im db best actors - top 250 - a list by yves porters- copied by samir rafla
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Best Actors - Top 250
1.
Jack Nicholson Actor, The Shining
With 12 Academy Award nominations (eight for Best Actor and four for Best
Supporting Actor), Nicholson is the most nominated male actor in Academy
Awards history. Only Nicholson (1960s-2000s), Michael Caine (1960s-2000s),
Paul Newman (1950s-1960s, 1980s-2000s), and Laurence Olivier (1930s-1970s)
have been nominated for an acting (lead or supporting) Academy Award in five
decades...
2.
Ralph Fiennes Actor, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born on December 22, 1962 in
Suffolk, England, to Jennifer Anne Mary Alleyne (Lash), a novelist, and Mark
Fiennes, a photographer. He is the eldest of six children. Four of his siblings are
also in the arts: Martha Fiennes, a director; Magnus Fiennes, a musician; Sophie
Fiennes...
3.
Daniel Day-Lewis Actor, There Will Be Blood
Born in London, England, Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is the second child of
Cecil Day-Lewis (A.K.A. Nicholas Blake) (Poet Laureate of England) and his
second wife, Jill Balcon. His maternal grandfather was Sir Michael Balcon, an
important figure in the history of British cinema and head of the famous Ealing
Studios...
4.
Robert De Niro Actor, Goodfellas
Robert De Niro, thought of as one of the greatest actors of all time, was born in
Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, to artists Virginia (Admiral)
and Robert De Niro Sr. His paternal grandfather was of Italian descent, and his
other ancestry is Irish, German, Dutch, English, and French. He was trained at
the Stella Adler Conservatory and the American Workshop...
5.
Al Pacino Actor, The Godfather
Al Pacino received his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for Serpico (1973); he
was also nominated for The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and
...And Justice for All (1979) and won the award in 1993 for his performance as a
blind Lieutenant Colonel in Scent of a Woman (1992). For his performances in
The Godfather...
6.
Dustin Hoffman Actor, Kramer vs. Kramer
Dustin Lee Hoffman was born in Los Angeles, California, to Lillian (Gold) and
Harry Hoffman, who was a furniture salesman and prop supervisor for Columbia
Pictures. He was raised in a Jewish family (from Ukraine, Russia-Poland, and
Romania). Hoffman graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1955, and went to
Santa Monica City College...
7.
Tom Hanks Actor, The Da Vinci Code
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born in Concord, California, to Janet Marylyn (Frager),
a hospital worker, and Amos Mefford Hanks, an itinerant cook. His father had
English, and some German, ancestry, while his mother's family, originally
surnamed "Fraga", was entirely Portuguese. Tom grew up in what he has called a
"fractured" family...
8.
Brad Pitt Actor, Inglourious Basterds
An actor and producer known as much for his versatility as he is for his handsome
face, Golden Globe-winner Brad Pitt's most widely recognized role may be Tyler
Durden in Fight Club. But his portrayals of Billy Beane in Moneyball, and Rusty
Ryan in the remake of Ocean's Eleven and its sequels, also loom large in his
filmography...
9.
Anthony Hopkins Actor, Hannibal
Anthony Hopkins was born on December 31, 1937, in Margam, Wales, to Muriel
Anne (Yeats) and Richard Arthur Hopkins, a baker. His parents were both of half
Welsh and half English descent. Influenced by Richard Burton, he decided to
study at College of Music and Drama and graduated in 1957. In 1965, he moved
to London and joined the National Theatre...
10.
Marlon Brando Actor, The Godfather
Marlon Brando is widely considered the greatest movie actor of all time, rivaled
only by the more theatrically orientedLaurence Olivier in terms of esteem. Unlike
Olivier, who preferred the stage to the screen, Brando concentrated his talents on
movies after bidding the Broadway stage adieu in 1949...
11.
Jeremy Irons Actor, The Lion King
Elegant and handsome British actor Jeremy Irons was born in Cowes, Isle of
Wight, a small island just off the south coast of England. He is the son of Barbara
Anne Brereton (Sharpe) and Paul Dugan Irons, an accountant. Young Jeremy
didn't prove very fond of figures. A typical islander, he used to go to mainland
England only once a year...
12.
Denzel Washington Actor, Training Day
Denzel Washington is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received three
Golden Globe awards, a Tony Award, and two Academy Awards: Best Supporting
Actor for the historical war drama film Glory (1989) and Best Actor for his role as
a corrupt cop in the crime thriller Training Day (2001). Washington has received
much critical acclaim for his film work since the 1990s...
13.
Gene Hackman Actor, Unforgiven
Eugene Allen Hackman was born in San Bernardino, California, the son of Anna
Lyda Elizabeth (Gray) and Eugene Ezra Hackman, who operated a newspaper
printing press. He is of Pennsylvania Dutch (German), English, and Scottish
ancestry, partly by way of Canada, where his mother was born. After several
moves...
14.
Jeff Bridges Actor, The Big Lebowski
Jeffrey Leon Bridges was born on December 4, 1949 in Los Angeles, California,
the son of well-known film and TV starLloyd Bridges and his long-time
wife Dorothy Dean Bridges(née Simpson). He grew up amid the happening
Hollywood scene with big brother Beau Bridges. Both boys popped up, without
billing...
15.
Tim Robbins Actor, The Shawshank Redemption
Born in West Covina, California, but raised in New York City, Tim Robbins is the
son of former The Highwaymen singer Gil Robbins and actress Mary Robbins (née
Bledsoe). Robbins studied drama at UCLA, where he graduated with honors in
1981. That same year, he formed the Actors' Gang theater group...
16.
Henry Fonda Actor, Once Upon a Time in the West
Henry Jaynes Fonda was born in Grand Island, Nebraska, to Elma Herberta
(Jaynes) and William Brace Fonda, who worked in advertising and printing. His
recent ancestry included Dutch, English, and Scottish. Fonda started his acting
debut with the Omaha Community Playhouse, a local amateur theater troupe
directed by Dorothy Brando...
17.
William Hurt Actor, Into the Wild
William McChord Hurt was born in Washington, D.C., to Claire Isabel (McGill) and
Alfred McChord Hurt, who worked at the State Department. He was trained at
Tufts University and The Juilliard School and has been nominated for four
Academy Awards, including the most recent nomination for his supporting role
in David Cronenberg's A History of Violence...
18.
Kevin Costner Actor, Dances with Wolves
Kevin Michael Costner was born on January 18, 1955 in Lynwood, California, the
third child of Bill Costner, a ditch digger and ultimately an electric line servicer for
Southern California Edison, and Sharon Costner (née Tedrick), a welfare worker.
His older brother, Dan, was born in 1950. A middle brother died at birth in
1953...
19.
Clint Eastwood Actor, Million Dollar Baby
Clint Eastwood is an American actor, film director, producer, musician, and
political figure. He rose to international fame with his role as the Man with No
Name in Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy of spaghetti Westerns during the 1960s,
and as antihero cop Harry Callahan in the five Dirty Harry films throughout the
1970s and 1980s...
20.
Leonardo DiCaprio Actor, Inception
Few actors in the world have had a career quite as diverse as Leonardo
DiCaprio's. DiCaprio has gone from relatively humble beginnings, as a supporting
cast member of the sitcom Growing Pains and low budget horror movies, such
as Critters 3, to a major teenage heartthrob in the 1990s, as the hunky lead actor
in movies such as Romeo + Juliet and Titanic...
21.
Mel Gibson Actor, Braveheart
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born January 3, 1956 in Peekskill, New York,
USA, as the sixth of eleven children ofHutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and
Anne Patricia (Reilly) Gibson (who died in December of 1990). His mother was
Irish, from County Longford, while his American-born father is of mostly Irish
descent...
22.
Robert Duvall Actor, The Godfather: Part II
Veteran actor and director Robert Selden Duvall was born on January 5, 1931, in
San Diego, CA, to Mildred Virginia (Hart), an amateur actress, and William
Howard Duvall, a career military officer who later became an admiral. Duvall
majored in drama at Principia College (Elsah, IL), then served a two-year hitch in
the army after graduating in 1953...
23.
Samuel L. Jackson Actor, Pulp Fiction
Samuel L. Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., to Elizabeth (Montgomery) and
Roy Henry Jackson. He was raised by his mother, a factory worker. Jackson was
active in the black student movement. In the seventies, he joined the Negro
Ensemble Company (together with Morgan Freeman). In the eighties, he became
well known after three movies made bySpike Lee - Do the Right Thing...
24.
Tommy Lee Jones Actor, No Country for Old Men
Tommy Lee Jones was born in San Saba, Texas, the son of Lucille Marie (Scott), a
police officer and beauty shop owner, and Clyde C. Jones, who worked on oil
fields. Tommy himself worked in underwater construction and on an oil rig. He
attended St. Mark's School of Texas, a prestigious prep school for boys in
Dallas...
25.
Kevin Spacey Actor, American Beauty
As enigmatic as he is talented, Kevin Spacey has always kept the details of his
private life closely guarded. As he explained in a 1998 interview with the London
Evening Standard, "the less you know about me, the easier it is to convince you
that I am that character on screen. It allows an audience to come into a movie
theatre and believe I am that person"...
26.
Nicolas Cage Actor, Leaving Las Vegas
Nicolas Cage was born in Long Beach, California, the son of comparative literature
professor August Coppola (a brother of director Francis Ford Coppola) and
dancer/choreographer Joy Vogelsang. He is of Italian (father) and German,
English, and Polish (mother) descent. Cage changed his name early in his career
to make his own reputation...
27.
Kevin Kline Actor, A Fish Called Wanda
Kevin Kline was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Margaret and Robert Joseph Kline,
who owned several stores. His father was of German Jewish descent and his
mother was of Irish ancestry. After attending Indiana University in Bloomington,
Kline studied at the Juilliard School in New York. In 1972, Kline joined the Acting
Company in New York which was run by John Houseman...
28.
Morgan Freeman Actor, The Shawshank Redemption
With an authoritative voice and calm demeanor, this ever popular American actor
has grown into one of the most respected figures in modern US cinema. Morgan
was born on June 1, 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee, to Mayme Edna (Revere), a
teacher, and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a barber. The young Freeman...
29.
Michael Caine Actor, The Dark Knight
Michael Caine was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite in London, to Ellen Frances
Marie (Burchell), a charlady, and Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, a fish-market
porter. He left school at 15 and took a series of working-class jobs before joining
the British army and serving in Korea during the Korean War, where he saw
combat...
