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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 |
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)
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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 |
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 |
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 |
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) |
Christopher Walken (1943- ) |
Nick in The Deer Hunter (1978) |
Duane Hall in |
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) |
![]() Denzel Washington (1954- ) |
Malcolm X in Malcolm X (1992) |
Roger Porter in Carbon Copy (1981) |
![]() 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 Ringo Kid in 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 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 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 |
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) |