PEOPLE KNOWN FOR: acting
American actor and director
Woody Allen, American motion-picture director, screenwriter, actor, comedian, playwright, and author, best known for his bittersweet comic films containing elements of parody, slapstick, and the absurd...
American actor, director, and writer
Orson Welles, American motion-picture actor, director, producer, and writer. His innovative narrative techniques and use of photography, dramatic lighting, and music to further the dramatic line and to...
American director, writer, and actor
John Huston, American motion-picture director, writer, and actor whose taut dramas were among the most popular Hollywood films from the early 1940s to the mid-1980s. Many of his films were literary adaptations...
American singer and actor
Frank Sinatra, American singer and motion-picture actor who, through a long career and a very public personal life, became one of the most sought-after performers in the entertainment industry; he is often...
English actor, poet, and producer
David Garrick, English actor, producer, dramatist, poet, and comanager of the Drury Lane Theatre. Garrick was of French and Irish descent, the son of Peter Garrick, a captain in the English army, and Arabella...
British actor, director, writer, and composer
Charlie Chaplin, British comedian, producer, writer, director, and composer who is widely regarded as the greatest comic artist of the screen and one of the most important figures in motion-picture history....
American singer and actor
Elvis Presley, American popular singer widely known as the “King of Rock and Roll” and one of rock music’s dominant performers from the mid-1950s until his death. Presley grew up dirt-poor in Tupelo, moved...
American actor and director
Clint Eastwood, American motion-picture actor who emerged as one of the most popular Hollywood stars in the 1960s and went on to become a prolific and respected director-producer. (Read Marin Scorsese’s...
American filmmaker
Otto Preminger, Austrian-born American director who defied Hollywood’s Production Code with a series of controversial films—notably The Moon Is Blue (1953), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), and Anatomy...
American actor and philanthropist
Paul Newman, American actor and director whose striking good looks, intelligence, and charisma became hallmarks in a film career that spanned more than 50 years, during which time he became known for his...
French actress
Sarah Bernhardt, the greatest French actress of the later 19th century and one of the best-known figures in the history of the stage. Bernhardt was the illegitimate daughter of Julie Bernard, a Dutch courtesan...
American director, producer, and actor
Sydney Pollack, American director, producer, and actor who helmed a number of popular films, including The Way We Were (1973), Tootsie (1982), Out of Africa (1985), and The Firm (1993). Although lacking...
Bahamanian American actor
Sidney Poitier, Bahamian American actor, director, and producer who broke the colour barrier in the U.S. motion-picture industry by becoming the first African American to win an Academy Award for best...
American actor and director
John Cassavetes, American film director and actor regarded as a pioneer of American cinema verité and as the father of the independent film movement in the United States. Most of his films were painstakingly...
American first lady
Nancy Reagan, American first lady (1981–89)—the wife of Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the United States—and actress, noted for her efforts to discourage drug use by American youths. Christened Anne...
American choreographer and director
Bob Fosse, American dancer, choreographer, and director who revolutionized musicals with his distinct style of dance—including his frequent use of props, signature moves, and provocative steps—and was...
Russian actor and director
Konstantin Stanislavsky, Russian actor, director, and producer, founder of the Moscow Art Theatre (opened 1898). He is best known for developing the system or theory of acting called the Stanislavsky system,...
British actor and theatrical manager
Sir Henry Irving, one of the most famous of English actors, the first of his profession to be knighted (1895) for services to the stage. He was also a celebrated theatre manager and the professional partner...
American actor and director
John Cromwell, American actor and director of stage and screen who, during a career that spanned more than 70 years, helmed a number of classic movies, including Of Human Bondage (1934), Abe Lincoln in...
American actor
Jack Nicholson, one of the most prominent American motion-picture actors of his generation, especially noted for his versatile portrayals of unconventional, alienated outsiders. Nicholson, whose father...
American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor
Mel Brooks, American film and television director, producer, writer, and actor whose motion pictures elevated outrageousness and vulgarity to high comic art. (Read Martin Scorsese’s Britannica essay on...
American actor
John Wayne, major American motion-picture actor who embodied the image of the strong, taciturn cowboy or soldier and who in many ways personified the idealized American values of his era. Marion Morrison...
American actor, dancer, and director
Gene Kelly, American dancer, actor, choreographer, and motion-picture director whose athletic style of dancing, combined with classical ballet technique, transformed the movie musical and did much to change...
American actress
Katharine Hepburn, indomitable American stage and film actress, known as a spirited performer with a touch of eccentricity. She introduced into her roles a strength of character previously considered to...
American musician
Louis Armstrong, the leading trumpeter and one of the most influential artists in jazz history. Although Armstrong claimed to be born in 1900, various documents, notably a baptismal record, indicate that...