30.
Russell Crowe Actor, Gladiator
Russell Ira Crowe was born in Wellington, New Zealand, to Jocelyn Yvonne
(Wemyss) and John Alexander Crowe, both of whom catered movie sets. His
maternal grandfather, Stanley Wemyss, was a cinematographer. Crowe's recent
ancestry includes Welsh (where his paternal grandfather was born, in Wrexham),
English...
31.
Bruce Willis Actor, The Sixth Sense
Actor and musician Bruce Willis is well known for playing wisecracking or hard-
edged characters, often in spectacular action films. Collectively, he has appeared
in films that have grossed in excess of $2.5 billion USD, placing him in the top ten
stars in terms of box office receipts. Walter Bruce Willis was born on March 19...
32.
Johnny Depp Actor, Edward Scissorhands
Johnny Depp is perhaps one of the most versatile actors of his day and age in
Hollywood. He was born John Christopher Depp II in Owensboro, Kentucky, on
June 9, 1963, to Betty Sue (Wells), who worked as a waitress, and John
Christopher Depp, a civil engineer. Depp was raised in Florida. He dropped out of
school when he was 15...
33.
Ben Kingsley Actor, Schindler's List
Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Bhanji in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England. His
father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, was a Kenyan-born medical doctor, of Gujarati
Indian descent, and his mother, Anna Lyna Mary (Goodman), was an English
actress. Ben began to act in stage plays during the 1960s. He soon became a
successful stage actor...
34.
Steve McQueen Actor, The Great Escape
He was the ultra-cool male film star of the 1960s, and rose from a troubled youth
spent in reform schools to being the world's most popular actor. Over 25 years
after his untimely death from mesothelioma in 1980, Steve McQueen is still
considered hip and cool, and he endures as an icon of popular culture...
35.
Tom Cruise Actor, Mission: Impossible
If you had told fourteen-year-old Franciscan seminary student Thomas Cruise
Mapother IV that one day in the not-too-distant future he would be considered
one of the top hundred movie stars of all time, he would have probably grinned
and told you that his ambition was to become a priest. None the less...
36.
Heath Ledger Actor, The Dark Knight
Heath Ledger work comprised nineteen films, including 10 Things I Hate About
You (1999), The Patriot (2000), A Knight's Tale (2001), Monster's Ball (2001),
Ned Kelly (2003), The Brothers Grimm (2005), Lords of Dogtown (2005),
Brokeback Mountain (2005), Casanova (2005), Candy (2006), I'm Not There
(2007)...
37.
Philip Seymour Hoffman Actor, Capote
Film and stage actor and theater director Philip Seymour Hoffman was born in the
Rochester, New York, suburb of Fairport on July 23, 1967. He was the son of
Marilyn (Loucks), a lawyer and judge, and Gordon Stowell Hoffman, a Xerox
employee, and was mostly of German, Irish, English and Dutch ancestry...
38.
John Malkovich Actor, Dangerous Liaisons
John Gavin Malkovich was born in Christopher, Illinois, to Joe Anne (Choisser),
who owned a local newspaper, and Daniel Leon Malkovich, a state conservation
director. His paternal grandparents were Croatian. In 1976, Malkovich joined
Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, newly founded by his friendGary Sinise...
39.
Christian Bale Actor, The Dark Knight
Christian Charles Philip Bale was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK on January
30, 1974, to English parents Jennifer "Jenny" (James) and David Charles Howard
Bale. His mother was a circus performer and his father, who was born in South
Africa, was a commercial pilot. The family lived in different countries throughout
Bale's childhood...
40.
Richard Dreyfuss Actor, Jaws
Richard Dreyfuss is an American leading man, who has played his fair share of
irritating pests and brash, ambitious hustlers. He was born Richard Stephen
Dreyfus in Brooklyn, New York, to Geraldine (Robbins), an activist, and Norman
Dreyfus, a restaurateur and attorney. His paternal grandparents were Austro-
Hungarian Jewish immigrants, and his mother's family was Russian Jewish...
41.
Jason Robards Actor, Once Upon a Time in the West
Powerful and highly respected American actor Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was born
in Chicago, Illinois, to Hope Maxine (Glanville) and stage and film star Jason
Robards Sr. He had Swedish, English, Welsh, German, and Irish ancestry.
Robards was raised mostly in Los Angeles. A star athlete at Hollywood High
School...
42.
Colin Firth Actor, The King's Speech
Colin Andrew Firth was born into an academic family in Grayshott, Hampshire,
England. His mother, Shirley Jean (Rolles), was a comparative religion lecturer at
the Open University, and his father, David Norman Lewis Firth, lectured on
history at Winchester University College (formerly King Alfred's College) in
Winchester...
43.
George Clooney Actor, Gravity
George Timothy Clooney was born on May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Kentucky, to
Nina Bruce (née Warren), a former beauty pageant queen, and Nick Clooney, a
former anchorman and game show host (who was also the brother of
singerRosemary Clooney). He has Irish, English, and German ancestry. Clooney
spent most of this youth in Ohio and Kentucky...
44.
Edward Norton Actor, Fight Club
Edward Harrison Norton was born on August 18, 1969, in Boston, Massachusetts,
and was raised in Columbia, Maryland. His mother, Lydia Robinson "Robin"
(Rouse), was a foundation executive and teacher of English, and a daughter of
famed real estate developer James Rouse, who developed Columbia, MD; she
passed away of brain cancer on March 6...
45.
Sean Connery Actor, Dr. No
Connery's breakthrough came in the role of secret agent James Bond. He was
reluctant to commit to a film series, but understood that if the films succeeded
his career would greatly benefit. He played the character in the first five Bond
films: Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964)...
46.
Yves Montand Actor, The Wages of Fear
47.
Richard Gere Actor, Pretty Woman
Humanitarian and actor Richard Gere was born on August 31, 1949, in
Philadelphia, the second of five children of Doris Ann (Tiffany), a homemaker, and
Homer George Gere, an insurance salesman, both Mayflower descendants.
Richard started early as a musician, playing a number of instruments in high
school and writing music for high school productions...
48.
Gary Oldman Actor, The Dark Knight Rises
In 2004, Oldman returned to prominence when he landed a significant role in the
Harry Potter film series, playing Harry Potter's godfather Sirius Black. Oldman
and star Daniel Radcliffe reportedly became very close during the filming of the
series. The following year, Oldman starred as James Gordon in Christopher
Nolan's commercially and critically successful Batman Begins...
49.
Harrison Ford Actor, Star Wars
Ford is a private pilot of both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and owns an
800-acre (3.2 km2) ranch in Jackson, Wyoming, approximately half of which he
has donated as a nature reserve. On several occasions, Ford has personally
provided emergency helicopter services at the request of local authorities, in one
instance rescuing a hiker overcome by dehydration...
50.
Matt Damon Actor, The Bourne Identity
Matthew Paige Damon was born on October 8, 1970, in Boston Massachusetts,
to Kent Damon, a stockbroker, realtor and tax preparer, and Nancy Carlsson-
Paige, an early childhood education professor at Lesley University. Matt has an
older brother named Kyle who is now a sculptor. His father is of English and
Scottish descent...
51.
John Gielgud Actor, Gandhi
Sir John Gielgud is a highly distinguished and prolific performer who is considered
to be one of the finest actors of his generation. A graduate of the Royal Academy
of Dramatic Arts in London, Gielgud played his first Hamlet in 1930 and quickly
established himself as one of the most eminent Shakespearean interpreters of his
time...
52.
Joe Pesci Actor, Goodfellas
Compact Italian-American actor Joe Pesci was born February 9, 1943, in Newark,
NJ, to Mary (Mesce), a part-time barber, and Angelo Pesci, a bartender and
forklift driver. Pesci first broke into entertainment as a child actor and by the mid-
50s was starring on the series "Star Time Kids". In the mid-'60s he released a
record under the stage name of "Joe Ritchie" titled "Little Joe Sure Can Sing"...
53.
Paul Newman Actor, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Screen legend, superstar, and the man with the most famous blue eyes in movie
history, Paul Leonard Newman was born in January 1925, in Cleveland, Ohio, the
second son of Theresa (Fetsko) and Arthur Sigmund Newman. Paul's father was
Jewish, the son of immigrants from Poland and Hungary; he owned a successful
sporting goods store...
54.
Woody Harrelson Actor, No Country for Old Men
Academy Award-nominee Woody Harrelson was born on July 23, 1961 in Midland,
Texas, to Diane Lou (Oswald) and Charles Harrelson. He grew up in Lebanon,
Ohio, and, after receiving degrees in theater arts and English from Hanover
College, had a brief stint in New York theater. He was soon cast as Woody on TV
series Cheers...
55.
John Hurt Actor, V for Vendetta
This transatlantic talent was born John Vincent Hurt on January 22, 1940 in
Shirebrook, a coal mining village near the busy market town of Chesterfield, in
Derbyshire, England. He is the son of Phyllis (Massey), an engineer and one-time
actress, and Arnould Herbert Hurt, an Anglican clergyman and mathematician...
56.
Sean Penn Actor, Mystic River
Sean Penn is a powerhouse film performer capable of intensely moving work, who
has gone from strength to strength during a colourful film career, and who has
drawn much media attention for his stormy private life and political viewpoints.
Sean Justin Penn was born in Los Angeles, California, the second son of
actress Eileen Ryan (née Annucci) and director...
57.
Christopher Walken Actor, Catch Me If You Can
Nervous-looking lead and supporting actor of the American stage and films, with
sandy colored hair, pale complexion and a somewhat nervous disposition. He won
an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Deer Hunter, and
has been seen in mostly supporting roles, often portraying psychologically
unstable characters...
58.
Mickey Rourke Actor, The Wrestler
Mickey Rourke was born Phillip Andre Rourke, Jr. on September 16, 1952, in
Schenectady, New York, the son of Annette (Cameron) and Phillip Andre Rourke.
His father was of Irish and German descent, and his mother had French, Scottish,
English, and German ancestry. When he was six years old, his parents divorced...
59.
Peter O'Toole Actor, Lawrence of Arabia
O'Toole was one of several actors to be Oscar-nominated for playing the same
role in two different films: he played King Henry II in both Becket (1964) and The
Lion in Winter (1968). O'Toole played Hamlet under Laurence Olivier's direction in
the premiere production of the Royal National Theatre in 1963...
