the best actors/actresses in the world
by robin-famke | created - 18 Apr 2011 | updated - 03 Sep 2011 | Public
1. Hugh Laurie
Actor | House M.D.
Hugh was born in Oxford, England on June 11, 1959, to Patricia (Laidlaw) and William George Ranald Mundell "Ran" Laurie, a doctor, both of Scottish descent. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge. Son of an Olympic gold medalist in the sport, he rowed for the England youth team (1977) and for ...
2. Stephen Fry
Actor | Gosford Park
Writer, actor, comedian, doer of good works, excellent good friend to the famous and not, Fry lives in his London SW1 flat and his Norfolk house when not traveling. Famous for his public declaration of celibacy in the "Tatler" back in the 1980s, Emma Thompson has characterised her friend as "90 ...
3. David Caruso
Actor | First Blood
His low-keyed intensity, deep-voiced somberness, pale skin, puffy-eyed baby face and crop of carrot-red hair are all obvious and intriguing trademarks of TV star David Caruso. A hugely popular item in the 1990s as a result of a smash crime series, he got way too caught up in all the hoopla ...
4. Gary Sinise
Actor | Forrest Gump
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. ...
5. William Petersen
Producer | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
William Petersen was born on February 21, 1953 in Evanston, Illinois, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), Manhunter (1986) and To Live and Die in L.A. (1985). He has been married to Gina Cirone since June 14, 2003. They have two children. He was ...
6. Sean Connery
Actor | The Rock
The tall, handsome and muscular Scottish actor Sean Connery is best known as the original actor to portray James Bond in the hugely successful movie franchise, starring in seven films between 1962 and 1983. Some believed that such a career-defining role might leave him unable to escape it, but he ...
7. Robert Sean Leonard
Actor | Dead Poets Society
One actor who has deserved much acknowledgment and fame and has had to do without it on a number of occasions is Robert Sean Leonard, known by most as Dr. James Wilson on House M.D. (2004). But his career has spanned a number of classic films, alongside such greats as Daniel Day-Lewis, Christian ...
8. Olivia Wilde
Actress | Tron: Legacy
Actress and activist Olivia Wilde is a modern day renaissance woman, starring in many acclaimed film productions, while simultaneously giving back to the community.
She was born on March 10, 1984 in New York City. Her parents are Leslie Cockburn (née Leslie Corkill Redlich) and Andrew Cockburn. Her ...
9. Alfred Molina
Actor | Spider-Man 2
Alfred Molina was born in 1953 in London, England. His mother, Giovanna (Bonelli), was an Italian-born cook and cleaner, and his father, Esteban Molina, was a Spanish-born waiter and chauffeur. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. His stage work includes two major Royal ...
10. Liam Neeson
Actor | Kinsey
Liam Neeson was born on June 7, 1952 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, to Katherine (Brown), a cook, and Bernard Neeson, a school caretaker. He was raised in a Catholic household. During his early years, Liam worked as a forklift operator for Guinness, a truck driver, an assistant architect and an ...
11. Ben Barnes
Actor | The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
British actor Benjamin Thomas Barnes was born in Cambridge, England, to Patricia (Becker), a relationship therapist, and Thomas Barnes, a professor of psychiatry. He has a brother, Jack. His mother is from South Africa while his father is English.
Barnes studied at Homefield Preparatory and King's ...
12. William Moseley
Actor | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
William Peter Moseley was born on April 27, 1987, in Gloucester, England, to Juliette (Fleming) and Peter Moseley, a cinematographer. He is the eldest of three children with a younger sister named Daisy and and younger brother named Ben. His father's name is also William's middle name.
He wanted to ...
13. Adam Rodriguez
Actor | CSI: Miami
Adam Rodriguez has forged a creative path as an actor, director, and screenwriter across a broad spectrum of television and film. In addition to starring in iconic shows such as the international hit series CSI: Miami and Criminal Minds, Rodriguez is also an executive producer on multiple projects ...
