Greatest Film Stars
Greatest Roles & Filmographies


Greatest Film Stars - Roles and Filmographies
(alphabetical, by last name)
Introduction | A1 | A2 | B1 | B2 | B3 | C1 | C2 | C3 | D1 | D2 | E
F1 | F2 | G1 | G2 | H1 | H2 | H3 | I-J | K
L1 | L2 | M1 | M2 | M3 | M4 | N | O | P1 | P2-Q | R1
R2 | S1 | S2 | S3 | T1 | T2 | U-V | W1 | W2-Z



Greatest Film Star Roles and Filmographies
Actor or Actress
Definitive Screen Role Other Great Film Roles

# 7 star
Clark Gable
(1901-1960)
Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind (1939) Ace Wilfong in A Free Soul (1931)
Nick in Night Nurse (1931)
Mark Whitney in Possessed (1931)
Jerry "Babe" Stewart in No Man of Her Own (1932)
Dennis Carson in Red Dust (1932)
Patch Gallagher in Dancing Lady (1933)
Eddie Hall in Hold Your Man (1933)
Peter Warne in It Happened One Night (1934)
Blackie Gallagher in Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
Jack Thornton in Call of the Wild (1935)
Captain Alan Gaskell in China Seas (1935)
Fletcher Christian in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Van Stanhope in Wife vs. Secretary (1936)
Blackie Norton in San Francisco (1936)
Duke Bradley in Saratoga (1937)
Chris Hunter in Too Hot to Handle (1938)
Jim Lane in Test Pilot (1938)
Harry in Idiot's Delight (1939)
Big John McMasters in Boom Town (1940)
McKinley B. "Mac" Thompson in Comrade X (1940)
Verne in Strange Cargo (1940)
"Candy" Johnson in Honky Tonk (1941)
Victor Albee Norman in The Hucksters (1947)
Brigadier General K.C. 'Casey' Dennis in Command Decision (1948)
Mike Brannan in To Please a Lady (1950)
Devereaux Burke in Lone Star (1952)
Victor Marswell in Mogambo (1953)
Colonel Ben Allison in The Tall Men (1955)
Hamish Bond in Band of Angels (1957)
James Gannon / Gallagher in Teacher's Pet (1958)
Comm. "Rich" Richardson in Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)
Michael Hamilton in It Started in Naples (1960)
Gay Langland in The Misfits (1961)

#5 star
Greta Garbo
(1905-1990)
Marguerite Gautier in Camille (1936)
and
Ninotchka (Nina Ivanovna Yakushova) in Ninotchka (1939)
Elena in The Temptress (1926)
Felicitas von Kletzingk in Flesh and the Devil (1926)
Anna Karenina in Love (1927) and Anna Karenina (1935)
Tania Fedorova in The Mysterious Lady (1928)
Diana Merrick in A Woman of Affairs (1928)
Anna Christie in Anna Christie (1930)
Rita Cavallini in Romance (1930)
Mata Hari in Mata Hari (1931)
Grusinskaya in Grand Hotel (1932)
Queen Christina in Queen Christina (1933)
Karin Borg Blake/Katherine Borg in Two-Faced Woman (1941)

#25 star
Ava Gardner
(1922-1990)
Kitty Collins in The Killers (1946) Jean Ogilvie in The Hucksters (1947)
Venus in One Touch of Venus (1948)
Pandora Reynolds in Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)
Julie LaVerne in Show Boat (1951)
Martha Ronda in Lone Star (1952)
Cordelia Cameron in Ride, Vaquero! (1953)
Eloise "Honey Bear" Kelly in Mogambo (1953)
Marie Vargas in The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
Victoria Jones in Bhowani Junction (1956)
Lady Brett Ashley in The Sun Also Rises (1957)
Moira Davidson in On The Beach (1959)
Maxine Faulk in The Night of the Iguana (1964)
Eleanor "Ellie" Holbrook in Seven Days in May (1964)
Remy Royce-Graff in Earthquake (1974)
Nicole Dressler in The Cassandra Crossing (1976)
Miss Logan in The Sentinel (1977)

