Actors and Actresses that Have Unfortunately Passed Away

1. Robin Williams

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 ...

Notable Performances: Sean Maguire [Good Will Hunting] Daniel Hillard/ Euphegenia Doubtfire [Mrs. Doubtfire] The Genie/ The Peddler [Aladdin] Seymour Parrish [One Hour Photo]

2. Brittany Murphy

Actress | Clueless

Brittany Murphy was born Brittany Anne Bertolotti on November 10, 1977 in Atlanta, Georgia, to Sharon Kathleen Murphy and Angelo Joseph Bertolotti. Her father's ancestry is Italian, and her mother is of Irish and Slovak descent. Her father moved the family back to Edison, New Jersey as a native New...

Notable Performances: Gloria [Happy Feet] Shellie [Sin City] Daisy [Girl, Interrupted] Alex [8 Mile]

3. Michael Clarke Duncan

Actor | The Green Mile

Michael Clarke Duncan was born on December 10, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois. Raised on Chicago's South Side by his single mother, Jean, a house cleaner, 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 ...

Notable Performances: John Coffey [The Green Mile] Manute [Sin City] Kingpin [Daredevil] Kilowog [Green Lantern]

4. Elizabeth Hartman

Actress | A Patch of Blue

A slender, striking, red-haired, freckle-faced American leading lady, Mary Elizabeth Hartman was born in Boardman, Ohio on December 23, 1943, as the middle of three children born to building contractor Bill C. Hartman (May 7, 1914, Ohio - October 26, 1964, Youngstown, Ohio) and housewife Claire ...

Notable Performances: Mrs. Brisby [The Secret of NIMH] Selina D'Arcey [A Patch of Blue] Edwina [The Beguiled] Judith Timm [Night Gallery]

5. Christopher Lee

Actor | Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was perhaps the only actor of his generation to have starred in so many films and cult saga. Although most notable for personifying bloodsucking vampire, Dracula, on screen, he portrayed other varied characters on screen, most of which were villains, whether it ...

Notable Performances: Sarauman [Lord of the Rings Franchise] Diz/ Ansem the Wise [Kingdom Hearts II] King Haggard [The Last Unicorn] Count Dooku [Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones]

6. 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). ...

Notable Performances: Professor Serverus Snape [Harry Potter Series] Judge Turpin [Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street] Metatron [Dogma] Marvin [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]

7. Gene Wilder

Actor | Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

When he was 11, he wanted to be a comedian like Sid Caesar. Then, when he was 15 and saw Lee J. Cobb in 'Death of a Salesman,' he decided he would be a comedy actor and found that Mel Brooks was a great influence on his screen writing. He combined both talents with directing in The World's Greatest...

Notable Performances: Willy Wonka [Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory] Dr. Frankenstein [Young Frankenstein] Jim/ The Waco Kid [Blazing Saddles] Mock Turtle [Alice in Wonderland]

8. Philip Seymour Hoffman

Actor | The Master

Film and stage actor and theater director Philip Seymour Hoffman was born in the Rochester, New York, suburb of Fairport to Marilyn (Loucks), a lawyer and judge, and Gordon Stowell Hoffman, a Xerox employee, and was mostly of German, Irish, English and Dutch ancestry. After becoming involved in ...

Notable Performances: Max [Mary & Max] Caden Cotard [Synecdoche, New York] Lancaster Dodd [The Master] Truman Capote [Capote]

9. Bob Hoskins

Actor | The Long Good Friday

Bob Hoskins was described by the director John Mackenzie as "an actor from the British tradition but with an almost American approach, an instinctive approach to acting and knowing how to work with the camera". He was born on October 26, 1942, in Bury St. Edmund's, Suffolk, where his mother was ...

Notable Performances:

Eddie Valiant [Who Framed Roger Rabbit] Mario Mario [Super Mario Bros] Smee [Hook] Spoor [Brazil]

10. Heath Ledger

Actor | Brokeback Mountain

When hunky, twenty-year-old heart-throb Heath Ledger first came to the attention of the public in 1999, it was all too easy to tag him as a "pretty boy" and an actor of little depth. He spent several years trying desperately to sway this image, but this was a double-edged sword. His work comprised ...

