1970's (still in progress):

1. Mario Adorf

Mario Adorf, a tell-tale name indeed. Mario calls to mind the actor's Italian roots (his father was a Calabrian surgeon) whereas Adorf reveals his German origins (his mother was a radiologist from the German region Eifel). As for the full name Mario Adorf it echoes to perfection the international ...

2. Jack Albertson

Actor | Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

A former song-and-dance man and veteran of vaudeville, burlesque and Broadway, Jack Albertson is best known to audiences as "The Man" in the TV series Chico and the Man (1974), for which he won an Emmy. In 1968 Albertson, the brother of actress Mabel Albertson, won the Oscar for Best Supporting ...

1907-1981

3. Dan Aykroyd

Writer | Ghostbusters

Daniel Edward Aykroyd was born on July 1, 1952 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to Lorraine Hélène (Gougeon), a secretary from a French-Canadian family, and Samuel Cuthbert Peter Hugh Aykroyd, a civil engineer who advised prime minister Pierre Trudeau. Aykroyd attended Carleton University in 1969, where...

Notable Works: Coming Up Rosie (1975-1978) Saturday Night Live (1975-1979) All You Need Is Cash (1978) 1941 (1979)

4. Alan Alda

Actor | M*A*S*H

Alan Alda (born under the name Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo) is an American actor, comedian, film director, and screenwriter from New York City. His father was the Italian-American actor Robert Alda. Alda's best known role was playing chief surgeon Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the ...

5. Nancy Allen

Actress | Dressed to Kill

Nancy Anne Allen was born and raised in the Bronx borough of New York City, the youngest of three children. Her father, Eugene Allen, was a New York police lieutenant. At a young age, she trained for a dancing career at the High School of Performing Arts, and then attended Jose Quintano's School ...

6. Woody Allen

Writer | Annie Hall

Woody Allen was born on November 30, 1935, as Allen Konigsberg, in The Bronx, NY, the son of Martin Konigsberg and Nettie Konigsberg. He has one younger sister, Letty Aronson. As a young boy, he became intrigued with magic tricks and playing the clarinet, two hobbies that he continues today.

Allen ...

7. John Amos

Actor | Coming to America

A native of New Jersey and son of a mechanic, African-American John Amos has relied on his imposing build, eruptive nature and strong, forceful looks to obtain acting jobs, and a serious desire for better roles to earn a satisfying place in the annals of film and TV. He has found it a constant ...

8. Ursula Andress

Actress | Dr. No

The quintessential jet-set Euro starlet, Ursula Andress was born in the Swiss canton of Berne on March 19, 1936, one of six children in a strict German Protestant family. Although often seeming icily aloof, a restless streak early demonstrated itself in her personality, and she had an impetuous ...

9. Julie Andrews

Actress | The Sound of Music

Julia Elizabeth Wells was born on October 1, 1935, in England. Her mother, Barbara Ward (Morris), and stepfather, both vaudeville performers, discovered her freakish but undeniably lovely four-octave singing voice and immediately got her a singing career. She performed in music halls throughout her...

10. Anne Archer

Actress | Fatal Attraction

Anne Archer was nominated for an Academy Award®, a Golden Globe and the British (BAFTA) Academy Award for her role as Michael Douglas' sympathetic, tortured wife, "Beth Gallagher", in Adrian Lyne's 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction (1987). Archer is also well-known for her poignant Golden ...

11. Alan Arkin

Actor | Argo

Alan Arkin was an Academy Award-winning American actor who was also an acclaimed director, producer, author, singer and composer.

He was born Alan Wolf Arkin on March 26, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York. His family were Jewish emigrants from Russia and Germany. In 1946, the Arkins moved from Brooklyn to...

1934-2023

Notable Works: Catch-22 (1970) Little Murders (1971) Deadhead Miles (1972) Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1972) Freebie and the Bean (1974) Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins (1975) Hearts of the West (1975) The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976) Fire Sale (1977) The In-Laws (1979) The Magician of Lublin (1979)

12. Bea Arthur

Actress | The Golden Girls

Actress-comedienne Bea Arthur was born Bernice Frankel on May 13, 1922 in New York City to a Jewish family. She grew up in Maryland, where her parents ran a dress shop. At 12 years old, she was the tallest girl in her school at 5'9".

She earned the title of "Wittiest Girl" in her school, and her ...

1922-2009

13. Elizabeth Ashley

Actress | Windows

Award-winning actress Elizabeth Ashley can always be counted on to give her all. Grand in style, exotic in looks, divinely outgoing in personality and an engaging interpreter of Tennessee Williams' florid Southern-belles on stage, she was born Elizabeth Ann Cole on August 30, 1939, in Ocala, ...

14. Edward Asner

Actor | Up

Edward Asner was born of Russian Jewish parentage in Kansas City, to Morris David Asner (founder and owner of the Kansas City-based Asner Iron & Metal Company) and his wife Elizabeth "Lizzie" (Seliger). After attending college, Ed worked various jobs, including in a steel mill, as a door-to-door ...

1929-2021

15. Richard Attenborough

Actor | Jurassic Park

Richard Attenborough, Baron Attenborough of Richmond-upon-Thames, was born in Cambridge, England, the son of Mary (née Clegg), a founding member of the Marriage Guidance Council, and Frederick Levi Attenborough, a scholar and academic administrator who was a don at Emmanuel College and wrote a ...

