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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