John Garfield
(1913-1952)
Frank Chambers in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
and
Joe Morse in Force of Evil (1948)
Mickey Borden in Four Daughters (1938)
Porfirio Díaz in Juarez (1939)
George Leach in The Sea Wolf (1941)
Danny in Tortilla Flat (1942)
Sgt. Joe Winocki, Aerial Gunner in Air Force (1943)
Wolf in Destination Tokyo (1943)
Al Schmid in Pride of the Marines (1945)
Paul Boray in Humoresque (1946)
Dave Goldman in Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Charley Davis in Body and Soul (1947)
Tony Fenner in We Were Strangers (1949)
Nick Robey in He Ran All the Way (1951)

#8 star
Judy Garland
(1922-1969)
Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939)
and
Esther Blodgett (Vicki Lester) in A Star is Born (1954)
Betty Clayton in Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)
Betsy Booth in Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938), Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940), and Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941)
Patsy Barton in Babes in Arms (1939)
Mary Holden in Strike Up the Band (1940)
Susan Gallagher in Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
Penny Morris in Babes on Broadway (1941)
Jo Hayden in For Me and My Gal (1942)
Lily Mars in Presenting Lily Mars (1943)
Ginger Gray in Girl Crazy (1943)
Esther Smith in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Alice Maybery in The Clock (1945)
The Star in Ziegfeld Follies (1945)
Susan Harvey in The Harvey Girls (1946)
Hannah Brown in Easter Parade (1948)
Manuela in The Pirate (1948)
Veronica Fisher in In the Good Old Summertime (1949)
Jane Falbury in Summer Stock (1950)
Irene Hoffman in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

James Garner
(1928-2014)
Jason McCullough in Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)
and
Murphy Jones in Murphy's Romance (1985)

also Bret Maverick in TV's Maverick (1957-1960, 1981-1982) and The Rockford Files (1974-1980)

Capt. Mike Bailey in Sayonara (1957)
Cash McCall in Cash McCall (1959)
Doctor Joe Cardin in The Children's Hour (1961)
Flt. Lieut. Bob Anthony Hendley ("The Scrounger") in The Great Escape (1963)
Nicholas Arden in Move Over, Darling (1963)
Dr. Gerald Boyer in The Thrill of It All (1963)
Henry Tyroon in The Wheeler Dealers (1963)
Lieut. Comm. Charles E. Madison in The Americanization of Emily (1964)
Jess Remsberg in Duel at Diablo (1966)
Pete Aron in Grand Prix (1966)
Wyatt Earp in Hour of the Gun (1967) and Sunset (1988)
Philip Marlowe in Marlowe (1969)
Luther Sledge in A Man Called Sledge (1970)
Latigo in Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)
Abel Marsh in They Only Kill Their Masters (1972)
King Marchand in Victor/Victoria (1982)
Zack in Tank (1984)
Marshal Zane Cooper in Maverick (1994)
Tank Sullivan in Space Cowboys (2000)
Shep Walker in Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)
Duke in The Notebook (2004)

Greer Garson
(1904-1996)
Kay Miniver in Mrs. Miniver (1942) Katherine Ellis/Chipping in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (1940)
Edna Kahly Gladney in Blossoms in the Dust (1941)
Paula Ridgeway/Margaret in Random Harvest (1942)
Madame Marie Curie in Madame Curie (1943)
Susie "Sparrow" Parkington in Mrs. Parkington (1944)
Mary Rafferty in The Valley of Decision (1945)
Irene Forsyte in That Forsyte Woman (1949)
Calpurnia in Julius Caesar (1953)
Eleanor Roosevelt in Sunrise at Campobello (1960)
Mother Prioress in The Singing Nun (1966)

Janet Gaynor
(1906-1984)
The Wife in Sunrise (1927) Diane in Seventh Heaven (1927) (aka 7th Heaven)
Angela in Street Angel (1928)
Mary Tucker in Lucky Star (1929)
Molly Carr in Sunny Side Up (1929)
Tess Howland in Tess of the Storm Country (1932)
Margy Frake in State Fair (1933)
Katherine 'Kay' Brannan in Small Town Girl (1936)
Esther Blodgett (Vicki Lester) in A Star is Born (1937)