1923-2014

16. Rene Auberjonois

Actor | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

René Murat Auberjonois was born on June 1, 1940 in New York City, to Princess Laure Louise Napoléone Eugénie Caroline (Murat), who was born in Paris, and Fernand Auberjonois, who was Swiss-born. René was born into an already artistic family, which included his grandfather, a well-known Swiss ...

1940-2019

17. Margaret Avery

Actress | The Color Purple

Slender, attractive actress Margaret Avery, spellbinding in her role of Shug in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple (1985), is certainly no "one-hit wonder". Although filmgoers may be able to trace her back only to that once-in-a-lifetime part, Margaret has been a talented player on the large and ...

18. Amitabh Bachchan

Actor | Black

Amitabh Bachchan was born on October 11, 1942 in Allahabad, British India (present-day Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India) to legendary poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan & Teji Bachchan. He also has a brother named Ajitabh. He completed his education from Uttar Pradesh and moved to Bombay to find work as a ...

19. Conrad Bain

Actor | Maude

Usually sized up as an erudite gent, advice-spouting father or uptight, pompous neighbor, the acting talents of Conrad Bain were best utilized on stage and on TV. Born in Lethbridge, Alberta, on February 4, 1923, Conrad Stafford Bain was a twin son (the other was named Bonar) born to Stafford ...

1923-2013

20. Martin Balsam

Actor | All the President's Men

Martin Henry Balsam was born on November 4, 1919 in the Bronx, New York City, to Lillian (Weinstein) and Albert Balsam, a manufacturer of women's sportswear. He was the first-born child. His father was a Russian Jewish immigrant, and his mother was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents. ...

1919-1996

21. Anne Bancroft

Actress | The Graduate

Anne Bancroft was born on September 17, 1931 in The Bronx, NY, the middle daughter of Michael Italiano (1905-2001), a dress pattern maker, and Mildred DiNapoli (1907-2010), a telephone operator. She made her cinema debut in Don't Bother to Knock (1952) in 1952, and over the next five years appeared...

1931-2005

22. Adrienne Barbeau

Actress | Escape from New York

Adrienne Jo Barbeau is an American actress and author best known for her roles on the sitcom Maude (1972) and in horror films, especially those directed by John Carpenter, with whom she was once married. She was born on June 11, 1945 in Sacramento, California, the daughter of an executive for Mobil...

23. Ned Beatty

Actor | Network

Stocky, genial-looking supporting actor Ned Beatty was once hailed by Daily Variety as the "busiest actor in Hollywood."

Ned Thomas Beatty was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Margaret (Fortney) and Charles William Beatty. He grew up fishing and working on farms. His hometown of St. Matthews, ...

1937-2021

Notable Works: Deliverance (1972) White Lightning (1973) Dying Room Only (1973) The Execution of Private Slovik (1974) Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (1975) W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975) Nashville (1975) The Deadly Tower (1975) All the President's Men (1976) The Big Bus (1976) Network (1976) Silver Streak (1976) Mikey and Nicky (1976) Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) Gray Lady Down (1978) The Great Bank Hoax (1978) Superman (1978) Promises in the Dark (1979) Wise Blood (1979) 1941 (1979)

24. Warren Beatty

Actor | Heaven Can Wait

Since starring in his first film, Splendor in the Grass (1961), Warren Beatty has been said to have demonstrated a greater longevity in movies than any actor of his generation. Few people have taken so many responsibilities for all phases of the production of films as producer, director, writer, ...

Notable Works: The Only Game in Town (1970) McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) Dollars (1971) The Parallax View (1974) Shampoo (1975) The Fortune (1975) Heaven Can Wait (1978)

25. Ed Begley Jr.

Actor | A Mighty Wind

Ed Begley Jr. was born on September 16, 1949 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for A Mighty Wind (2003), Pineapple Express (2008) and Whatever Works (2009). He has been married to Rachelle Carson-Begley since August 23, 2000. They have one child. He was previously ...

26. Jean-Paul Belmondo

Actor | Pierrot le fou

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 (1957) but the episodes with his participation were cut before ...

1933-2021

27. John Belushi

Actor | Saturday Night Live

John Belushi was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on January 24, 1949, to Agnes Demetri (Samaras) and Adam Anastos Belushi, a restaurant owner. His father was an Albanian immigrant, from Qytezë, and his mother was also of Albanian descent. He grew up in Wheaton, where the family moved when he was ...

1949-1982

28. Robby Benson

Actor | Beauty and the Beast

Robby Benson is an American writer, director, composer, lyricist, actor, professor of film, filmmaker and novelist. He began his career in the theater, (Oliver, The King and I); on Broadway (co-starring in Zelda, The Rothschilds and Joseph Papp's The Pirates of Penzance, where he met and fell in ...

Notable Works: Jory (1973) Jeremy (1973) Lucky Lady (1975) Ode to Billy Joe (1976) The Death of Richie (1977) One on One (1977) Our Town (1977) The End (1978) Ice Castles (1978) Walk Proud (1979)

29. Candice Bergen

Actress | Miss Congeniality

One cool, eternally classy lady, Candice Bergen was elegantly poised for trendy "ice princess" stardom when she first arrived on the '60s screen, but she gradually reshaped that débutante image in the '70s, both on- and off-camera. A staunch, outspoken feminist with a decisive edge, she went on to ...