Notable Performances:

The Joker [The Dark Knight] Ennis Del Mar [Brokeback Mountain] Tony [The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus] Patrick Verona [10 Things I Hate About You]

11. Anton Yelchin

Actor | Star Trek

Anton Yelchin was an American actor, known for playing Bobby in Hearts in Atlantis (2001), Chekov in the Star Trek (2009) reboot, Charlie Brewster in the Fright Night (2011) remake, and Jacob in Like Crazy (2011).

He was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia, USSR, to a Jewish family. His ...

Notable Performances:

Jim Lake Jr. [Trollhunters] Chekov [Star Trek Series] Jim [Thoroughbreds] The Albino Pirate [The Pirates! Band of Misfits]

12. Joe Alaskey

Actor | Looney Tunes: Back in Action

Joe Alaskey, among the most talented voice actors in the business, impeccably recreated many of the original characters which the late cartoon pioneer Mel Blanc invented. A natural mimic and gifted actor, his amazing "ear" for voices enabled him to imitate almost anything, including some of the ...

Notable Performances:

Bugs Bunny/ Daffy Duck [Looney Tunes: Back in Action] Grandpa Lou Pickles [Rugrats Series] Mermaid Man [Lights, Camera, Pants!]

13. David Bowie

Soundtrack | Labyrinth

David Bowie was one of the most influential and prolific writers and performers of popular music, but he was much more than that; he was also an accomplished actor, a mime and an intellectual, as well as an art lover whose appreciation and knowledge of it had led to him amassing one of the biggest ...

Notable Performances:

Jareth the Goblin King [Labyrinth] Nikola Tesla [The Prestige] Thomas Jerome Newton [The Man Who Fell To Earth] Lord Royal Highness [Atlantis Squarepantis]

14. Mako

Actor | Conan the Barbarian

Born in Japan, Makoto Iwamatsu was living there with his grandparents while his parents studied art in the United States, when Japan and the U.S. went to war in 1941. His parents remained in the U.S., working for the Office of War Information, and, at the cessation of the conflict, were granted U.S...

Notable Performances:

Admiral Isoruko Yamamoto [Pearl Harbor] Splinter [TMNT] Uncle Iroh [Avatar: The Last Airbender] Aku [Samurai Jack]

15. James Gandolfini

Actor | The Sopranos

James Gandolfini was born in Westwood, New Jersey, to Santa (Penna), a high school lunchlady, and James Joseph Gandolfini, Sr., a bricklayer and head school janitor. His parents were both of Italian origin. Gandolfini began acting in the New York theater. His Broadway debut was in the 1992 revival ...

Notable Performances:

Carol [Where the Wild Things Are] Big Dave Brewster [The Man Who Wasn't There] Tony Soprano [The Sopranos] Winston Baldry [The Mexican]

16. Richard Griffiths

Actor | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The avuncular star character actor Richard Griffiths grew up in a council flat in less than prosperous conditions, the son of deaf and volatile parents in a dysfunctional family setting. According to an article in the Telegraph newspaper, his father Thomas was a steelworker 'who fought in pubs for ...

Notable Performances:

Uncle Vernon [Harry Potter Series] Magistrate Phillipse [Sleepy Hollow] King George [Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides] Barry Nottingham [Bedtime Stories]

17. Jim Varney

Actor | Ernest Goes to Camp

James Albert Varney, Jr. was born in Lexington, Kentucky, to Nancy Louise (Howard) and James Albert Varney, Sr. He became interested in theater as a teenager, winning state titles in drama competitions while a student at Lafayette High School in Lexington, Kentucky. At age 15 he played Ebeneezer ...

Favorite Performances of His: Cookie [Atlantis: The Lost Empire] Slinky [Toy Story 1 & 2] Ernest P. Worrell [Ernest Series] Prince Carlos [Roseanne]

18. Nelsan Ellis

Actor | Get on Up

Nelsan Ellis was an award-winning American film and television actor and playwright, perhaps best known as Lafayette Reynolds on HBO's True Blood (2008).