60.
Michael Douglas Actor, The Game
An actor with over forty years of experience in theatre, film, and television,
Michael Douglas branched out into independent feature production in 1975 with
the Academy Award-winningOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Since then, as a
producer and as an actor-producer, he has shown an uncanny knack for choosing
projects that reflect changing trends and public concerns...
61.
Willem Dafoe Actor, Spider-Man
Willem Dafoe was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, to Muriel Isabel (Sprissler), a
nurse, and Dr. William Alfred Dafoe, a surgeon. He is of French, German, English,
Irish, and Scottish descent. In 1979, Dafoe was given a small role in Michael
Cimino'sHeaven's Gate from which he was fired. His first feature role came
shortly after in Kathryn Bigelow's The Loveless...
62.
Charlton Heston Actor, Ben-Hur
With features chiseled in stone, and renowned for playing a long list of historical
figures, particularly in Biblical epics, the tall, well built and ruggedly handsome
Charlton Heston was one of Hollywood's greatest leading men and remained
active in front of movie cameras for over sixty years. As a Hollywood star...
63.
Forest Whitaker Actor, Platoon
Forest Steven Whitaker has packaged a king-size talent into his hulking 6' 2", 220
lb. frame. He won an Academy Award for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi
Amin in the 2006 film The Last King of Scotland, and has also won a Golden
Globe and a BAFTA. He is the fourth African-American male to win an Academy
Award for Best Actor...
64.
James Coburn Actor, Monsters, Inc.
Lanky, charismatic and versatile actor with an amazing grin that put everyone at
ease, James Coburn studied acting at UCLA, and then moved to New York to
study under noted acting coach Stella Adler. After being noticed in several stage
productions, Coburn appeared in a handful of minor westerns before being cast as
the knife-throwing...
65.
Liam Neeson Actor, Schindler's List
Liam Neeson was born on June 7, 1952 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, UK, to
Katherine (Brown), a cook, and Bernard Neeson, a school caretaker. Liam worked
as a forklift operator for Guinness, truck driver, assistant architect and an
amateur boxer. He had originally sought a career as a teacher by attending St...
66.
Will Smith Actor, Men in Black
Willard Christopher Smith, Jr. was born in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the
second of four children of Caroline (Bright), a school board employee, and Willard
Carroll Smith, Sr., who owned a refrigeration company. He grew up in a middle
class area in West Philadelphia called Wynnefield. Will attended the Overbrook
High School located in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia...
67.
Robin Williams Actor, Good Will Hunting
Robin McLaurin Williams was born on Saturday, July 21st, 1951, in Chicago,
Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator, Anselm J.
McLaurin. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a former model from
Mississippi, and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford Motor Company
executive from Indiana...
68.
Keanu Reeves Actor, The Matrix
Keanu Reeves, whose first name means "cool breeze over the mountains" in
Hawaiian, was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1964, the son of English-born Patricia
Taylor, a showgirl, and American-born Samuel Nowlin Reeves, a geologist.
Keanu's father was born in Hawaii, of British, Portuguese, Native Hawaiian...
69.
Harvey Keitel Actor, Reservoir Dogs
Harvey Keitel is an American actor and producer. An Oscar and Golden Globe
Award nominee, he has appeared in films such as Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets
and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma & Louise, Peter Yates'
"Mother, Jugs & Speed", Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction...
70.
Michael Madsen Actor, Reservoir Dogs
Michael Madsen's long career spans 25 years and more than 170 films in which he
has played memorable characters in myriad box office hits, including: Kill Bill:
Vol. 1, Kill Bill: Vol. 2 Sin City, Hell Ride, Die Another Day, Donnie
Brasco, Species,The Getaway, Thelma & Louise...
71.
Kevin Bacon Actor, Apollo 13
Kevin Norwood Bacon was born on July 8, 1958 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to
Ruth Hilda (Holmes), an elementary school teacher, and Edmund Norwood Bacon,
a prominent architect who was on the cover of Time Magazine in November 1964.
Kevin's early training as an actor came from The Manning Street. His debut as the
strict Chip Diller in Animal Housealmost seems like an inside joke...
72.
Ed Harris Actor, A Beautiful Mind
By transforming into his characters and pulling the audience in, Ed Harris has
earned the reputation as one of the most talented actors of our time. Ed Harris
was born in Tenafly, New Jersey, to Margaret (Sholl), a travel agent, and Robert
Lee Harris, a bookstore worker who also sang professionally...
“ Ennemy at the Gates, The Hours ” - Yves Porters
73.
Alain Delon Actor, Le Samouraï
Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon was born in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, France,
to Édith (Arnold) and Fabien Delon. His father was of French and Corsican Italian
descent, and his mother was of French and German ancestry. His parents
divorced early on, and Delon had a stormy childhood, being frequently expelled
from school...
74.
Chris Cooper Actor, American Beauty
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 drama...
75.
Gérard Depardieu Actor, Life of Pi
Gérard Depardieu was born in Châteauroux, Indre, France, to Anne Jeanne
Josèphe (Marillier) and René Maxime Lionel Depardieu, who was a metal worker
and fireman. Young delinquent and wanderer in the past, Depardieu started his
acting career at the small traveling theatre "Cafe de la Gare", along with Patrick
Dewaere and Miou-Miou...
76.
Justin Theroux Actor, American Psycho
Justin was born and raised in Washington, D.C, the son of Phyllis (Grissim), a
writer for The Washington Post, and Eugene Theroux, a corporate lawyer. He is a
nephew of writer Paul Theroux and a cousin of journalists Louis
Theroux and Marcel Theroux. His father is of French-Canadian and Italian
descent...
77.
Nick Nolte Actor, The Thin Red Line
Nick Nolte was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to Helen (King) and Franklin Arthur
Nolte, who worked in irrigation pump sales. He has German and British Isles
ancestry. Nolte began his career on stage at the Pasadena (California) Playhouse
and in regional theatre productions. His breakthrough role was in the TV mini-
series Rich Man, Poor Man...
78.
Val Kilmer Actor, Heat
Val Kilmer was born in Los Angeles, California, to Gladys Swanette (Ekstadt) and
Eugene Dorris Kilmer, who was a real estate developer and aerospace equipment
distributor. His mother, born in Indiana, was from a Swedish family, and his
father was from Texas. Val studied at Hollywood's Professional's School and...
79.
Joaquin Phoenix Actor, Gladiator
Joaquin Phoenix was born 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 in New York, while his father, from California...
80.
Jared Leto Actor, Requiem for a Dream
Jared Leto made his film debut in How to Make an American Quilt (1995) and
received critical praise for his performance in Prefontaine (1997). Leto played
supporting roles in The Thin Red Line (1998), Fight Club (1999) and American
Psycho (2000), as well as the lead role in Urban Legend (1998), and earned
critical acclaim after portraying heroin addict Harry Goldfarb in Requiem for a
Dream (2000)...
81.
Laurence Fishburne Actor, The Matrix
One of Hollywood's most talented and versatile performers and the recipient of a
truckload of NAACP Image awards, Laurence John Fishburne III was born in
Augusta, Georgia on July 30, 1961, to Hattie Bell (Crawford), a teacher, and
Laurence John Fishburne, Jr., a juvenile corrections officer. His mother
transplanted her family to Brooklyn after his parents divorced...
82.
Antonio Banderas Actor, Desperado
Antonio Banderas, one of Spain's most famous faces, was a soccer player until
breaking his foot at the age of fourteen; he is now an international film star
known for playing Zorro in the eponymous film series. He was born José Antonio
Domínguez Banderas on August 10, 1960, in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain...
83.
John Travolta Actor, Pulp Fiction
John Joseph Travolta was born in Englewood, New Jersey, one of six children
of Helen Travolta (née Helen Cecilia Burke) and Salvatore/Samuel J. Travolta. His
father was of Italian descent and his mother was of Irish ancestry. His father
owned a tire repair shop called Travolta Tires in Hillsdale, NJ...
84.
John Goodman Actor, Monsters, Inc.
John Stephen Goodman is a U.S. film, television, and stage actor. He was born in
St. Louis, Missouri, to Virginia Roos (Loosmore), a waitress and saleswoman, and
Leslie Francis Goodman, a postal worker who died when John was a small child.
He is of English, Welsh, and German ancestry. John is best known for his role as
Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne (1988-1997)...
85.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Actor, The Terminator
With an almost unpronounceable surname and a thick Austrian accent, who would
have ever believed that a brash, quick talking bodybuilder from a small European
village would become one of Hollywood's biggest stars, marry into the prestigious
Kennedy family, amass a fortune via shrewd investments and one day be the
Governor of California!...
86.
Adrien Brody Actor, The Pianist
Adrien Nicholas Brody was born in Woodhaven, Queens, New York, the only child
of retired history professor Elliot Brody and Hungarian-born photographer Sylvia
Plachy. He accompanied his mother on assignments for the Village Voice, and
credits her with making him feel comfortable in front of the camera...
87.
Michael Keaton Actor, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Michael Keaton is an American actor. He is currently a visiting scholar at Carnegie
Mellon University. Keaton first rose to fame for his comedic film roles in Night
Shift (1982), Mr. Mom (1983), Johnny Dangerously (1984) and Beetlejuice
(1988), and he earned further acclaim for his dramatic portrayal of Bruce Wayne
/ Batman in Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992)...
88.
Billy Bob Thornton Actor, Armageddon
Billy Bob Thornton was born on August 4, 1955 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, to
Virginia Roberta (Faulkner), a psychic, and William Raymond (Billy Ray)
Thornton, an educator, high school history teacher, and basketball coach (now
deceased). He is the older brother of James Donald (Jimmy Don) (born in 1958
and now deceased) and John David (born in 1969)...
89.
Hugo Weaving Actor, The Matrix
Hugo Wallace Weaving was born on April 4, 1960 in Nigeria, to English parents
Anne (Lennard), a tour guide and teacher, and Wallace Weaving, a seismologist.
Hugo has an older brother, Simon, and a younger sister, Anna, who both also live
and work in Australia. During his early childhood, the Weaving family spent most
of their time traveling between Nigeria...
90.
Sam Shepard Actor, Black Hawk Down
Sam Shepard was born Samuel Shepard Rogers in Fort Sheridan, Illinois, to Jane
Elaine (Schook), a teacher, and Samuel Shepard Rogers, a teacher and farmer
who was also in the army. As the eldest son of a US Army officer (and WWII
bomber pilot), Shepard spent his early childhood moving from base to base
around the US until finally settling in Duarte...