14. Jonathan Togo
Actor | CSI: Miami
Jonathan Togo was born on August 25, 1977, to Michael and Sheila Togo. He was raised in Rockland, Massachusetts, attending Hebrew school as a child and graduating from Rockland High School in 1995. He went on to attend Vassar College, graduating with a BA in Theater. While at Vassar, he performed ...
15. Seth MacFarlane
Writer | Family Guy
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane was born in the small New England town of Kent, Connecticut, where he lived with his mother, Ann Perry (Sager), an admissions office worker, his father, Ronald Milton MacFarlane, a prep school teacher, and his sister, Rachael MacFarlane, now a voice actress and singer. He ...
16. Anthony Hopkins
Actor | The Silence of the Lambs
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, ...
17. Jim Parsons
Actor | The Big Bang Theory
Having grown up in Houston, and its northern suburb of Spring, he made his first stage appearance in a school play at the age of 6. Parsons then went on to study theater at the University of Houston. From there he won a place on a two-year Masters course in classical theater at the University of ...
18. Ian McKellen
Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Widely regarded as one of greatest stage and screen actors both in his native Great Britain and internationally, twice nominated for the Oscar and recipient of every major theatrical award in the UK and US, Ian Murray McKellen was born on May 25, 1939 in Burnley, Lancashire, England, to Margery ...
19. Johnny Depp
Actor | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II was born on June 9, 1963 in Owensboro, Kentucky, to Betty Sue Palmer (née Wells), a waitress, and John Christopher Depp, a civil engineer. He was raised in Florida. He dropped out of school when he was 15, and fronted a series of music-garage bands, including one ...
20. Alan Rickman
Actor | Die Hard
Alan Rickman was born on a council estate in Acton, West London, to Margaret Doreen Rose (Bartlett), of English and Welsh descent, and Bernard Rickman, of Irish descent, who worked at a factory. Alan Rickman had an older brother (David), a younger brother (Michael), and a younger sister (Sheila). ...
21. Hayden Christensen
Actor | Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
Hayden Christensen was born April 19, 1981 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His parents, Alie and David Christensen, are in the communications business. He is of Danish (father) and Swedish and Italian (mother) descent. Hayden grew up in Markham, Ontario, with siblings Kaylen, Hejsa, and ...
22. Martin Freeman
Actor | Black Panther
Martin Freeman is an English actor, known for portraying Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film trilogy, Tim Canterbury in the original UK version of sitcom mockumentary The Office (2001), Dr. John Watson in the British crime drama Sherlock (2010) and Lester Nygaard in the dark ...
23. Benedict Cumberbatch
Actor | The Imitation Game
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch was born and raised in London, England. His parents, Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton (born Timothy Carlton Congdon Cumberbatch), are both actors. He is a grandson of submarine commander Henry Carlton Cumberbatch, and a great-grandson of diplomat Henry Arnold ...
24. Ricky Gervais
Writer | The Office
Ricky Dene Gervais was born in a suburb of Reading, Berkshire, to Eva Sophia (House) and Lawrence Raymond Gervais, who was a hod carrier and labourer. His father was born in Ontario, Canada, of French-Canadian descent, and his mother was English. He was educated at Ashmead Comprehensive School and ...
25. Michael McIntyre
Self | Michael McIntyre's Big Show
Michael McIntyre was born on February 21, 1976 in Merton, London, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Michael McIntyre's Big Show (2015), Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow (2009) and The Wheel (2022). He has been married to Kitty Ward since 2003. They have two children.
26. Sean Lock
Writer | 15 Storeys High
He was one of the funniest guys in British television, much acclaimed for his dry wit and deadpan delivery, both on and off the set. Sean Lock was a genuine comedic original. His screen persona has been described as "studiedly obtuse". Either as host or panellist, he knew how to have audiences in ...
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