Nelsan was born on November 30, 1977, in Harvey, Illinois, the son of Jackie Ellis and Tommie Lee Thompson. Following his parents' divorce, Ellis ...

Notable Performances:

Jesse Fletcher [The Stanford Prison Experiment] Lafayette Reynolds [True Blood] Henry the Waiter [The Help] Martin Luther King Jr. [The Butler]

19. John Hurt

Actor | Nineteen Eighty-Four

One of stage, screen and TV's finest transatlantic talents, slight, gravel-voiced, pasty-looking John Vincent Hurt was born on January 22, 1940, in Shirebrook, a coal mining village, in Derbyshire, England. The youngest child of Phyllis (Massey), an engineer and one-time actress, and Reverend ...

Favorite Performances of His: Hazel [Watership Down] Professor Broom [Hellboy] The Horned King [The Black Cauldron] Dexter [Melancholia]

20. Leonard Nimoy

Actor | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Leonard Simon Nimoy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Dora (Spinner) and Max Nimoy, who owned a barbershop. His parents were Ukrainian Jewish immigrants. Raised in a tenement and acting in community theaters since age eight, Nimoy did not make his Hollywood debut until he was 20, with a bit ...

Favorite Performances of His: Spock [Star Trek Series] Sentinel Prime [Transformers: Dark of the Moon] Mr. Moundshroud [The Halloween Tree] King Nedakh [Atlantis: The Lost Empire]

21. Martin Landau

Actor | Ed Wood

Oscar-winning character actor Martin Landau was born on June 20, 1928, in Brooklyn, New York. At age 17, he was hired by the New York Daily News to work in the promotions department before he became a staff cartoonist and illustrator. In his five years on the paper, he served as the illustrator for ...

Favorite Performances of His: Bela Lugosi [Ed Wood] Mr. Ryzkruski [Frankenweenie] Raymondo [The Simpsons] Number Two [9]

22. Raul Julia

Actor | Street Fighter

Raul Julia was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Olga Arcelay, a mezzo-soprano singer, and Raúl Juliá, an electrical engineer. He graduated from Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola High School in San Juan. Here he studied the rigorous classical curriculum of the Jesuits and was always active ...

Favorite Performances of His: Gomez Addams [Addams Family Values] M. Bison [Street Fighter] Petruchio [Kiss Me, Petruchio] MacHeath [Mack the Knife]

23. David Ogden Stiers

Actor | M*A*S*H

David Ogden Stiers was born in Peoria, Illinois, to Margaret Elizabeth (Ogden) and Kenneth Truman Stiers. He moved with his family to Eugene, Oregon, where he graduated from North Eugene High School in 1960. At the age of twenty, he was offered $200 to join the company of the Santa Clara ...

Notable Performances: Cogsworth [Beauty and the Beast] Dr. Jumba Jookiba [Lilo & Stitch] Governor Ratcliffe/ Wiggins [Pocahontas] Alexei Jovanovic [Jungle 2 Jungle]

24. R. Lee Ermey

Actor | Full Metal Jacket

A talented character actor known for his military roles, Ronald Lee Ermey was in the United States Marine Corps for 11 years. He rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant, and later was bestowed the honorary rank of Gunnery Sergeant by the Marine Corps, after he served 14 months in Vietnam and later did ...

Notable Performances:

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman [Full Metal Jacket] Sarge [Toy Story] Sergeant Hobo 678 [Invader Zim] Police Captain [Seven]

25. Verne Troyer

Actor | The Love Guru

With a decades-long career as an actor and stuntman, Verne Troyer was best known for playing "Mini-Me," Dr. Evil's smaller and more concentrated pure evil protégé, in the hit comedies Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), and for his role in Harry ...

