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GREATEST FILM
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GREATEST FILM
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Greatest Film Star Roles and Filmographies (see below) contains a selected sampling of the starring roles that best define the screen presence or persona of some of the greatest stars of the American cinema. The definitive screen role is often the one for which the actor or actress is best-remembered. In some cases, some actors/actresses - over a long, prolific career - have had more than one exemplary or essential example of their acting portrayed in films.
The 25 Greatest Men and 25 Greatest Women Screen 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
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The 100 Greatest Films that have been selected at this site are identified by a yellow star
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Alphabetical By Last Name
A1 A2-B1 B2 B3 B4 B5-C1 C2 C3 C4-D1 D2
D3 D4-F1 F2 F3-G1 G2 G3-H1 H2 H3 H4-J1 J2-K1
K2-L1 L2 L3-M1 M2 M3 M4 N O-P1 P2 P3-R1
R2 R3 R4-S1 S2 S3 S4-T1 T2 U-W1 W2 W3-Z
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Definitive Screen Role | Other Great Film Roles |
 Mercedes McCambridge (1918-2004) |
Emma Small in Johnny Guitar (1954) | Sadie Burke in All
the King's Men (1949) Luz Benedict (older) in Giant (1956) Miss Van Campen in A Farewell to Arms (1957) Gang leader in
Touch of Evil (1958)Mrs. Holly in Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) Sarah Wyatt in Cimarron (1960) Thelma Diaz in 99 Women (1969) Demon (Voice) in The Exorcist (1973) Nelli in Airport '79: Concorde (1979) |
 Joel McCrea (1905-1990) |
John L. Sullivan in Sullivan's Travels (1941) | Robert Rainsford in The Most Dangerous
Game (1932) Jim Carmichael in Barbary Coast (1935) Dr. Joseph Cardin in These Three (1936) Dave Connell in Dead End (1937) Capt. Jeff Butler in Union Pacific (1939) Johnny Jones (Huntley Haverstock) in Foreign Correspondent (1940) Ed Wallace in The Primrose Path (1940) Tom Jeffers in The Palm Beach Story (1942) Joe Carter in The More the Merrier (1943) Dave Nash in Ramrod (1947) Steve Judd in Ride the High Country (1962) |
 Hattie McDaniel (1895-1952) |
Mammy in
Gone With the Wind (1939) |
Malena in Alice Adams
(1935) Queenie in Show Boat (1936) Minerva Clay in In This Our Life (1942) Fidelia in Since You Went Away (1944) |
 Frances McDormand (1957- ) |
Marge Gunderson in Fargo (1996) | Abby in Blood Simple (1984) Dot in Raising Arizona (1987) Mrs. Pell in Mississippi Burning (1988) Julie Hastings in Darkman (1990) Betty Weathers in Short Cuts (1993) Dr. Molly Arrington in Primal Fear (1996) Dr. Verstak in Paradise Road (1997) Miss Clavel in Madeline (1998) Elaine Miller in Almost Famous (2000) Sara Gaskell in Wonder Boys (2000) Doris Crane in The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) Michelle in City By the Sea (2002) Jane in Laurel Canyon (2002) |
 Roddy McDowall (1928-1998) |
Huw Morgan in How Green Was My Valley (1941) | Cornelius in Planet of the Apes (1968) |
 Ewan McGregor (1971- ) |
Mark Renton in Trainspotting (1996) | Alex Law in Shallow Grave (1994) Andy in Brassed Off! (1996) Frank Churchill in Emma (1996) Jerome in The Pillow Book (1996) Robert in A Life Less Ordinary (1997) Meneer Chrome in The Serpent's Kiss (1997) Martin Bells in Nightwatch (1998) Curt Wild in Velvet Goldmine (1998) the Eye in Eye of the Beholder (1999) Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) James Joyce in Nora (2000) Danny Grimes in Black Hawk Down (2001) Christian in Moulin Rouge (2001) Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) |
