'50s-'80s TV Show actors

1. Willie Aames

After becoming an award-winning, platinum-selling writer, producer/director Willie Aames took a 5-year hiatus and became a 6-star cruise director spending his time circling the globe and visiting over 127 countries. Recently Aames returned to his roots in acting and film making, splitting his time ...

Tommy Bradford, Eight Is Enough, & Buddy Lembeck, Charles in Charge

* Zapped! (1982)

2. Eddie Albert

Actor | Roman Holiday

A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Eddie Albert was a circus trapeze flier before becoming a stage and radio actor. He made his film debut in 1938 and has worked steadily since, often cast as the friendly, good-natured buddy of the hero but occasionally being cast as a villain; one of his ...

Oliver Wendell Douglas, Green Acres & Petticoat Junction

* Out of the Fog (1941) * Roman Holiday (1953) * Oklahoma! (1955) * The Longest Day (1962) * The Longest Yard (1974) * Dreamscape (1984)

3. Alan Alda

Actor | M*A*S*H

Alan Alda (born under the name Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo) is an American actor, comedian, film director, and screenwriter from New York City. His father was the Italian-American actor Robert Alda. Alda's best known role was playing chief surgeon Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the ...

Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, M*A*S*H

* Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) * Canadian Bacon (1995) * The Aviator (2004) * Tower Heist (2011)

4. John Amos

Actor | Coming to America

A native of New Jersey and son of a mechanic, African-American John Amos has relied on his imposing build, eruptive nature and strong, forceful looks to obtain acting jobs, and a serious desire for better roles to earn a satisfying place in the annals of film and TV. He has found it a constant ...

James Evans, Sr., Good Times

* The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) * The Beastmaster (1982) * Coming to America (1988) * Die Hard 2 (1990) * Uncut Gems (2019)

5. Richard Anderson

Actor | Paths of Glory

Richard Anderson appeared in high school plays, served a hitch in the Army and, upon his discharge, began doing summer stock, radio work, a movie bit part (a wounded soldier in Twelve O'Clock High (1949)) and all the other minor jobs required of your basic struggling actor. He did comedy scenes on a...

Oscar Goldman, The Six Million Dollar Man

* Payment on Demand (1951) * Dream Wife (1953) * Forbidden Planet (1956) * Paths of Glory (1957) * The Long, Hot Summer (1958) * Seven Days in May (1964) * Seconds (1966)

6. Allan Arbus

Actor | M*A*S*H

Allan Arbus was born on February 15, 1918 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for M*A*S*H (1972), Coffy (1973) and Damien: Omen II (1978). He was married to Mariclare Costello and Diane Arbus. He died on April 19, 2013 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Maj. Sidney Freedman, M*A*S*H

* Putney Swope (1969) * Greaser's Palace (1972)

7. James Arness

Actor | Gunsmoke

American leading man famed as the star of one of the longest-running shows in U.S. television history, Gunsmoke (1955). Born of Norwegian heritage (the family name, Aurness, had formerly been Aursness) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Rolf and Ruth Duesler Aurness. His father was a traveling salesman ...

Matt Dillon, Gunsmoke

* The Thing from Another World (1951) * Them! (1954) * Alias Jesse James (1959)

8. Leon Askin

Actor | One, Two, Three

As a nine-year-old boy, Leon Askin recited a 17-stanza eulogy for Emperor Franz Josef in front of the city hall in Vienna's 9th District. Little did the son of a salesman know then that he would one day be the student of Max Reinhardt and Louise Dumont, and discover Jura Soyfer while directing the ...

General Burkhalter, Hogan's Heroes

* Valley of the Kings (1954) * One, Two, Three (1961) * Double Trouble (1965) * The World's Greatest Athlete (1973)

9. Edward Asner

Actor | Up

Edward Asner was born of Russian Jewish parentage in Kansas City, to Morris David Asner (founder and owner of the Kansas City-based Asner Iron & Metal Company) and his wife Elizabeth "Lizzie" (Seliger). After attending college, Ed worked various jobs, including in a steel mill, as a door-to-door ...

Lou Grant, The Mary Tyler Moore Show

* El Dorado (1967) * Gus (1976)

10. John Astin

Actor | The Frighteners

Dark-haired, usually-mustachioed American actor with a cheeky grin, who achieved pop culture status through his portrayal of the kooky patriarch "Gomez Addams" in the hit TV series The Addams Family (1964), John Astin was born on March 30, 1930 in Baltimore, Maryland. He studied mathematics at ...

Gomez Addams, The Addams Family

* West Side Story (1961) * That Touch of Mink (1962) * Move Over, Darling (1963) * Freaky Friday (1976) * National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)

11. Alan Autry

Actor | In the Heat of the Night

Though not Hispanic, Autry's parents named him "Carlos" after a Louisiana politician admired by his father. The couple soon divorced, however, and Autry's mother took him to be with her family in central California. Carlos Autry now became Carlos Brown. Autry played sports in high school and earned...

Capt. V.L. 'Bubba' Skinner, In the Heat of the Night

* Brewster's Millions (1985)

12. Jim Backus

Actor | Rebel Without a Cause

Jim Backus was born James Gilmore Backus on February 25, 1913 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was one of the few actors to do it all: radio, Broadway, movies, television and cartoons. After attending preparatory school in his hometown Cleveland, Backus enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Art, to ...

Thurston Howell III, Gilligan's Island

* His Kind of Woman (1951) * Don't Bother to Knock (1952) * Angel Face (1953) * Rebel Without a Cause (1955) * Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) * The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) * Advance to the Rear (1964) * Don't Make Waves (1967) * Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972)

13. Raymond Bailey

Actor | The Beverly Hillbillies

Raymond Bailey was a great example of "If at first you don't succeed..." After high school, Bailey headed for Hollywood with the intent on becoming a movie star, but soon found it tougher than he thought. Instead Bailey went into a high finance career working as stockbroker and banker. He made a ...

