Heroes
by Heuvelliedje | created - 01 Aug 2013 | updated - 10 Feb 2016 | Public
1. Robin Williams
Actor | Mrs. Doubtfire
Robin McLaurin Williams was born on Saturday, July 21st, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator, Anselm J. McLaurin. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a former model from Mississippi, and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford ...
He will be missed. One of the Greatest Geniuses in film history.
2. Rowan Atkinson
Actor | Johnny English
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson was born on 6 January, 1955, in Consett, Co. Durham, UK, to Ella May (Bainbridge) and Eric Atkinson. His father owned a farm, where Rowan grew up with his two older brothers, Rupert and Rodney. He attended Newcastle University and Oxford University where he earned degrees ...
3. Hugh Grant
Actor | Love Actually
Hugh Grant, one of Britain's best known faces, has been equally entertaining on-screen as well as in real life, and has had enough sense of humor to survive a media frenzy. He is known for his roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), with Andie MacDowell, Notting Hill (1999), opposite Julia ...
4. James May
Self | Top Gear
James May was born in 1963 but his development was tragically arrested at the age of 12. A confessed 'complete waster' until the age of 42, May then took the decision to apply his talent for the pointless in the direction of television. His oeuvre includes a record for the world's longest train set...
5. Richard Hammond
Self | Top Gear
Richard Hammond was born in 1969 in the British town of Solihull, which is near to Birmingham although it tries to pretend that it isn't. He started his career in local radio before getting a break on a cable TV car show where he was able to hone his presenting skills, safe in the knowledge that no...
6. Stephen Fry
Actor | Gosford Park
Writer, actor, comedian, doer of good works, excellent good friend to the famous and not, Fry lives in his London SW1 flat and his Norfolk house when not traveling. Famous for his public declaration of celibacy in the "Tatler" back in the 1980s, Emma Thompson has characterised her friend as "90 ...
7. Hugh Laurie
Actor | House M.D.
Hugh was born in Oxford, England on June 11, 1959, to Patricia (Laidlaw) and William George Ranald Mundell "Ran" Laurie, a doctor, both of Scottish descent. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge. Son of an Olympic gold medalist in the sport, he rowed for the England youth team (1977) and for ...
8. Walt Disney
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Flora Disney (née Call) and Elias Disney, a Canadian-born farmer and businessperson. He had Irish, German, and English ancestry. Walt moved with his parents to Kansas City at age seven, where he spent the majority of ...
9. Tony Robinson
Producer | Time Team
Tony Robinson was born on August 15, 1946 in London, England, UK. He is a producer and actor, known for Time Team (1994), Maid Marian and Her Merry Men (1989) and Blackadder Goes Forth (1989). He has been married to Louise Hobbs since June 27, 2011. He was previously married to Mary Shepherd.
Who doesn't love Baldrick?!
10. Jim Cummings
Actor | Winnie the Pooh
Born James Jonah Cummings on November 3, 1952, he grew up in Youngstown, Ohio.
Sooner or later, he moved to New Orleans. There, he designed Mardi Gras floats, was a singer, door-to-door salesman, and a Louisiana riverboat deckhand.
Then Cummings moved to Anaheim, California, where he started his ...
11. Tom Hanks
Producer | Cast Away
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born in Concord, California, to Janet Marylyn (Frager), a hospital worker, and Amos Mefford Hanks, an itinerant cook. His mother's family, originally surnamed "Fraga", was entirely Portuguese, while his father was of mostly English ancestry. Tom grew up in what he has ...
12. Drew Carey
Producer | The Drew Carey Show
Drew Carey was born on May 23, 1958 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for The Drew Carey Show (1995), Robots (2005) and Jack and Jill (2011).
13. Colin Mochrie
Self | Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Colin Andrew Mochrie was on born November 30, 1957, in Kilmarnock, Scotland. His father, an airline maintenance executive, moved the family to Montreal, Canada, in 1964, and finally to Vancouver in 1969. When asked about his childhood, Mochrie said he tended to be a bit of a loner because of moving...
14. Ryan Stiles
Actor | The Drew Carey Show
It's not surprising that Ryan Stiles would feel comfortable doing a comedic turn in the role of Lewis, one of Drew Carey's ever-present friends in the new comedy The Drew Carey Show (1995). After all, the first job Stiles ever had was that of a stand-up comedian. Although he was a good student, ...
15. Wayne Brady
Actor | Foodfight!
Wayne Brady was born in Columbus, Georgia and lived in Orlando, Florida. At 16, Brady had already decided on a career in the military. Little did he know that a chance performance in a high school play would garner him not only rave reviews but also permanently alter his long-range plans. Soon, he ...
