25 Greatest Action Stars of All Time
by bagleyc | created - 06 Sep 2014 | updated - 07 Sep 2014 | Public
1. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Actor | Terminator 2: Judgment Day
With an almost unpronounceable surname and a thick Austrian accent, who would have ever believed that a brash, quick talking bodybuilder from a small European village would become one of Hollywood's biggest stars, marry into the prestigious Kennedy family, amass a fortune via shrewd investments and...
"The Terminator" "Predator" "T2: Judgement Day" "T3: Rise of the Machines" "Last Action Hero" "Total Recall" "Commando" "True Lies" "Conan the Barbarian" "Conan the Destroyer" "The Expendables 2" "The Expendables 3"
2. Sylvester Stallone
Actor | Rocky
Sylvester Stallone is an athletically built, dark-haired American actor/screenwriter/director/producer, the movie fans worldwide have been flocking to see Stallone's films for over 40 years, making "Sly" one of Hollywood's biggest-ever box office draws.
Sylvester Stallone was born on July 6, 1946, ...
"First Blood" "Rocky" "Rocky II" "Rocky III" "Rocky IV" "Rambo: First Blood Part II" "Demolition Man" "Rambo III" "Tango & Cash" "Cobra" "Over The Top" Cliffhanger" "Rocky Balboa"
3. Bruce Willis
Actor | Die Hard
Actor and musician Bruce Willis is well known for playing wisecracking or hard-edged characters, often in spectacular action films. Collectively, he has appeared in films that have grossed in excess of $2.5 billion USD.
Walter Bruce Willis was born on March 19, 1955, in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany,...
"Die Hard" "Die Hard 2" "Die Hard with a Vengeance" "Live Free or Die Hard" "The Fifth Element" "Red" "The Expendables 2" "The Last Boy Scout" "Looper" "Armageddon" "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" "Sin City" "Unbreakable"
4. Bruce Lee
Actor | Jing wu men
Bruce Lee remains the greatest icon of martial arts cinema and a key figure of modern popular media. Had it not been for Bruce Lee and his movies in the early 1970s, it's arguable whether or not the martial arts film genre would have ever penetrated and influenced mainstream North American and ...
"Enter The Dragon" "Game of Death" "Fist of Fury" "Return of the Dragon" "The Big Boss" "Circle of Iron"
5. Kurt Russell
Actor | Escape from New York
Kurt Vogel Russell was born on March 17, 1951 in Springfield, Massachusetts and raised in Thousand Oaks, California to Louise Julia Russell (née Crone), a dancer & Bing Russell, an actor. He is of English, German, Scottish and Irish descent. His first roles were as a child on television series, ...
"Escape From New York" "Big Trouble in Little China" "Escape From L.A" "Death Proof" "Tombstone" "Tango & Cash" "Stargate"
6. Harrison Ford
Actor | Raiders of the Lost Ark
Harrison Ford was born on July 13, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, to Dorothy (Nidelman), a radio actress, and Christopher Ford (born John William Ford), an actor turned advertising executive. His father was of Irish and German ancestry, while his maternal grandparents were Jewish emigrants from Minsk, ...
"Raiders of the Lost Ark" "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" "Star Wars" "Empire Strikes Back" "Return of the Jedi" "The Fugitive" "Air Force One" "Clear and Present Danger" "Patriot Games"
7. Chuck Norris
Actor | Walker, Texas Ranger
Chuck Norris is familiar to fans worldwide as the star of action films such as The Hitman (1991), The Delta Force (1986) and Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection (1990). He also starred in Missing in Action (1984) and its sequels, Firewalker (1986) and Sidekicks (1992). He was an executive ...
"Delta Force" "Logan's War" "Missing in Action" "Forced Vengeance" "The Hitman" "Code of Silence" "The Expendables 2"
8. Mel Gibson
Actor | Braveheart
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born January 3, 1956 in Peekskill, New York, USA, as the sixth of eleven children of Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and Anne Patricia (Reilly) Gibson (who died in December of 1990). His mother was Irish, from County Longford, while his American-born father is ...