Notable Performances:

Mini-Me [The Spy Who Shagged Me] Percy [The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus] Dr. Phreak [Bubble Boy]

26. Madeline Kahn

Actress | Paper Moon

Madeline Kahn was born Madeline Gail Wolfson of Russian Jewish descent on September 29, 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts, to Freda Goldberg (later known as Paula Kahn), who was still in her teens, and Bernard B. Wolfson, a garment manufacturer. She began her acting career in high school and went on to...

Favorite Performances of Hers:

Elizabeth [Young Frankenstein] Mrs. White [Clue] Gussie Mausheimer [An American Tail] Herself [The Muppet Show]

27. Russi Taylor

Actress | DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp

Russi Taylor was an American voice actress from Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was the official voice of Minnie Mouse from 1986 until her death from colon cancer in 2019. She also voiced a lot of minor characters from The Simpsons including Martin Prince, Sherri and Terri. Grey DeLisle-Griffin ...

Notable Performances:

Minnie Mouse [Various] Martin Prince [The Simpsons] The Pink Poodle [Babe: Pig in the City]

28. Cameron Boyce

Actor | Mrs. Fletcher

Cameron Boyce was an American actor, with Afro-Caribbean and African-American descent. His paternal grandmother Jo Ann Allen was one of the "Clinton Twelve", the first African-Americans to attend an integrated high school in the Southern United States (specifically in Clinton, Tennessee).

In 1999, ...

Notable Performances:

Carlos [Descendants Series] Keithie Feder [Grown Ups 2] Luke Ross [Jessie] Zach [Mrs. Fletcher]

29. Rutger Hauer

Actor | Hobo with a Shotgun

Blond, blue-eyed, tall and handsome Dutch actor Rutger Hauer enjoyed an international reputation for playing everything from romantic leads to action heroes to sinister villains. Hauer was born in Breukelen, a Dutch town and former municipality in the province of Utrecht.

He was the son of Teunke ...

Notable Performances:

Roy Batty [Blade Runner] Cardinal Roark [Sin City] Master Xehanort [Kingdom Hearts III] Hobo [Hobo with a Shotgun]

30. Powers Boothe

Actor | Sudden Death

Incisive, gravelly-voiced screen tough guy Powers Boothe was born on June 1, 1948 in Snyder, Texas, a sharecropper's son. Used to hard physical work "chopping cotton" as a youngster, he went on to become the first member of his family to attend university. He then proceeded to study acting via a ...

Notable Performances:

Senator Roark [Sin City] Curly Bill Brocious [Tombstone] Gorilla Grodd [Justice League] Cy Tolliver [Deadwood]

31. Chadwick Boseman

Actor | Black Panther

Chadwick Boseman was an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of T'Challa / Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from 2016 to 2019, particularly in Black Panther (2018), and for his starring roles as several pioneering Americans, Jackie Robinson in 42 (2013), James Brown in Get on...

Notable Performances:

Stormin’ Norman (Da 5 Bloods) T’Challa (Black Panther) James Brown (Get On Up) Thurgood Marshall (Marshall)

32. Mary Kay Bergman

Actress | South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

Mary Kay Bergman did not have a face known to many - her voice was recognized more than anything else in the world. Although she was a big voiceover star in the 1990s, her true claim to fame was Trey Parker and Matt Stone's critically acclaimed adult animated television series, South Park (1997), ...

Notable Performances:

Sheila Broflowski (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut) Daphne Blake (Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island) Bimbette (Beauty and the Beast) Quasimodo’s Mother (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

33. Conchata Ferrell

Actress | Two and a Half Men

It took 30 years since it was first predicted, but Conchata Ferrell finally achieved television stardom, albeit of the supporting variety, as the housekeeper "Berta" in the situation-comedy Two and a Half Men (2003). Ferrell originally had been tipped for stardom with her turn as the prostitute "...

Notable Performances: Helen (Edward Scissorhands) Aunt Dorothy (Krampus) Berta (Two and a Half Men) Dr. Madeline Stoessinger (Hearts Afire)

34. 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 ...

