Film Star Legends

The Best Films of All Time - A Primer of Cinematic History
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GREATEST FILM STAR LEGENDS

Introduction

The American Film Institute in Los Angeles, California selected the 50 greatest "American screen legends" (composed of the top 25 women and top 25 men - defined as actors or a team of actors with a significant screen presence in American feature-length films whose screen debut occurred in or before 1950, or whose screen debut occurred after 1950 but whose death marked a completed body of work). Fifty of today's stars paid tribute to the 50 screen legends (hence, 100 stars) during a 3-hour CBS television broadcast in June of 1999.

From an original list of 500 nominees (250 in each gender category) of film stars, as compiled by AFI historians, the following criteria was used in vote-casting by a jury of film artists (directors, screenwriters, actors, etc.), critics, historians, executives and other cultural leaders to select the 25 greatest men and 25 greatest women screen legends of all time:

Star Legends Criteria

Star Quality: An actor's charisma and unique personal characteristics that create a strong on- and off-screen presence which is often embraced by audiences as a separate, mythic persona.

Craft: An actor's ability to embody distinctly different characters through the use of strong acting techniques and other creative methods.

Legacy: An actor's body of work that enriches American film heritage and continues to inspire artists and audiences today.

Popularity: An actor's public following over time.

Historical Context: The role of world events, politics, and changing social mores in shaping, promoting or curtailing a legend's status and career.

AFI's 25 Greatest Men and 25 Greatest Women Screen Star Legends in the first century of American Film, according to the AFI polling of June 1999, are identified by their rankings and this graphic symbol

in the lists that follow. The 50 screen legends were selected from an original list of 500 nominees (250 per gender).

For detailed filmographies of many other film stars,
visit Greatest Film Star Roles (and Filmographies) by Greatest Films.

This additional collection of filmographies includes stars that were excluded from AFI's list, such as Peter Sellers, Steve McQueen, Olivia DeHavilland, Deborah Kerr, Lana Turner, Greer Garson, Shelley Winters, Laurel & Hardy, Natalie Wood, Montgomery Clift, Paul Newman, Jack Lemmon, Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Myrna Loy, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Fredric March, Burgess Meredith, Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney, and many more.

The 100 Greatest Films that have been selected at this site are identified by a yellow star

A few of AFI's 50 Star Legends
Humphrey Bogart	Grace Kelly	Spencer Tracy	Burt Lancaster	Charlie Chaplin
Katharine Hepburn	James Stewart	Vivien Leigh	Fred Astaire	Judy Garland

Facts About AFI's 50 Screen Legends:

Lillian Gish has the longest screen career of any legend, male or female – 75 years. And Laurence Olivier has the longest career span of any male legend – 59 years.

At the time of the polling, there were five living female legends: Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley Temple, Lauren Bacall and Sophia Loren, and there were four living male legends: Marlon Brando, Gregory Peck, Kirk Douglas and Sidney Poitier.

Legends Marlon Brando, Sidney Poitier and Sophia Loren all had screen debuts in the cut-off year of 1950. Stars whose screen debuts occurred just after 1950, and therefore did not qualify as legends, included Jack Lemmon, Paul Newman, Shirley MacLaine, Walter Matthau and Clint Eastwood.

Eight of the screen legends also comprised four legendary romantic duos: Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. The Marx Brothers were the sole legendary team.

There were thirteen legends that made the transition from silent pictures to the "talkies": Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, Lillian Gish, Carole Lombard, Mary Pickford, Clark Gable, Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, the Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton and Edward G. Robinson.

Thirteen screen legends were born outside the United States: Elizabeth Taylor, Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin, Laurence Olivier (England); Ingrid Bergman and Greta Garbo (Sweden); Marlene Dietrich (Germany); Audrey Hepburn (Belgium); Claudette Colbert (France); Vivien Leigh (India); Sophia Loren (Italy); Mary Pickford (Canada); and Edward G. Robinson (Romania).

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