British actress
Ellen Terry, English actress who became one of the most popular stage performers in both Great Britain and North America. For 24 years (1878–1902) she worked as the leading lady of Sir Henry Irving in...
American actor
Humphrey Bogart, American actor who became a preeminent motion picture “tough guy” and was a top box-office attraction during the 1940s and ’50s. In his performances he projected the image of a worldly-wise...
American actor
W.C. Fields, actor whose flawless timing and humorous cantankerousness made him one of America’s greatest comedians. His real-life and screen personalities were often indistinguishable, and he is remembered...
American singer and actress
Judy Garland, American singer and actress whose exceptional talents and vulnerabilities combined to make her one of the most enduringly popular Hollywood icons of the 20th century. Frances Gumm was the...
British actor, director, writer, and producer
Laurence Olivier, a towering figure of the British stage and screen, acclaimed in his lifetime as the greatest English-speaking actor of the 20th century. He was the first member of his profession to be...
American dancer and singer
Fred Astaire, American dancer onstage and in motion pictures who was best known for a number of highly successful musical comedy films in which he starred with Ginger Rogers. He is regarded by many as...
American actor
Robert De Niro, American actor famous for his uncompromising portrayals of violent and abrasive characters and, later in his career, for his comic depictions of cranky old men. The son of two Greenwich...
American comedian
Jerry Lewis, American comedian, actor, and director whose unrestrained comic style made him one of the most popular performers of the 1950s and ’60s. Lewis was born into a vaudeville family, and at age...
British-born American actor
Cary Grant, British-born American film actor whose good looks, debonair style, and flair for romantic comedy made him one of Hollywood’s most popular and enduring stars. To escape poverty and a fractious...
American actor
Clark Gable, American film actor who epitomized the American ideal of masculinity and virility for three decades. An enormously popular star during his lifetime, Gable was dubbed the “King of Hollywood.”...
American actor and entertainer
Bob Hope, British-born American entertainer and comic actor known for his rapid-fire delivery of jokes and one-liners and for his success in virtually all entertainment media. He was also known for his...
Australian actress
Cate Blanchett, Australian actress known for her multidimensional characters and wide range of roles. Blanchett grew up in suburban Melbourne with an Australian mother and an American father, who died...
American actor and filmmaker
Carl Reiner, American actor, writer, and director who found success in both television and film. After creating the landmark TV series The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–66), he directed such popular comedies...
American actor and director
Robert Redford, American motion-picture actor and director known for his boyish good looks, diversity of screen characterizations, commitment to environmental and political causes, and founding the Sundance...
American actress
Meryl Streep, American film actress known for her masterly technique, expertise with dialects, and subtly expressive face. Streep started voice training at age 12 and took up acting in high school. In...
British actor
Edmund Kean, one of the greatest of English tragic actors, a turbulent genius noted as much for his megalomania and ungovernable behaviour as for his portrayals of villains in Shakespearean plays. Though...
American actor
James Cagney, American actor who was noted for his versatility in musicals, comedies, and crime dramas. He was one of the top movie stars from the 1930s through the ’50s, known for his jaunty manner and...
Swedish American actress
Greta Garbo, Swedish American actress who was one of the most glamorous and popular motion-picture stars of the 1920s and ’30s. She was best known for her portrayals of strong-willed heroines, most of...
American actor
Johnny Depp, American actor and musician who was known for his eclectic and unconventional film choices. He achieved perhaps his greatest success as Capt. Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean series....
American singer, songwriter, and actor
Kris Kristofferson, American singer, songwriter, and actor known for his gravelly voice and rugged good looks and a string of country music hits, notably “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Help Me Make It Through...
American actor
Al Pacino, American actor best known for his intense, explosive acting style. After growing up in East Harlem and the Bronx, Pacino moved at age 19 to Greenwich Village, where he studied acting at the...
British actress
Vanessa Redgrave, British actress of stage and screen who received numerous accolades—including an Oscar, two Emmys, a Tony, and a Laurence Olivier Award—for her performances. She was also a longtime political...
American actress, director, and screenwriter
Ida Lupino, English-born American film and television actress, director, and screenwriter who first gained fame through her portrayals of strong, worldly-wise characters and went on to become one of the...
American singer-songwriter and actress
Lady Gaga, American singer-songwriter and performance artist, known for her flamboyant costumes, provocative lyrics, and strong vocal talents, who achieved enormous popular success with songs such as “Just...
American actor
James Franco, American actor, director, and writer whose rakish charm and chiseled good looks augmented an ability to bring sincerity and gravitas to characters ranging from addled drug dealers to comic...