Notable Performances: Jim Malone [The Untouchables] John Patrick Mason [The Rock] Marko Ramius [The Hunt for Red October] Sir August de Wynter [The Avengers]

35. Christopher Plummer

Actor | Beginners

Legendary actor Christopher Plummer, perhaps Canada's greatest thespian, delivered outstanding performances as Sherlock Holmes in Murder by Decree (1979), the chilling villain in The Silent Partner (1978), the iconoclastic Mike Wallace in The Insider (1999), the empathetic psychiatrist in A ...

Notable Performances: Baron Von Trapp (The Sound of Music) Charles Muntz (Up) Hal (Beginners) Harlan Thrombey (Knives Out)

36. Lucy Roucis

Actress | Love & Other Drugs

Lucy Roucis was an example of "turning something adverse around and making it work." Her early-onset Parkinson's disease actually helped get her a part in Love & Other Drugs (2010). Director and screenwriter Edward Zwick, after reading over 40 actors for the role, was so impressed with her ...

Notable Performances: Un-Convention Parkinson’s Speaker [Love and Other Drugs] Mrs. Higgins [Pygmalion] Mysterious Man [Into the Woods] Addaperle [The Wiz]

37. Helen McCrory

Actress | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2

Award-winning actress Helen Elizabeth McCrory was born in London, England, to Welsh-born Anne (Morgans) and Scottish-born Iain McCrory, a diplomat from Glasgow. After training at the Drama Centre London, Helen began her career on stage in the UK and won the Manchester Evening News' Best Actress ...

Notable Performances:

Narcissa Malfoy (Harry Potter Series) Madame Kali (Penny Dreadful) Hester Collyer (The Deep Blue Sea) Tabitha (Inside No. 9)

38. 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, ...

Notable Performances: Mayor Tortoise Johnson (Rango) Lotso (Toy Story 3) Senator Charles F. Meachum (Shooter) Arthur Jenson (Network)

39. 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 ...

Notable Performances:

Carl Fredricksen (Up) Sgt. Mike Cosgrove (Freakazoid) Santa Claus (Various) Lou Grant (The Mary Tyler Moore Show)

40. Norm MacDonald

Actor | Dirty Work

Macdonald was born Norman Gene Macdonald in Quebec City, Quebec. He began his career in stand-up comedy. Macdonald's first job was writing for The Dennis Miller Show (1992) and then Roseanne (1988). While writing for Roseanne (1988), he was noticed by Lorne Michaels, who liked Norm's stand up, and ...

Notable Performances:

Himself (Saturday Night Live) Mogens (Klaus) Norm the Genie (Fairly Odd Parents) Grim Reaper (Family Guy)

41. Estelle Harris

Actress | Toy Story 2

Estelle Harris was an American actress and comedienne, known for her exaggerated shrill and grating comedic voice. She often worked as a voice actress in animation, voicing supporting characters and guest stars. Her best known roles are the obnoxious mother Estelle Costanza in the sitcom "Seinfeld"...

Notable Performances: Muriel (The Suite Life of Zack and Cody) Mrs. Potato Head (Toy Story 2-4) Estelle Costanza (Seinfeld) Mom (Joey to the World)

42. Gilbert Gottfried

Actor | Aladdin

At the tender age of 15, Gilbert Gottfried began doing stand-up at open mike nights in New York City and, after a few short years, became known around town as "the comedian's comedian". After spending several years mastering the art of stand-up comedy, producers of the legendary NBC late-night ...

Notable Performances: Iago [Aladdin Franchise] Mr. Mxyzptlk [Various] God [Smiling Friends] Fred Fucks [Angry Video Game Nerd]

43. Anne Heche

Actress | Six Days Seven Nights

Anne Celeste Heche was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She came to recognition portraying Vicky Hudson and Marley Love in the soap opera Another World (1964), which won her a Daytime Emmy Award and two Soap Opera Digest Awards. She came to mainstream prominence in the late 1990s ...