91.
Jude Law Actor, Sherlock Holmes
Jude Law is a talented and versatile actor. Law has been nominated for two
Academy Awards and continues to build a prolific body of work that spans from
early successes such asGattaca and The Talented Mr. Ripley to more recent turns
as Dr. John Watson in Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of
Shadows, as Hugo's father in Hugo and in the titular role in Dom Hemingway...
92.
Geoffrey Rush Actor, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Geoffrey Rush was born on July 6, 1951, in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia,
to Merle (Bischof), a department store sales assistant, and Roy Baden Rush, an
accountant for the Royal Australian Air Force. His mother was of German descent
and his father had English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. He was raised in
Brisbane, Queensland, after his parents split up...
93.
Roberto Benigni Actor, Life Is Beautiful
94.
Jürgen Prochnow Actor, Das Boot
Born in Berlin, Germany, in 1941, Jürgen Prochnow is a leading actor of the
German stage and screen. He was memorable as the submarine captain in the
gritty WW II film Das Boot, which brought him to international prominence. He
has since starred in many well-received European and Hollywood productions.
95.
Alec Baldwin Actor, The Departed
Raven-haired, suavely handsome and prolific actor Alec Baldwin was born on April
3, 1958 in Massapequa, New York, and is the oldest, and easily the best-known,
of the four Baldwin brothers in the acting business (the others are Stephen
Baldwin, William Baldwin and Daniel Baldwin). Baldwin is the son of Carol
Newcomb (Martineau) and Alexander Rae Baldwin...
96.
Joseph Fiennes Actor, Shakespeare in Love
Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, to
Jennifer Anne Mary Alleyne (Lash), a novelist, and Mark Fiennes, a photographer.
He is one of six children. Four of his siblings are also in the arts: Ralph Fiennes,
an actor; Martha Fiennes, a director; Magnus Fiennes, a musician; and Sophie
Fiennes, a producer. He is of English, Irish, and Scottish origin...
97.
Sebastian Koch Actor, The Lives of Others
On stage, television or the movie theatre screen Sebastian Koch is undeniably
one of Germany s most multi-faceted and successful actors. Born in Karlsruhe,
Germany, May 31, 1962, he spent his childhood and youth in Stuttgart,
southwestern Germany. He planned to become a musician, but in the late
seventies a Stuttgart theater production by director Claus Peymann...
98.
F. Murray Abraham Actor, The Grand Budapest Hotel
F. Murray Abraham was born on October 24, 1939 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
and raised in El Paso, Texas. Primarily a stage actor, Abraham made his screen
debut as an usher in theGeorge C. Scott comedy They Might Be Giants. By the
mid-1970s, Murray had steady employment as an actor, doing commercials and
voice-over work...
99.
Javier Bardem Actor, No Country for Old Men
Javier Bardem is the youngest member of a family of actors that has been
making films since the early days of Spanish cinema. He was born in Las Palmas
de Gran Canaria, Spain, to actress Pilar Bardem (María del Pilar Bardem Muñoz)
and businessman José Carlos Encinas Doussinague. His maternal grandparents
were actors Rafael Bardem and Matilde Muñoz Sampedro...
100.
John Wayne Actor, The Searchers
John Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison in Iowa, to Mary Alberta (Brown)
and Clyde Leonard Morrison, a pharmacist. He was of English, Ulster-Scots, and
Irish ancestry. Clyde developed a lung condition that required him to move his
family from Iowa to the warmer climate of southern California, where they tried
ranching in the Mojave Desert...
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101.
Jake Gyllenhaal Actor, Donnie Darko
Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal was born in Los Angeles, to
producer/screenwriter Naomi Foner (née Achs) and directorStephen Gyllenhaal.
He is the brother of actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, who played his sister in Donnie
Darko. His godmother is actress Jamie Lee Curtis. His mother is from a Jewish
family, and his father's ancestry includes Swedish, English, and Swiss-German...
102.
Haing S. Ngor Actor, The Killing Fields
Haing Ngor was a doctor by training. As a Buddhist, he examined his life
according to principals of the cycle of life, each reincarnation a part of the
struggle to perfection. He was captured by the Khmer Rouge following the 1975
takeover of Cambodia by that party, and endured 4 years of torture and
starvation...
103.
Viggo Mortensen Actor, A History of Violence
Since his screen debut as a young Amish Farmer in Peter Weir's Witness, Viggo
Mortensen's career has been marked by a steady string of well-rounded
performances. Mortensen was born in New York City, to Grace Gamble (Atkinson)
and Viggo Peter Mortensen, Sr. His father was Danish, his mother was
American...
104.
Christoph Waltz Actor, Django Unchained
Christoph Waltz is an Austrian-German actor. He is best known for his works with
American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, receiving acclaim for portraying SS-
Standartenführer Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009) and bounty hunter
Dr. King Schultz in Django Unchained (2012). For each performance, he won an
Academy Award...
105.
Benicio Del Toro Actor, Snatch.
Benicio Del Toro emerged in the mid-'90s as one of the most watchable and
charismatic character actors to come along in years. A favorite of film buffs, Del
Toro gained mainstream public attention as the conflicted but basically honest
Mexican cop in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic. Born on February 19...
106.
Anthony Quinn Actor, Lawrence of Arabia
Anthony Quinn was a Mexican-born American actor, painter and writer. He
starred in numerous critically acclaimed and commercially successful films,
including La Strada, The Guns of Navarone, Zorba the Greek, Guns for San
Sebastian, Lawrence of Arabia, The Message and Lion of the Desert. He won the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor twice: for Viva Zapata! in 1952 and
Lust for Life in 1956...
107.
John C. Reilly Actor, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Character actor, dramatic leading man, or hilarious comic foil? With an
astonishing range of roles already under his belt, John C. Reilly has played a
eclectic host of rich characters to great effect over the years, from seedy ne'er-
do-wells, to lovable, good-natured schlepps. The fifth of six children...
108.
Dennis Hopper Actor, Speed
With an amazing cinematic career of more than five decades, Dennis Hopper was
a multi-talented and unconventional actor/director, regarded by many as one of
the true "enfants terribles" of Hollywood. Hopper was born on May 17, 1936 in
Dodge City, Kansas, to Marjorie Mae (Davis) and James Millard Hopper...
109.
Martin Sheen Actor, The Departed
Multiple Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Martin Sheen is one of America's
most celebrated, colorful, and accomplished actors. Moving flawlessly between
artistic mediums, Sheen's acting range is breathtaking. He was born in Dayton,
Ohio, to Mary-Ann (Phelan), an Irish immigrant (from Borrisokane...
110.
Marcello Mastroianni Actor, 8½
Marcello Mastroianni was born in Fontana Liri, Italy in 1924, but soon his family
moved to Turin and then Rome. During WW2 he was sent to a German prison
camp, but he managed to escape and hide in Venice. He debuted in films as an
extra inMarionette, then started working for the Italian department of "Eagle Lion
Films" in Rome and joined a drama club...
111.
Hugh Grant Actor, About a Boy
Hugh Grant, one of Britain's best known faces, has been equally entertaining on-
screen as well as in real life, and has had enough sense of humor to survive a
media frenzy. He is known for his roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral,
with Andie MacDowell, Notting Hill, opposite Julia Roberts, and Music and Lyrics,
opposite Drew Barrymore, among his other works...
112.
Peter Sellers Actor, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Often credited as the greatest comedian of all time, Peter Sellers was born to a
well-off English acting family in 1925. His mother and father worked in an acting
company run by his grandmother. As a child, Sellers was spoiled, as his parents'
first child had died at birth. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force and served during
World War II...
113.
Tony Chiu Wai Leung Actor, Hero
Tony Leung Chiu Wai was born in Hong Kong on 27 June 1962. He and his
younger sister were raised by their mother after his father left them. In 1982,
after passing the training courses of TVB, Tony became a TV actor and became
famous for his comedy style in such TV shows as Lu ding ji or Jue dai shuang
jiao...
114.
Ray Liotta Actor, Goodfellas
Intense is the word for Ray Liotta. He specializes in psychopathic characters who
hide behind a cultivated charm. Even in his nice guy roles in Field of
Dreams and Operation Dumbo Drop, you get the impression that something is
smoldering inside of him. Liotta maintains a steady stream of work, completing
multiple projects per year...
115.
Daniel Craig Actor, Skyfall
Daniel Craig, one of British theatre's most famous faces, who waited tables as a
struggling teenage actor with the National Youth Theatre, went on to star as
"James Bond" in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre. He was
born Daniel Wroughton Craig on March 2, 1968, at 41 Liverpool Road...
116.
Bill Murray Actor, Groundhog Day
Bill, the fifth of nine children, was born in Wilmette, Illinois, to Lucille (Collins), a
mailroom clerk, and Edward Joseph Murray II, who sold lumber. He is of Irish
descent. Among his siblings are actors Brian Doyle-Murray, Joel Murray, and John
Murray. He and most of his siblings worked as caddies...
117.
John Cusack Actor, Being John Malkovich
John Cusack is, like most of his characters, an unconventional hero. Wary of fame
and repelled by formulaic Hollywood fare, he has built a successful career playing
underdogs and odd men out--all the while avoiding the media spotlight. John was
born in Evanston, Illinois, to an Irish-American family...
118.
James Woods Actor, Once Upon a Time in America
James Woods is a leanly built, strangely handsome actor-producer-director with
intense eyes and a sometimes untrustworthy grin, who has been impressing
audiences for over three decades with his compelling performances. James
Howard Woods was born on April 18th, 1947 in Vernal, Utah, the son of Martha
A...
119.
Shia LaBeouf Actor, Transformers
Shia Saide LaBeouf was born in Los Angeles, California, to Shayna (Saide) and
Jeffrey Craig LaBeouf, and is an only child. His mother is from an Ashkenazi
Jewish family, while his father has Cajun (French) ancestry. His parents are
divorced. He started his career by doing stand-up comedy around places in his
neighborhood...
120.
Sidney Poitier Actor, In the Heat of the Night
A native of Cat Island, The Bahamas (though born in Miami during a mainland
visit by his parents), Poitier grew up in poverty as the son of farmers Evelyn
(Outten) and Reginald James Poitier, who also drove a cab. He had little formal
education and at the age of 15 was sent to Miami to live with his brother...
