The Best Actor 1981

1. Gérard Depardieu

Gérard Depardieu was born in Châteauroux, Indre, France, to Anne Jeanne Josèphe (Marillier) and René Maxime Lionel Depardieu, who was a metal worker and fireman. Young delinquent and wanderer in the past, Depardieu started his acting career at the small traveling theatre "Café de la Gare", along ...

2200 points

2. Philippe Noiret

Actor | Nuovo Cinema Paradiso

Philippe Noiret was one of French cinema's most familiar faces who appeared in more than 140 films in a career that spanned more than half a century.

He was born on October 1, 1930, in Lille, Nord, France, into a middle class family of shopkeepers. His father was fond of literature. Young Noiret ...

1481 points

3. Jürgen Prochnow

Actor | Das Boot

Jürgen Prochnow is the son of a telecommunications engineer. He has an older brother, Dieter Prochnow, who is also in the acting profession. Jürgen's parents encouraged him initially to study the banking trade. However, their son had other ideas and began working on the side as an extra and a ...

819 points

4. Herbert Grönemeyer

Actor | Das Boot

Herbert Grönemeyer was born on April 12, 1956 in Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. He is a music artist and actor, known for Das Boot (1981), The American (2010) and A Most Wanted Man (2014). He was previously married to Anna Henkel-Grönemeyer.

819 points

5. Martin Semmelrogge

Actor | Das Boot

Martin Semmelrogge was born on December 8, 1955 in Bad Boll, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He is an actor, known for Das Boot (1981), Schindler's List (1993) and Fahr zur Hölle (2011). He was previously married to Sonja Semmelrogge and Susanne.

819 points

6. Otto Sander

Actor | Der Himmel über Berlin

Sander spent his childhood and youth in Hanover and Kassel. He also went to school there and graduated from high school in 1962. After his military service in the navy, he studied theater studies, German, literature, art history and philosophy until 1967. Sander made his theater debut in 1965 at ...

819 points

7. Jerzy Radziwilowicz

Actor | Czlowiek z zelaza

Jerzy Radziwilowicz was born on September 8, 1950 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. He is an actor, known for Man of Iron (1981), Man of Marble (1977) and No End (1985).

809 points

8. Marian Opania

Actor | Lalka

Marian Opania was born on February 1, 1943 in Pulawy, Lubelskie, Poland. He is an actor, known for Lalka (1968), Television Theater (1953) and Prom (1970).

809 points

9. Rüdiger Vogler

Actor | Bis ans Ende der Welt

Rüdiger Vogler was born on May 14, 1942 in Warthausen, Biberach, Württemberg [now Baden-Württemberg], Germany. He is an actor, known for Until the End of the World (1991), Lisbon Story (1994) and Alice in the Cities (1974).

803 points

10. Armin Mueller-Stahl

Actor | Eastern Promises

Armin Mueller-Stahl is a German actor with a relatively long film career. He was once nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his role as an abusive father in the biographical drama "Shine" (1996).

In 1930, Mueller-Stahl was born in Tilsit, East Prussia. The town developed ...

801 points

11. Mario Adorf

Actor | Die Blechtrommel

Mario Adorf, a tell-tale name indeed. Mario calls to mind the actor's Italian roots (his father was a Calabrian surgeon) whereas Adorf reveals his German origins (his mother was a radiologist from the German region Eifel). As for the full name Mario Adorf it echoes to perfection the international ...

801 points

12. Matthias Fuchs

Actor | Der erste Frühlingstag

Matthias Fuchs was born on November 3, 1939 in Hannover, Germany. He was an actor, known for Der erste Frühlingstag (1956), Ferien auf Immenhof (1957) and Lola (1981). He was married to Ilse Welter. He died on December 31, 2001 in Hamburg, Germany.

801 points

13. Jirí Schmitzer

Actor | Kráska v nesnázích

Jirí Schmitzer was born on October 25, 1949 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He is an actor, known for Beauty in Trouble (2006), Amerika (1994) and Boomerang (1997).

801 points

14. Jaromír Hanzlík

Actor | Tri spory

Jaromír Hanzlík was born on February 16, 1948 in Ceský Tesín, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He is an actor and writer, known for Tri spory (1981), Dny zrady (1973) and Záhada hlavolamu (1969).