Mr. Drysdale, The Beverly Hillbillies

* The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) * Vertigo (1958) * King Creole (1958) * No Time for Sergeants (1958) * The Absent Minded Professor (1961) * The Strongest Man in the World (1975)

14. Conrad Bain

Actor | Maude

Usually sized up as an erudite gent, advice-spouting father or uptight, pompous neighbor, the acting talents of Conrad Bain were best utilized on stage and on TV. Born in Lethbridge, Alberta, on February 4, 1923, Conrad Stafford Bain was a twin son (the other was named Bonar) born to Stafford ...

Philip Drummond, Diff'rent Strokes

* I Never Sang for My Father (1970) * A New Leaf (1971) * The Anderson Tapes (1971)

15. Scott Baio

Actor | Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2

Scott Vincent James Baio was born on September 22, 1960 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the third child of Mario and Rose Baio, who had emigrated from Italy. At the young age of nine, Scott decided that he wanted to be an actor. Soon after, his parents took him on interviews and he was able to land ...

Chachi Arcola, Happy Days, & Charles, Charles in Charge

* Bugsy Malone (1976) * Zapped! (1982)

16. Lucille Ball

Actress | I Love Lucy

The woman who will always be remembered as the crazy, accident-prone, lovable Lucy Ricardo was born Lucille Desiree Ball on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York, the daughter of Desiree Evelyn "DeDe" (Hunt) and Henry Durrell "Had" Ball. Her father died before she was four, and her mother worked ...

Lucy Ricardo, I Love Lucy

* Top Hat (1935) * Follow the Fleet (1936) * Stage Door (1937) * Having Wonderful Time (1938) * Room Service (1938) * Five Came Back (1939) * Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) * The Dark Corner (1946) * The Facts of Life (1960) * Yours, Mine and Ours (1968)

17. John Banner

Actor | Hogan's Heroes

John Banner, who achieved television immortality for his portrayal of the Luftwaffe POW camp guard Sergeant Schultz in the TV series Hogan's Heroes (1965), was born on Tuesday, January 28th, 1910 in Vienna., which in 1938 was then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The 28-year-old Banner, ...

Sgt. Schultz, Hogan's Heroes

* Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942) * The Fallen Sparrow (1943) * King Solomon's Mines (1950) * The Young Lions (1958) * One, Two, Three (1961)

18. Priscilla Barnes

Actress | Jane the Virgin

Though probably not to her liking, actress Priscilla Barnes is best known for her bittersweet replacement of TV goddess Suzanne Somers during the tension-riddled times of the popular ABC slapstick comedy series, Three's Company (1976) -- bittersweet in that although the lovely, stringy-framed ...

Terri Alden, Three's Company

* License to Kill (1989) * Mallrats (1995)

19. Frances Bavier

Actress | The Andy Griffith Show

Frances Bavier was born in New York City on December 14, 1902. Her first Broadway appearance was in April 1925 in "The Poor Nut," the start of a successful Broadway career. She traveled with the USO to entertain the U.S. troops in the Pacific during World War II. Her last appearance on Broadway was...

Aunt Bee, The Andy Griffith Show

* The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) * Bend of the River (1952)

20. Meredith Baxter

Actress | All the President's Men

Meredith Baxter is an American actress from California, better known for television roles. Her most famous roles include Catholic teacher Bridget Fitzgerald in the sitcom "Bridget Loves Bernie" (1972-1973), divorced mother Nancy Lawrence in the family-themed drama "Family" (1976-1980), and ...

Elyse Keaton, Family Ties

* Ben (1972)

21. Hugh Beaumont

Actor | Leave It to Beaver

Beaumont began his career in show business by perfoming in theatres, nightclubs, and on the radio in 1931. He attended the University of Chattanooga, but left when his position on the football team was changed. He later attended the University of Southern California, and graduated with a Master of ...

Ward Cleaver, Leave It to Beaver

* The Fallen Sparrow (1943) * The Seventh Victim (1943) * Objective, Burma! (1945) * The Blue Dahlia (1946) * The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956)

22. Barbara Bel Geddes

Actress | Vertigo

Arguably best remembered for her role as Miss Ellie, the Ewing family matriarch on the long-running TV series Dallas (1978), Barbara Bel Geddes had earlier scored success on stage and screen long before gaining more lasting fame on television. She was born in New York City on Halloween Day 1922, ...

Miss Ellie Ewing, Dallas

* I Remember Mama (1948) * Caught (1949) * Panic in the Streets (1950) * Vertigo (1958)

23. Paul Benedict

Actor | This Is Spinal Tap

Genial, pleasant-voiced character actor Paul Benedict was born in New Mexico on September 17, 1938, and made hosts of stage, film and TV appearances in a career lasting five decades. The son of a doctor, he was diagnosed with acromegaly by an endocrinologist who happened to catch the nascent actor ...

Harry Bentley, The Jeffersons

* Jeremiah Johnson (1972) * The Goodbye Girl (1977) * The Man with Two Brains (1983) * This Is Spinal Tap (1984) * Cocktail (1988) * The Freshman (1990) * Waiting for Guffman (1996) * A Mighty Wind (2003)

24. James Best

Actor | The Dukes of Hazzard

American character actor and teacher. Born Jewel Guy in Powderly, Kentucky, on July 26, 1926, he was orphaned at three and adopted by Armen and Essa Knowland Best, who renamed him James Knowland Best and raised him in Corydon, Indiana. Following high school he worked briefly as a metalworker before...

Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, The Dukes of Hazzard

* The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) * The Eternal Sea (1955) * The Rack (1956) * Ride Lonesome (1959) * The Killer Shrews (1959) * Shock Corridor (1963) * Firecreek (1968) * Sounder (1972) * Hooper (1978)

25. Barbara Billingsley

Actress | Airplane!

Born Barbara Lillian Combes, she attended Los Angeles Junior College in the mid-1930s and then moved to New York City, where she worked as a model. In 1945, she received a contract from MGM, and she appeared in several films during the late 1940s and 1950s, sometimes without screen credit. In the ...

June Cleaver, Leave It to Beaver

* Caught (1949) * Angels in the Outfield (1951) * The Tall Target (1951) * The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) * Airplane! (1980)

26. Bill Bixby

Actor | The Incredible Hulk

The son of a sales clerk and a department store owner, Bill Bixby was the sixth-generation Californian born as Wilfred Bailey Bixby, on January 22, 1934, in San Francisco, California. An only child growing up in the 1940s and 1950s, he attended schools in the same area, took ballroom dance lessons,...

Dr. David Banner, The Incredible Hulk

* Lonely Are the Brave (1962) * Irma la Douce (1963) * Clambake (1967) * Speedway (1968) * The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975)

27. Madge Blake

Actress | Batman: The Movie

Spouse: James Lincoln Blake (1 Child)

During World War II, she and her husband, James Lincoln Blake, worked in Utah on construction of the detonator for the atomic bomb and performed such jobs as testing equipment destined for the Manhattan Project. The couple received a citation for their work from...

Mrs. Margaret Mondello, Leave It to Beaver & Aunt Harriet Cooper, Batman

* An American in Paris (1951) * Rhubarb (1951) * The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956) * Bells Are Ringing (1960) * Batman: The Movie (1966) * Follow Me, Boys! (1966)

28. Marie Blake

Actress | Calling Dr. Gillespie

Edith MacDonald was the second daughter of Daniel and Anne MacDonald; her father was a contractor and politician. Early on, her older sister Elsie, younger sister Jeanette MacDonald, and she were given theatrical training. Blossom and Jeanette played Philadelphia vaudeville houses while still ...

Grandmama, The Addams Family

* They Drive by Night (1940) * The Star (1952)

29. Robert Blake

Actor | Lost Highway

American actor who began as a child in Our Gang comedies and reappeared as a powerful adult performer of leading and character roles. Born in New Jersey, the young Mickey Gubitosi won a role in MGM's Our Gang series at the age of 5. As one of the more prominent children in the Gang, he gained ...

Det. Tony Baretta, Baretta

* The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) * In Cold Blood (1967)

30. Sorrell Booke

Actor | The Dukes of Hazzard

Sorrell Booke was born in Buffalo, New York in 1930, the son of a local physician. He found his calling early in life, like most actors, when his family encouraged him to entertain relatives by doing impressions and telling jokes. He went on to study at Yale and Columbia University, and mastered ...

Boss Hogg, The Dukes of Hazzard

* Fail-Safe (1964) * A Fine Madness (1966) * What's Up, Doc? (1972) * Freaky Friday (1976) * The Cat from Outer Space (1978)

31. Tom Bosley

Actor | Happy Days

Tom Bosley was born on October 1, 1927 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Happy Days (1974), The Back-up Plan (2010) and Yours, Mine and Ours (1968). He was married to Patricia Carr and Jean Eliot. He died on October 19, 2010 in Rancho Mirage, California, USA.

Howard Cunningham, Happy Days

* Gus (1976)

32. Diane Brewster

Actress | Leave It to Beaver

Diane Brewster was born on March 11, 1931, in Kansas City, Missouri. She was largely a character actress in both motion pictures and television. She was 24 years old when she began acting on TV. Her first role was in a few episodes of the westerns Cheyenne (1955) and Zane Grey Theatre (1956). Her ...

Miss Canfield, Leave It to Beaver

* Torpedo Run (1958)

33. Edgar Buchanan

Actor | Shane

At the age of seven, he and his family moved to Oregon. After studying at the University of Oregon, he followed in his father's footsteps and became a dentist, graduating from North Pacific Dental College. From 1929 to 1937, he practiced oral surgery in Eugene, Oregon. He then moved his practice to...

Uncle Joe Carson, Green Acres & Petticoat Junction

* The Talk of the Town (1942) * Shane (1953) * Ride the High Country (1962) * Move Over, Darling (1963)

34. Richard Bull

Actor | Little House on the Prairie

Richard Bull was born on June 26, 1924 in Zion, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Little House on the Prairie (1974), Sugar (2008) and The Andromeda Strain (1971). He was married to Barbara Collentine. He died on February 3, 2014 in Calabasas, California, USA.

Nels Oleson, Little House on the Prairie

* In Like Flint (1967) * The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) * The Parallax View (1974)

35. Gary Burghoff

Actor | M*A*S*H

Gary Burghoff was born on May 24, 1943 in Bristol, Connecticut, USA. He is an actor and director, known for M*A*S*H (1972), M*A*S*H (1970) and Behind the Waterfall (1995). He was previously married to Elisabeth Bostrom and Janet Gayle.

Cpl. Walter 'Radar' O'Reilly, M*A*S*H

* MASH (1970)

36. Raymond Burr

Actor | Rear Window

Born Raymond William Stacy Burr on 21 May 1917 in New Westminster, British Columbia, he spent most of his early life traveling. As a youngster, his father moved his family to China, where the elder Burr worked as a trade agent. When the family returned to Canada, Raymond's parents separated. He and...

Perry Mason, Perry Mason

* A Place in the Sun (1951) * His Kind of Woman (1951) * The Blue Gardenia (1953) * Rear Window (1954) * You're Never Too Young (1955) * Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) * Crime of Passion (1956)

37. Sebastian Cabot

Actor | The Jungle Book

Sebastian Cabot was an English actor, often working as a voice actor in animation.