Notable Performances: Marion Crane (Psycho) Betty (Milk Money) Clara (Birth) Maggie (Donnie Brasco)

44. Angela Lansbury

Actress | The Manchurian Candidate

Angela Lansbury was born in 1925 into a prominent family of the upper middle class living in the Regent's Park neighborhood of London. Her father was socialist politician Edgar Isaac Lansbury (1887-1935), a member of both the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and the Labour Party. Edgar ...

Notable Performances: Mrs. Potts [Beauty and the Beast] The Dowager Empress [Anastasia] Balloon Lady [Mary Poppins Returns] Jessica Fletcher [Murder, She Wrote]

45. Robbie Coltrane

Actor | Cracker

Robbie Coltrane, one of Britain's most popular comedians who was head of debating society at school and won prizes for his art, is now a film star who played in two James Bond films and in the "Harry Potter" franchise.

Coltrane was born Anthony Robert McMillan on March 30, 1950, in Rutherglen, a ...

Notable Performances: Dr. Edward Fitzgerald [Cracker] Rubeus Hagrid [Harry Potter Series] Gooby [Gooby] Sergeant Peter Godley [From Hell]

46. Lance Reddick

Actor | John Wick

Incisive, intense, multi-talented American actor Lance Solomon Reddick was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the younger of two sons, to Solomon Reddick and public schoolteacher Dorothy Gee. Having opted initially for a career in music, he attended first the Peabody Preparatory Institute and the Walden ...

Notable Performances: Charon (John Wick 1-4) Kareem X (One Night in Miami) Major Carver (The Guest) The Cowboy (The Blacklist)

47. Jon Polito

Actor | The Crow

A veteran of nearly 100 films, Jon Polito is most recognized for his work with The Coen brothers, as well as his many television appearances as a series regular and guest star. Notable motion picture roles include: Millers Crossing, Barton Fink, The Man Who Wasn't There, The Crow, Blankman, and The...

Notable Performances: Johnny Caspar (Miller’s Crossing) Lou Breeze (Barton Fink) Officer Sherman (Stuart Little) Gino (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)

48. Bruno Kirby

Actor | City Slickers

Native New Yorker and Italianate Bruno Kirby tended towards assertive, pushy, streetwise characters and was armed with a highly distinctive scratchy tenor voice that complemented his slim eyes and droopy puss and accentuated his deadpan comedic instincts on film and TV. The well-regarded character ...

Notable Performances: Reggie Stout (Stuart Little) Lt. Steven Hauk (Good Morning Vietnam) Peter Clemenza (The Godfather II) Ed Furillo (City Slickers)

49. Natasha Richardson

Actress | The Parent Trap

Natasha Jane Richardson was born in Marylebone, London, England, to director and producer Tony Richardson and actress Vanessa Redgrave. She was the sister of actress Joely Richardson, the niece of actors Corin Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave, and the granddaughter of actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel ...

Notable Performances: Elizabeth James [The Parent Trap] Dr. Paula Olsen [Nell] Kate/ Offred [The Handmaid’s Tale] Jean Tatlock [Fat Man and Little Boy]

50. Michael Lerner

Actor | Barton Fink

Michael Lerner was an American actor from New York City, the older brother of actor Ken Lerner. He was once nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the domineering studio head Jack Lipnick in "Barton Fink" (1991). Other well-known roles include crime boss Arnold ...

Notable Performances: Jack Lipnick (Barton Fink) Bobby Fox (Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster, Frankenstein) Mayor Ebert (Godzilla) Edward H. Biderman (Blank Check)

51. Barry Humphries

Actor | The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

His father was a well-to-do builder. Barry was a highly intelligent boy who attended Melbourne University. There, he began acting in revues and doing impersonations. He moved to London in 1959 and began his professional performing career on the West End and Broadway stages as Mr Sowerby in Oliver!,...

Notable Performances: Great Goblin [The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey] Bruce [Finding Nemo] Narrator [Mary and Max] Dame Edna Savage [Various]

52. Paul Ritter

Actor | Quantum of Solace

Versatile character actor Paul Ritter was born Simon Paul Adams in Gravesend, Kent on 20 December 1966. Whilst not from a show business family, he had strong thespian connections as his mother was a class-mate of comic actor Bernard Cribbins and his father attended the same school as the great ...

