion of the Coast Guard during his military hitch, and never lost his big, burly physique. His sinister looks and distinctive voice typed him as a heavy, at which he excelled, but he did occasionally play sympathetic leads, one of which was, oddly enough, the sci-fi cult classic Cat-Women of the Moon.
30. Betty Grable Betty Grable Actress, How to Marry a Millionaire Elizabeth Ruth Grable was born on December 18, 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her mother Lillian was a stubborn and materialistic woman who was determined to make her daughter a star. Elizabeth, who later became Betty, was enrolled in Clark's Dancing School at the age of three. With her mother's guidance...
31. Jackie Cooper Jackie Cooper Actor, Superman Served with the Navy in the South Pacific toward the end of World War II. Then, quietly and without publicity or fanfare, compiled one of the most distinguished peacetime military careers of anyone in his profession. In 1961, as his weekly TV series Hennesey was enhancing naval recruiting efforts...
32. Irene Ryan Irene Ryan Actress, My Dear Secretary Before becoming known to millions as Granny on The Beverly Hillbillies, Irene Ryan was already an established vaudeville, radio and movie actress, though not as famous prior to her television stint. She accompanied Bob Hope on his famous military tours and she was known as "the gal who makes Bob Hope laugh." After being cast as Granny...
33. Zalman King Zalman King Director, Two Moon Junction
34. Dean Jagger Dean Jagger Actor, White Christmas Dean Jagger was born in Lima, Ohio, on November 7, 1903. He dropped out of high school twice before finally graduating from Wabash College. Working first as a school teacher, he soon became interested in acting and enrolled at Chicago's "Lyceum Art Conservatory". Mr. Jagger made his first movie and only silent film...
35. Edward Platt Edward Platt Actor, North by Northwest Edward Platt will forever be known as the Chief, aka Harold Clark, aka Thaddeus, on "Get Smart." According to show creator Leonard Stern, he remembered Platt as the juvenile officer in "Rebel Without A Cause" and wanted Platt specifically for the role of Chief. When Platt came in he began breaking into song (he had a classically trained baritone voice) Stern knew Platt could carry off comedy...
36. David Wayne David Wayne Actor, The Andromeda Strain His father was an insurance executive; his mother died when he was four. He attended Western Michigan University then worked as a statistician in Cleveland where he joined a Shakespeare repertory company. Two years later he had a minor role in "The American Way" in New York. He was rejected by the army in World War II but volunteered as an ambulance driver in North Africa...
37. Harve Presnell Harve Presnell Actor, Fargo By the time handsome, brawny baritone Harve Presnell arrived on the film scene, the "Golden Age" of musicals had long dissipated. Born in Modesto, California in 1933, he graduated from Modesto High School and received a USC sports scholarship, but moved quickly to singing. Initially training for an operatic career...
38. Charles Lane Charles Lane Actor, It's a Wonderful Life Mean, miserly and miserable-looking, they didn't come packaged with a more annoying and irksome bow than Charles Lane. Glimpsing even a bent smile from this unending sourpuss was extremely rare, unless one perhaps caught him in a moment of insidious glee after carrying out one of his many nefarious schemes...
39. Ray Teal Ray Teal Actor, Judgment at Nuremberg Most familiar to TV audiences as no-nonsense Sheriff Roy Coffee on the long-running western series Bonanza, Ray Teal was one of the most versatile character actors in the business. In his almost 40-year career he played everything from cops to gunfighters to sheriffs to gangsters to a judge at the Nuremberg War Crimes trials...
40. Paul Henreid Paul Henreid Actor, Casablanca The son of aristocratic banker Baron Carl Alphons and Marie Luise von Hernried, Paul grew up in Vienna and studied at the prestigious Maria Theresa Academy (graduating in 1927) and the Institute of Graphic Arts. For four years, he worked as translator and book designer for a publishing outfit run by Otto Preminger...
41. Mary Pickford Mary Pickford Actress, Coquette Destined to become America's first sweetheart, Mary Pickford was born Gladys Marie Smith on April 8, 1892, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Acting would become second nature to little Mary. Her parents were actors and it was only natural that she would follow in their footsteps. Her mother wasted no time in introducing her to the stage...
42. Alan Napier Alan Napier Actor, The Sword in the Stone Tall, distinguished-looking English character actor with aristocratic bearing and precisely modulated voice. A cousin of the former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and spent his formative years as an actor with Oxford Repertory and, from 1924, on the London stage...
43. Hope Lange Hope Lange Actress, Blue Velvet One of the most natural beauties of the 1960's with a gentle voice and personality to match, blonde Hope Lange was born in Redding Ridge, Connecticut, and performed on stage from the age of nine. She studied both drama and dance under Martha Graham, did some modeling and then worked in stock companies and on television...
44. Ray Collins Ray Collins Actor, Citizen Kane Ray Bidwell Collins was an American actor in film, stage, radio and television. One of his best remembered roles was that of Lt. Arthur Tragg in the long-running series Perry Mason. Collins was born in Sacramento, California, to Lillie Bidwell and William C. Collins, a newspaper drama editor. He started acting on stage at the age of 14...
45. Joan Taylor Joan Taylor Actress, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers Joan Taylor's mother, Amelia Berky, was a vaudeville singing-dancing star in the 1920s. Her father was a prop man in Hollywood during that same period, but, after Joan's birth, the family moved to Lake Forest, Illinois, where her father managed a movie theater. She developed a love of movies from watching so many at her father's theater...
46. Ted Demme Ted Demme Director, Blow
47. Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Fairbanks Actor, The Thief of Bagdad Douglas Fairbanks was raised by his southern mother who had separated from his father, an attorney, when he was five. He began amateur theater at age 12 and continued while attending the Colorado School of Mines. In 1900 they moved to New York. He attended Harvard, traveled to Europe, worked on a cattle freighter...
48. Gene Lockhart Gene Lockhart Actor, His Girl Friday Gene Lockhart was born on July 18, 1891, in London, Ontario, Canada, the son of John Coates Lockhart and Ellen Mary (Delany) Lockhart. His father had studied singing and young Gene displayed an early interest in drama and music. Shortly after the 7-year-old danced a Highland fling in a concert given by the 48th Highlanders' Regimental Band...
49. Alaina Reed-Hall Alaina Reed-Hall Actress, Cruel Intentions
50. Jeff Corey Jeff Corey Actor, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Born on August 10, 1914 in Brooklyn, New York, Jeff Corey was a film and television character actor as well as one of the top acting teachers in America. He was an indifferent student, but after taking a drama class in high school, young Corey became hooked. His talent earned him a scholarship to the Feagin School of Dramatic Arts...
1-50 of 761 names.