Notable Works: The Adventurers (1970) Getting Straight (1970) Soldier Blue (1970) Carnal Knowledge (1971) The Hunting Party (1971) T.R. Baskin (1971) 11 Harrowhouse (1974) The Wind and the Lion (1975) Bite the Bullet (1975) The Domino Principle (1977) A Night Full of Rain (1978) Oliver's Story (1978) Starting Over (1979)

30. Jane Birkin

Actress | Evil Under the Sun

Jane Birkin was born on December 14, 1946 in London, England, UK. She was an actress and director, known for Evil Under the Sun (1982), Blow-Up (1966) and Death on the Nile (1978). She was married to John Barry. She died on July 16, 2023 in Paris, France.

1946-2023

31. Jacqueline Bisset

Actress | Bullitt

Jacqueline Bisset has been an international film star since the late '60s. She received her first roles mainly because of her stunning beauty, but over time she has become a fine actress respected by fans and critics alike. Bisset has worked with directors John Huston, François Truffaut, George ...

32. Bill Bixby

Actor | The Incredible Hulk

The son of a sales clerk and a department store owner, Bill Bixby was the sixth-generation Californian born as Wilfred Bailey Bixby, on January 22, 1934, in San Francisco, California. An only child growing up in the 1940s and 1950s, he attended schools in the same area, took ballroom dance lessons,...

1934-1993

33. Karen Black

Actress | Five Easy Pieces

Karen entered Northwestern University at 18 and left two years later. She studied under Lee Strasberg in New York and worked in a number of off-Broadway roles. She made a critically acclaimed debut on Broadway in 1965 in "The Playroom". Her first big film role was in You're a Big Boy Now (1966), ...

1939-2013

34. Linda Blair

Actress | The Exorcist

From the age of five, Linda Blair had to get used to the spotlight, first as a child model and then as an actress, when out of 600 applicants she was picked for the role of Regan, the possessed child, in The Exorcist (1973). Linda quickly rose to international fame, won the Golden Globe, and seemed...

Notable Works: The Sporting Club (1971) The Exorcist (1973) Airport 1975 (1974) Born Innocent (1974) Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975) Sweet Hostage (1975) Victory at Entebbe (1976) Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) Stranger in Our House (1978) Wild Horse Hank (1979) Roller Boogie (1979)

35. Dirk Bogarde

Actor | The Servant

Sir Dirk Bogarde, distinguished film actor and writer, was born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde on March 28, 1921, to Ulric van den Bogaerde, the art editor of "The Times" (London) newspaper, and actress Margaret Niven in the London suburb of Hampstead. He was one of three children...

1921-1999

36. Ernest Borgnine

Actor | Marty

Ernest Borgnine was born Ermes Effron Borgnino on January 24, 1917 in Hamden, Connecticut. His parents were Anna (Boselli), who had emigrated from Carpi (MO), Italy, and Camillo Borgnino, who had emigrated from Ottiglio (AL), Italy. As an only child, Ernest enjoyed most sports, especially boxing, ...

1917-2012

37. Tom Bosley

Actor | Happy Days

Tom Bosley was born on October 1, 1927 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Happy Days (1974), The Back-up Plan (2010) and Yours, Mine and Ours (1968). He was married to Patricia Carr and Jean Eliot. He died on October 19, 2010 in Rancho Mirage, California, USA.

1927-2010

38. Timothy Bottoms

Actor | The Last Picture Show

From a talented acting generation of four brothers, Timothy Bottoms was the closest to achieving out-and-out super-stardom in the 1970s. The eldest of four siblings, he was followed in birth by Joseph Bottoms, Sam Bottoms and Ben Bottoms.

All four boys were born and raised in Santa Barbara, ...

39. Peter Boyle

Actor | Everybody Loves Raymond

A bold, blunt instrument of hatred and violence at the onset of his film career, Peter Boyle recoiled from that repugnant, politically incorrect "working class" image to eventually play gruff, gentler bears and even comedy monsters in a career that lasted four decades.

He was born on October 18, ...

1935-2006

Notable Works: Joe (1970) T.R. Baskin (1971) The Candidate (1972) Steelyard Blues (1973) Slither (1973) Kid Blue (1973) The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) Crazy Joe (1974) Young Frankenstein (1974) Taxi Driver (1976) Swashbuckler (1976) F.I.S.T. (1978) The Brink's Job (1978) Hardcore (1979) Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)

40. Marlon Brando

Actor | Apocalypse Now

Marlon Brando is widely considered the greatest movie actor of all time, rivaled only by the more theatrically oriented Laurence 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 ...

1924-2004

Notable Works: The Godfather (1972) Last Tango in Paris (1972) The Missouri Breaks (1976) Superman (1978) Apocalypse Now (1979)

41. Eric Braeden

Actor | The Young and the Restless

Eric Braeden is a German actor in America who began his career playing Nazis and eventually became a star of daytime soap operas. Born Hans Gudegast in Kiel, Germany, during the Second World War, he was a superb athlete who excelled in track-and-field events. As a teenager, he immigrated to the ...

42. Eileen Brennan

Actress | Clue

A supremely gifted, versatile player who could reach dramatic depths, as exemplified in her weary-eyed, good-hearted waitress in The Last Picture Show (1971), or comedy heights, as in her sadistic drill captain in Private Benjamin (1980), Eileen Brennan managed to transition from lovely Broadway ...

1932-2013

43. Beau Bridges

Actor | The Fabulous Baker Boys

Beau Bridges was born in Hollywood, and is the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his wife, who was his college sweetheart, Dorothy Dean Bridges. Born just two days after the attack on Pearl Harbour, he was delivered by candlelight because of a power blackout. Named Lloyd Vernet Bridges III, his ...