"Lethal Weapon" "Braveheart" "Lethal Weapon 2" "Lethan Weapon 3" "Lethal Weapon 4" "Mad Max" "The Road Warrior" "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome" "The Patriot" "The Expendables 3"
9. Tom Cruise
Actor | Top Gun
In 1976, if you had told fourteen-year-old Franciscan seminary student Thomas Cruise Mapother IV that one day in the not too distant future he would be Tom Cruise, one of the top 100 movie stars of all time, he would have probably grinned and told you that his ambition was to join the priesthood. ...
"Mission: Impossible" "Mission: Impossible 2" "Mission: Impossible 3" "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" "Minority Report" "Top Gun" "War of the Worlds" "Jack Reacher" "Edge of Tomorrow" "Last Samurai" "Days of Thunder"
10. Jackie Chan
Actor | Ngo si seoi
Hong Kong's cheeky, lovable and best-known film star, Jackie Chan endured many years of long, hard work and multiple injuries to establish international success after his start in Hong Kong's manic martial arts cinema industry.
Jackie was born Kong-sang Chan on April 7, 1954, on Hong Kong's famous ...
"Rumble in the Bronx" "Mr. Nice Guy" "Twin Dragons" "Drunken Master" "The Protector"
11. Keanu Reeves
Actor | The Matrix
Keanu Charles Reeves, whose first name means "cool breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian, was born September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is the son of Patric Reeves, a showgirl and costume designer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, a geologist. Keanu's father was born in Hawaii, of British, Portuguese...
"The Matrix" "The Matrix Reloaded" "The Matrix Revolutions" "Point Break" "Speed" "Constantine"
12. 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 ...
"Dirty Harry" "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" "The Outlaw Josey Laws" "For a Few Dollars More" "Every Which Way but Loose" "Sudden Impact"
13. Sigourney Weaver
Actress | Alien Resurrection
Sigourney Weaver has created a host of memorable characters, both dramatic and comic, ranging from Ripley in Alien to Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist to Gwen/Tawny in Galaxy Quest and most recently, 14-year-old Kiri in Avatar: The Way of Water. With a career spanning over 50 years, Weaver has ...
"Alien" "Aliens" "Avatar" "Galaxy Quest"
14. Dolph Lundgren
Actor | Rocky IV
Dolph Lundgren was born as Hans Lundgren in Stockholm, Sweden, to Sigrid Birgitta (Tjerneld), a language teacher, and Karl Johan Hugo Lundgren, an engineer and economist for the Swedish government. He lived in Stockholm until the age of 13, when he moved in with his grandparents in Nyland, ...
"The Expendables" "The Defender" "The Expendables 2" "Universal Soldier"
15. Jean-Claude Van Damme
Actor | Double Impact
Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium, to Eliana and Eugène Van Varenberg, an accountant. "The Muscles from Brussels" started martial arts at the age of eleven. His father introduced him to martial arts when he saw his son was ...
"In Hell" "Bloodsport" "Timecop" "Double Impact" "Lionheart" "Hard Target" "Universal Soldier" "Sudden Death"
16. Jet Li
Actor | Huo Yuan Jia
Jet Li born Li Lian Jie in Beijing, China. He started training at the Beijing wushu academy (wushu is China's national sport, largely a performance version of various martial art styles) at age eight. He won five gold medals in the Chinese championships, his first when he was only 11. In his teens,...
"The Legend" "The Legend 2" "Fearless" "High Risk" "Once Upon a Time in China" "Fist of Legend" "Tai Chi Master" "Kiss of the Dragon" "The One"
17. Jason Statham
Actor | Crank
Jason Statham was born in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, to Eileen (Yates), a dancer, and Barry Statham, a street merchant and lounge singer. He was a Diver on the British National Diving Team and finished twelfth in the World Championships in 1992. He has also been a fashion model, black market salesman ...