On 6 July, 1918, Cabot was born in London. He dropped out of school in 1932, to work in an automotive garage. He was eventually hired as both a chauffeur and a valet for actor Frank Pettingell (1891-1966). He learned ...

Mr. Giles French, Family Affair

* The Captain's Paradise (1953) * Terror in a Texas Town (1958) * The Time Machine (1960)

38. Frank Cady

Actor | Rear Window

Although Frank Cady's most famous role would be that of general-store owner Sam Drucker, one of the less nutty residents of Hooterville in both Green Acres (1965) and Petticoat Junction (1963), he had a history as a film, stage and television actor long before those shows. Cady also appeared on ...

Sam Drucker, Petticoat Junction & Green Acres

* Young Man with a Horn (1950) * The Asphalt Jungle (1950) * Ace in the Hole (1951) * Rear Window (1954) * 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) * The Gnome-Mobile (1967)

39. Sid Caesar

Actor | Grease

Comedian, saxophonist, composer, actor and musician, he performed within the orchestras of Charlie Spivak, Shep Fields and Claude Thornhill as saxophonist. Later, as super-hip jazz musician "Cool Cees" in television skits, he played tenor saxophone, and sang with the satirical trio "The Hair Cuts" ...

Your Show of Shows & Caesar's Hour

* It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) * Airport 1975 (1974) * Grease (1978)

40. J.D. Cannon

Actor | Cool Hand Luke

John Donovan Cannon graduated from high school in his hometown of Salmon, Idaho, in 1940. His subsequent studies at the Academy of Dramatic Arts were interrupted as a result of wartime military service from 1942 to 1945. After the war, Cannon returned to New York to complete his training and acting...

Peter B. Clifford, McCloud

* Scorpio (1973)

41. Art Carney

Actor | Harry and Tonto

Art Carney was an American actor with a lengthy career but is primarily remembered for two roles. In television, Carney played municipal sewer worker Ed Norton in the influential sitcom "The Honeymooners" (1955-1956). In film, Carney played senior citizen Harry Coombes in the road movie "Harry and ...

Ed Norton, The Honeymooners

* Harry and Tonto (1974)

42. Ted Cassidy

Actor | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Ted Cassidy was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and raised in Philippi, West Virginia. He was a well respected actor who portrayed many different characters during his film and television career. His most notable role was Lurch, the faithful butler on the television series The Addams Family (1964)....

Lurch, The Addams Family

* Mackenna's Gold (1969) * Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

43. William Christopher

Actor | M*A*S*H

William Christopher was born on October 20, 1932 in Evanston, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for M*A*S*H (1972), The Fortune Cookie (1966) and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993). He was married to Barbara Christopher. He died on December 31, 2016 in Pasadena, California,...

Father Francis Mulcahy, M*A*S*H

* The Fortune Cookie (1966)

44. Susan Clark

Actress | Coogan's Bluff

Award-winning Canadian actress Susan Clark, born on March 8, 1943, took up acting at an early age (12) in her hometown of Sarnia, Ontario. Her family moved to Toronto around that period of time and she joined the Toronto Children's Players Theatre. Her first professional curtain call took place on ...

Katherine Calder-Young Papadapolis, Webster

* Coogan's Bluff (1968) * Airport 1975 (1974) * The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) * The North Avenue Irregulars (1979) * Porky's (1981)

45. Nicholas Colasanto

Actor | Cheers

Nicholas Colasanto, the actor and television director who achieved his greatest success as "Coach" on the TV series Cheers (1982) at the end of his career, was born January 19, 1924 in Providence, Rhode Island, one of seven children. He attended Providence's Central High School but did not graduate...

Ernie 'Coach' Pantusso, Cheers

* Fat City (1972) * Raging Bull (1980)

46. John Colicos

Actor | The Changeling

John Colicos was born on December 10, 1928 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor, known for The Changeling (1980), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) and Battlestar Galactica (1978). He was married to Mona McHenry. He died on March 6, 2000 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Count Baltar, Battlestar Galactica

* Scorpio (1973)

47. Joan Collins

Actress | Dynasty

Joan Collins is an English actress from Paddington, London. She is most famous for playing the role of vengeful schemer Alexis Carrington Colby in the soap opera "Dynasty" (1981-1989). In 1997, She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama. In 2015, She...

Alexis Carrington Colby, Dynasty

* Land of the Pharaohs (1955) * The Wayward Bus (1957) * Island in the Sun (1957) * The Bravados (1958)

48. Stephen Collins

Actor | 7th Heaven

Stephen Collins was born on October 1, 1947 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He is an actor and director, known for 7th Heaven (1996), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and The First Wives Club (1996). He has been married to Jenny Nagel since July 22, 2019. He was previously married to Faye Grant and ...

Jake Cutter, Tales of the Gold Monkey

* Brewster's Millions (1985)

49. Jack Colvin

Actor | Jeremiah Johnson

Jack Colvin was born on October 13, 1932 in Lyndon, Kansas, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Incredible Hulk (1978) and Child's Play (1988). He died on December 1, 2005 in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Jack McGee, The Incredible Hulk

* The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) * Scorpio (1973) * Child's Play (1988)

50. Chuck Connors

Actor | Tourist Trap

Chuck Connors was born Kevin Joseph Connors in Brooklyn, New York, to Marcella (nee Lundrigan; died 1971) and Alban Francis "Allan" Connors (died 1966), Roman Catholic immigrants of Irish descent from the Dominion of Newfoundland (now part of Canada). Chuck and his two-years-younger sister, Gloria,...