Richard Gere
(1949- )
Zack Mayo in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) Tony Lopanto in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977)
Bill in Days of Heaven (1978)
Matt Dyson in Yanks (1979)
Julian Kaye in American Gigolo (1980)
Jesse Lujack in Breathless (1983)
Dixie Dwyer in The Cotton Club (1984)
Pete St. John in Power (1986)
Eddie Jillette in No Mercy (1986)
Dennis Peck in Internal Affairs (1990)
Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman (1990)
Dr. Isaac Barr in Final Analysis (1992)
John Robert 'Jack' Sommersby in Sommersby (1993)
Lancelot in First Knight (1995)
Martin 'Marty' Vail in Primal Fear (1996)
Jack Moore in Red Corner (1997)
Declan Mulqueen in The Jackal (1997)
Ike Graham in Runaway Bride (1999)
Will Keane in Autumn in New York (2000)
Dr. Sullivan Travis in Dr. T & the Women (2000)
John Klein in The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
Billy Flynn in Chicago (2002)
Edward Sumner in Unfaithful (2002)
John Clark in Shall We Dance (2004)
Saul in Bee Season (2005)
Clifford Irving in The Hoax (2006)

Simon Hunt in The Hunting Party (2007)
Dr. Paul Flanner in Nights in Rodanthe (2008)
George Putnam in Amelia (2009)
Robert Miller in Arbitrage (2012)

Paul Giamatti
(1967- )
Miles Raymond in Sideways (2004) Kenny/ "Pig Vomit" in Private Parts (1997)
The Bellman in My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
Control Room Director in The Truman Show (1998)
Rudy Timmons in The Negotiator (1998)
Bob Zmuda in Man on the Moon (1999)
Harvey Pekar in American Splendor (2003)
Joe Gould in Cinderella Man (2005)
Chief Inspector Uhl in The Illusionist (2006)
Cleveland Heep in Lady in the Water (2006)
Karl Hertz in Shoot 'Em Up (2007)
Vladimir Chertkov in The Last Station (2009)
Tom Duffy in The Ides of March (2011)
Theophilus Freeman in 12 Years a Slave (2013)
Ralph in Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
Dr. Eugene Landy in Love & Mercy (2015)
Dr. Lawrence Hayes in San Andreas (2015)
Jerry Heller in Straight Outta Compton (2015)

Mel Gibson
(1956- )
'Mad' Max (Rockatansky) in

and
Det. Sgt. Martin Riggs in

Frank Dunne in Gallipoli (1981)
Guy Hamilton in The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
Fletcher Christian in The Bounty (1984)
Dale McKussic in Tequila Sunrise (1988)
Gene Ryack in Air America (1990)
Rick Jarmin in Bird on a Wire (1990)
Hamlet in Hamlet (1990)
Capt. Daniel McCormick in Forever Young (1992)
Bret Maverick in Maverick (1994)
William Wallace in Braveheart (1995)
Tom Mullen in Ransom (1996)
Jerry Fletcher in Conspiracy Theory (1997)
Porter in Payback (1999)
Rocky (Voice) in Chicken Run (2000)
Col. Benjamin Martin in The Patriot (2000)
Nick Marshall in What Women Want (2000)
Rev. Graham Hess in Signs (2002)
Lt. Col. Hal Moore in We Were Soldiers (2002)
Dr. Gibbon in The Singing Detective (2003)
Thomas Craven in Edge of Darkness (2010)
Walter Black in The Beaver (2011)