Notable Performances: Anatoly Dyatlov [Chernobyl] Guy Haines [Quantum of Solace] Eldred Worple [Half-Blood Prince] Chiffinch [The Libertine]

53. 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...

Notable Performances: Edwin Hoover (Little Miss Sunshine) The Chief (Get Smart) Wild Knuckles (Minions: Rise of Gru) Albert Garner (Going In Style)

54. Albert Finney

Actor | Murder on the Orient Express

The son of a Lancashire bookmaker, Albert Finney came to motion pictures via the theatre. In 1956, he won a scholarship to RADA where his fellow alumni included Peter O'Toole and Alan Bates. He joined the Birmingham Repertory where he excelled in plays by William Shakespeare. A member of the Royal ...

Notable Performances: Ed Bloom Sr. (Big Fish) Kincade (Skyfall) Ebenezer Scrooge (Scrooge) Finis Everglot (Corpse Bride)

55. Paul Reubens

Actor | Pee-wee's Playhouse

Paul Reubens was born Paul Rubenfeld on August 27, 1952 in Peekskill, New York, to Judy (Rosen), a teacher, and Milton Rubenfeld, a car salesman who had flown for the air forces of the U.S., U.K., and Israel, becoming one of the latter country's pioneering pilots. Paul grew up in Sarasota, Florida,...

Notable Performances: Pee-Wee Herman [Various] Buck LaFarge [Dunston Checks In] The Spleen [Mystery Men] FBI Agent [Matilda]

56. Abe Vigoda

Actor | The Godfather

Tall, dour-faced and slouch-shouldered character actor Abe Vigoda proved himself in both gritty dramatic roles and as an actor with wonderful comedic timing.

Vigoda was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Lena (Moses) and Samuel Vigoda, a tailor -- both Russian Jewish immigrants. His father was a tailor ...

Notable Performances: Sal Tessio [The Godfather 1 & 2] Salvatore Valestra [Batman: Mask of the Phantasm] Otis [Good Burger] Alaskan Grandpa [North]

57. Arleen Sorkin

Actress | Days of Our Lives

Arleen Sorkin was born on October 14, 1955 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Days of Our Lives (1965), Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009) and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000). She was married to Christopher Lloyd. She died on August 24, 2023 in ...

Notable Performances: Harley Quinn (Various) Calliope Jones Bradford (Days of Our Lives) Manicurist (Oscar) Herself (America’s Funniest People)

58. Michael Gambon

Actor | Gosford Park

Sir Michael Gambon was born in Cabra, Dublin, Ireland, to Mary (Hoare), a seamstress, and Edward Gambon, an engineer. After joining the National Theatre, under the Artistic Directorship of Sir Laurence Olivier, Gambon went on to appear in a number of leading roles in plays written by Alan Ayckbourn...

Notable Performances: Professor Albus Dumbledore [Harry Potter Series] Franklin Bean [Fantastic Mr. Fox] Eddie Temple [Layer Cake] Oseary Drakoulias [The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou]

59. Kelly Preston

Actress | Battlefield Earth

Kelly Preston was born on October 13, 1962 in Honolulu, Hawaii. A talented and captivating performer, she first garnered international attention with her role as "Marnie Mason" in Ivan Reitman's Twins (1988), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. With her diverse character portrayals in ...

Notable Performances: Joan Walden [The Cat in the Hat] Victoria DiGiorgio Gotti [Gotti] Gabby Frost [Jack Frost] Jane Aubrey [For Love of the Game]

60. Matthew Perry

Actor | Friends

Matthew Perry was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, to Suzanne Marie (Langford), a Canadian journalist, and John Bennett Perry, an American actor. His ancestry includes English, Irish, German, Swiss-German, and French-Canadian.

Perry was raised in Ottawa, Ontario, where he became a top-ranked ...