Lucas McCain, The Rifleman

* Old Yeller (1957) * The Big Country (1958) * Flipper (1963) * Move Over, Darling (1963) * Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971) * Soylent Green (1973)

51. Mike Connors

Actor | Mannix

He once jokingly described himself as 'a frustrated song-and-dance man' who wound up typecast as a TV crime fighter. Tall, handsome Armenian-American Mike Connors had a minor career in the movies before becoming a star on the small screen as the impeccably dressed macho sleuth Joe Mannix. Towards ...

Joe Mannix, Mannix

* Good Neighbor Sam (1964)

52. Michael Conrad

Actor | Hill Street Blues

Michael Conrad was a powerfully built, towering New York-born American character actor, best known for his role as the pompous but beloved desk sergeant Phil Esterhaus on Hill Street Blues (1981), for which he won two Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Emmy Awards (1981, 1982). He also ...

Sgt. Phil Esterhaus, Hill Street Blues

* Blackbeard's Ghost (1968) * The Longest Yard (1974)

53. Tim Conway

Actor | The Carol Burnett Show

Funny man Tim Conway was born on December 15th, 1933 in Willoughby, Ohio, to Sophia (Murgoiu) and Daniel Conway, a pony groomer. He was a fraternity man at Bowling Green State University, served in the army, and started his career working for a radio station.

Conway got into comedy when he started ...

various characters, The Carol Burnett Show

* The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) * The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) * Gus (1976) * The Shaggy D.A. (1976) * The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979)

54. Jackie Coogan

Actor | Oliver Twist

Jackie Coogan was born into a family of vaudevillians; his father was a dancer and his mother had been a child star. On the stage by age 4, Jackie was touring at age 5 with his family in Los Angeles, California.

While performing on the stage, he was spotted by Charles Chaplin, who then and there ...

Uncle Fester, The Addams Family

* The Kid (1921) * Girl Happy (1965) * A Fine Madness (1966) * Marlowe (1969)

55. Ellen Corby

Actress | The Waltons

Ellen Corby was born Ellen Hansen on June 3, 1911, in Racine, Wisconsin. She played many uncredited bit parts from the late '20s through the '30s. Ellen would not be seen on the big screen again until 1945 in Cornered (1945). In 1946, she appeared in 14 films, although mostly in small, minor roles....

Esther Walton, The Waltons

* The Dark Corner (1946) * Little Women (1949) * Sabrina (1954) * Vertigo (1958) * Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) * The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) * The Gnome-Mobile (1967) * Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)

56. Alex Cord

Actor | Airwolf

Born Alexander Viespi, Jr. in Floral Park, New York in 1933, handsome, often mustachioed Alex Cord was stricken with polio at the age of 12. Confined to a hospital and iron lung for a long time, he overcame the illness after being sent to a Wyoming ranch for therapy. He soon regained his dream and ...

Michael Coldsmith Briggs III, Airwolf

* The Brotherhood (1968)

57. Yvonne Craig

Actress | Batgirl

Yvonne Joyce Craig was born on May 16, 1937 in Taylorville, Illinois. As a young teenager, Yvonne showed such promise as a dancer that she was accepted to Denham's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Her training progressed until she left the company in 1957 over a disagreement on casting changes. She ...

Batgirl / Barbara Gordon, Batman

* Kissin' Cousins (1964) * Advance to the Rear (1964)

58. Bob Crane

Actor | Hogan's Heroes

Bob Crane was born in Waterbury, CT, the youngest of two sons. In school he was known for being a class clown and an intense music lover. His favorites were jazz and big band. Bob's specialty was the drums. After graduating from Stamford High School in 1946, he turned his attention to his love for ...

Col. Hogan, Hogan's Heroes

* Gus (1976)

59. Robert Culp

Actor | I Spy

Tall, slim and exceedingly good-looking American leading man Robert Culp, a former cartoonist in his teen years, appeared off-Broadway in the 1950s before settling into polished, clean-cut film leads and "other man" supports a decade later. Hitting the popular TV boards in the hip, racially ...

Kelly Robinson, I Spy, & Bill Maxwell, The Greatest American Hero

* Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) * The Pelican Brief (1993)

60. Bill Daily

Actor | The Bob Newhart Show

Congenial, unassuming and always ingratiating comic actor Bill Daily came to fame as the bumbling, jittery playboy astronaut Roger Healy, best buddy and sidekick to Larry Hagman's accident-prone Tony Nelson in the perennial sitcom favourite I Dream of Jeannie (1965). Though his role had initially ...

Major Roger Healey, I Dream of Jeannie

* The Barefoot Executive (1971)

61. Tyne Daly

Actress | Judging Amy

Tyne Daly was born on February 21, 1946 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Judging Amy (1999), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Cagney & Lacey (1981). She was previously married to Georg Stanford Brown.

Mary Beth Lacey, Cagney & Lacey

* The Enforcer (1976)

62. William Daniels

Actor | St. Elsewhere

William Daniels is an American actor, born in Brooklyn, New York City. He was born in 1927, to bricklayer David Daniels and his wife Irene.

Daniels was a member of the singing Daniels family in Brooklyn. He made his television debut in 1943 at the age of 16, as part of a variety act. That same year,...

voice of K.I.T.T., Knight Rider & Dr. Mark Craig, St. Elsewhere

* Two for the Road (1967) * The Graduate (1967) * Marlowe (1969) * 1776 (1972) * The Parallax View (1974) * Black Sunday (1977)

63. Ted Danson

Actor | Cheers

Ted Danson is well known for his role as Sam Malone in the television series Cheers (1982). During the show's 11-year run, he was nominated nine times for an Emmy Award as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and won twice, in 1990 and 1993. The role also earned him a Golden Globe Award for ...