121.
Clive Owen Actor, Children of Men
British actor Clive Owen is one of a handful of stars who, though he is best known
for his art house films, can handle more mainstream films with equal measures of
grace and skill. Owen is typically cast as characters whose primary traits are a
balance of physical strength, intellect, and forceful will...
122.
Michael J. Fox Actor, Back to the Future
Michael J. Fox was born Michael Andrew Fox on June 9, 1961 in Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada, to Phyllis Fox (née Piper), a payroll clerk, and William Fox. His
parents moved their ten-year-old son, his three sisters, Kelli Fox, Karen, and
Jacki, and his brother, Steven, to Vancouver, British Columbia...
123.
William H. Macy Actor, Fargo
124.
John Cleese Actor, A Fish Called Wanda
John Cleese was born on October 27, 1939, in Weston-Super-Mare, England, to
Muriel Evelyn (Cross) and Reginald Francis Cleese. He was born into a family of
modest means, his father being an insurance salesman; but he was nonetheless
sent off to private schools to obtain a good education. Here he was often
tormented for his height...
125.
George C. Scott Actor, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
George C. Scott was an immensely talented actor, a star of screen, stage and
television. He was born in 1927 in Wise, Virginia, to Helena Agnes (Slemp) and
George Dewey Scott. At the age of eight, his mother died, and his father, an
executive at Buick, raised him. In 1945 he joined the US Marines and spent four
years with them...
126.
Bill Pullman Actor, Independence Day
William James Pullman was born in Hornell, New York, one of seven children of
Johanna (Blaas), a nurse, and James Pullman, a doctor. He is of Dutch (mother)
and English, Northern Irish, and Scottish (father) descent. After high school, Bill
went into a building construction program at SUNY Delhi in New York...
127.
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 Manhattan to study
acting with John Strasberg...
128.
Pierce Brosnan Actor, GoldenEye
Pierce Brendan Brosnan was born in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland, to May
(Smith), a nurse, and Thomas Brosnan, a carpenter. He lived in Navan, County
Meath, until he moved to England, UK, at an early age (thus explaining his ability
to play men from both backgrounds convincingly). His father left the household
when Pierce was a child and although reunited later in life...
129.
Donald Sutherland Actor, The Italian Job
The towering presence of Canadian actor Donald Sutherland is often noticed, as
are his legendary contributions to cinema. He has appeared in almost 200
different shows and films. He is also the father of renowned actor Kiefer
Sutherland, among others. Donald McNichol Sutherland was born in Saint John...
130.
Woody Allen Writer, Annie Hall
Woody Allen was born Allan Stewart Konigsberg on December 1, 1935 in
Brooklyn, New York, to Nettie (Cherrie), a bookkeeper, and Martin Konigsberg, a
waiter and jewellery engraver. His father was of Russian Jewish descent, and his
maternal grandparents were Austrian Jewish immigrants. As a young boy...
131.
Ewan McGregor Actor, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Ewan Gordon McGregor was born on March 31, 1971 in Perth, Perthshire,
Scotland, to Carol Diane (Lawson) and James Charles McGregor, both teachers.
His uncle is actor Denis Lawson. He was raised in Crieff. At age 16, he left
Morrison Academy to join the Perth Repertory Theatre. His parents encouraged
him to leave school and pursue his acting goals rather than be unhappy...
132.
Tobey Maguire Actor, Spider-Man
Tobias Vincent Maguire was born in Santa Monica, California. His parents were 18
and 20, and not yet married, when he was born. His mother, Wendy (Brown), did
advertising, publicity, and acting in Hollywood for years as she coached and
managed Tobey. His father, Vincent Maguire, was a cook and sometimes a
construction worker...
133.
Andy Garcia Actor, The Godfather: Part III
One of Hollywood's most private and guarded leading men, Andy Garcia has
created a few iconic characters while at the same time staying true to his acting
roots and personal projects. Garcia was born on April 12, 1956, in Havana, Cuba,
to Amelie Menéndez, a teacher of English, and René García Núñez...
134.
Cuba Gooding Jr. Actor, Jerry Maguire
Cuba Gooding Jr. was born on January 2, 1968, in The Bronx, New York. His
mother, Shirley (Sullivan), was a backup singer for The Sweethearts. His
father, Cuba Gooding, was the lead vocalist for the R&B group The Main
Ingredient, which had a hit with the song "Everybody Plays The Fool". His
paternal grandfather was from Barbados...
135.
Robert Downey Jr. Actor, The Avengers
Robert John Downey Jr. making his screen debut at the age of five, appearing in
his father's film Pound (1970), he appeared in roles associated with the Brat
Pack, such as the teen comedy Weird Science (1985) and the drama Less Than
Zero (1987). Other films he has starred in include the action comedy Air America
(1990)...
136.
Matthew Broderick Actor, Ferris Bueller's Day Off
A slight comic actor chiefly known for his boyish charm, Matthew Broderick was
born on March 21, 1962 in New York City, to Patricia Broderick (née Biow), a
playwright and painter, and James Broderick, an actor. His father had Irish and
English ancestry, and his mother was from a Jewish family (from Germany and
Poland)...
137.
Gary Sinise Actor, Apollo 13
Gary Alan Sinise was born in Blue Island, Illinois, to Mylles S. (Alsip) and Robert
L. Sinise, A.C.E., a film editor. He is of Italian (from his paternal grandfather),
English, Scottish, Irish, French, German, and Swedish ancestry. His family moved
to Highland Park, where he attended high school. He was something of a rebel,
playing in bands but paying little attention to school...
138.
Robert Redford Actor, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. was born on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica,
California, to Martha (Hart), from Texas, and Charles Robert Redford, an
accountant for Standard Oil, who was originally from Connecticut. He is of
English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. Robert's mother died in 1955, the year after
he graduated from high school...
139.
Kyle MacLachlan Actor, Pilot
The "boy next door, if that boy spent lots of time alone in the basement", is
how Rich Cohen described Kyle MacLachlan in a 1994 article for "Rolling Stone"
magazine. That distinctly askew wholesomeness made MacLachlan a natural to
become famous as the alter ego of twisted director David Lynch...
140.
James Cromwell Actor, The Green Mile
Born in Los Angeles but raised in Manhattan and educated at Middlebury College
and Carnegie-Mellon University, James Cromwell, the son of famous film
director John Cromwell, studied acting at Carnegie-Mellon. He went into the
theater (like both his parents) doing everything from Shakespeare to
experimental plays...
141.
Colin Farrell Actor, Phone Booth
Colin Farrell is an Irish actor. He first appeared on the BBC's TV drama
Ballykissangel in 1998, made his film debut in the Tim Roth-directed drama The
War Zone a year later and was discovered by Hollywood when Joel Schumacher
cast him in the lead in his war drama Tigerland (2000). He then starred in
Schumacher's psychological thriller Phone Booth (2002) and the American
thrillers S.W.A.T...
142.
Kiefer Sutherland Actor, 12:00 a.m.-1:00 a.m.
Kiefer Sutherland was born in London, England, UK, to Canadian actors Shirley
Douglas and Donald Sutherland, who moved to California shortly after his birth.
His maternal grandfather, Tommy Douglas, was a Scottish-born Canadian
politician who was a Premier of Saskatchewan for over 17 years and led the
national NDP party for almost 10...
143.
Kirk Douglas Actor, Spartacus
Cleft-chinned, steely-eyed and virile star of international cinema who rose from
being "the ragman's son" (the name of his best-selling 1988 autobiography) to
become a bona fide superstar, Kirk Douglas, also known as Issur Danielovitch
Demsky, was born in Amsterdam, New York, in 1916. His parents, Bryna
(Sanglel) and Herschel Danielovitch...
144.
Scott Glenn Actor, The Silence of the Lambs
Scott Glenn was born January 26, 1941, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Elizabeth
and Theodore Glenn, a salesman. As he grew up in Appalachia, his health was
poor; he was bedridden for a year and doctors predicted he would limp for the
rest of his life. During long periods of illness, Glenn was reading a lot and
"dreaming of becoming Lord Byron"...
145.
Josh Hartnett Actor, Black Hawk Down
Joshua Daniel Hartnett was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Wendy Anne
(Kronstedt) and Daniel Thomas Hartnett, a building manager. His father is of Irish
and German descent, and his mother is of Swedish and Norwegian ancestry.
Hartnett graduated from South High School in Minneapolis in June of 1996...
146.
Matthew Modine Actor, Full Metal Jacket
The youngest of seven, Matthew was born in Loma Linda, Ca, to Dolores
(Warner), a bookkeeper, and Mark Alexander Modine, a drive-in theater manager.
After graduating high school in Imperial Beach, Ca. Modine moved to NYC (1979).
Matthew studied with Stella Adler at her Conservatory of Acting. While still a
student of hers...
147.
Ian McKellen Actor, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Ian Murray McKellen was born on May 25, 1939 in Burnley, Lancashire, England,
to Margery Lois (Sutcliffe) and Denis Murray McKellen, a civil engineer. He is of
Scottish, Northern Irish, and English descent. During his early childhood, his
parents moved with Ian and his sister Jean to the mill town of Wigan...
148.
Ethan Hawke Actor, Gattaca
Ethan Hawke is an American actor, writer and director. He has been nominated
for four Academy Awards, both as an actor and a writer, and a Tony Award.
Hawke has directed two feature films, three Off-Broadway plays, and a
documentary, and wrote the novels The Hottest State (1996) and Ash Wednesday
(2002)...
149.
Christian Slater Actor, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
Christian Michael Leonard Slater was born on August 18, 1969 in New York City,
to Michael Hawkins, a well-known soap actor, and Mary Jo Slater (née Lawton), a
casting agent. Christian started in show business early, appearing on the soap
operaThe Edge of Night in 1976 at the age of 7. He went on to star in many
Broadway shows in the early-1980s...
150.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers Actor, Match Point
Jonathan Rhys Meyers was born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keefe on July 27,
1977, in Dublin, Ireland, to Mary Geraldine (Meyers) and John O'Keeffe, a
musician. He and his family moved to County Cork, Ireland, when the actor was
nearly a year old, and then, at the age of 3, his father left the family, leaving his
mother to care for Jonny and his 3 younger brothers alone...
151.
