Great Actors
by fastferry-81774 | created - 02 Jul 2022 | updated - 1 month ago | Public
1. Marlène Jobert
Actress | Le passager de la pluie
Jobert was born in 1940 in Algeria. She studied drama and fine art in Paris, made her acting debut on the stage in 1963 and secured her first film role in Louis Malle's The Thief of Paris (1967) in 1966. Her big break came with her casting as "Elisabeth" in Jean-Luc Godard's Masculine Feminine (...
2. Jean Yanne
Actor | Tout le monde il est beau, tout le monde il est gentil
Jean Yanne was born on July 18, 1933 in Les Lilas, Seine [now Seine-Saint-Denis], France. He was an actor and writer, known for Tout le monde il est beau, tout le monde il est gentil (1972), Weekend (1967) and Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001). He was married to Jacqueline Renée Guellerin Allard. He ...
3. Martina Gusmán
Actress | Leonera
Martina Gusmán was born on October 28, 1978 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is an actress and producer, known for Leonera (2008), Carancho (2010) and El marginal (2016). She has been married to Pablo Trapero since 2000. They have one child.
4. Jean Gabin
Actor | La grande illusion
Jean-Alexis Moncorgé started his career with 15 years at the theatre and debuted at the "Moulin Rouge" in Paris in 1929. Despite of his rude aspect he knew to be the gentleman of the French cinema in the time between the two World Wars. One of his most popular personalities was inspector Maigret. ...
5. Romy Schneider
Actress | L'important c'est d'aimer
Romy Schneider was born on 23 September 1938 in Vienna, Austria into a family of actors. Making her film debut at the age of 15, her breakthrough came two years later in the very popular trilogy Sissi (1955). Her mother, supervising her daughter's career, immediately approved Romy's participation ...
6. 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 ...
7. Franco Nero
Actor | John Wick: Chapter 2
Blue-eyed and well-built Italian actor in international cinema, Franco Nero, was a painting photographer when he was discovered as an actor by director John Huston. He has since appeared in more than 200 movies around the world, working with Europe's top directors, such as Luis Buñuel, Rainer ...
8. Sophia Loren
Actress | La ciociara
Sophia Loren was born as Sofia Scicolone at the Clinica Regina Margherita in Rome on September 20, 1934. Her father Riccardo was married to another woman and refused to marry her mother Romilda Villani, despite the fact that she was the mother of his two children (Sophia and her younger sister ...
9. Marcello Mastroianni
Actor | La dolce vita
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 in Marionette (1939), then started working for the Italian ...
10. Lili Reinhart
Actress | Riverdale
Lili Reinhart was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and at an early age, developed a passion for the performing arts. Lili took dance classes for 10 years and also performed in many local musicals before she signed with her first agency in Cleveland when she was 11. She traveled from Ohio to New ...
11. Emma Roberts
Actress | We're the Millers
Emma Roberts was born in Rhinebeck, New York. She was a baby when her parents separated, and she grew up living with her mother, Kelly Cunningham. She was educated at Archer School for Girls in Los Angeles, California.
Emma is the daughter of Oscar-nominated actor Eric Roberts, and the niece of ...
12. Keira Knightley
Actress | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Keira Christina Knightley was born March 26, 1985 in the South West Greater London suburb of Richmond. She is the daughter of actor Will Knightley and actress turned playwright Sharman Macdonald. An older brother, Caleb Knightley, was born in 1979. Her father is English, while her Scottish-born ...
13. Anya Taylor-Joy
Actress | The Queen's Gambit
Anya-Josephine Marie Taylor-Joy (born 16 April 1996) is a British-American actress. She is best known for her roles as Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit (2020), Thomasin in the period horror film The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (2015), as Casey Cooke in the horror-thriller Split (2016), and as ...
14. Alice Eve
Actress | Before We Go
Alice Sophia Eve was born in London, England. Her father is Trevor Eve and her mother is Sharon Maughan, both fellow actors. She is the eldest of three children. Eve has English, Irish and Welsh ancestry. Her family moved to Los Angeles, California when she was young as her father tried to crack ...
15. Lino Ventura
Actor | Ascenseur pour l'échafaud
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 ...
16. Jeanne Moreau
Actress | Jules et Jim
When people gave Louis Malle credit for making a star of Jeanne Moreau in Elevator to the Gallows (1958) immediately followed by The Lovers (1958), he would point out that Moreau by that time had already been "recognized as the prime stage actress of her generation." She had made it to the Comédie ...