16. Charles Esten
Actor | The Postman
Charles Esten was born on September 9, 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for The Postman (1997), Nashville (2012) and Swing Vote (2008). He has been married to Patty Esten since November 2, 1991. They have three children.
17. Jeff Bryan Davis
Raised in southern California, Jeff started in commercials when he was 4 years old, and at 11 was cast as Louis in the Broadway production of 'The King and I' with Yul Brynner. A national tour followed, and after 750 performances, he returned home to attend school. Jeff began performing with ...
18. Johnny Depp
Actor | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II was born on June 9, 1963 in Owensboro, Kentucky, to Betty Sue Palmer (née Wells), a waitress, and John Christopher Depp, a civil engineer. He was raised in Florida. He dropped out of school when he was 15, and fronted a series of music-garage bands, including one ...
19. Owen Wilson
Actor | The Royal Tenenbaums
Self-proclaimed troublemaker Owen Cunningham Wilson was born in Dallas, to Irish-American parents originally from Massachusetts. He grew up in Texas with his mother, Laura (Cunningham), a photographer; his father, Robert Andrew Wilson, an ad exec; and his brothers, Andrew Wilson (the eldest) and ...
20. Jonathan Mangum
Actor | The Bucket List
Although born in Charleston, S.C. Jonathan grew up in Mobile, Alabama. He moved to Orlando, Florida at the age of twenty where he earned a B.S. in psychology and began doing improv comedy with Wayne Brady at SAK Theatre Comedy Lab. In 1995 he moved with a group of improvisers moved to L.A. The ...
21. Colin Firth
Actor | A Single Man
Colin Andrew Firth was born into an academic family in Grayshott, Hampshire, England. His mother, Shirley Jean (Rolles), was a comparative religion lecturer at the Open University, and his father, David Norman Lewis Firth, lectured on history at Winchester University College (formerly King Alfred's...
22. Hector Elizondo
Actor | Pretty Woman
Hector Elizondo was born in New York City, New York, where he was raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He is the son of Carmen Medina Reyes and Martín Echevarría Elizondo. Hector is of Basque and Puerto Rican descent, and "Elizondo" means "at the foot of the church" in Basque. His lifestyle ...
23. Will Smith
Producer | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Willard Carroll "Will" Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has enjoyed success in television, film, and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him "the most powerful actor in Hollywood". Smith has been nominated for five Golden ...
24. John Cleese
Actor | A Fish Called Wanda
John Cleese was born on October 27, 1939, in Weston-Super-Mare, England, to Muriel Evelyn (Cross) and Reginald Francis Cleese. He was born into a family of modest means, his father being an insurance salesman; but he was nonetheless sent off to private schools to obtain a good education. Here he ...
25. Hugh Jackman
Actor | Les Misérables
Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor, singer, multi-instrumentalist, dancer and producer. Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as superhero, period, and romance characters. He is best known for his long-running role as Wolverine in the X-Men film ...
26. Greg Proops
Actor | Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Greg Proops was born on October 3, 1959 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and Brother Bear (2003). He has been married to Jennifer Canaga since February 14, 1990.
27. John Goodman
Actor | 10 Cloverfield Lane
John Stephen Goodman's an American film, TV & stage actor. He was born in Affton, Missouri to Virginia Roos (Loosmore), a waitress and saleswoman & Leslie Francis Goodman, a postal worker who died when he was a small child. He's of English, Welsh & German ancestry. He's best known for his role as ...
28. Michael Caine
Actor | The Dark Knight
Michael Caine was born as Maurice Joseph Micklewhite in London, to Ellen (née Burchell), a cook, and Maurice Micklewhite Sr., a fish-market porter. He had a younger brother, Stanley Caine, and an older maternal half-brother named David Burchell. He left school at age 15 and took a series of ...
29. Brad Sherwood
Self | Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Bradley Sherwood was born on the 24th November, 1964 in Chicago, Illinois, and later, grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He began acting at the age of eight. He graduated from Wright State University with a BFA in Acting and, soon thereafter, took his talents to Hollywood. His first real role was on ...
30. Zac Efron
Actor | High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Zachary David Alexander Efron was born October 18, 1987 in San Luis Obispo, California, to Starla Baskett, a secretary, and David Efron, an electrical engineer. He has a younger brother, Dylan. The surname "Efron", which is Hebrew and a Biblical place name, comes from Zac's Polish Jewish paternal ...
31. Paul Giamatti
Actor | Sideways
Paul Giamatti is an American actor who has worked steadily and prominently for over thirty years, and is best known for leading roles in the films American Splendor (2003), Sideways (2004), and Barney's Version (2010) (for which he won a Golden Globe), and supporting roles in the films Cinderella ...