"The Expendables" "Transporter "Transporter 2" "Transporter 3" "Crank" "Crank 2: High Voltage" "Bank Job" "Parker" "Death Race" "The Expendables 2"
18. Sean Connery
Actor | The Rock
The tall, handsome and muscular Scottish actor Sean Connery is best known as the original actor to portray James Bond in the hugely successful movie franchise, starring in seven films between 1962 and 1983. Some believed that such a career-defining role might leave him unable to escape it, but he ...
"Dr. No" "From Russia with Love" "The Hunt for the Red Octorber" "Goldfinger" "Thunderball" "You Only Live Twice" "Diamonds are Forever" "Never Say Again" "The Rock" "Highlander" "The Untouchables" "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"
19. Liam Neeson
Actor | Kinsey
Liam Neeson was born on June 7, 1952 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, to Katherine (Brown), a cook, and Bernard Neeson, a school caretaker. He was raised in a Catholic household. During his early years, Liam worked as a forklift operator for Guinness, a truck driver, an assistant architect and an ...
"Taken" "The Grey" "Non-Stop" "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" "Unknown" "A-Team" "Batman Begins" "Darkman"
20. Dwayne Johnson
Actor | Black Adam
Dwayne Douglas Johnson, also known as The Rock, was born on May 2, 1972 in Hayward, California. He is the son of Ata Johnson (born Feagaimaleata Fitisemanu) and professional wrestler Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles). His father, from Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada, is black (of Black Nova ...
"G.I.: Retaliation" "The Rundown" "Fast Five" "Fast & Furious 6" "Hercules" "Pain and Gain" "Doom" "Snitch"
21. Tony Jaa
Actor | Ong-bak 3
Japanom Yeerum was born on February 5, 1976, in the northeastern province of Surin, Thailand. His parents were elephant herders. Jaa watched martial arts films as a young kid and began to emulate some of his idols, from Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan to Jet Li. Jaa studied martial arts at the local ...
"The Protector" "The Protector 2" "Ong-Bak: Mauy Thai Warrior" "Ong-Bak 2" "Ong-Bak 3" "Bodyguard" "Battle Warrior"
22. Wesley Snipes
Actor | Blade
Wesley Trent Snipes was born in Orlando, Florida, to Marian (Long), a teacher's assistant, and SMSGT Wesley Rudolph Snipes, an aircraft engineer. He grew up on the streets of the South Bronx in New York City, where he very early decided that dance and the theatre were to be his career. He attended ...
"Blade" "Blade 2" "Blade: Trinity" "Demoliton Man" "Expendables 3" "New Jack City" "The Art of War" "Passenger 57" "Game of Death"
23. Vin Diesel
Actor | Guardians of the Galaxy
Vin Diesel was born Mark Sinclair in Alameda County, California, along with his fraternal twin brother, Paul Vincent. He was raised by his astrologer/psychologist mother, Delora Sherleen (Sinclair), and adoptive father, Irving H. Vincent, an acting instructor and theatre manager, in an artists' ...
"Riddick" "Pitch Black" "The Chronicles of Riddick" "XXX" "The Fast and the Furious" "Fast Five" "Fast & Furious 6" "Fast & Furious" "XXX: State of the Union" "Babylon A.D."
24. Iko Uwais
Actor | Serbuan maut 2: Berandal
Iko Uwais was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Maisyaroh and Mustapha Kamaluddin. His grandfather, H. Achmad Bunawar, was a master of silat, an Indonesian traditional martial art, and founded a silat school. Iko himself has been learning silat since he was 10 years old. He became National Champion in...
"The Raid: Redemption" "The Raid 2" "Man of Tai Chi" "Merantau"
25. Steven Seagal
Actor | On Deadly Ground
Steven Frederic Seagal was born in Lansing, Michigan, to Patricia Anne (Fisher), a medical technician, and Samuel Seagal, a high school math teacher. His paternal grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants, and his mother had English, German, and distant Irish and Dutch, ancestry. The enigmatic ...
"Above the Law" "Under Siege" "Hard to Kill" "Marked for Death" "Out for Justice" "Fire Down Below" "On Deadly Ground"
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