17. Joan Fontaine
Actress | Suspicion
Born Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland on October 22, 1917, in Tokyo, Japan, in what was known as the International Settlement, to British parents, Lilian Augusta (Ruse), a former actress, and Walter Augustus de Havilland, an English professor and patent attorney. Her paternal grandfather's family was ...
18. Philippe Noiret
Actor | Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
Philippe Noiret was one of French cinema's most familiar faces who appeared in more than 140 films in a career that spanned more than half a century.
He was born on October 1, 1930, in Lille, Nord, France, into a middle class family of shopkeepers. His father was fond of literature. Young Noiret ...
19. Burt Lancaster
Actor | From Here to Eternity
Burt Lancaster, one of five children, was born in Manhattan, to Elizabeth (Roberts) and James Henry Lancaster, a postal worker. All his grandparents were immigrants from the north of Ireland. He was a tough street kid who took an early interest in gymnastics. He joined the circus as an acrobat and ...
20. Edward G. Robinson
Actor | Double Indemnity
Emanuel Goldenberg arrived in the United States from Romania at age ten, and his family moved into New York's Lower East Side. He took up acting while attending City College, abandoning plans to become a rabbi or lawyer. The American Academy of Dramatic Arts awarded him a scholarship, and he began ...
21. Joan Bennett
Actress | Suspiria
Joan Geraldine Bennett was born on February 27, 1910, in Palisades, New Jersey. Her parents were both successful stage actors, especially her father, Richard Bennett, and often toured the country for weeks at a time. In fact, Joan came from a long line of actors, dating back to the 18th century. ...
22. Nancy Gates
Actress | World Without End
Nancy Gates was born February 1, 1926 in Dallas, Texas. She entered show business, at an early age, when she was signed to a contract with RKO Studios when she was 15. Her first production with that studio was in 1942's Hitler's Children (1943). Nancy was also in two more films that year, those ...
23. Frank Sinatra
Actor | From Here to Eternity
Frank Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants Natalina Della (Garaventa), from Northern Italy, and Saverio Antonino Martino Sinatra, a Sicilian boxer, fireman, and bar owner. Growing up on the gritty streets of Hoboken made Sinatra determined to work hard to get ahead. ...
24. Michèle Morgan
Actress | La symphonie pastorale
A classic beauty, blonde French actress Michèle Morgan was one of her country's most popular leading ladies for over five decades. Born Simone Renee Roussel on Leap Year Day (February 29) in 1920, she ran away from home as a teenager and studied acting under René Simon, beginning her film career at...
25. Robert Cummings
Actor | Dial M for Murder
Effective light comedian of '30s and '40s films and '50s and '60s TV series, Robert Cummings was renowned for his eternally youthful looks (which he attributed to a strict vitamin and health-food diet). He was educated at Carnegie Tech and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Deciding that ...
26. 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 40 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 ...
27. James Cagney
Actor | Angels with Dirty Faces
One of Hollywood's preeminent male stars of all time, James Cagney was also an accomplished dancer and easily played light comedy. James Francis Cagney was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, to Carolyn (Nelson) and James Francis Cagney, Sr., who was a bartender and amateur ...
28. Horst Buchholz
Actor | La vita è bella
On the cast list of The Magnificent Seven (1960), you will find several names that doubtless you know well: Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, and Yul Brynner. But there is one name that you will have difficulty pronouncing, let alone identifying as an actor you have seen before. That man is Horst ...
29. Herbert Köfer
Actor | Das große Abenteuer des Kaspar Schmeck
Herbert Köfer was born on February 17, 1921 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for Das große Abenteuer des Kaspar Schmeck (1981), Krupp und Krause (1969) and Hans Beimler, Kamerad (1969). He was married to Heike Köfer, ??? and Ute Boeden. He died on July 24, 2021 in Berlin, Germany.
30. Jean-Louis Trintignant
Actor | Amour
Born 1930 in Piolenc in south France as son of a wealthy industrialist. Studied law in Aix-en-Provence. Started theatrical acting in 1950, but was regarded untalented at first, until Roger Vadim discovered him for the movies. When the press stalked him 1956 because of rumors of an affair with ...
31. Eleonora Rossi Drago
Actress | Estate violenta
She never found the international cross-over fame destined for Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida, and most American audiences would not recognize her name, but voluptuous, visually stunning Eleonora Rossi Drago certainly made male hearts pulsate in Europe with her scores of princesses and ...
32. Oliver Reed
Actor | Gladiator
Robert Oliver Reed was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. His notable films include The Trap (1966), playing Bill Sikes in the Best Picture Oscar winner Oliver! (1968), Women in Love (1969), Hannibal Brooks (1969), The Devils (1971), Revolver (1973), ...