Jim Caviezel Actor, The Passion of the Christ
James Patrick Caviezel was born on September 26, 1968 in Mount Vernon,
Washington. He was one of five children born to Margaret (Lavery), a former
stage actress, and James Caviezel, a chiropractor. The Caviezels are a closely knit
Catholic family. He is of Irish (mother) and Swiss and Slovak-Romansh (father)
descent; the surname...
152.
Christopher Lambert Actor, Mortal Kombat
Although born in the USA, Lambert is French. His father was a French diplomat
stationed in the US at the United Nations at the time of Lambert's birth.
Lambert's formative years were spent in Geneva, Switzerland, to where his family
moved when he was two, before returning to Paris when he was 16. Lambert has
served in the French military, allegedly at his father's insistence.
153.
Orlando Bloom Actor, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom was born in Canterbury, Kent, England on
January 13, 1977. His mother, Sonia Constance Josephine (Copeland), was born
in Kolkata, India, to an English family then-resident there. The man he briefly
knew as his father, Harry Bloom, was a legendary political activist who fought for
civil rights in South Africa...
154.
Mark Ruffalo Actor, The Avengers
Mark Ruffalo was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to Marie Rose (Hebert), a stylist
and hairdresser, and Frank Lawrence Ruffalo, a construction painter. His father's
ancestry is Italian, and his mother is of half French-Canadian and half Italian
descent. Mark moved with his family to Virginia Beach, Virginia...
155.
Hugh Jackman Actor, The Prestige
Hugh Jackman was born in Sydney, New South Wales, to Grace McNeil
(Greenwood) and Christopher John Jackman, an accountant. He is the youngest
of five children. His parents, both English, moved to Australia shortly before his
birth. He also has Greek (from a great-grandfather) and Scottish (from a
grandmother) ancestry...
156.
Christopher Lee Actor, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was perhaps the only actor of his generation
to have starred in so many films. Although most notable for personifying
bloodsucking vampire, Dracula, on screen, he portrayed other varied characters
on screen, most of which were villains, whether it be Francisco Scaramanga in the
James Bond film...
157.
Tom Berenger Actor, Inception
Born in Chicago, Oscar nominee, Golden Globe and Emmy winner Tom Berenger
was raised in a working class home as the son of a printer for the Chicago Sun-
Times. Tom attended the University of Missouri to study journalism. It was there
he first auditioned for a role in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" at the college
theater on a whim and a bet with a roommate...
158.
Tim Roth Actor, Pulp Fiction
Often mistaken for an American because of his skill at imitating accents, actor
Tim Roth was born Simon Timothy Roth on May 14, 1961 in Lambeth, London,
England. His mother, Ann, was a teacher and landscape painter. His father, Ernie,
was a journalist who had changed the family name from "Smith" to "Roth"; Ernie
was in Brooklyn, New York, to an immigrant family of Irish ancestry...
159.
Peter Ustinov Actor, Robin Hood
Peter Ustinov was a two-time Academy Award-winning film actor, a director,
writer, journalist and raconteur. He wrote and directed many acclaimed stage
plays and led numerous international theatrical productions. He was born Peter
Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov on April 16, 1921, in Swiss Cottage, London...
160.
Patrick Stewart Actor, X2
Sir Patrick Stewart was born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, England, to Gladys
(Barrowclough), a textile worker and weaver, and Alfred Stewart, who was in the
army. He was a member of various local drama groups from about age 12. He left
school at age 15 to work as a junior reporter on a local paper; he quit when his
editor told him he was spending too much time at the theatre and not enough
working...
161.
Sam Neill Actor, Jurassic Park
Sam Neill was born in Omagh, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland, to army parents, an
English-born mother, Priscilla Beatrice (Ingham), and a New Zealand-born father,
Dermot Neill. His family moved to the South Island of New Zealand in 1954. He
went to boarding schools and then attended the universities at Canterbury and
Victoria...
162.
Michael York Actor, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Michael York was born in Fulmer, England, 27 March 1942. He performed on
stage with the National Youth Theatre in London's East End and on international
tour. Other early acting experience came through the Oxford University Dramatic
Society (he graduated Oxford 1964), the Dundee Repertory, and Laurence
Olivier's National Theater Company - where he worked with Franco Zeffirelli...
163.
Brian Dennehy Actor, Ratatouille
Imposing, barrel-chested and now silver-haired Brian Dennehy is a prolific US
actor, well respected on both screen and stage for the best part of 25 years. He
was born in July 1938 in Bridgeport, CT, and attended Columbia University in
New York City on a football scholarship. He majored in history, before moving on
to Yale to study dramatic arts...
164.
Tom Hulce Actor, Amadeus
Thomas Edward Hulce was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Plymouth,
MI, where he was raised with his two sisters and older brother. He is the son of
Joanna (Winkleman), who had sung professionally, and Raymond Albert Hulce,
who worked for Ford. He has English, German, and Irish ancestry. Wanting to be
a singer...
165.
Matt Dillon Actor, There's Something About Mary
Matt Dillon's successful film career has spanned over three decades and has
showcased his wide range of dramatic and comedic talents. Dillon displayed his
versatility with an arresting performance co-starring as a racist cop in the
critically acclaimed Paul Haggis film Crash. This role earned him nominations for
an Academy award...
166.
David Carradine Actor, Kill Bill: Vol. 2
David Carradine was born in Hollywood, California, the eldest son of legendary
character actor John Carradine, and his wife, Ardanelle Abigail (McCool). He
presided over an acting family that included brothers Keith Carradine and Robert
Carradine as well as his daughters Calista Carradine and Kansas Carradine, and
nieces Ever Carradine and Martha Plimpton...
167.
Ryan O'Neal Actor, Barry Lyndon
168.
Kurt Russell Actor, The Thing
Kurt Russell is an American actor. His first roles were as a child in television
series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie
McPheeters (1963-64). In the late 1960s, he signed a ten-year contract with The
Walt Disney Company, where, according to Robert Osborne, he became the
studio's top star of the 1970s...
169.
Don Cheadle Actor, Iron Man 3
Don Cheadle was born in Kansas City, Missouri on November 29, 1964. His
childhood found him moving from city to city with his family: mother Bettye
(North), a teacher, father Donald Frank Cheadle, Sr., a clinical psychologist, sister
Dawn, and brother Colin. After graduating high school in Denver, Colorado...
170.
Aaron Eckhart Actor, The Dark Knight
171.
Jim Carrey Actor, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Jim Carrey, Canadian-born and a U.S. citizen since 2004, is an actor and
producer famous for his rubbery body movements and flexible facial expressions.
The two-time Golden Globe-winner rose to fame as a cast member of the Fox
sketch comedy In Living Color but leading roles in Ace Ventura: Pet
Detective, Dumb & Dumber and The Mask established him as a bankable comedy
actor...
172.
Eli Wallach Actor, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
One of Hollywood's finest character / "Method" actors, Eli Wallach was in demand
for over 60 years (first film/TV role was 1949) on stage and screen, and has
worked alongside the world's biggest stars, including Clark Gable, Clint
Eastwood,Steve McQueen, Marilyn Monroe, Yul Brynner, Peter O'Toole, and Al
Pacino, to name but a few...
173.
James Purefoy Actor, Solomon Kane
James Brian Mark Purefoy was born and brought up in Taunton, Somerset,
England, the son of Shirley (Taylor), who ran an employment agency, and
Anthony Chetwynd Purefoy. After leaving school at the age of sixteen, he took a
succession of different jobs, including working on a pig farm and as a porter at
Yeovil District Hospital...
174.
Pete Postlethwaite Actor, Inception
Classically-trained actor Pete Postlethwaite was born Peter William Postlethwaite
in 1946 and was a distinguished character actor on stage, TV and film. Growing
up in Warrington, Lancashire amid middle-class surroundings, he went to college
and while completing his studies developed an interest in theatre...
175.
William Baldwin Actor, Backdraft
176.
Brian Cox Actor, Troy
Brian Cox is an Emmy Award-winning Scottish actor. He was born on June 1,
1946 in Dundee, Scotland, to Mary Ann Guillerline (McCann), a spinner, and
Charles McArdle Campbell Cox, a shopkeeper and butcher. His father was of Irish
ancestry and his mother was of Irish and Scottish descent. Cox first came to
attention in the early 1970s with performances in numerous television films...
177.
Ben Affleck Actor, Argo
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt was born on August 15, 1972 in Berkeley, California,
and was raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His mother, Chris Anne (née Boldt),
is a school teacher, and his father, Timothy Byers Affleck, is a social worker; the
two are now divorced. Ben has a younger brother, actor Casey Affleck...
178.
Emile Hirsch Actor, Into the Wild
Emile Davenport Hirsch was born in Palms, California, to Margaret Esther
(Davenport), a teacher and visual artist, and David M. Hirsch, an entrepreneur
and producer. He grew up in Los Angeles and Santa Fe, New Mexico, and having
been introduced to acting while still at school, he got his first acting job on TV at
the age of 11 in an episode of Kindred: The Embraced...
179.
Richard Jenkins Actor, Jack Reacher
180.
Elijah Wood Actor, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Elijah Wood is an American actor best known for portraying Frodo Baggins
in Peter Jackson's blockbuster Lord of the Rings film trilogy. In addition to
reprising the role in The Hobbit series, Wood also played Ryan in the FX television
comedyWilfred and voiced Beck in the Disney XD animated television
series TRON: Uprising...
181.
Gabriel Byrne Actor, The Usual Suspects
Byrne was the first of six children, born in Dublin, Ireland. His father was a
cooper and his mother a hospital worker. He was raised Catholic and educated by
the Irish Christian Brothers. He spent five years of his childhood in a seminary
training to be a Catholic priest. He later said, "I spent five years in the seminary
and I suppose it was assumed that you had a vocation...
182.
Dennis Quaid Actor, The Day After Tomorrow
Dennis Quaid was born in Houston, Texas, to Juanita Bonniedale (Jordan), a real
estate agent, and William Rudy Quaid, an electrician. He grew up in the Houston
suburban city of Bellaire. He was raised a Baptist, and studied drama, Mandarin
Chinese, and dance while a student at Bellaire High School. He continued study at
the University of Houston...
183.
Roger Moore Actor, The Spy Who Loved Me
Roger Moore will perhaps always be remembered as the man who replaced Sean
Connery in the James Bond series, arguably something he never lived down.
Roger George Moore was born on October 14, 1927 in Stockwell, London,
England, the son of Lillian (Pope) and George Alfred Moore, a policeman. He first
wanted to be an artist...