Notable Works: The Landlord (1970) The Christian Licorice Store (1971) Hammersmith Is Out (1972) Child's Play (1972) The Man Without a Country (1973) The Stranger Who Looks Like Me (1974) Lovin' Molly (1974) The Other Side of the Mountain (1975) One Summer Love (1976) Swashbuckler (1976) Two-Minute Warning (1976) Greased Lightning (1977) The President's Mistress (1978) The Four Feathers (1978) Norma Rae (1979) The Fifth Musketeer (1979) The Runner Stumbles (1979)

44. 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 star Lloyd 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 ...

Notable Works: Halls of Anger (1970) The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go (1970) The Last Picture Show (1971) Fat City (1972) Bad Company (1972) Lolly-Madonna XXX (1973) The Last American Hero (1973) The Iceman Cometh (1973) Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) Rancho Deluxe (1975) Hearts of the West (1975) Stay Hungry (1976) King Kong (1976) Somebody Killed Her Husband (1978) Winter Kills (1979)

45. James Brolin

Actor | Traffic

James Brolin is an American actor. Brolin has won two Golden Globes and an Emmy. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 27, 1998. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin.

He is best known for his TV roles such as Stephen Kiley on Marcus Welby, M.D.(1969-1976), Peter McDermott on ...

Notable Works: Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969-1976) Skyjacked (1972) Westworld (1973) Trapped (1973) Gable and Lombard (1976) The Car (1977) Capricorn One (1978) Steel Cowboy (1978) The Amityville Horror (1979)

46. Mel Brooks

Actor | Spaceballs

Mel Brooks was born Melvin Kaminsky on June 28, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York. He served in WWII, and afterwards got a job playing the drums at nightclubs in the Catskills. Brooks eventually started a comedy act and also worked in radio and as Master Entertainer at Grossinger's Resort before going to ...

47. Charles Bronson

Actor | Death Wish

The archetypal screen tough guy with weatherbeaten features--one film critic described his rugged looks as "a Clark Gable who 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), ...

1921-2003

Notable Works: Rider on the Rain (1970) Violent City (1970) Cold Sweat (1970) Someone Behind the Door (1971) Red Sun (1971) The Valachi Papers (1972) Chato's Land (1972) The Mechanic (1972) The Stone Killer (1973) Chino (1973) Mr. Majestyk (1974) Death Wish (1974) Breakout (1975) Hard Times (1975) Breakheart Pass (1975) From Noon till Three (1976) St. Ives (1976) Raid on Entebbe (1977) The White Buffalo (1977) Telefon (1978) Love and Bullets (1979)

48. Jim Brown

Actor | Mars Attacks!

Often mentioned as the greatest player in NFL history, this ruggedly handsome African American fullback for the Cleveland Browns first appeared on movie screens in the western Rio Conchos (1964), followed by a strong supporting role as convict commando "Jefferson" in the terrific WWII action film ...

1936-2023

Notable Works: Tick, Tick, Tick (1970) El Condor (1970) The Grasshopper (1970) Slaughter (1972) Black Gunn (1972) Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973) The Slams (1973) Three the Hard Way (1974) Take a Hard Ride (1975) Fingers (1978)

49. Roscoe Lee Browne

Actor | The Cowboys

He was a master class in cerebral eloquence and audience command...and although his dominant playing card in the realm of acting was quite serious and stately, nobody cut a more delightfully dry edge in sitcoms than this gentleman, whose calm yet blistering put-downs often eluded his lesser victims.

...

1922-2007

50. Yul Brynner

Actor | The King and I

Exotic leading man of American films, famed as much for his completely bald head as for his performances, Yul Brynner masked much of his life in mystery and outright lies designed to tease people he considered gullible. It was not until the publication of the books "Yul: The Man Who Would Be King" ...

1920-1985

51. Geneviève Bujold

Actress | Dead Ringers

Genevieve Bujold spent her first twelve school years in Montreal's oppressive Hochelaga Convent, where opportunities for self-expression were limited to making welcoming speeches for visiting clerics. As a child she felt "as if I were in a long dark tunnel trying to convince myself that if I could ...

52. Carol Burnett

Soundtrack | The Carol Burnett Show

The entertainment world has enjoyed a six-decade love affair with comedienne/singer Carol Burnett. A peerless sketch performer and delightful, self-effacing personality who rightfully succeeded Lucille Ball as the carrot-topped "Queen of Television Comedy," it was Burnett's traumatic childhood that...

53. Ellen Burstyn

Actress | Requiem for a Dream

Ellen Burstyn was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Correine Marie (Hamel) and John Austin Gillooly. She is of Irish, French/French-Canadian, Pennsylvania Dutch (German), and Native American ancestry.. She worked a number of jobs before she became an actress. At 14, she was a short-order cook at a ...

54. Richard Burton

Actor | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Probably best-remembered for his turbulent personal life with Elizabeth Taylor (whom he married twice), Richard Burton was nonetheless also regarded as an often brilliant British actor of the post-WWII period.

Burton was born Richard Walter Jenkins in 1925 into a Welsh (Cymraeg)-speaking family in ...

1925-1984

55. Raymond Burr

Actor | Rear Window

Born Raymond William Stacy Burr on 21 May 1917 in New Westminster, British Columbia, he spent most of his early life traveling. As a youngster, his father moved his family to China, where the elder Burr worked as a trade agent. When the family returned to Canada, Raymond's parents separated. He and...

1917-1993

56. Gary Busey

Actor | The Buddy Holly Story

A blond-haired, fair-complexioned actor with a toothy grin and capable of an unsettling glint in his eyes, Gary Busey was born in Goose Creek, Texas, and was raised in Oklahoma. He is the son of Sadie Virginia (Arnett), a homemaker, and Delmar Lloyd Busey, a construction design manager. He has ...