33. Stéphane Audran
Actress | Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie
Stéphane Audran was born on November 8, 1932 in Versailles, Seine-et-Oise [now Yvelines], France as Colette Suzanne Jeannine Dacheville. She was an actress, known for Der diskrete Charme der Bourgeoisie (1972), Babettes Fest (1987) and Der Schlachter (1970). She was married to Claude Chabrol and ...
34. Maurice Ronet
Actor | Ascenseur pour l'échafaud
Maurice Ronet was born on April 13, 1927 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He was an actor and writer, known for Elevator to the Gallows (1958), The Fire Within (1963) and Purple Noon (1960). He was married to Maria Pacôme. He died on March 14, 1983 in Paris, France.
35. Robert Donat
Actor | The 39 Steps
Robert Donat's pleasant voice and somewhat neutral English accent were carefully honed as a boy because he had a stammer and took elocution lessons starting at age 11 to overcome the impediment. It was not too surprising that freedom from such a vocal embarrassment was encouragement to act. His ...
36. Jean Arthur
Actress | You Can't Take It with You
This marvelous screen comedienne's best asset was only muffled during her seven years' stint in silent films. That asset? It was, of course, her squeaky, frog-like voice, which silent-era cinema audiences had simply no way of perceiving, much less appreciating. Jean Arthur, born Gladys Georgianna ...
37. Rita Hayworth
Actress | Gilda
Rita Hayworth was born Margarita Carmen Cansino on October 17, 1918, in Brooklyn, New York, into a family of dancers. Her father, Eduardo Cansino Reina, was a dancer as was his father before him. He emigrated from Spain in 1913. Rita's American mother, Volga Margaret (Hayworth), who was of mostly ...
38. Ilse Werner
Soundtrack | Land of the Lost
Ilse Werner was born in Batavia (present-day Djakarta), the daughter of the Dutch merchant O.E.G. Still and his German wife, Lilly Werner. She spent her early childhood in Batavia, before the family moved her to Frankfurt to attend secondary school. In 1936, Ilse enrolled at the Max Reinhardt ...
39. Ingrid Bergman
Actress | Casablanca
Ingrid Bergman was one of the greatest actresses from Hollywood's lamented Golden Era. Her natural and unpretentious beauty and her immense acting talent made her one of the most celebrated figures in the history of American cinema. Bergman is also one of the most Oscar-awarded actresses, tied with ...
40. Cary Grant
Actor | North by Northwest
Once told by an interviewer, "Everybody would like to be Cary Grant", Grant is said to have replied, "So would I."
Cary Grant was born Archibald Alec Leach on January 18, 1904 in Horfield, Bristol, England, to Elsie Maria (Kingdon) and Elias James Leach, who worked in a factory. His early years in ...
41. Gary Cooper
Actor | High Noon
Born to Alice Cooper and Charles Cooper. Gary attended school at Dunstable school England, Helena Montana and Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa (then called Iowa College). His first stage experience was during high school and college. Afterwards, he worked as an extra for one year before getting a ...
42. Madeleine Carroll
Actress | The 39 Steps
The original ash-blonde "iceberg maiden", Madeleine Carroll was a knowing beauty with a confident air, the epitome of poise and "breeding". Not only did she have looks and allure in abundance, but she had intellectual heft to go with them, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from Birmingham ...
43. Hannes Messemer
Actor | The Great Escape
Hannes Messemer was born on May 17, 1924 in Dillingen an der Donau, Bavaria, Germany. He was an actor, known for The Great Escape (1963), General Della Rovere (1959) and The Devil Strikes at Night (1957). He was married to Monika Keusch, Susanne Korda, Rose Schäfer and Herta Jung. He died on ...
44. Loretta Young
Actress | The Stranger
Sweet, sweeter, sweetest. No combination of terms better describes the screen persona of lovely Loretta Young. A&E's Biography (1987) has stated that Young "remains a symbol of beauty, serenity, and grace. But behind the glamour and stardom is a woman of substance whose true beauty lies in her ...
45. Patrick Dewaere
Actor | Un mauvais fils
Popular but troubled renegade French actor Patrick Dewaere was christened Jean-Marie Patrick Bourdeaux on January 26, 1947, at Saint-Brieuc in Britanny in the north-west region of France. The third of six children born to actress Mado Maurin (1915-2011), his mother made acting a family affair. All ...
46. Gian Maria Volontè
Actor | Per un pugno di dollari
Born in Milan in 1933, Gian Maria Volontè studied in Rome at the National Dramatic Arts Academy, where he obtained his degree in 1957. He began working in theatre and television, where he was soon noticed as one of the most promising actors of his generation. After several supporting appearances in...
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