Greatest Film Star Roles (and Filmographies)

GREATEST FILM STAR
ROLES AND FILMOGRAPHIES

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 .

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

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

Actor or Actress	Definitive Screen Role	Other Great Film Roles
Peter Ustinov (1921-2004)	Hercule Poirot in Death on the Nile (1978) ... in Evil Under the Sun (1982) ... in Appointment with Death (1988)	Nero in Quo Vadis? (1951) Jules in We're No Angels (1955) Circus Master in Lola Montes (1955) Lentulus Batiatus in Spartacus (1960) Rupert Venneker in The Sundowners (1960) The General of Concordia in Romanoff and Juliet (1961) Captain Edward Fairfax Vere in Billy Budd (1962) Arthur Simpson in Topkapi (1964) Ballard in Logan's Run (1976)
Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926)	Ahmed/The Sheik in Son of the Sheik (1926)	Julio Desnoyers in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan in The Sheik (1921) Juan Gallardo in Blood and Sand (1922) Duke de Chartres/Beaucaire in Monsieur Beaucaire (1924) Vladimir Dubrovsky in The Eagle (1925)
Rudy Vallee (1901-1986)	J. D. Hackensacker III in The Palm Beach Story (1942)	Tommy Chamberlain in The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) August Henshler in Unfaithfully Yours (1948) Dr. Johnson in I Remember Mama (1948) Jasper B. 'J.B.' Biggley in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)
Alida Valli (1921- )	Anna Schmidt in The Third Man (1949)	Maddalena/Anna Paradine in The Paradine Case (1947)
Jean-Claude Van Damme (1960- )	Walker in Timecop (1994)	Andrei in Black Eagle (1988) Frank Dux in Bloodsport (1988) Gibson Rickenbacker in Cyborg (1989) Kurt Sloane in Kickboxer (1989) Lyon Gaultier in Lionheart (1990) Alex/Chad Wagner in Double Impact (1991) Luc Deveraux (GR44) in Universal Soldier (1992) Chance Boudreaux in Hard Target (1993) Sam Gillen in Nowhere to Run (1993) Col. William F. Guile in Street Fighter (1994) Darren McCord in Sudden Death (1995) Alain Moreau/Mikhail Suverov in Maximum Risk (1996) The Torch/Replicant in Replicant (2001)
Jon Voight (1938- )	Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy (1969)	First Lt. Milo Minderbinder in Catch-22 (1970) Ed Gentry in Deliverance (1972) Vic Bealer in The All-American Boy (1973) Pat Conroy in Conrack (1974) Peter Miller in The Odessa File (1974) Luke Martin in Coming Home (1978) Billy Flynn in The Champ (1979) Alex Kovac in Lookin' to Get Out (1982) J.P. Tannen in Table for Five (1983) Oscar "Manny" Manheim in Runaway Train (1985) Jack Chismore in Desert Bloom (1986) Edward/James in Eternity (1989) Nate in Heat (1995) Jim Phelps in Mission: Impossible (1996) Paul Sarone in Anaconda (1997) Gen. Adam Woodward in Most Wanted (1997) John Wright in Rosewood (1997) Lt. Palladino in Boys Will Be Boys (1997) Leo F. Drummond in The Rainmaker (1997) Blind Man in U-Turn (1997) Thomas Brian Reynolds in Enemy of the State (1998) Inspector Ned Kenny in The General (1998) Coach Bud Kilmer in Varsity Blues (1999) Howard Cosell in Ali (2001) Lord Croft in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt in Pearl Harbor (2001) Larry Zoolander in Zoolander (2001)
Erich Von Stroheim (1885-1957)	Max von Mayerling in Sunset Boulevard (1950)	Count Sergius Karamzin in Foolish Wives (1922) Prince Nicki von Wildeliebe-Rauffenburg in The Wedding March (1928) Captain von Rauffenstein in La Grande Illusion (1937) Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in Five Graves to Cairo (1943)
Max von Sydow (1929- )	Father Lankester Merrin in The Exorcist (1973) and Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) or Frederick in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)	Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) Abner Hale in Hawaii (1966) Karl Oskar in The Emigrants (1971) and The New Land (1972) Emperor Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon (1980) Maj. Karl von Steiner in Victory (1981) King Osric in Conan the Barbarian (1982) Blofeld in Never Say Never Again (1983) Dr. Paul Novotny in Dreamscape (1984) Dr. Kynes in Dune (1984) Pappa Lasse in Pelle the Conqueror (1988) Dr. Peter Ingham in Awakenings (1990) Thor Carlsson in A Kiss Before Dying (1991) Henry Farber in Until the End of the World (1991) Leland Gaunt in Needful Things (1993) Chief Justice Fargo in Judge Dredd (1995) Nels Gudmundsson in Snow Falling on Cedars (1999) The Tracker/Albert Lewis in What Dreams May Come (1999) Director Lamar Burges in Minority Report (2002)