Notable Performances: Chandler Bing (Friends) Oscar Madison (The Odd Couple) Adult Mike O’Donnell (17 Again) Oz Oseransky (The Whole Nine Yards)

61. Glenn Shadix

Actor | Beetlejuice

William G. Scott was born in 1952 in Bessemer, Alabama. He attended Birmingham-Southern College for two years. He lived in New York City prior to moving to Hollywood in the late 1970s.

Changing his name to Glenn Shadix, he made his film debut in the poorly received The Postman Always Rings Twice (...

Notable Performances: Mayer of Halloweentown (The Nightmare Before Christmas) Otho (Beetlejuice) Ralph Skorpius (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) Father Ripper (Heathers)

62. Tom Wilkinson

Actor | Michael Clayton

Popular British character actor Tom Wilkinson was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, and came from a long line of urban farmers. He was the son of Marjorie (Percival) and Thomas Wilkinson. Economic hardships forced his family to move to Canada for a few years when Wilkinson was a child; then, ...

Notable Performances: Author [The Grand Budapest Hotel] Fr. Oliver [Little Boy] Lyndon B. Johnson [Selma] Howard Mierzwiak [Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind]

63. Carl Weathers

Actor | Predator

Carl Weathers was born on January 14, 1948, in New Orleans, Louisiana. A famous and successful football star at San Diego State, he played with the Oakland Raiders and retired from the sport in 1974, in order to give full attention to his goal: to be a real actor.

Weathers first played small parts ...

Notable Performances: Apollo Creed (Rocky I-IV) Derick ‘Chubbs’ Peterson (Happy Gilmore) Colonel Al Dillon (Predator) Combat Carl (Toy Story Franchise)

64. Richard Lewis

Actor | Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Richard Philip Lewis was born on June 29, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Englewood, New Jersey. He went to Dwight Morrow High School and Ohio State University, graduating in 1969 with a degree in marketing and communications. Lewis wrote ad copy in New Jersey while also writing jokes for ...

Notable Performances: Himself (Curb Your Enthusiasm) Prince John (Robin Hood: Men in Tights) Phillip Nickleson (George Lopez) Golem (The Simpsons)

65. M. Emmet Walsh

Actor | Blood Simple

Wonderfully talented, heavyset character actor (from New York, but regularly playing Southerners) M. Emmet Walsh has made a solid career of playing corrupt cops, deadly crooks, and zany comedic roles since the early 1970s.

Michael Emmet Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, to Agnes Katharine (Sullivan) and...

Notable Performances: Walt Scheel (Christmas With the Kranks) Earl Stutz (The Iron Giant) Cosmic Owl (Adventure Time) Mr. Proofroc (Knives Out)

66. Eartha Kitt

Actress | The Emperor's New Groove

An out-of-wedlock child, Eartha Kitt was born in the cotton fields of South Carolina. Kitt's mother was a sharecropper of African-American and Cherokee Native American descent. Her father's identity is unknown. Given away by her mother, she arrived in Harlem at age nine. At 15, she quit high school...

Notable Performances: Yzma (The Emperor’s New Groove) Madame Zeroni (Holes) Old Lady Hackmore (Ernest Scared Stupid) Vexus (My Life As A Teenage Robot)

67. Louis Gossett Jr.

Actor | An Officer and a Gentleman

Louis Gossett Jr. was one of the most respected and beloved actors on stage, screen and television and was also an accomplished writer, producer and director. Off-screen, he was a social activist, educator, and author dedicated to enriching the lives of others. He was the first African-American to ...

Notable Performances: Sgt. Emil Foley [An Officer and A Gentleman] Unknown Character [I.F.] Ol' Mister [The Color Purple] Will Reeves [Watchmen]

68. Michael Parks

Actor | Red State

Michael Parks is known as an actor's actor by his peers with a breadth of astonishing range that has allowed him to portray stunning contrasts--sometimes in the same film, like in Tusk (2014), starring in dual roles as an erudite serial killer opposite Justin Long, and as a feeble rube opposite ...

Notable Performances: Howard Howe (Tusk) Abin Cooper (Red State) Earl McGraw (Various) Henry Craig (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)