Sam Malone, Cheers

* The Onion Field (1979) * Body Heat (1981)

64. Ann B. Davis

Actress | The Brady Bunch

Ann B. Davis made her debut in show business at age 6 earning $2.00 in a puppet show. At the University of Michigan, Ann planned to study medicine but got the acting bug from her brother who was the lead dancer in the national company of "Oklahoma" for over a year. Ann then spent six years in ...

Alice Nelson, The Brady Bunch

* Lover Come Back (1961)

65. Jim Davis

Actor | Big Jake

Tall, rangy Jim Davis spent much of his early career in westerns mainly at Republic Pictures. The Missouri-born and -raised Davis' relaxed, easygoing manner and Southern drawl easily fit most moviegoers' image of the cowboy and Republic put him in a ton of them over the years (the fact that, unlike...

Jock Ewing, Dallas

* Winter Meeting (1948) * The Last Command (1955) * Alias Jesse James (1959) * The Parallax View (1974)

66. Richard Deacon

Actor | The Birds

Richard Deacon was the bald, bespectacled character actor most famous for playing television producer Mel Cooley on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) from 1961 to 1966. In the first season of that show he also continued to appear on the series he was already appearing on, Leave It to Beaver (1957), ...

Mel Cooley, The Dick Van Dyke Show

* Blackboard Jungle (1955) * Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) * The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956) * The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) * Decision at Sundown (1957) * The Last Hurrah (1958) * Inherit the Wind (1960) * Lover Come Back (1961) * That Touch of Mink (1962) * The Birds (1963) * Who's Minding the Store? (1963) * The Patsy (1964) * The Disorderly Orderly (1964) * That Darn Cat! (1965) * Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. (1966) [voice] * The Gnome-Mobile (1967) * Blackbeard's Ghost (1968) * The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968)

67. Yvonne De Carlo

Actress | The Ten Commandments

Yvonne De Carlo was born Margaret Yvonne Middleton on September 1, 1922 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was three when her father abandoned the family. Her mother turned to waitressing in a restaurant to make ends meet--a rough beginning for an actress who would, one day, be one of ...

Lily Munster, The Munsters

* Brute Force (1947) * Criss Cross (1949) * The Captain's Paradise (1953) * The Ten Commandments (1956)

68. Don DeFore

Actor | Romance on the High Seas

Don DeFore toured the country in stock companies for several years before making his Broadway debut in 1938. In films since 1941, he occasionally played leads in B pictures, but was more often cast as the good-natured buddy of the hero or a likable but gullible character whom the hero has to bail ...

Thorny, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

* Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) * It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947) * Too Late for Tears (1949) * The Facts of Life (1960)

69. William Demarest

Actor | Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

A stocky, serious-looking character, Carl William Demarest started off in vaudeville in 1905 along with two older brothers. At one time he also performed in a stage act with his wife Estelle Collette (billed as 'Demarest and Collette') and then moved on to Broadway. He entered movies in 1926 and ...

Uncle Charley O'Casey, My Three Sons

* Hands Across the Table (1935) * Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) * Easy Living (1937) * Big City (1937) * Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938) * The Great McGinty (1940) * Christmas in July (1940) * The Lady Eve (1941) * Sullivan's Travels (1941) * All Through the Night (1942) * The Palm Beach Story (1942) * The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943) * What Price Glory (1952) * That Darn Cat! (1965)

70. Ivan Dixon

Actor | A Raisin in the Sun

Ivan Dixon was a handsome, mustachioed African-American actor and director who carried a strong, serious nature about his solid frame. He initially earned attention in groundbreaking stage and film work with pronounced themes of social and racial relevance. He would become better known, however, ...

Kinchloe, Hogan's Heroes

* A Raisin in the Sun (1961) * A Patch of Blue (1965) * Car Wash (1976)

71. Jimmie Dodd

Actor | Riders of the Rio Grande

Composer, songwriter ("Mickey Mouse March"), actor, singer, guitarist and conductor, Jimmie Dodd was educated at the University of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Conservatory and Vanderbilt University. He began his career in 1933 as a guitarist and singer on radio, coming to Hollywood in 1937 to play ...

Himself, The Mickey Mouse Club

* The Man I Love (1946) * Too Late for Tears (1949) * The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) * The Lusty Men (1952) * Phffft (1954)

72. Jack Dodson

Actor | The Getaway

Jack Dodson was arguably best known for playing "Howard Sprague," the somewhat geeky county clerk on The Andy Griffith Show (1960). This amazingly funny character actor endeared himself to 60s and 70s audiences as the straight-laced "straight man" to the "comic idiot" character "Goober." He brought...

Howard Sprague, The Andy Griffith Show & Mayberry R.F.D.

* The Getaway (1972)

73. Robert Donner

Actor | High Plains Drifter

Robert Donner was born in New York City and grew up in New Jersey, Michigan and Texas. Robert joined the Navy after he graduated from high school and served almost 4 years. After he left the Navy he stayed on the West Coast and worked as a shipping clerk, salesman, bartender, commercial artist, ...

Exidor, Mork & Mindy

* The Disorderly Orderly (1964) * El Dorado (1967)

74. Donna Douglas

Actress | The Beverly Hillbillies

An honest-to-goodness Southern Belle, similar to her most famous character role, "Elly May Clampett" on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), Donna Douglas grew up in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area, loving "critters". She got married soon after high school, had a son, divorced and won a couple of beauty...

Elly May Clampett, The Beverly Hillbillies

* Lover Come Back (1961) * Frankie and Johnny (1966)

75. Tony Dow

Actor | Leave It to Beaver

Tony Dow was an American actor, film producer, television director, and sculptor from Los Angeles, California. His most famous role was that of athletic adolescent Wallace "Wally" Cleaver in the popular sitcom "Leave It to Beaver" (1957-1963). Dow played the older brother to the series' protagonist...