Sir John Gielgud
(1904-2000)
Mr. Hobson in
  • Arthur (1981)
  • Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988)
Cassius in Julius Caesar (1953)
George, Duke of Clarence in Richard III (1955)
Ghost (Voice) in Hamlet (1964)
King Louis VII of France in Becket (1964)
King Henry IV in Chimes at Midnight/Falstaff (1965)
Sir Francis Hinsley in The Loved One (1965)
Lord Raglan in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
Beddoes in Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Nerva in Caligula (1977)
Prime Minister Lord Salisbury in Murder by Decree (1978)
Brigadier Tomlinson in The Human Factor (1979)
Carr Gomm in Elephant Man (1980)
Master of Trinity in Chariots of Fire (1981)
Lord Irwin in Gandhi (1982)
Hogarth in The Wicked Lady (1983)
Sir Leonard Darwin in Plenty (1985)
Colonel Carbury in Appointment with Death (1988)
Prospero in Prospero's Books (1991)
Priam in Hamlet (1996)
Prof. Cecil Parks in Shine (1996)
The Pope in Elizabeth (1998)

John Gilbert
(1897-1936)
James Apperson in The Big Parade (1925) Bezano in He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
Prince Danilo Petrovich in The Merry Widow (1925)
Leo von Harden in Flesh and the Devil (1926)
Captain Count Alexei Vronsky in Love (1927)
Neville "Nevs" Holderness in A Woman of Affairs (1928)
Hugh Rand in Desert Nights (1929)
Karl Schneider in Downstairs (1932)
Don Antonio De la Prada in Queen Christina (1933)

Dorothy Gish
(1898-1968)
Louise Girard in Orphans of the Storm (1922) The Crippled Beggar in Judith of Bethulia (1914)
Katie Ruder in Old Heidelberg (1915)
Meena in Little Meena's Romance (1916)
Gretchen Van Houck in Gretchen the Greenhorn (1916)
The Little Disturber in Hearts of the World (1918)
Jane in Battling Jane (1918)
Jolanda Whiple - The Flapper in The Country Flapper (1922)
Tessa in Romola (1924)
Nell Gwyn in Nell Gwyn (1926)
Mrs. Otis Skinner in Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944)
Mrs. Doubleday in The Whistle at Eaton Falls (1951)

#17 star
Lillian Gish
(1893-1993)
Lucy Burrows (The Girl) in Broken Blossoms (1919)
and
Letty Mason in The Wind (1928)
The Young Mother in Judith of Bethulia (1914)
Elsie Stoneman in The Birth of a Nation (1915)
The Woman Who Rocks the Cradle in Intolerance (1916)
The Girl - Marie Stephenson in Hearts of the World (1918)
Susie May Trueheart in True Heart Susie (1919)
Anna Moore in Way Down East (1920)
Henriette Girard in Orphans of the Storm (1922)
Mimi in La Boheme (1926)
Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter (1926)
Pauli Arndt in The Enemy (1927)
Annie Laurie in Annie Laurie (1927)
Princess Alexandra in One Romantic Night (1930)
Alice Chalice in His Double Life (1933)
Laura Belle McCanles in Duel in the Sun (1946)
Mother Mary of Mercy in Portrait of Jennie (1948)
Victoria Inch in The Cobweb (1955)
Rachel Cooper in The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Mattilda Zachary in The Unforgiven (1960)
Sarah Webber in The Whales of August (1987)

Jackie Gleason
(1916-1987)
Minnesota Fats in The Hustler (1961)
and

Ralph Kramden in The Honeymooners
(TV show from 1954-1956) and The Jackie Gleason Show (TV show from 1953-1957, 1966-1970)


Maish Rennick in Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)
Walter Hollander in Don't Drink the Water (1969)
Sheriff Buford T. Justice in Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983)
U.S. Bates in The Toy (1980)
Max Basner in Nothing in Common (1986)

Danny Glover
(1946- )
Det. Sgt. Roger Murtaugh in: Inmate in Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
Moze in Places in the Heart (1984)
Albert in The Color Purple (1985)
Malachi 'Mal' Johnson in Silverado (1985)
McFee in Witness (1985)
Capt. Bartholomew Clark in Bat*21 (1988)
Lt. Mike Harrigan in Predator 2 (1990)
Harry Mention in To Sleep with Anger (1990)
Simon in Grand Canyon (1991)
Micah Mangena in Bopha! (1993)
George Knox in Angels in the Outfield (1994)
Judge Tyrone Kipler in The Rainmaker (1997)
Paul D. Garner in Beloved (1998)
Henry Sherman in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Detective David Tapp in Saw (2004)
Jake Neeley in Missing in America (2005)
Wilhelm in Manderlay (2005)
Marty Madison in Dreamgirls (2006)
President Thomas Wilson in 2012 (2009)