184.
Jan Decleir Actor, Character
185.
Sylvester Stallone Actor, Rocky
Sylvester Stallone is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. He
is well known for his Hollywood action roles, particularly boxer Rocky Balboa, the
title character of the Rocky series' seven films from 1976 to 2015; soldier John
Rambo from the four Rambo films, which ran from 1982 to 2008; and Barney
Ross in the three The Expendables films from 2010 to 2014...
186.
Don Johnson Actor, Django Unchained
Best known for his starring role as Det. Sonny Crockett on the hugely successful
TV series Miami Vice, Don Johnson is one of the stars who really defined the
1980s. As James "Sonny" Crockett he went toe-to-toe with drug dealers, pimps,
prostitutes, assassins, illegal arms-dealers and crooked cops on a weekly basis
from 1984 to 1989...
187.
Gene Bervoets Actor, The Vanishing
In "Biker Boys", he played the role of Gini, which was essentially a bigger-than-
life version of himself. Gini is a big-talking, free-loading, alcoholic womanizer who
insists on rehashing his past as a TV-cook. This is a reference to the TV-show he
had called Gentse Waterzooi, a combination of a cooking show and a travel
program.
188.
Harry Dean Stanton Actor, Alien
Prolific character actor Harry Dean Stanton's drooping, weather-beaten
appearance and superb acting talent have been his ticket to appearing in over
100 films, and 50 TV episodes. Stanton was born in West Irvine, Kentucky, to
Ersel (Moberly), a cook, and Sheridan Harry Stanton, a barber and tobacco
farmer...
189.
Jean Reno Actor, Léon: The Professional
Jean Reno was born Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez in Casablanca, Morocco, to
Spanish parents (from Andalucía) who moved to North Africa to seek work. His
father was a linotypist. Reno settled in France at 17. He began studying drama
and has credits in French television and theater as well as films. His first two
marriages both ended in divorce...
190.
John Turturro Actor, O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Highly talented, lightly built American actor who always looks unsettled and
jumpy has become a favourite of cult/arthouse film aficionados with his
compelling performances in a broad range of cinematic vehicles. Turturro was
born in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian-American parents, Katherine, a jazz
singer...
191.
Armin Mueller-Stahl Actor, The Game
192.
Omar Sharif Actor, Doctor Zhivago
He began his career in his native country in the 1950s, but is best known for his
appearances in both British and American productions. His films included
Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and Funny Girl (1968). He
was nominated for an Academy Award. He won three Golden Globe Awards and a
César Award...
193.
Charlie Sheen Actor, Wall Street
Charlie Sheen was born Carlos Irwin Estévez on September 3, 1965, in New York
City. His father, actor Martin Sheen (born Ramon Antonio Gerard Estevez), was at
the time just breaking into the business, with performances on Broadway. His
mother,Janet Sheen (née Templeton), was a former New York art student who
had met Charlie's father right after he had moved to Manhattan...
194.
Eddie Murphy Art Department, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
195.
Charles Bronson Actor, Once Upon a Time in the West
The archetypal screen tough guy with weatherbeaten features--one film critic
described his rugged looks as "a Clark Gablewho had been left out in the sun too
long"--Charles Bronson was born Charles Buchinsky, one of 15 children of
struggling parents in Pennsylvania. His mother, Mary (Valinsky)...
196.
Keith Carradine Actor, The Duellists
It seems the second generation of acting Carradines -- David, Keith and Robert --
are proudly continuing the family tradition and begetting a third generation of
talent. The dynasty began with veteran Hollywood patriarch John Carradine, the
son of a surgeon and a correspondent for the Associated Press. Keith was a child,
born of John's second marriage to actress Sonia Sorel...
197.
Danny Glover Actor, Lethal Weapon
Actor, producer and humanitarian Danny Glover has been a commanding
presence on screen, stage and television for more than 25 years. Glover was born
in San Francisco, California, to Carrie (Hunley) and James Glover, postal workers
who were also active in civil rights. Glover trained at the Black Actors' Workshop
of the American Conservatory Theater...
198.
Timothy Dalton Actor, The Living Daylights
At a consistently lean 6' 2", green-eyed Timothy Dalton may very well be one of
the last of the dying breed of swashbuckling, classically trained Shakespearean
actors who have forged simultaneous successful careers in theater, television and
film. He has been comparison-shopped roundly for stepping into roles played by
other actors...
199.
Vince Vaughn Actor, The Internship
Vincent Anthony Vaughn was born on March 28, 1970, in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
USA, and was raised in Lake Forest, Illinois. His parents are Vernon Vaughn, a
salesman, andSharon Vaughn (née Sharon Eileen DePalmo), a real-estate agent
and stockbroker. They divorced in 1991. He has two older sisters...
200.
Vinnie Jones Actor, Snatch.
Vincent Peter Jones was born on January 5, 1965 in Watford, England. He first
came to public notice as a professional footballer, playing in the English Football
League. Noted as one of soccer's hard men, he leaped to fame when a
photographer, at a match, snapped him "marking" Newcastle United's Paul
Gascoigne...
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201.
Vincent Cassel Actor, Black Swan
Blue-eyed Vincent Cassel was born in Paris to a leading actor father, Jean-Pierre
Cassel, and a journalist mother, Sabine Litique. Often labeled as a tough guy
because of his roles, eclectic choices and talent have made of him a star of
European cinema. First in La Haine, the young actor, actually coming from upper
classes...
202.
Jason Statham Actor, The Transporter
Jason Statham was born in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, to Eileen (Yates), a dancer,
and Barry Statham, a street merchant and lounge singer. Statham has done quite
a lot in a short time. He has been a Diver on the British National Diving Team and
finished 12th in the World Championships in 1992. He has also been a fashion
model...
203.
Mads Mikkelsen Actor, Casino Royale
Mads Mikkelsen is a synonym to the great success the Danish film industry has
had since the mid-1990s. He was born in Østerbro, Copenhagen, to Bente
Christiansen, a nurse, and Henning Mikkelsen, a banker. Starting out as a low-life
pusher/junkie in the 1996 success Pusher, he slowly grew to become one of
Denmark's biggest movie actors...
204.
Edward James Olmos Actor, Blade Runner
Edward James Olmos was born in Los Angeles, California, to Eleanor (Huizar) and
Pedro Olmos, who was a mail carrier and welder. His family was of Mexican
descent. If Olmos had followed the first love of his life, he would have been a
professional baseball player. But by age 13, another love entered his life: rock
music...
205.
Keith David Actor, Platoon
Keith David was born Keith David Williams in New York City's Harlem district, and
was raised in East Elmhurst, in the Queens section of the city. He is the son of
Dolores (Dickenson), a New York Telephone manager, and Lester Williams, a
payroll operations director. As a child, he realized he wanted...
206.
Ted Danson Actor, Saving Private Ryan
Ted Danson is well known for his role as Sam Malone in the television
series Cheers. During the show's 11-year run, he was nominated nine times for
an Emmy Award as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and won twice, in
1990 and 1993. The role also earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in
a Comedy Series in 1989 and 1990...
207.
Michael Clarke Duncan Actor, The Green Mile
Michael Clarke Duncan was born on December 10, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois.
Raised by his single mother, Jean, a house cleaner, on Chicago's South Side,
Duncan grew up resisting drugs and alcohol, instead concentrating on school. He
wanted to play football in high school, but his mother wouldn't let him, afraid that
he would get hurt. He then turned to acting, dreaming of becoming a famous
actor...
208.
Steve Martin Writer, The Jerk
209.
Albert Finney Actor, Big Fish
Albert Finney came from the theatre, where he was especially successful in plays
of William Shakespeare, to the movies. There he became a leading figure of the
young Free Cinema. His debut in cinema was in 1960 with The
Entertainer of Tony Richardson who had directed him also in theatre plays various
times before. His typical role were young prolets like, e.g. Arthur Seaton
in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.
210.
Lee Van Cleef Actor, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
One of the great movie villains, Clarence Leroy Van Cleef, Jr. was born in
Somerville, New Jersey, to Marion Lavinia (Van Fleet) and Clarence LeRoy Van
Cleef, Sr. His parents were both of Dutch ancestry. Van Cleef started out as an
accountant. He served in the U.S. Navy aboard minesweepers and subchasers
during World War II...
211.
Jeff Goldblum Actor, Jurassic Park
Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum was born October 22, 1952 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
one of four children of Shirley (Temeles), a radio broadcaster who also ran an
appliances firm, and Harold L. Goldblum, a doctor. His father was of Russian
Jewish descent and his mother was of Austrian Jewish ancestry. Goldblum began
his career on the New York stage after moving to the city at age seventeen...
212.
Ciarán Hinds Actor, Frozen
Ciaran Hinds was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on February 9, 1953. He was
one of five children and the only son. His father was a doctor who hoped to have
Ciaran follow in his footsteps, but that was not to be. It was his mother Moya, an
amateur actress, who was the real influence behind his decision to become an
actor...
213.
Stanley Tucci Actor, The Hunger Games
Actor Stanley Tucci was born on November 11, 1960, in Peekskill, New York. He
is the son of Joan (Tropiano), a writer, and Stanley Tucci, an art teacher. His
family is Italian-American, with origins in Calabria. Tucci took an interest in acting
while in high school, and went on to attend the State University of New York's
Conservatory of Theater Arts in Purchase...
214.
David Morse Actor, The Green Mile
David Morse, a 6' 4" tall blue-eyed blond who performed on stage for 10 years
before breaking into film, became established as a respected supporting,
character actor and second lead. He was born the first of four children of Charles,
a sales manager, and Jacquelyn Morse, a schoolteacher, on October 11...
215.
Brent Spiner Actor, Independence Day
Brent Spiner, whose primary claim to fame is his portrayal of the beloved android
Data on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, was born and raised
in Houston, Texas. His parents, Sylvia (Schwartz) and Jack Spiner, owned and
operated a furniture store, and were both from Jewish immigrant families (from
Austria...
216.
Jamie Foxx Actor, Django Unchained
Jamie Foxx was born Eric Marlon Bishop in Terrell, Texas, to Louise Annette Talley
and Darrell Bishop, who worked as a stockbroker and had later changed his name
to Shahid Abdula. His mother was an adopted child. When her marriage to his
father failed, his maternal grandparents, Mark and Estelle Talley...
217.