Wally Cleaver, Leave It to Beaver

* The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)

76. David Doyle

Actor | Capricorn One

David Fitzgerald Doyle was born in Lincoln, Nebraska December 1, 1929. He was the son of Mary Ruth Fitzgerald and Lewis Raymond (Lum) Doyle, a prominent Lincoln attorney. His maternal grandfather was John Fitzgerald, a prominent banker and railroad builder in Nebraska. His paternal grandfather was ...

John Bosley, Charlie's Angels

* Coogan's Bluff (1968) * A New Leaf (1971) * Capricorn One (1977)

77. Fred Dryer

Actor | Hunter

Former College Football standout at San Diego State University where he played Defensive End. Was a first round Draft Pick of the New York Giants in 1969 where he played for 3 seasons before finishing his 13 year career with the Los Angeles Rams.

Actor John Frederick Dryer was born in Hawthorne, ...

Rick Hunter, Hunter

* Gus (1976)

78. Clint Eastwood

Actor | Million Dollar Baby

Clint Eastwood was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, to Clinton Eastwood Sr., a bond salesman and later manufacturing executive for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and Ruth Wood (née Margret Ruth Runner), a housewife turned IBM clerk. He grew up in nearby Piedmont. At school Clint took interest in ...

Rowdy Yates, Rawhide

* Tarantula (1955) * Kelly's Heroes (1970)

79. Buddy Ebsen

Actor | The Beverly Hillbillies

Buddy Ebsen began his career as a dancer in the late 1920s in a Broadway chorus. He later formed a vaudeville act with his sister Vilma Ebsen, which also appeared on Broadway. In 1935 he and his sister went to Hollywood, where they were signed for the first of MGM's Eleanor Powell movies, Broadway ...

Jed Clampett, The Beverly Hillbillies

* The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968)

80. Barbara Eden

Actress | I Dream of Jeannie

Barbara Eden, born Barbara Jean Morehead in Tucson, Arizona, became one of America's most endearing and enduring actresses. A graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco, California, Eden would go on to study at San Francisco's City College as well as the San Francisco Conservatory of ...

Jeannie, I Dream of Jeannie

* Flaming Star (1960) * Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961) * The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) * 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)

81. Erik Estrada

Actor | CHiPs

Erik Estrada was born on March 16, 1949 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for CHiPs (1977), Loaded Weapon 1 (1993) and National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002). He has been married to Nanette Mirkovich since September 20, 1997. They have one child. He was previously ...

Officer Frank Poncherello, CHiPs

* Airport 1975 (1974) * Midway (1976)

82. Peter Falk

Actor | Columbo

Peter Michael Falk was born on September 16, 1927, in New York City, New York. At the age of 3, his right eye was surgically removed due to cancer. He graduated from Ossining High School, where he was president of his class. His early career choices involved becoming a certified public accountant, ...

Columbo, Columbo

* The Great Race (1965) * Wings of Desire (1987)

83. Jamie Farr

Actor | M*A*S*H

One of the most prolific character actors of his time starting with his role of Santini in the Blackboard Jungle (1955). Since then has appeared in iconic shows as the Twilight Zone, the Red Skelton Hour, the Dick Van Dyke Show, the Danny Kaye Show, Hazel, My Three Sons, Ben Casey, The Lucy Show, I...

Cpl. Maxwell Q. Klinger, M*A*S*H

* Blackboard Jungle (1955) * The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)

84. Mike Farrell

Actor | M*A*S*H

Mike is one of four children. His father, Joe, who died in 1956, was a carpenter at Hollywood studios. Mike attended grammar school with Natalie Wood and Ricky Nelson. He entered the Marines in the 1950s for two years. Later, he attended the University of California at Los Angeles and studied ...

Capt. B.J. Hunnicutt, M*A*S*H

* Countdown (1967)

85. Barbara Feldon

Actress | Get Smart

Barbara Feldon was born on March 12, 1933 in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, USA. She is an actress, known for Get Smart (1965), Fitzwilly (1967) and Smile (1975). She was previously married to Lucien Verdoux-Feldon.

#99, Get Smart

* No Deposit, No Return (1976)

86. Norman Fell

Actor | Three's Company

Norman Fell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1924. He graduated from Temple University with a bachelor's degree in drama. During World War II, he was an Air Force tail gunner in the Pacific. After the war, he studied acting and obtained small parts in television and on stage. His first ...

Stanley Roper, Three's Company

* Inherit the Wind (1960) * Ocean's 11 (1960) * The Killers (1964) * The Graduate (1967) * The Boatniks (1970) * Airport 1975 (1974)

87. Joe Flynn

Actor | The Rescuers

Born on November 8, 1924, in Youngstown, Ohio and after attending Northwestern University, Flynn began his entertainment career as a ventriloquist and as a radio performer. During World War II, he served in the Army's Special Services Branch (formerly the Morale Branch) entertaining the troops in ...

Captain Wallace B. Binghamton, McHale's Navy

* Lover Come Back (1961) * The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969) * The Barefoot Executive (1971) * Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972) * The Strongest Man in the World (1975)

88. John Forsythe

Actor | Dynasty

John Forysthe was born Jacob Lincoln Freund in Penns Grove, New Jersey, the son of Blanche Materson (Blohm) and Samuel Jeremiah Freund, a Wall Street businessman. He chose to pursue acting over the objections of his father. He did some work in radio soaps and on Broadway before signing a movie ...

