100 Greatest Movie
Characters of All Time


Premiere Magazine (in its April 2004 issue), in an article written by numerous authors, published a list of the 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All-Time, to celebrate the most memorable movie characters in film history. The defining moments are excerpted and abbreviated from the article. They qualified their selections - there were no biopic characters in the list, and they gave priority to people who never were but "who are always with us movie lovers." They described the characters as such:

They took us over the rainbow, showed us that greed is good, shook us and stirred us, and made us an offer we couldn't refuse.

However, they left off animated figures (for example, Mickey Mouse, Jessica Rabbit), and the following prominent characters from their list of 100 greatest, among others:

Missing Characters From the All-Time List
Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in The Godfather trilogy T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) (biopic)
Han Solo (Harrison Ford) in the Star Wars trilogy Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) in The Matrix trilogy
Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) in Bullitt (1968) Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro) in Raging Bull (1980)
Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) in The Graduate (1967) the Wicked Witch of the West/Miss Gulch (Margaret Hamilton) in The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Red (Morgan Freeman) in The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Marty McFly in the Back to the Future series
Jim Stark (James Dean) in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Dracula (Bela Lugosi) in Dracula (1931)
the Monster (Boris Karloff) in Frankenstein (1931) Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) in Ben-Hur (1959) Moses (Charlton Heston) in The Ten Commandments (1956)
Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) in Duck Soup (1933) Luke (Paul Newman) in Cool Hand Luke (1967)
HAL 9000 computer (voice of Douglas Rain) in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Baby Jane (Bette Davis) in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) in Gone With the Wind (1939) Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
'Cooler King' Hilts (Steve McQueen) in The Great Escape (1963) Erik (Lon Chaney) in The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) in The Grapes of Wrath (1940) Col. Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson) in A Few Good Men (1992)
Gunnery Sgt. Hartman (R. Lee Ermey) in Full Metal Jacket (1987) Dr. Christian Szell (Laurence Olivier) in Marathon Man (1976)
Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) in National Lampoon's films Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton) in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Dr. Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry) in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Quasimodo (Charles Laughton) in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) in Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985) Inspector Dan Clay (Tor Johnson) and Vampire Girl (Vampira) in Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)
Starman (Jeff Bridges) in Starman (1984) Stanley Ipkiss/The Mask (Jim Carrey) in The Mask (1994)

Note: The films that are marked with a yellow star are the films that "The Greatest Films" site has selected as the 100 Greatest Films.

See also Movieline Magazine's selections of the 100 Best Female Character Roles, and Premiere Magazine's selections of the 100 Greatest Movie Performances of All-Time.

100 Greatest Movie
Characters of All Time
(by reverse ranking)
(Part 1)

#
Character Name Played By Film Title Defining Moment
100
Roger "Verbal" Kint Kevin Spacey The Usual Suspects (1995) Verbal's informed scanning of a bulletin board while awaiting interrogation.
99
Kevin McCallister Macauley Culkin Home Alone (1990) and one later film Kevin's slapping of aftershave on his cheeks, and his "Aaaahhh!" reaction.
98
Antoine Doinel Jean Pierre Leaud The 400 Blows (1959) and four later films Antoine's reaction when asked by a reform school psychiatrist if he's ever slept with a girl.
97
Ace Ventura Jim Carrey Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) and one later film Ace's calling of his pets in his apartment after lying to his landlord about not having animals in his place.
96
Tommy DeVito Joe Pesci GoodFellas (1990) Tommy's 'How Am I Funny' routine, and his deadly showdown with Spider (Michael Imperioli) during a card game.
95
Oda Mae Brown Whoopi Goldberg Ghost (1990) Oda's reluctant donation of a $4 million check to charity, after being prompted by Sam.
94
Rose Sayer Katharine Hepburn The African Queen (1951) Heroine Rose's moment of emotional liberation after 'going over the falls'.
93
Harry Lime Orson Welles The Third Man (1949) Harry's "cuckoo clock" speech.
92
Dil Jaye Davidson The Crying Game (1992) Dil's startling revelation of his gender.
91
Mrs. Iselin Angela Lansbury The Manchurian Candidate (1962) Mrs. Iselin's incestuous kiss on the lips of her robotic, programmed, killing-machine son Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey).
90
John Malkovich John Malkovich Being John Malkovich (1999) John's yelling of "It's my heeeead!" while on the shoulder of the NJ Turnpike, after which a taunting trucker hurls a can at him.
89
Sandy Olsson Olivia Newton-John Grease (1978) Wearing black pants, red heels, and a leather jacket, Bad Sandy's bringing of Danny Zuko (John Travolta) to his knees.
88
Raymond Babbitt Dustin Hoffman Rain Man (1988) Raymond's panic-fit when brother Charlie (Tom Cruise) runs a hot bath for him.
87
Captain Jack Sparrow Johnny Depp Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Capt. Jack's triumphant arrival at Port Royal in a decrepit vessel.
86
Melanie Daniels Tippi Hedren The Birds (1963) Melanie's venture into an upstairs bedroom, where she is viciously attacked by birds.
85
Stanley Kowalski Marlon Brando A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Stanley's anguished, animalistic cry-yell at the bottom of the stairs for his wife Stella (Kim Hunter).
84
Darth Vader David Prowse/James Earl Jones (voice) Star Wars (1977) and two later films In The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Vader's revelation that he is Luke's (Mark Hamill) father.
83
William 'Bill the Butcher' Cutting Daniel Day-Lewis Gangs of New York (2002) Bill's flag-draped soliloquy, and his stabbing of the hand of fellow card player.
82
Jack Torrance Jack Nicholson The Shining (1980) Jack's hallucinatory drink order to a non-existent bartender in the Gold Room of the Overlook Hotel.
81
Aurora Greenway Shirley MacLaine Terms of Endearment (1983) and one later film Aurora's prophetic warning to her daughter Emma (Debra Winger) on the eve of her wedding.
80
Sam Spade Humphrey Bogart The Maltese Falcon (1941) Sam's act of turning over femme fatale love Brigid O'Shaughnessy (Mary Astor) to the cops.
79
Hans Beckert Peter Lorre M (1931) Hans' shriek to his tormentors that they don't know what it's like to be him.
78
"Mad" Max Rockatansky Mel Gibson Mad Max (1979) and two later films Max's witnessing of the slaughter of his family by hoodlums.
77
Annie Wilkes Kathy Bates Misery (1990) Annie's smashing the legs of her favorite writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan) so he won't leave her.
76
Tony Manero John Travolta Saturday Night Fever (1977) and one later film Tony's reveling in his power alone on the dance floor.


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