801 points

15. Rudolf Hrusínský

Actor | Spalovac mrtvol

Rudolf Hrusínský was born on October 17, 1920 in Nový Etynk-Vcelnice, Czechoslovakia [now Nová Vcelnice, Czech Republic]. He was an actor and director, known for The Cremator (1969), The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians (1981) and Pancho se zení (1946). He died on April 13, 1994 in ...

801 points

16. Henry Fonda

Actor | 12 Angry Men

This remarkable, soft-spoken American began in films as a diffident juvenile. With passing years, he matured into a star character actor who exemplified not only integrity and strength, but an ideal of the common man fighting against social injustice and oppression. He was born in Grand Island, ...

801 points

17. Robert Hossein

Writer | Les misérables

The son of orchestra conductor André Hossein, Paris-born Robert Hossein was trained at René Simon's acting school. Hossein labored away as actor/director with the legendary Theatre Grand Guignol in Montmartre, then spent several years on the "legitimate" stage. In films from 1955's Rififi (Rififi (...

794 points

18. Daniel Olbrychski

Actor | Salt

Daniel Olbrychski is a renowned Polish movie and theatre actor, considered one of the greatest of his generation. He has appeared in about 180 movies and TV productions. His career took off with his role in Janusz Nasfeter's movie Ranny w lesie (1964). He has worked with popular Polish directors ...

794 points

19. 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, ...

790 points

20. Paul Freeman

Actor | Raiders of the Lost Ark

Probably one of Britain's most underrated actors, Paul Freeman has accumulated literally hundreds of screen credits over several decades, most notably as the main villain in the Steven Spielberg classic Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and he has worked extensively in the theatre, but he has managed...

790 points

21. John Rhys-Davies

Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Welsh actor John Rhys-Davies was born in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales, to Mary Margaretta Phyllis (nee Jones), a nurse, and Rhys Davies, a mechanical engineer and Colonial Officer. He graduated from the University of East Anglia and is probably best known to film audiences for his roles in the...

790 points

22. Klaus Maria Brandauer

Actor | Out of Africa

Klaus Maria Brandauer was a music student and studied drama at Stuttgarter Hochschule. He was a true stage actor and therefore didn't like to work in movies except for two small parts in The Salzburg Connection (1972) and Októberi vasárnap (1979). This changed when Hungarian director ...

788 points

23. Rolf Hoppe

Actor | Sardsch

Rolf Hoppe was born on December 6, 1930 in Ellrich, Thuringia, Germany. He was an actor, known for Sardsch (1997), La piovra (1984) and Mephisto (1981). He was married to Friederike. He died on November 14, 2018 in Dresden, Saxony, Germany.

788 points

24. Warren Beatty

Actor | Reds

Since starring in his first film, Splendor in the Grass (1961), Warren Beatty has been said to have demonstrated a greater longevity in movies than any actor of his generation. Few people have taken so many responsibilities for all phases of the production of films as producer, director, writer, ...

781 points

25. Jack Nicholson

Actor | Chinatown

Jack Nicholson, an American actor, producer, director and screenwriter, is a three-time Academy Award winner and twelve-time nominee. Nicholson is also notable for being one of two actors - the other being Michael Caine - who have received an Oscar nomination in every decade from the '60s through ...

781 points

26. Gianfrancesco Guarnieri

Actor | Mulheres de Areia

Gianfrancesco Guarnieri was born on August 6, 1934 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. He was an actor and director, known for Secrets of Sand (1973), They Don't Wear Black Tie (1981) and The Hour and Turn of Augusto Matraga (1965). He was married to Vanya Sant'anna and Cecilia Thompson. He died on July 22,...

780 points

27. Lino Ventura

Actor | Ascenseur pour l'échafaud

One of France's most beloved character stars from the 1950s through and including the 1980s was the Italian-born Lino Ventura. Born Angiolino Joseph Pascal Ventura to Giovanni Ventura and Luisa Borrini, on July 14, 1919, in Parma (northern) Italy, young Lino moved with his family at a young age to ...

778 points

28. Michel Serrault

Actor | La Cage aux folles

As accomplished and versatile the well-loved French actor Michel Serrault proved to be over the course of five decades, American audiences still remember this actor for one role only - that of the neurotic, outrageously flamboyant drag performer Albin (aka Zaza) in the side-splitting French gay ...

778 points

29. Guy Marchand

Actor | Garde à vue

Parisian Guy Émile Marchand had a dual career as a musician and as an actor. The son of a scrap metal dealer, he studied at the Lycée Voltaire during daytime while playing his clarinet in the night clubs of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Additionally, he wrote songs, was adept at playing jazz piano and ...