Blake Carrington, Dynasty

* Northern Pursuit (1943) * Destination Tokyo (1943) * The Trouble with Harry (1955) * In Cold Blood (1967)

89. William Frawley

Actor | I Love Lucy

William Frawley was born in Burlington, Iowa. As a boy he sang at St. Paul's Catholic Church and played at the Burlington Opera House. His first job was as a stenographer for the Union Pacific Railroad. He did vaudeville with his brother Paul, then joined pianist Franz Rath in an act they took to ...

Fred Mertz, I Love Lucy, & Bub O'Casey, My Three Sons

* Alibi Ike (1935) * Footsteps in the Dark (1941) * The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941) * Gentleman Jim (1942) * Going My Way (1944) * Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951) * Rhubarb (1951)

90. Victor French

Actor | Highway to Heaven

Victor French was the son of a stuntman. His debut was a small role in Lassie (1954), uncredited. He had his first real acting experiences in western-films, where he usually played the "bad guy" due to his rather gruff look. This changed with Little House on the Prairie (1974), (as Isaiah Edwards)....

Isaiah Edwards, Little House on the Prairie & Mark Gordon, Highway to Heaven

* Charro!(1969) * There Was a Crooked Man... (1970)

91. James Garner

Actor | The Notebook

Amiable and handsome James Garner had obtained success in both films and television, often playing variations of the charming anti-hero/con-man persona he first developed in Maverick, the offbeat western TV series that shot him to stardom in the late 1950s.

James Garner was born James Scott ...

Bret Maverick, Maverick, & Jim Rockford, The Rockford Files

* The Children's Hour (1961) * The Great Escape (1963) * Move Over, Darling (1963) * Grand Prix (1966) * Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) * Marlowe (1969) * Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971) * The Fan (1981) * Victor/Victoria (1982) * Murphy's Romance (1985) * Space Cowboys (2000) * Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) * The Notebook (2004)

92. Will Geer

Actor | Jeremiah Johnson

Will Geer was born William Aughe Ghere in Frankfort, Indiana, to Katherine (Aughe), a teacher, and Roy Aaron Ghere, a postal worker. Will admired his grandfather, a man who said hello to trees by their Latin names and who had used what he brought back to Indiana from the California gold rush to ...

The Grandfather, The Waltons

* Lust for Gold (1949) * The Tall Target (1951) * Seconds (1966) * In Cold Blood (1967)

93. Gil Gerard

Actor | Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

Gilbert "Gil" Gerard was born on January 23, 1943 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and did a good deal of acting in high school. He attended the University of Arkansas but dropped out before graduation. He landed a job as an industrial chemist. He became regional manager of a large chemical company, ...

Capt. William 'Buck' Rogers, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

* Airport '77 (1977) * The Nice Guys (2016)

94. Alice Ghostley

Actress | To Kill a Mockingbird

Whether portraying a glum, withering wallflower, a drab and dowdy housewife, a klutzy maid or a cynical gossip, eccentric character comedienne Alice Ghostley had the ability to draw laughs from the skimpiest of material with a simple fret or whine. Making a name for herself on the Tony-winning ...

Esmeralda, Bewitched

* To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) * Grease (1978)

95. Marla Gibbs

Actress | The Jeffersons

Armed with an acid dry wit and a full arsenal of sarcasm and sass, African-American character comedienne Marla Gibbs showed up on 1970s television with a bang in middle age (44). Landing the feisty maid role on the popular ground-breaking CBS sitcom The Jeffersons (1975), eventually led to her very...

Florence Johnston, The Jeffersons

* Black Belt Jones (1974)

96. Jackie Gleason

Actor | The Hustler

Comedian, actor, composer and conductor, educated in New York public schools. He was a master of ceremonies in amateur shows, a carnival barker, daredevil driver and a disc jockey, and later a comedian in night clubs. By the mid-1950s he had turned to writing original music and recording a series ...

Ralph Kramden, The Honeymooners

* All Through the Night (1942) * The Hustler (1961) * Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

97. Gale Gordon

Actor | Our Miss Brooks

Gale Gordon was born on February 20, 1906 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Our Miss Brooks (1952), Here's Lucy (1968) and The 'Burbs (1989). He was married to Virginia Gordon. He died on June 30, 1995 in Escondido, California, USA.

John Wilson (2nd Mr. Wilson), Dennis the Menace

* Speedway (1968)

98. Frank Gorshin

Actor | Twelve Monkeys

Frank John Gorshin, Jr. was born on April 5, 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father was a railroad worker and his mother, Frances (Preseren), was a seamstress. His family was originally from Novo Mesto, Slovenia. While in high school, young Frank worked as an usher at the Sheridan Square ...

The Riddler, Batman

* Torpedo Run (1958) * Warlock (1959) * Bells Are Ringing (1960) * That Darn Cat! (1965) * Twelve Monkeys (1995)

99. Sandra Gould

Actress | Bewitched

While she may have been a small-part character actress most her career, Sandra Gould possessed an unmistakable look and voice that she called her own and separated her from the rest of the pack, contributing to four types of entertainment mediums (stage, screen, TV and radio) for over five decades.

...

2nd Gladys Kravitz, Bewitched

* June Bride (1948) * Rhubarb (1951) * Teacher's Pet (1958) * Imitation of Life (1959) * The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) * The Barefoot Executive (1971) * Deep Cover (1992)

100. Dabbs Greer

Actor | The Green Mile

Dabbs Greer was a very familiar face in films and especially on TV. He was a sort of "everyman" in his roles and played merchants, preachers, businessmen, and other "pillars of the community" types as well as assorted villains. With his plain looking face, wavy hair and mellow, distinctive voice he...

Reverend Robert Alden, Little House on the Prairie

* Room for One More (1952) * House of Wax (1953) * Dream Wife (1953) * Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954) * Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) * The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) * Day of the Outlaw (1959) * Last Train from Gun Hill (1959) * Roustabout (1964)