Christopher Walken (1943- )	Nick in The Deer Hunter (1978)	Duane Hall in Annie Hall (1977) Shannon in The Dogs of War (1980) Nathan D. Champion in Heaven's Gate (1980) Tom in Pennies From Heaven (1981) Dr. Michael Anthony Brace in Brainstorm (1983) Johnny Smith in The Dead Zone (1983) Max Zorin in A View to a Kill (1985) Brad Whitewood, Sr. in At Close Range (1986) Sgt. Toomey in Biloxi Blues (1988) Frank White in King of New York (1990) Max Shreck in Batman Returns (1992) Vincenzo Coccotti in True Romance (1993) Bobby Cahn in Wayne's World 2 (1993) Capt. Koons in Pulp Fiction (1994) Peina in The Addiction (1995) Kim Ulander in Search and Destroy (1995) The Hessian Horseman in Sleepy Hollow (1999) Frank Abagnale, Sr. in Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Robert Walker (1918-1951)	Bruno Antony in Strangers on a Train (1951)	Leonard Puckett in Bataan (1943) Corporal David Thatcher in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) Corporal William G. Smollett II in Since You Went Away (1944) Corporal Joe Allen in The Clock (1945) Brock Brewton in The Sea of Grass (1947) Eddie Hatch in One Touch of Venus (1948)
Eli Wallach (1915- )	Tuco, the Ugly in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)	Silva Vacarro in Baby Doll (1956) Calvera in The Magnificent Seven (1960) Guido Dellini, aka 'Pilot' in The Misfits (1961) Charlie Gant in How the West Was Won (1962) Sgt. Craig in The Victors (1963) Stratos in The Moon-Spinners (1964) Davis Leland in How to Steal a Million (1966) Leon B. Little in Tough Guys (1986) Mafioso Don Altobello in The Godfather Part III (1990)
Denzel Washington (1954- )	Malcolm X in Malcolm X (1992)	Roger Porter in Carbon Copy (1981) Stephen Biko in Cry Freedom (1987) Trip in Glory (1989) Demetrius in Mississippi Masala (1991) Joe Miller in Philadelphia (1993) Gray Grantham in The Pelican Brief (1993) Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins in Devil In A Blue Dress (1994) Lt. Cdr. Ron Hunter in Crimson Tide (1995) Lt. Col. Nathaniel Serling in Courage Under Fire (1996) Dudley in The Preacher's Wife (1996) Anthony "Hub" Hubbard in The Siege (1998) Rubin "Hurricane" Carter in The Hurricane (1999) Lincoln Rhyme in The Bone Collector (1999) Coach Herman Boone in Remember the Titans (2000) Det. Alonzo Harris in Training Day (2001) Dr. Jerome Davenport in Antwone Fisher (2002) John Quincy Archibald in John Q. (2002) Matt Lee Whitlock in Out of Time (2003) Major Bennett Marco in The Manchurian Candidate (2004) Creasy in Man on Fire (2004) Frank Lucas in American Gangster (2007)
Ethel Waters (1896-1977)	Petunia Jackson in Cabin in the Sky (1942) and "Beulah" (TV Series in early 50s)	Granny in Pinky (1949) Bernice Sadie Brown in The Member of the Wedding (1952) Dilsey in The Sound and the Fury (1959)
#13 John Wayne (1907-1979)	Ethan Edwards in The Searchers (1956)	The Ringo Kid in Stagecoach (1939) Jim Gordon in The Flying Tigers (1942) Col. Joe Madden in Back to Bataan (1945) Lt. J.G. "Rusty" Ryan in They Were Expendable (1945) Capt. Kirby York in Fort Apache (1948) Tom Dunson in Red River (1948) Sgt. John M. Stryker in The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) Capt. Nathan Cutting Brittles in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke in Rio Grande (1950) Sean Thornton in The Quiet Man (1952) Dan Roman in The High and the Mighty (1954) Frank W. (Spig) Wead in The Wings of Eagles (1957) John T. Chance in Rio Bravo (1959) Col. Davy Crockett in The Alamo (1960) Lieut. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort in The Longest Day (1962) Tom Doniphon in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Sean Mercer in Hatari! (1962) Cole Thornton in El Dorado (1967) Col. Mike Kirby in The Green Berets (1968) Reuben J. 'Rooster' Cogburn in True Grit (1969) John Bernard Books in The Shootist (1976)
Sigourney Weaver (1949- )	Lt. Ellen Ripley in Alien (1979) Aliens (1986) Alien3 (1992) Alien: Resurrection (1997) (as Clone #8)	Tony Sokolow in Eyewitness (1981) Jill Bryant in The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters (1984) Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist (1988) Katherine Parker in Working Girl (1988) Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters II (1989) Ellen Mitchell in Dave (1993) Helen Hudson in Copycat (1995) Janey Carver in The Ice Storm (1997) Gwen DeMarco/Lt. Tawny Madison in Galaxy Quest (1999) Max in Heartbreakers (2001) Eve in Tadpole (2002)