778 points

30. Federico Luppi

Actor | Cronos

Federico Luppi was born on February 23, 1934 in Ramallo, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an actor and director, known for Cronos (1992), The Devil's Backbone (2001) and Pan's Labyrinth (2006). He was married to Susana Hornos and Haydée Padilla. He died on October 20, 2017 in Buenos Aires, Federal ...

769 points

31. Philippe Marlaud

Actor | Passe ton bac d'abord...

Philippe Marlaud was born on June 20, 1959 in Paris, France. He was an actor, known for Graduate First (1978), The Aviator's Wife (1981) and La maison des autres (1977). He died on August 18, 1981 in Lyon, France.

765 points

32. Mathieu Carrière

Actor | La maison des bories

Mathieu Carrière was born on August 2, 1950 in Hanover, Lower Saxony, West Germany. He is an actor and writer, known for La maison des bories (1970), Young Törless (1966) and Quantum Leap (1989).

765 points

33. Fabrice Luchini

Actor | Dans la maison

Fabrice Luchini was born on November 1, 1951 in Paris, France. He is an actor and writer, known for In the House (2012), Molière (2007) and Beaumarchais the Scoundrel (1996).

765 points

34. 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 ...

763 points

35. Mark Lee

Actor | Gallipoli

Mark Lee was born in 1958 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is an actor and director, known for Gallipoli (1981), The Bet (2006) and Paper Giants: Magazine Wars (2013).

763 points

36. Michele Placido

Actor | La piovra

Michele Placido was born on May 19, 1946 in Ascoli Satriano, Puglia, Italy. He is an actor and writer, known for La piovra (1984), Romanzo Criminale (2005) and Un eroe borghese (1995). He has been married to Federica Vincenti since August 14, 2012. They have one child. He was previously married to ...

758 points

37. Vittorio Mezzogiorno

Actor | Cerro Torre: Schrei aus Stein

Vittorio Mezzogiorno was born on December 16, 1941 in Cercola, Campania, Italy. He was an actor, known for Scream of Stone (1991), La piovra (1984) and Il giocattolo (1979). He was married to Cecilia Sacchi. He died on January 7, 1994 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

758 points

38. Slavko Stimac

Actor | Coriolanus

Slavko Stimac is a Serbian actor, who was born on October 15, 1960 in Konjsko Brdo, a village in municipality of Perusic, Croatia, Yugoslavia. He began acting when he was only 12 years old and starred in popular movies like "Sutjeska", "Cross of Iron" "Specijalno vaspitanje" and "Ko to tamo peva". ...

758 points

39. John Travolta

Actor | Pulp Fiction

John Joseph Travolta was born in Englewood, New Jersey, one of six children of Helen Travolta (née Helen Cecilia Burke) and Salvatore/Samuel J. Travolta. His father was of Italian descent and his mother was of Irish ancestry. His father owned a tire repair shop called Travolta Tires in Hillsdale, ...

750 points

40. John Lithgow

Actor | The World According to Garp

If "born to the theater" has meaning in determining a person's life path, then John Lithgow is a prime example of this truth. He was born in Rochester, New York, to Sarah Jane (Price), an actress, and Arthur Washington Lithgow III, who was both a theatrical producer and director. John's father was ...

750 points

41. Treat Williams

Actor | Deep Rising

Richard Treat Williams was born in Stamford, Connecticut, to Marian (Andrew), who dealt in antiques, and Richard Norman Williams, a corporate executive. At the age of three, his family moved to Rowayton, Connecticut. Educated at prep-school, he first made a serious commitment to his craft during ...

749 points

42. Roman Wilhelmi

Actor | Cma

Roman Wilhelmi was born on June 6, 1936 in Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland. He was an actor, known for The Moth (1980), Hotel Pacific (1975) and The Story of Sin (1975). He died on November 3, 1991 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.

748 points

43. Jerzy Stuhr

Actor | Historie milosne

Jerzy Stuhr is a Polish actor, director, and writer. He completed his education in Polish Philology at the Jagiellonian University and then graduated from the National Academy of Theatre Arts in Krakow. Stuhr's acting career began in the theaters in Krakow, where he performed in plays such as "Noc ...