Paulette Goddard
(1910-1990)
The Gamine in Modern Times (1936) Miriam Aarons in The Women (1939)
Joyce Norman in The Cat and the Canary (1939)
Mary Carter in The Ghost Breakers (1940)
Hannah in The Great Dictator (1940)
Louvette Corbeau in North West Mounted Police (1940)
Ellen Miller in Second Chorus (1940)
Molly McCorkle in Pot o' Gold (1941)
Gwen Saunders in Nothing But the Truth (1941)
Anita Dixon in Hold Back the Dawn (1941)
Loxi Claiborne in Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
Lt. Joan O'Doul in So Proudly We Hail! (1943)
Kitty in Kitty (1945)
Célestine in The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946)
Mrs. Laura Cheveley in An Ideal Husband (1947)
Abigail "Abby" Martha Hale in Unconquered (1947)

Whoopi Goldberg
(1955- )
Oda Mae Brown in Ghost (1990) Celie Johnson in The Color Purple (1985)
Teresa 'Terry' Dolittle in Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986)
Clara Mayfield in Clara's Heart (1988)
Odessa Cotter in The Long Walk Home (1990)
Rose Schwartz in Soapdish (1991)
Detective Susan Avery in The Player (1992)
Mary Masembuko in Sarafina! (1992)
Deloris Van Cartier/Sister Mary Clarence in Sister Act (1992) and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993)
Sarah Mathews in Made in America (1993)
Corrina Washington in Corrina, Corrina (1994)
Buckwheat's Mother in The Little Rascals (1994)
Guinan in Star Trek: Generations (1994), and Star Trek X: Nemesis (2002)
Jane Deluca in Boys on the Side (1995)
Myrlie Evers in Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
Delilah in How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
Valerie Owens, R.N. in Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Vera Baker in Rat Race (2001)
Lola in Nobody's Fool (2018)

Jeff Goldblum
(1952- )
Seth Brundle in The Fly (1986) Freak #1 in Death Wish (1974)
Lloyd Harris in California Split (1974)
Tricycle Man in Nashville (1975)
Clyde Baxter in Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976)
Lacey Party Guest in Annie Hall (1977)
Jack Bellicec in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Recruiter in The Right Stuff (1983)
Michael Gold in The Big Chill (1983)
New Jersey in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
"Slick" Calvin Stanhope in Silverado (1985)
Ed Okin in Into the Night (1985)
Mac in Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)
Dexter King in The Tall Guy (1989)
David Jason in Deep Cover (1992)
Jeff Goldblum (Himself) in The Player (1992)
Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park (1993), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
David Levinson in Independence Day (1996) and Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
Allistair Hennessey in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
Deputy Kovacs in The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Grandmaster in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

John Goodman
(1952- )
Charlie Meadows / Karl Mundt in Barton Fink (1991)
and
Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski (1998)
Coach Harris in Revenge of the Nerds (1984)
Det. Andre DeSoto in The Big Easy (1987)
Gale Snoats in Raising Arizona (1987)
John Krytsick in Punchline (1988)
Det. Sherman Touhey in Sea of Love (1989)
Al Yackey in Always (1989)
Delbert McClintock in Arachnophobia (1990)
Ralph in King Ralph (1991)
Lawrence Woolsey in Matinee (1993)
Larry Verber in Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
Big Dan in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Sullivan or Sulley (Voice) in Monsters, Inc. (2001) and Monsters University (2013)
Al Zimmer in The Artist (2011)
John Chambers in Argo (2012)
Harling Mays in Flight (2012)
Roland Turner in Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Capt. Walter Garfield in The Monuments Men (2014)
Frank King in Trumbo (2015)
Howard in 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
William "Bill" Randa in Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Emmett Kurzfeld in Atomic Blonde (2017)

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