PEOPLE KNOWN FOR: acting
American actor and director
Woody Allen is an American motion-picture director, screenwriter, actor, comedian, playwright, and author who is best known for his bittersweet comic films containing elements of parody, slapstick, and...
American actor, director, and writer
Orson Welles was an American motion-picture actor, director, producer, and writer. His innovative narrative techniques and use of photography, dramatic lighting, and music to further the dramatic line...
American director, writer, and actor
John Huston was an American motion-picture director, writer, and actor whose taut dramas were among the most popular Hollywood films from the early 1940s to the mid-1980s. Many of his films were literary...
American singer and actor
Frank Sinatra was an American singer and motion-picture actor who, through a long career and a very public personal life, became one of the most sought-after performers in the entertainment industry; he...
English actor, poet, and producer
David Garrick was an English actor, producer, dramatist, poet, and comanager of the Drury Lane Theatre. Garrick was of French and Irish descent, the son of Peter Garrick, a captain in the English army,...
British actor, director, writer, and composer
Charlie Chaplin was a British comedian, producer, writer, director, and composer who is widely regarded as the greatest comic artist of the screen and one of the most important figures in motion-picture...
American actor and director
Clint Eastwood is an American film actor who emerged as one of the most popular Hollywood stars in the 1960s, known for his portrayal of tough individualists, first as The Man with No Name in Sergio Leone’s...
American filmmaker
Otto Preminger was an Austrian-born American director who defied Hollywood’s Production Code with a series of controversial films—notably The Moon Is Blue (1953), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), and...
Indian actor, film producer, and television presenter
Salman Khan is an Indian actor, film producer, and television host whose iconic roles, blockbuster hits, and mass appeal have earned him the status of a megastar in Bollywood. Over the years, he has become...
American singer and actor
Elvis Presley was an American popular singer widely known as the “King of Rock and Roll” and one of rock music’s dominant performers from the mid-1950s until his death. Presley grew up dirt-poor in Tupelo,...
American actor and philanthropist
Paul Newman was an American actor and director whose striking good looks, intelligence, and charisma became hallmarks in a film career that spanned more than 50 years, during which time he became known...
American musician and actress
Dolly Parton is an American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress who pioneered the interface between country and pop music styles and became one of the most iconic entertainment figures...
American rapper and actor
Ice-T rose to fame in the late 1980s and early ’90s as a gangsta rapper who developed a reputation for being fearless when it came to courting controversy. “Cop Killer” (1992), a song about police brutality...
American actor
Charlie Sheen is an American actor who became equally famous for his work in such films as Platoon (1986) and Major League (1989) and the television series Two and a Half Men (2003–11) and Anger Management...
American actor
Born in Kentucky and trained in Chicago theater, Michael Shannon emerged in the early 21st century as a versatile actor in film and television. Known for the combustible intensity he brings to his performances,...
American singer
Beyoncé is an American singer-songwriter and actress who achieved fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the R&B group Destiny’s Child and then launched a hugely successful solo career. In 2023 she...
American director, producer, and actor
Sydney Pollack was an American director, producer, and actor who helmed a number of popular films, including The Way We Were (1973), Tootsie (1982), Out of Africa (1985), and The Firm (1993). Although...
American actor, filmmaker, and screenwriter
Stanley Tucci is a prolific American actor, filmmaker, and writer widely recognized for his versatile acting skills in film, television, and theater, as well as his acclaimed work behind the camera. His...
American actor and director
John Cassavetes was an American film director and actor regarded as a pioneer of American cinema verité and as the father of the independent film movement in the United States. Most of his films were painstakingly...
American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor
Paul Williams is an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor known for his long and storied career in which he has written numerous award-winning songs, scored films, and acted in films and television....
Indian actress
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is an Indian actress and internationally acclaimed model who has established herself as one of Bollywood’s premier stars. Before embarking on an acting career, she achieved significant...
Indian actor and director
Raj Kapoor was an Indian motion-picture actor and director whose Hindi-language films were popular throughout India, the Middle East, the Soviet Union, China, and Southeast Asia. Along with Dilip Kumar...
Australian actress
Cate Blanchett is an Australian actress known for her multidimensional characters and wide range of roles. Her breakthrough came playing a young Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth (1998), and she later appeared...
American actor
In the 1970s Henry Winkler created one of the decade’s true pop culture sensations: Arthur Fonzarelli, better known as “Fonzie” or “the Fonz.” With his black leather jacket, blue jeans, and slicked-back...
American actor
Steve Buscemi is an American actor, director, and screenwriter who is especially known for his portrayals of oddballs and fast-talking criminals in such films as The Big Lebowski (1998) and Fargo (1996)....