748 points

44. Patrick Dewaere

Actor | Un mauvais fils

Popular but troubled renegade French actor Patrick Dewaere was christened Jean-Marie Patrick Bourdeaux on January 26, 1947, at Saint-Brieuc in Britanny in the north-west region of France. The third of six children born to actress Mado Maurin (1915-2011), his mother made acting a family affair. All ...

743 points

45. Maurice Ronet

Actor | Ascenseur pour l'échafaud

Maurice Ronet was born on April 13, 1927 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He was an actor and writer, known for Elevator to the Gallows (1958), The Fire Within (1963) and Purple Noon (1960). He was married to Maria Pacôme. He died on March 14, 1983 in Paris, France.

743 points

46. Richard Dreyfuss

Actor | The Goodbye Girl

Richard Dreyfuss is an American leading man, who has played his fair share of irritating pests and brash, ambitious hustlers.

He was born Richard Stephen Dreyfus in Brooklyn, New York, to Geraldine (Robbins), an activist, and Norman Dreyfus, a restaurateur and attorney. His paternal grandparents ...

743 points

47. John Cassavetes

Actor | Rosemary's Baby

John Cassavetes was a Greek-American actor, film director, and screenwriter. He is considered a pioneer of American independent film, as he often financed his own films.

Cassavetes was born in New York City in 1929 to Nicholas John Cassavetes (1893-1979) and his wife, Katherine Demetre (1906-1983). ...

743 points

48. Sam Neill

Actor | Jurassic Park

Sam Neill was born in Omagh, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland, to army parents, an English-born mother, Priscilla Beatrice (Ingham), and a New Zealand-born father, Dermot Neill. His family moved to the South Island of New Zealand in 1954. He went to boarding schools and then attended the universities ...

742 points

49. Heinz Bennent

Actor | Possession

Heinz Bennent was born on July 18, 1921 in Stolberg, Germany. He was an actor, known for Possession (1981), The Last Metro (1980) and Im Jahr der Schildkröte (1988). He was married to Paulette Renou. He died on October 12, 2011 in Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland.

742 points

50. Antonio Gades

Actor | Carmen

Antonio Gades was born on November 14, 1936 in Elda, Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain. He was an actor and writer, known for Carmen (1983), Blood Wedding (1981) and Los Tarantos (1963). He was married to Eugenia Eiriz, Daniela Frey, Marisol, Pilar Sanclemente and Marujita Díaz. He died on July...

742 points

51. David Naughton

Actor | An American Werewolf in London

David Naughton made his professional debut in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of "Hamlet" in Lincoln Center starring Sam Waterston. Was cast as the lead singer/dancer in the "Be a Pepper" advertising campaign for Dr. Pepper. Starred in John Landis' classic horror film An American ...

739 points

52. Griffin Dunne

Actor | After Hours

Griffin Dunne was born on June 8, 1955 in New York City, the oldest child of Dominick Dunne, a producer, actor, and writer, and Ellen Beatriz (Griffin) Dunne, an activist. His sister was actress Dominique Dunne. He grew up mainly in Los Angeles, California and attended school in Colorado before ...

739 points

53. Adam Ferency

Actor | Kanalia

Adam Ferency was born on October 5, 1951 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. He is an actor and director, known for Kanalia (1991), Cold War (2018) and Jasminum (2006).

738 points

54. Boguslaw Linda

Actor | Psy

Boguslaw Linda is a Polish actor, director, and writer. He graduated from the National Academy of Theatre Arts in Krakow and co-founded the Warsaw Film School. Linda's acting career took off with his first major role as Gryziak in the movie Fever (1981). He gained popularity for his roles in movies...

738 points

55. Olgierd Lukaszewicz

Actor | Seksmisja

Olgierd Lukaszewicz is a Polish actor known for his work in theater, television, and movies. He graduated from the National Academy of Theatre Arts in Krakow in 1968. After graduation, he performed at The Bagatela Theatre in Krakow. He later moved to Warsaw, where he was associated with the ...

738 points

56. Stanislaw Tym

Actor | Rozmowy kontrolowane

Stanislaw Tym was born on July 17, 1937 in Malkinia Górna, Mazowieckie, Poland. He is an actor and writer, known for Controlled Conversations (1991), Teddy Bear (1981) and Rys (2007).

734 points

57. Krzysztof Kowalewski

Actor | Nigdy w zyciu!