Notable Works: Angels Hard as They Come (1971) The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972) Dirty Little Billy (1972) Lolly-Madonna XXX (1973) The Last American Hero (1973) Hex (1973) Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) The Gumball Rally (1976) A Star Is Born (1976) Straight Time (1978) The Buddy Holly Story (1978) Big Wednesday (1978)

57. James Caan

Actor | Thief

A masculine and enigmatic actor whose life and movie career have had more ups and downs than the average rollercoaster and whose selection of roles has arguably derailed him from achieving true superstar status, James Caan is New York-born and bred.

He was born in the Bronx, to Sophie (Falkenstein) ...

1940-2022

Notable Works: Rabbit, Run (1970) T.R. Baskin (1971) Brian's Song (1971) The Godfather (1972) Slither (1973) Cinderella Liberty (1973) The Gambler (1974) Freebie and the Bean (1974) The Godfather Part II (1974) Funny Lady (1975) Rollerball (1975) The Killer Elite (1975) Silent Movie (1976) Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976) A Bridge Too Far (1977) Comes a Horseman (1978) Chapter Two (1979)

58. Sid Caesar

Actor | Grease

Comedian, saxophonist, composer, actor and musician, he performed within the orchestras of Charlie Spivak, Shep Fields and Claude Thornhill as saxophonist. Later, as super-hip jazz musician "Cool Cees" in television skits, he played tenor saxophone, and sang with the satirical trio "The Hair Cuts" ...

1922-2014

59. Michael Caine

Actor | The Dark Knight

Michael Caine was born as Maurice Joseph Micklewhite in London, to Ellen (née Burchell), a cook, and Maurice Micklewhite Sr., a fish-market porter. He had a younger brother, Stanley Caine, and an older maternal half-brother named David Burchell. He left school at age 15 and took a series of ...

Notable Works: Too Late the Hero (1970) The Last Valley (1971) Get Carter (1971) Zee and Co. (1972) Pulp (1972) Sleuth (1972) The Black Windmill (1974) The Wilby Conspiracy (1975) The Man Who Would Be King (1975) Peeper (1975) Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976) The Eagle Has Landed (1976) A Bridge Too Far (1977) The Swarm (1978) California Suite (1978) Ashanti (1979) Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)

60. Godfrey Cambridge

Actor | Cotton Comes to Harlem

Cambridge won a four-year scholarship to study medicine at Hofstra University but decided, instead, to become an actor, leaving college in his third year. He acted in many off-Broadway productions, winning the Village Voice's Obie Award in Jean Genet's "The Blacks"; and, on Broadway, he gained a ...

1933-1976

61. Colleen Camp

Actress | Clue

Colleen Camp was born in San Francisco, California. She began working as a juvenile actress at the age of 3 and was eventually 'discovered' while working as a bird trainer at Busch Gardens. She appeared on The Dean Martin Show (1965) and made her film debut in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (...

Notable Works: The Swinging Cheerleaders (1974) Smile (1975) The Gumball Rally (1976) Rich Man, Poor Man Book II (1976-1977) Amelia Earhart (1976) Death Game (1977) Apocalypse Now (1979)

62. John Candy

Actor | Planes, Trains & Automobiles

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

Born in Newmarket, Ontario, in ...

1950-1994

Notable Works: It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1975) Coming Up Rosie (1976-1977) Tunnel Vision (1976) The Clown Murders (1976) Second City Television (1976-1979) Find the Lady (1976) The Silent Partner (1978) Lost and Found (1979) 1941 (1979)

63. Dyan Cannon

Actress | Heaven Can Wait

Dyan Cannon is the first woman in the history of the Motion Picture Academy to be nominated for Oscars both in front of and behind the camera. Her diligence and determination have been rewarded by many prestigious honors.

She received her first Academy Award nomination for her memorable role as ...

64. Claudia Cardinale

Actress | C'era una volta il West

Like many other female Italian film stars, Claudia Cardinale's entry into the business was by way of a beauty pageant. She was 17 years old and studying at the Centro Sperimentale in Rome when she entered a beauty contest, which resulted in her getting a succession of small film roles. Her earthy ...

65. George Carlin

Actor | Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

George Denis Patrick Carlin was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City, to Mary (Bearey), a secretary, and Patrick John Carlin, an advertising manager for The Sun; they had met while working in marketing. His father was from Donegal, Ireland, and his mother was Irish-American. His parents ...

1937-2008

66. 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 was a member of an acting family that included brothers Keith Carradine and Robert Carradine as well as his daughters Calista Carradine and ...

1936-2009

Notable Works: The McMasters (1970) Macho Callahan (1970) Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring (1971) Boxcar Bertha (1972) Kung Fu (1972-1975) The Long Goodbye (1973) Mean Streets (1973) You and Me (1975) Death Race 2000 (1975) Cannonball (1976) Bound for Glory (1976) Thunder and Lightning (1977) The Serpent's Egg (1977) Gray Lady Down (1978) Deathsport (1978) Circle of Iron (1978) Fast Charlie... the Moonbeam Rider (1979)

67. Keith Carradine

Actor | Nashville

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 ...