Philip Baker Hall Actor, Bruce Almighty
Philip Baker Hall was born in Toledo, Ohio, to Berdene (McDonald) and William
Alexander Hall, a factory worker who was originally from Montgomery, Alabama.
He did not start acting until he was 30 years old, and shot to cult fame when he
turned in an electrifying performance as Sydney, the veteran gambler...
218.
Jean-Paul Belmondo Actor, Breathless
The son of the renowned French sculptor Paul Belmondo, he studied at
Conservatoire National Superieur d'Art Dramatique (CNSAD); after the minor
stage performances he made his screen debut in À pied, à cheval et en
voiture but the episodes with his participation were cut before release. However,
the breakthrough role in Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless made him one of the key
figures in the French New Wave...
219.
Graham Greene Actor, The Green Mile
220.
Roy Scheider Actor, Jaws
Lean, angular-faced and authoritatively spoken lead / supporting actor Roy
Scheider obviously never heard the old actor's axiom about "never appearing with
kids or animals" lest they overshadow your performance. Breaking that rule did
him no harm, though, as he achieved pop cult status by finding, fighting...
221.
Jon Voight Actor, Mission: Impossible
222.
Toshirô Mifune Actor, Seven Samurai
Toshiro Mifune achieved more worldwide fame than any other Japanese actor of
his century. He was born in Tsingtao, China, to Japanese parents and grew up in
Dalian. He did not set foot in Japan until he was 21. His father was an importer
and a commercial photographer, and young Toshiro worked in his father's studio
for a time after graduating from Dalian Middle School...
223.
Eric Bana Actor, Star Trek
Eric Bana was born Eric Banadinovic on August 9, 1968, in Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia. He is the younger of two brothers. His father, named Ivan Banadinovic,
came from Zagreb, Croatia, and worked as a manager for Caterpillar Inc. His
mother, named Eleanor Banadinovic, came from a German family and was a
hairdresser...
224.
James Franco Actor, 127 Hours
Known for his breakthrough starring role on Freaks and Geeks, James Franco was
born in Palo Alto, California on April 19, 1978. His mother, Betsy Franco, is
Jewish, and his father, Douglas Eugene "Doug" Franco, was of Portuguese and
Swedish descent, and ran a Silicon Valley business. James's mother, a writer, has
occasionally acted...
225.
Jack Black Actor, Kung Fu Panda
Jack Black was born Thomas Jacob Black in Santa Monica, California, to Judith
Love (Cohen) and Thomas William Black, both satellite engineers. He is of British-
German (father) and Russian Jewish (mother) ancestry. Black attended the
University of California at Los Angeles. While at UCLA, he was a member...
226.
Emilio Estevez Actor, The Breakfast Club
Emilio Estevez was born on May 12, 1962, in New York City. He is the eldest son
of actor Martin Sheen, who at the time was just breaking into the business. His
mother, Janet Sheen (née Templeton), was a former New York art student who
had met Emilio's father right after he had moved to Manhattan...
227.
Sean Bean Actor, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Sean Bean's 20 year career spans theater, radio, television and movies. Bean was
born in Handsworth, Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, to Rita (Tuckwood) and
Brian Bean. He worked for his father's welding firm before he decided to become
an actor. He attended RADA in London and appeared in a number of West End
stage productions including RSC's "Fair Maid of the West" (Spencer)...
228.
Louis de Funès Actor, The Mad Adventures of 'Rabbi' Jacob
Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza was born on July 31, 1914, in
Courbevoie, France. His father, named Carlos Luis de Funes de Galarza, was a
former lawyer of Seville, Spain, who became a diamond cutter. His mother,
named Leonor Soto Reguera, was of Spanish and Portugese extraction. Young
Louis de Funès was fond of drawing and piano playing...
229.
Bourvil Actor, The Longest Day
At the age of three, André Zacharie Raimbourg and his family moved to a town in
the region of Normandy called Bourville. He finished school at the age of 15 and
began to work as a baker. He was already playing harmonica, mandoline and
cornet when he engaged himself in a village band. In the beginning of 1940 while
in the army making music-hall show for the troops...
230.
Lino Ventura Actor, The Army of Shadows
One of France's most beloved character stars from the 1950s through and
including the 1980s was the Italian-born Lino Ventura. Born Angiolino Joseph
Pascal Ventura to Giovanni Ventura and Luisa Borrini, on July 14, 1919, in Parma
(northern) Italy, young Lino moved with his family at a young age to Paris...
231.
Jack Lemmon Actor, The Apartment
Jack Lemmon was born in Newton, Massachusetts, to Mildred Burgess LaRue
(Noel) and John Uhler Lemmon, Jr., the president of a doughnut company. His
ancestry included Irish (from his paternal grandmother) and English. Jack
attended Ward Elementary near his Newton, MA home. At age 9 he was sent to
Rivers Country Day School...
232.
Art Carney Actor, Harry and Tonto
233.
Peter Finch Actor, Network
Despite being one of the finest actors of his generation, Peter Finch will be
remembered as much for his reputation as a hard-drinking, hell-raising
womanizer as for his performances on the screen. He was born in London in 1916
and went to live in Sydney, Australia, at the age of ten. There, he worked in a
series of dead-end jobs before taking up acting...
234.
John Mills Actor, Gandhi
Sir John Mills, one of the most popular and beloved English actors, was born
Lewis Ernest Watts Mills on February 22, 1908, at the Watts Naval Training
College in North Elmham, Norfolk, England. The young Mills grew up in
Felixstowe, Suffolk, where his father was a mathematics teacher and his mother
was a theater box-office manager...
235.
Ben Johnson Actor, The Last Picture Show
Born in Oklahoma, Ben Johnson was a ranch hand and rodeo performer when, in
1940, Howard Hughes hired him to take a load of horses to California. He decided
to stick around (the pay was good), and for some years was a stunt man, horse
wrangler, and double for such stars as John Wayne, Gary Cooper and James
Stewart...
236.
Joel Grey Actor, Dancer in the Dark
237.
George Burns Actor, Oh, God!
238.
Melvyn Douglas Actor, Being There
Two-time Oscar-winner Melvyn Douglas was one of America's finest actors. In
addition to his two Oscars, he also won a Tony Award and an Emmy. Douglas
would enjoy cinema immortality if for no other reason than his being the man
who made Greta Garbo laugh in Ernst Lubitsch's classic comedy Ninotchka, but he
was much, much more...
239.
Timothy Hutton Actor, The Ghost Writer
Timothy Hutton was born in Malibu, California, to Maryline (Poole), a teacher, and
actor Jim Hutton (Dana James Hutton). He set Hollywood ablaze when he burst
onto the acting scene in the early 1980s. After only a small number of significant
roles in TV movies, he bagged the part of Conrad in the Robert Redford-
directed Ordinary People...
240.
Eric Stoltz Actor, Mask
Eric Cameron Stoltz is a theater-trained actor and producer who has starred in
both independent and studio films. He was born on September 30, 1961 in
Whittier, California, to Evelyn Berneice (Vawter), a violinist and schoolteacher,
and Jack Hamilton Stoltz, an elementary school teacher. He has German...
241.
Louis Gossett Jr. Actor, Enemy Mine
Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. was born on May 27, 1936 in Brooklyn, New York City.
He made his professional acting debut at age 17, winning the Donaldson Award
as best newcomer to theatre. He went to New York University on a basketball
scholarship and was invited to try out for the New York Knicks, yet...
242.
Don Ameche Actor, Cocoon
Don Ameche was a versatile and popular American film actor in the 1930s and
'40s, usually as the dapper, mustached leading man. He was also popular as a
radio master of ceremonies during this time. As his film popularity waned in the
1950s, he continued working in theater and some TV. His film career...
243.
Peter Fonda Actor, Easy Rider
Peter Henry Fonda was born in New York City, to legendary screen star Henry
Fonda and New York socialite Frances Seymour Brokaw. He is the brother of
actress Jane Fonda and the father of actress Bridget Fonda. His ancestry includes
Dutch, English, Scottish, and distant French and Italian...
244.
Leslie Nielsen Actor, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
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 Radio Arts in
Toronto before moving on to New York's Neighborhood Playhouse...
245.
Christopher Eccleston Actor, The Others
Christopher Eccleston trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and first
came to public attention as Derek Bentley in Let Him Have It. However, it was a
regular role in the television series Cracker that made him a recognizable figure
in the United Kingdom. He appeared in the low-budget thrillerShallow Grave...
246.
Vincent Price Actor, House of Usher
Actor, writer, and gourmet, Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was born in St Louis,
Missouri, to Marguerite Cobb (Wilcox) and Vincent Leonard Price, Sr., president of
the National Candy Company. He traveled through Europe, studied at Yale and
became an actor. He made his screen debut in 1938, and after many minor
roles...
247.
Philip Michael Thomas Actor, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Philip Michael Thomas - the multi-talented performer best known as Detective
Rico Tubbs in the iconic 1980s TV seriesMiami Vice - made his Broadway debut in
1971 in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play No Place to Be Somebody...and hasn't
looked back since. In a remarkable career that spans nearly four decades...
248.
Dexter Fletcher Actor, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Dexter Fletcher is an English actor who made his way in many screen and
television performances, the most well-liked and well-known of the latter being
in Press Gang where he played opposite real-life love (at the time) Julia
Sawalha (Lynda Day on "Press Gang"). His career began at the age of 10, with a
small role in Bugsy Malone.
249.
Antonio Banderas Actor, Desperado
Antonio Banderas, one of Spain's most famous faces, was a soccer player until
breaking his foot at the age of fourteen; he is now an international film star
known for playing Zorro in the eponymous film series. He was born José Antonio
Domínguez Banderas on August 10, 1960, in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain...
250.
Michael Fassbender Actor, Inglourious Basterds
In 2011, Fassbender debuted as the Marvel antihero Magneto in the prequel X-
Men: First Class; he would go on to share the role with Ian McKellen in X-Men:
Days of Future Past (2014). Also in 2011, Fassbender's performance as a sex
addict in Shame received critical acclaim. He won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at
the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for Golden Globe and BAFTA
Awards...
251.
Ryan Gosling Actor, Drive
Ryan Thomas Gosling was born on November 12, 1980, in London, Ontario,
Canada. He is the son of Donna (Wilson), a secretary, and Thomas Ray Gosling, a
traveling salesman. Ryan was the second of their two children. His ancestry is
French-Canadian, as well as English, Scottish, and German. The Gosling family
moved to Cornwall...
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