Krzysztof Kowalewski was born on March 20, 1937 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. He was an actor, known for Nigdy w zyciu! (2003), Ja wam pokaze! (2007) and With Fire and Sword (1999). He was married to Agnieszka Suchora and Vivian Rodriguez. He died on February 6, 2021 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, ...

734 points

58. Jeff Bridges

Actor | The Big Lebowski

Jeffrey Leon Bridges was born on December 4, 1949 in Los Angeles, California, the son of well-known film and TV star Lloyd Bridges and his long-time wife Dorothy Dean Bridges (née Simpson). He grew up amid the happening Hollywood scene with big brother Beau Bridges. Both boys popped up, without ...

733 points

59. John Heard

Actor | The Guardian

John Heard was a very talented actor who established himself as a respected thespian in the late 1970s and early '80s, though he is perhaps better known for his turn as Peter McCallister, Kevin McCallister's (Macaulay Culkin) father in the Home Alone (1990) movies.

John was born in Washington, D.C.,...

733 points

60. Keith Carradine

Actor | Nashville

It seems the second generation of acting Carradines -- David, Keith and Robert -- are proudly continuing the family tradition and begetting a third generation of talent. The dynasty began with veteran Hollywood patriarch John Carradine, the son of a surgeon and a correspondent for the Associated ...

732 points

61. Powers Boothe

Actor | Sudden Death

Incisive, gravelly-voiced screen tough guy Powers Boothe was born on June 1, 1948 in Snyder, Texas, a sharecropper's son. Used to hard physical work "chopping cotton" as a youngster, he went on to become the first member of his family to attend university. He then proceeded to study acting via a ...

732 points

62. Yves Montand

Actor | Jean de Florette

Yves Montand was born on October 13, 1921 in Monsummano Terme, Tuscany, Italy. He was an actor, known for Jean de Florette (1986), Z (1969) and The Wages of Fear (1953). He was married to Simone Signoret. He died on November 9, 1991 in Senlis, Oise, France.

732 points

63. William Hurt

Actor | A History of Violence

William McChord Hurt was born in Washington, D.C., to Claire Isabel (McGill) and Alfred McChord Hurt, who worked at the State Department. He was trained at Tufts University and The Juilliard School and has been nominated for four Academy Awards, including the most recent nomination for his ...

732 points

64. Richard Crenna

Actor | Rambo III

Richard Donald Crenna was born in Los Angeles, California, into a modest-income family, the only child of Edith J. (Pollette) and Domenick Anthony Crenna, a pharmacist. His parents were both of Italian descent. His mother managed a small hotel in downtown Los Angeles, where Richard and his family ...

732 points

65. Alberto Sordi

Actor | Io e Caterina

One of Italy's most captivating and talented cinematic comedy stars, Italian veteran Alberto Sordi was known for satirizing his country's social mores in pungent black comedies, farcical tales and grim drama. He, along with peers Vittorio Gassman, Ugo Tognazzi and Nino Manfredi, arguably represent ...

731 points

66. Jeremy Irons

Actor | Dead Ringers

British actor Jeremy Irons was born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, a small island off the south coast of England. He is the son of Barbara Anne Brereton (Sharpe) and Paul Dugan Irons, an accountant. Young Jeremy didn't prove very fond of figures. He visited mainland England only once a year. He wound up ...

730 points

67. James Caan

Actor | Thief

A masculine and enigmatic actor whose life and movie career have had more ups and downs than the average rollercoaster and whose selection of roles has arguably derailed him from achieving true superstar status, James Caan is New York-born and bred.

He was born in the Bronx, to Sophie (Falkenstein) ...

723 points

68. Jim Belushi

Actor | Red Heat

James Adam Belushi was born June 15, 1954, in Chicago, to Agnes Demetri (Samaras) and Adam Anastos Belushi, a restaurant owner. His father was an Albanian immigrant, from Qytezë, and his mother was also of Albanian descent. The third of four children - his brother was comedian John Belushi - he ...

723 points

69. Jean-Pierre Marielle

Actor | The Da Vinci Code

Jean-Pierre Marielle was born on April 12, 1932 in Paris, France. He was an actor, known for The Da Vinci Code (2006), Tous les matins du monde (1991) and Micmacs (2009). He was married to Agathe Natanson, Catherine-Françoise Burette, Michelle Charlotte Bompart and Noëlle Leiris. He died on April ...