Notable Works: McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) A Gunfight (1971) Man on a String (1972) Emperor of the North Pole (1973) Idaho Transfer (1973) Hex (1973) Antoine and Sebastian (1974) Thieves Like Us (1974) Run, Run, Joe! (1974) Nashville (1975) You and Me (1975) Lumière (1976) Welcome to L.A. (1976) The Duellists (1977) Pretty Baby (1978) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) Old Boyfriends (1979) An Almost Perfect Affair (1979)

68. Diahann Carroll

Actress | Julia

One of television's premier African-American series stars, elegant actress, singer and recording artist Diahann Carroll was born Carol Diann (or Diahann) Johnson on July 17, 1935, in the Bronx, New York. The first child of John Johnson, a subway conductor, and Mabel Faulk Johnson, a nurse; music ...

1935-2019

69. Johnny Carson

Soundtrack | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Johnny Carson, the legendary "King of Late Night TV" who dominated the medium's nether hours for three decades, was born in Corning, Iowa, but moved with his family to nearby Norfolk, Nebraska when he was eight years old. He was the son of Ruth E. (Hook) and Homer Lloyd "Kit" Carson, a manager of ...

1925-2005

70. Lynda Carter

Actress | Wonder Woman

Lynda Jean Cordova Carter is an American actress, singer, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss World USA 1972 and finished in the top 15 at the Miss World 1972 pageant. Carter is best known as the star of the live-action television series Wonder Woman, in the role of Diana Prince / ...

71. David Cassidy

Actor | The Partridge Family

David Cassidy was born on April 12, 1950 in Manhattan, to Jack Cassidy, a very skilled actor and singer, and Evelyn Ward, an actress. By the time he was five, his parents were divorced and Jack had married actress Shirley Jones, an actress who in 1955 had just made Oklahoma! (1955). When David was ...

1950-2017

72. John Cassavetes

Actor | Rosemary's Baby

John Cassavetes was a Greek-American actor, film director, and screenwriter. He is considered a pioneer of American independent film, as he often financed his own films.

Cassavetes was born in New York City in 1929 to Nicholas John Cassavetes (1893-1979) and his wife, Katherine Demetre (1906-1983). ...

1929-1989

73. John Cazale

Actor | Dog Day Afternoon

John Cazale was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to an Irish-American mother, Cecilia (Holland), and an Italian-American father, John Cazale. Cazale made only five feature films in his career, which fans and critics alike call classics. But before his film debut, in the short The American Way (1962),...

1935-1978

Notable Works: The Godfather (1972) The Conversation (1974) The Godfather Part II (1974) Dog Day Afternoon (1975) The Deer Hunter (1978)

74. Richard Chamberlain

Actor | The Towering Inferno

Richard Chamberlain became the leading heartthrob of early 1960s television. As the impeccably handsome Dr. James Kildare, the slim, butter-haired hunk with the near-perfect Ivy-League charm and smooth, intelligent demeanor, had the distaff fans fawning unwavering over him through the series' run. ...

75. Geraldine Chaplin

Actress | Hable con ella

Geraldine Leigh Chaplin was born in Santa Monica, California, to Oona Chaplin (née O'Neill) and legendary entertainer Charles Chaplin (A.K.A. Charlie Chaplin). She is a granddaughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill and a great-granddaughter of stage actor James O'Neill. She attended the Royal Ballet ...

76. Stockard Channing

Actress | Practical Magic

One of Broadway and Hollywood's perennial and cleverer talents who tends to shine a smart, cynical light on her surroundings, Stockard Channing was born Susan Williams Antonia Stockard on February 13, 1944 in New York City to a Protestant father and a Catholic mother of Irish descent. Her parents ...

77. Jackie Chan

Actor | Ngo si seoi

Hong Kong's cheeky, lovable and best-known film star, Jackie Chan endured many years of long, hard work and multiple injuries to establish international success after his start in Hong Kong's manic martial arts cinema industry.

Jackie was born Kong-sang Chan on April 7, 1954, on Hong Kong's famous ...

78. Chevy Chase

Actor | Memoirs of an Invisible Man

Chevy Chase was born Cornelius Crane Chase on October 8, 1943 in Lower Manhattan, New York, to Cathalene Parker (Browning), a concert pianist and librettist, and Edward Tinsley "Ned" Chase, an editor and writer. His parents both came from prominent families, and his grandfathers were artist and ...

Notable Works: The Groove Tube (1974) Saturday Night Live (1975-1976) Tunnel Vision (1976) Foul Play (1978)

79. Shin'ichi Chiba

Actor | Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Sonny Chiba was born as Sadao Maeda in Fukuoka, Japan on January 22, 1939. His father was a military test pilot. During his youth, he had an interest in both theater & gymnastics. He was talented enough to make the Japanese Olympic Team until a chronic back injury ended his career. However, he took...

1939-2021

80. Tommy Chong

Actor | Up in Smoke

Tommy Chong was born on May 24, 1938 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He is an actor and writer, known for Up in Smoke (1978), Zootopia (2016) and Cheech and Chong's Next Movie (1980). He has been married to Shelby Chong since 1975. They have four children. He was previously married to Maxine Sneed.

81. Julie Christie

Actress | Doctor Zhivago

Julie Christie, the British movie legend whom Al Pacino called "the most poetic of all actresses," was born in Chabua, Assam, India, on April 14, 1940, the daughter of a tea planter and his Welsh wife Rosemary, who was a painter. The young Christie grew up on her father's plantation before being ...

Notable Works: The Go-Between (1971) McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) Don't Look Now (1973) Shampoo (1975) Nashville (1975) Demon Seed (1977) Heaven Can Wait (1978)

82. Susan Clark

Actress | Coogan's Bluff

Award-winning Canadian actress Susan Clark, born on March 8, 1943, took up acting at an early age (12) in her hometown of Sarnia, Ontario. Her family moved to Toronto around that period of time and she joined the Toronto Children's Players Theatre. Her first professional curtain call took place on ...