32. John Candy
Actor | Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Candy was one of Canada's greatest and funniest character actors. His well-known role as the big hearted buffoon earned him classics in Uncle Buck (1989) and Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). His career has handed him some dry spells but Candy always rebounded.
Born in Newmarket, Ontario, in ...
33. Robert Downey Jr.
Actor | Iron Man
Robert Downey Jr. has evolved into one of the most respected actors in Hollywood. With an amazing list of credits to his name, he has managed to stay new and fresh even after over four decades in the business.
Downey was born April 4, 1965 in Manhattan, New York, the son of writer, director and ...
34. Leonardo DiCaprio
Actor | Inception
Few actors in the world have had a career quite as diverse as Leonardo DiCaprio's. DiCaprio has gone from relatively humble beginnings, as a supporting cast member of the sitcom Growing Pains (1985) and low budget horror movies, such as Critters 3 (1991), to a major teenage heartthrob in the 1990s,...
35. Stanley Tucci
Actor | Big Night
Actor Stanley Tucci was born on November 11, 1960, in Peekskill, New York. He is the son of Joan (Tropiano), a writer, and Stanley Tucci, an art teacher. His family is Italian-American, with origins in Calabria.
Tucci took an interest in acting while in high school, and went on to attend the State ...
36. Henry Cavill
Actor | Man of Steel
Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill was born on the Bailiwick of Jersey, a British Crown dependency in the Channel Islands. His mother, Marianne (Dalgliesh), a housewife, was also born on Jersey, and is of Irish, Scottish and English ancestry. Henry's father, Colin Richard Cavill, a stockbroker, is of ...
37. Clark Gregg
Actor | The Avengers
Clark Gregg is an American actor, writer and director from Boston who is known for portraying Phil Coulson in various Marvel movies, shows and video games. He also acted in Mr. Popper's Penguins, The West Wing, 500 Days of Summer, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Labor Day and Live by Night.
38. Jim Carrey
Actor | Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Jim Carrey, Canadian-born and a U.S. citizen since 2004, is an actor and producer famous for his rubbery body movements and flexible facial expressions. The two-time Golden Globe-winner rose to fame as a cast member of the Fox sketch comedy In Living Color (1990) but leading roles in Ace Ventura: ...
39. Sterling Holloway
Actor | The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Popular American character actor of amusing appearance and voice whose long career led from dozens of highly enjoyable onscreen performances to world-wide familiarity as the voice of numerous Walt Disney animated films. Born in the American Deep South to grocer Sterling P. Holloway Sr. and Rebecca ...
40. Robert Carlyle
Actor | The Full Monty
Robert Carlyle was born in Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland, to Elizabeth, a bus company employee, and Joseph Carlyle, a painter and decorator. He was raised by his father after his mother left him when he was four. At the age of 21, after reading Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," he enrolled in acting ...
41. Paul Dano
Actor | There Will Be Blood
An actor for all seasons and all kinds of roles (from dark, difficult characters to more loving ones) Paul Dano has an extensive body work that includes working with directors such as Paul Thomas Anderson, Steve McQueen, Dayton & Ferris, Ang Lee, Denis Villenueve and Paolo Sorrentino; acting with ...
42. Steve Carell
Actor | The Office
Steve Carell, one of America's most versatile comics, was born Steven John Carell on August 16, 1962, in Concord, Massachusetts. He is the son of Harriet Theresa (Koch), a psychiatric nurse, and Edwin A. Carell, an electrical engineer. His mother was of Polish descent and his father of Italian and ...
43. Russell Crowe
Actor | Les Misérables
Russell Ira Crowe was born in Wellington, New Zealand, to Jocelyn Yvonne (Wemyss) and John Alexander Crowe, both of whom catered movie sets. His maternal grandfather, Stanley Wemyss, was a cinematographer. Crowe's recent ancestry includes Welsh (where his paternal grandfather was born, in Wrexham),...
44. Bradley Cooper
Actor | A Star Is Born
Bradley Charles Cooper was born on January 5, 1975 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His mother, Gloria (Campano), is of Italian descent, and worked for a local NBC station. His father, Charles John Cooper, who was of Irish descent, was a stockbroker. Immediately after Bradley graduated from the ...
45. Adam Sandler
Actor | The Waterboy
Adam Richard Sandler was born September 9, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York, to Judith (Levine), a teacher at a nursery school, and Stanley Alan Sandler, an electrical engineer. He is of Russian Jewish descent. At 17, he took his first step towards becoming a stand-up comedian when he spontaneously took ...
46. Tim Roth
Actor | Rob Roy
Often mistaken for an American because of his skill at imitating accents, actor Tim Roth was born Timothy Simon Roth on May 14, 1961 in Lambeth, London, England. His mother, Ann, was a teacher and landscape painter. His father, Ernie, was a journalist who had changed the family name from "Smith" to ...
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