American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor
Mel Brooks is an American film and television director, producer, writer, and actor whose motion pictures elevated outrageousness and vulgarity to high comic art. (Read Martin Scorsese’s Britannica essay...
Indian actor
Perhaps no other Indian actor has left as indelible an imprint on Bollywood and popular culture as Amitabh Bachchan (born October 11, 1942, Allahabad [now Prayagraj], India), known for his baritone voice,...
American actress
Known for her statuesque beauty and sophisticated demeanor, American actress Uma Thurman began appearing in films in the late 1980s before landing her breakout role as raven-haired trophy wife Mia Wallace...
Irish actor
Andrew Scott is an Irish actor known for his carefully constructed performances on stage and screen. Critics and fans enjoyed his portrayals of the psychopath Jim Moriarty in Sherlock (2010–17), the irreverent...
Indian actor and politician
M.G. Ramachandran was an Indian actor and politician who was chief minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 to 1987, with a brief interregnum from February 17 to June 9, 1980, when Tamil Nadu came under President’s...
American actress
In the 1950s no American actress epitomized the archetype of the “blonde bombshell” better than Jayne Mansfield, with the exception of Marilyn Monroe. Sometimes promoted as Monroe’s rival by their film...
French actress
Sarah Bernhardt was the greatest French actress of the later 19th century and one of the best-known figures in the history of the stage. Bernhardt was the illegitimate daughter of Julie Bernard, a Dutch...
Scottish actor
David Tennant is a Scottish stage and screen actor perhaps best known for his portrayal of the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, the British science-fiction television series. Apart from the show, Tennant has...
American actor
Alec Baldwin is an American actor of great versatility who is especially known for his portrayal of roguish characters, notably Jack Donaghy on the sitcom 30 Rock (2006–13). Adept at comedy and drama,...
American singer-songwriter and actress
Lady Gaga is an American singer-songwriter and performance artist, known for her flamboyant costumes, provocative lyrics, and strong vocal talents, who achieved enormous popular success in the early 21st...
American choreographer and director
Bob Fosse was an American dancer, choreographer, and director who revolutionized musicals with his distinct style of dance—including his frequent use of props, signature moves, and provocative steps—and...
American actor and director
John Cromwell was an American actor and director of stage and screen who, during a career that spanned more than 70 years, directed a number of classic movies, including Of Human Bondage (1934), Abe Lincoln...
Australian actress
Nicole Kidman is an American-born Australian actress known for her considerable range and versatility as well as for her glamorous looks and cool demeanour. Kidman was born in Honolulu to Australian parents....
Russian actor and director
Konstantin Stanislavsky was a Russian actor, director, and producer, founder of the Moscow Art Theatre (opened 1898). He is best known for developing the system or theory of acting called the Stanislavsky...
American actress
After more than a decade playing small but noteworthy roles in action thrillers and comedies, American actress Sharon Stone became a bona fide movie star and a major sex symbol in the early 1990s. The...
American actor, writer, and director
Ben Affleck is an American actor and filmmaker who has played leading roles in action, drama, and comedy films but who is perhaps more renowned for his work as a screenwriter, director, and producer. He...
American musician
“Weird Al” Yankovic is a musician and songwriter best known for his parodies of songs and music videos by other musicians. He gained national fame in 1984 with the song and music video for “Eat It,” a...
American director and actor
Rob Reiner is an American actor and director known especially for his role as Michael (“Meathead”) Stivic in the television series All in the Family (1971–79) and for his direction of such culturally resonant...
Indian actor and producer
Shashi Kapoor was an Indian actor and producer whose career spanned more than five decades. Kapoor, known for his versatile acting prowess and charming screen presence, was acclaimed for his work in mainstream...
American actress
Meryl Streep is an American film actress known for her masterly technique, expertise with dialects, and subtly expressive face. She has received an unprecedented 21 Academy Award nominations, and she won...
British actor and theatrical manager
Sir Henry Irving was one of the most famous of English actors, the first of his profession to be knighted (1895) for services to the stage. He was also a celebrated theatre manager and the professional...
American actor
Johnny Depp is an American actor and musician who was known for his eclectic and unconventional film choices. He achieved perhaps his greatest success as Capt. Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean...
American actress and musician
Jennifer Lopez built a massively successful triple-threat career as an actress, dancer, and musician to become a global superstar known to fans as simply “J.Lo.” She began appearing in films in the late...
American actor
Robert De Niro is one of cinema’s most acclaimed actors, famous for his uncompromising portrayals of violent and abrasive characters and, later in his career, for his comic depictions of cranky old men....
American comedian
Robert Klein is an American comedian, actor, and singer who, along with Richard Pryor and George Carlin, transformed the art of stand-up comedy in the 1970s. The grandson of Hungarian Jewish immigrants...