Notable Works: Skullduggery (1970) Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) Valdez Is Coming (1971) Skin Game (1971) The Astronaut (1972) Showdown (1973) Trapped (1973) The Midnight Man (1974) Airport 1975 (1974) Night Moves (1975) The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) Amelia Earhart (1976) Murder by Decree (1979) The North Avenue Irregulars (1979) City on Fire (1979) Promises in the Dark (1979)

83. Jill Clayburgh

Actress | Bridesmaids

It came as no surprise to film aficionados when, in 1999, Entertainment Weekly named Jill Clayburgh on its list of Hollywood's 25 Greatest Actresses. For decades, she delivered stellar performances in a wide variety of roles.

Jill Clayburgh was born in 1944 in New York City, into a wealthy family, ...

1944-2010

84. 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 ...

85. Lee J. Cobb

Actor | 12 Angry Men

Lee J. Cobb, one of the premier character actors in American film for three decades in the post-World War II period, was born Leo Jacoby in New York City's Lower East Side on December 8, 1911. The son of a Jewish newspaper editor, young Leo was a child prodigy in music, mastering the violin and the...

1911-1976

Notable Works: The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970) Macho Callahan (1970) Lawman (1971) The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973) Double Indemnity (1973) The Exorcist (1973) Trapped Beneath the Sea (1974) The Great Ice Rip-Off (1974) That Lucky Touch (1975) Cross Shot (1976) Nick the Sting (1976)

86. James Coburn

Actor | The Great Escape

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 ...

1928-2002

87. James Coco

Actor | Murder by Death

Born in New York City of humble means, character player James Coco was the son of Feliche, an Italian shoemaker, and Ida (Detestes) Coco. Shining shoes as a youngster with his father, his interest in acting occurred early on as a child. At age 17 he toured with a children's theatre troupe for three...

1930-1987

Notable Works: End of the Road (1970) The Strawberry Statement (1970) Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970) A New Leaf (1971) Such Good Friends (1971) Man of La Mancha (1972) Calucci's Department (1973) The Wild Party (1975) Murder by Death (1976) Charleston (1977) Bye Bye Monkey (1978) The Cheap Detective (1978) Scavenger Hunt (1979)

88. Dabney Coleman

Actor | WarGames

For decades, Dabney Coleman has often appeared as a smarmy, selfish, nervous person, often with money, who is mostly out for himself. He did such a good job in this type of part that he's made a career of it in film.

Dabney Wharton Coleman was born in Austin, Texas, to Mary Wharton (Johns) and ...

Notable Works: I Love My Wife (1970) Dying Room Only (1973) The President's Plane Is Missing (1973) Cinderella Liberty (1973) The Dove (1974) Bad Ronald (1974) The Towering Inferno (1974) Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (1975) Bite the Bullet (1975) The Other Side of the Mountain (1975) Midway (1976) Viva Knievel! (1977) Rolling Thunder (1977) North Dallas Forty (1979)

89. Joan Collins

Actress | Dynasty

Joan Collins is an English actress from Paddington, London. She is most famous for playing the role of vengeful schemer Alexis Carrington Colby in the soap opera "Dynasty" (1981-1989). In 1997, She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama. In 2015, She...

Notable Works: The Executioner (1970) Up in the Cellar (1970) Revenge (1971) Quest for Love (1971) Tales from the Crypt (1972) Fear in the Night (1972) Tales That Witness Madness (1973) L'arbitro (1974) The Great Adventure (1974) Dark Places (1974) Alfie Darling (1975) I Don't Want to Be Born (1975) The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones (1976) Empire of the Ants (1977) Fearless (1978) The Big Sleep (1978) The Stud (1978) Zero to Sixty (1978) Game for Vultures (1979) Sunburn (1979) The Bitch (1979)

90. 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 ...

1930-2020

Notable Works: The Molly Maguires (1970) The Anderson Tapes (1971) Diamonds Are Forever (1971) The Offence (1973) Zardoz (1974) Murder on the Orient Express (1974) Ransom (1974) The Wind and the Lion (1975) The Man Who Would Be King (1975) Robin and Marian (1976) A Bridge Too Far (1977) The First Great Train Robbery (1978) Meteor (1979) Cuba (1979)

91. Mike Connors

Actor | Mannix

He once jokingly described himself as 'a frustrated song-and-dance man' who wound up typecast as a TV crime fighter. Tall, handsome Armenian-American Mike Connors had a minor career in the movies before becoming a star on the small screen as the impeccably dressed macho sleuth Joe Mannix. Towards ...

1925-2017

Notable Works: Mannix (1967-1975) Beg, Borrow, or Steal (1973) The Killer Who Wouldn't Die (1976) Charo (1976) Revenge For A Rape (1976) Long Journey Back (1978) The Death of Ocean View Park (1979) High Midnight (1979) Avalanche Express (1979)

92. William Conrad

Actor | Cannon

William Conrad became a television star relatively late in his career. In fact, the former Army Air Corps World War II fighter pilot began his screen career playing heavies. He was Max, one of The Killers (1946) hired to finish off Burt Lancaster in his dingy lodgings. He was the corrupt state ...