723 points

70. Giancarlo Giannini

Actor | Quantum of Solace

Giancarlo Giannini is an Oscar-nominated Italian actor, director and multilingual dubber who made an international reputation for his leading roles in Italian films as well as for his mastery of a variety of languages and dialects.

He was born August 1, 1942, in La Spezia, Italy. For 10 years he ...

721 points

71. Mel Ferrer

Actor | Lili

Actor/director/producer Mel Ferrer was born Melchor Gaston Ferrer on August 25, 1917, in Elberon, New Jersey. The son of a Cuban-born surgeon and a Manhattan socialite, he went to prep school and attended Princeton University. From the age of 15 he worked in summer stock. After Princeton he became ...

721 points

72. Bernard Giraudeau

Director | L'autre

Bernard Giraudeau was born on June 18, 1947 in La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, France. He was an actor and director, known for L'autre (1991), Ridicule (1996) and That Day (2003). He was married to Anny Duperey. He died on July 17, 2010 in Paris, France.

718 points

73. Jean-Louis Trintignant

Actor | Amour

Born 1930 in Piolenc in south France as son of a wealthy industrialist. Studied law in Aix-en-Provence. Started theatrical acting in 1950, but was regarded untalented at first, until Roger Vadim discovered him for the movies. When the press stalked him 1956 because of rumors of an affair with ...

718 points

74. Massimo Girotti

Actor | Ultimo tango a Parigi

Manly, chiseled, exceedingly handsome, very agile Massimo Girotti was an engineering student and polo/swimming star before entering films in 1939. He began auspiciously in serious leads, most notably Roberto Rossellini's Desire (1946), Luchino Visconti's Obsession (1943) and Vittorio De Sica's The ...

718 points

75. Bernard Blier

Actor | Quai des Orfèvres

Bernard Blier was born on January 11, 1916 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an actor, known for Jenny Lamour (1947), The Organizer (1963) and Speriamo che sia femmina (1986). He was married to Annette Martin and Gisèle Brunet. He died on March 29, 1989 in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, France.

718 points

76. Pierre Richard

Actor | Shekvarebuli kulinaris ataserti retsepti

Certainly one of France's supreme farceurs in the classic tradition, comedian Pierre Richard was born to an upper crust family with an embarrassing riches of middle names as he was christened Pierre Richard Maurice Charles Leopold Defays. Working and building up his trade at the Paris Music Hall in...

718 points

77. Pedro Armendáriz Jr.

Actor | Licence to Kill

Pedro Armendáriz Jr. was born on April 6, 1940 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. He was an actor and producer, known for Licence to Kill (1989), Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) and The Mask of Zorro (1998). He was married to Lucía Gómez de Parada. He died on December 26, 2011 in New York ...

718 points

78. Maximilian Schell

Actor | Judgment at Nuremberg

Maximilian Schell was the most successful German-speaking actor in English-language films since Emil Jannings, the winner of the first Best Actor Academy Award. Like Jannings, Schell won the Oscar, but unlike him, he was a dedicated anti-Nazi. Indeed, with the exception of Maurice Chevalier and ...

716 points

79. Rod Steiger

Actor | In the Heat of the Night

Rodney Stephen Steiger was born in Westhampton, New York, to Augusta Amelia (Driver) and Frederick Jacob Steiger, both vaudevillians. He was of German and Austrian ancestry. After his parents' divorce, Steiger was raised by his mother in Newark, New Jersey. He dropped out of Westside High school at...

716 points

80. Gian Maria Volontè

Actor | Per un pugno di dollari

Born in Milan in 1933, Gian Maria Volontè studied in Rome at the National Dramatic Arts Academy, where he obtained his degree in 1957. He began working in theatre and television, where he was soon noticed as one of the most promising actors of his generation. After several supporting appearances in...

708 points

81. Bruno Ganz

Actor | Der Untergang

Bruno Ganz was an acclaimed Swiss actor who was a prominent figure in German language film and television for over fifty years. He is internationally renowned for portraying Adolf Hitler in the Academy Award-nominated film Downfall (2004).

Ganz was born in Zürich, to a Swiss mechanic father and a ...

708 points

82. Ben Gazzara

Actor | Road House

Ben Gazzara's screen career began with two critically acclaimed roles as heavies in the late 1950s. He turned to television in the 1960s but made a big screen comeback with roles in three John Cassavetes films in the 1970s. The 1980s and 1990s saw Gazzara work more frequently than ever before in ...

703 points