 Dorothy McGuire (1919-2001) |
Kathy in Gentleman's Agreement (1947) | Katie Nolan in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
(1945) Laura Pennington in The Enchanted Cottage (1945) Helen Capel in The Spiral Staircase (1946) Miss Frances in Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) Eliza Birdwell in Friendly Persuasion (1956) Katie Coates in Old Yeller (1957) Sylvia Hunter in A Summer Place (1959) Mother Robinson in Swiss Family Robinson (1960) Cora Flood in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960) The Virgin Mary in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) |
Victor McLaglen (1886-1959) |
Gypo Nolan in The Informer (1935) | The Sergeant in The Lost Patrol (1934) Capt. Bull Brackett in Klondike Annie (1936) MacChesney in Gunga Din (1939) Sgt. Festus Mulcahy in Fort Apache (1948) Sgt. Quincannon in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) Sgt. Major Timothy Quincannon in Rio Grande (1950) Red Will Danaher in
The Quiet Man (1954) |
 Butterfly McQueen (1911-1995) |
Prissy in
Gone with the Wind (1939) |
Lulu, Cosmetics Counter Maid in The Women
(1939) Lily in Cabin in the Sky (1943) Lottie in Mildred Pierce (1945) Vashti in Duel in the Sun (1946) |
 Steve McQueen (1930-1980) |
Det. Lt. Frank Bullitt in Bullitt (1968) | Vin in The Magnificent Seven (1960) Pvt. John Reese in Hell is for Heroes (1962) Capt. Virgil "Cooler King" Hilts in The Great Escape (1963) Rocky Papasano in Love With the Proper Stranger (1963) Henry Thomas in Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965) The Cincinnati Kid in The Cincinnati Kid (1965) Jake Holman in The Sand Pebbles (1966) Thomas Crown in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) Boon Hogganbeck in The Reivers (1969) As Himself in On Any Sunday (1971) Michael Delaney in Le Mans (1971) Carter "Doc" McCoy in The Getaway (1972) Henri 'Papillon' Charriere in Papillon (1973) Chief Michael O'Hallorhan in The Towering Inferno (1974) Papa Thorson in The Hunter (1980) |
 Adolphe Menjou (1890-1963) |
Walter Burns in The Front Page (1931) | La Bessiere in Morocco (1930) Major Rinaldi in A Farewell to Arms (1932) Lewis Easton in Morning Glory (1933) Nikolai Nicoleff in Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935) Anthony Powell in Stage Door (1937) Oliver Niles in A Star is Born (1937) Jim Conover in State of the Union (1948) General Broulard in
Paths of Glory (1957) |
 Bette Midler (1945- ) |
Mary Rose Foster in The Rose (1979) | Barbara Whiteman in Down and Out in Beverly
Hills (1986) Barbara Stone in Ruthless People (1986) Sandy Brozinsky in Outrageous Fortune (1987) Cecilia "CC" Carol Bloom in Beaches (1988) Sadie Ratliff/Sadie Shelton in Big Business (1988) Deborah Fifer in Scenes From a Mall (1990) Stella Claire in Stella (1990) Dixie Leonard in For the Boys (1991) Winifred Sanderson in Hocus Pocus (1993) Doris in Get Shorty (1995) Brenda "Bren" Morelli Cushman in The First Wives Club (1996) Mona Dearly in Drowning Mona (2000) |
 Ray Milland (1907-1986) |
Don Birnam in The Lost Weekend (1945) | John Ball, Jr. in Easy Living (1937) John Geste in Beau Geste (1939) Major Philip Kirby in The Major and the Minor (1942) Stephen Neale in Ministry of Fear (1944) Roderick Fitzgerald in The Uninvited (1944) George Stroud in The Big Clock (1948) Tom Wendice in Dial M for Murder (1954) Dr. James Xavier in X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963) Oliver Barrett III in Love Story (1970) |