1920-1994

Notable Works: The Brotherhood of the Bell (1970) D. A.: Conspiracy to Kill (1970) O'Hara, U.S. Treasury (1971) Cannon (1971-1976) Moonshine County Express (1977) Night Cries (1978) Keefer (1978)

93. Tim Conway

Actor | The Carol Burnett Show

Funny man Tim Conway was born on December 15th, 1933 in Willoughby, Ohio, to Sophia (Murgoiu) and Daniel Conway, a pony groomer. He was a fraternity man at Bowling Green State University, served in the army, and started his career working for a radio station.

Conway got into comedy when he started ...

1933-2019

Notable Works: The Carol Burnett Show (1967-1978) The Tim Conway Show (1970) The Tim Conway Comedy Hour (1970) The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) Roll, Freddy, Roll! (1974) The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) Gus (1976) The Shaggy D.A. (1976) The Billion Dollar Hobo (1977) They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way (1978) The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979) The Prize Fighter (1979)

94. Bill Cosby

Actor | The Cosby Show

Bill Cosby is one of the world's most well-known entertainers and comedians. William Henry Cosby, Jr. was born on July 12, 1937, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Anna Pearl (Hite), a maid and William Henry Cosby, Sr., a U.S. Navy sailor. After 10th grade, Cosby joined the Navy and completed high ...

Notable Works: The Bill Cosby Show (1969-1971) Man and Boy (1971) The Electric Company (1971-1973) Hickey & Boggs (1972) The New Bill Cosby Show (1972) Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972-1985) Uptown Saturday Night (1974) Let's Do It Again (1975) Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976) A Piece of the Action (1977) California Suite (1978)

95. Ronny Cox

Actor | RoboCop

Ronny Cox is a superbly talented actor, singer-songwriter, and musician who has been consistently active in Hollywood for more than 40 years portraying a diverse range of characters. Born in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, Cox received positive reviews for his first film role, his portrayal of ill-fated ...

Notable Works: Deliverance (1972) The Happiness Cage (1972) Apple's Way (1974-1975) A Case of Rape (1974) Who Is the Black Dahlia? (1975) Bound for Glory (1976) The Car (1977) The Girl Called Hatter Fox (1977) Gray Lady Down (1978) Harper Valley PTA (1978) The Onion Field (1979)

96. Richard Crenna

Actor | Rambo III

Richard Donald Crenna was born in Los Angeles, California, into a modest-income family, the only child of Edith J. (Pollette) and Domenick Anthony Crenna, a pharmacist. His parents were both of Italian descent. His mother managed a small hotel in downtown Los Angeles, where Richard and his family ...

1926-2003

Notable Works: The Deserter (1970) Doctors' Wives (1971) Red Sky at Morning (1971) Catlow (1971) Un flic (1972) Double Indemnity (1973) Shootout in a One-Dog Town (1974) A Girl Named Sooner (1975) Breakheart Pass (1975) All's Fair (1976-1977) The War Between the Tates (1977) Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978) The Evil (1978) Stone Cold Dead (1979) Wild Horse Hank (1979)

97. Billy Crystal

Actor | Forget Paris

Billy Crystal was born on March 14, 1948 in Manhattan, New York, and was raised on Long Island. He is the youngest of three sons born to Helen (Gabler) and Jack Crystal. His father was a well-known concert promoter who co-founded Commodore Records and his mother was a homemaker. His family were ...

Notable Works: The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast (1976) SST: Death Flight (1977) Soap (1977-1981) Rabbit Test (1978) Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (1979)

98. Tony Curtis

Actor | Some Like It Hot

Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz, the eldest of three children of Helen (Klein) and Emanuel Schwartz, Jewish immigrants from Hungary. Curtis himself admits that while he had almost no formal education, he was a student of the "school of hard knocks" and learned from a young age that the only ...

1925-2010

Notable Works: You Can't Win 'Em All (1970) Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came (1970) The Third Girl from the Left (1973) The Count of Monte Cristo (1975) Lepke (1975) The Last Tycoon (1976) Casanova & Co. (1977) The Manitou (1978) Sextette (1978) The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978) Vegas (1978-1981) The Users (1978) Title Shot (1979)

99. Peter Cushing

Actor | Star Wars

Peter Wilton Cushing was born on May 26, 1913 in Kenley, Surrey, England, to Nellie Maria (King) and George Edward Cushing, a quantity surveyor. He and his older brother David were raised first in Dulwich Village, a south London suburb, and then later back in Surrey. At an early age, Cushing was ...

1913-1994

Notable Works: Incense for the Damned (1970) Scream and Scream Again (1970) One More Time (1970) The Vampire Lovers (1970) The House That Dripped Blood (1971) Twins of Evil (1971) I, Monster (1971) Tales from the Crypt (1972) Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972) Asylum (1972) Fear in the Night (1972) Horror Express (1972) Nothing but the Night (1973) The Creeping Flesh (1973) And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973) The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) Shatter (1974) From Beyond the Grave (1974) Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) The Beast Must Die (1974) Madhouse (1974) The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974) Legend of the Werewolf (1975) The Ghoul (1975) Trial by Combat (1976) At the Earth's Core (1976) Land of the Minotaur (1976) Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) Shock Waves (1977) The Uncanny (1977) The Standard (1977) Arabian Adventure (1979) A Touch of the Sun (1979)

100. Rodney Dangerfield

Actor | Back to School

Rodney Dangerfield was born Jacob Cohen on November 22, 1921 in Deer Park, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. He was the son of Dorothy "Dotty" (Teitelbaum) and Phillip Cohen, who performed in vaudeville under the name Phil Roy. His father was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents, and ...

1921-2004