Kennedy Center Honors Possible Inductees
by Sylviastel | created - 27 Dec 2011 | updated - 9 months ago | PublicThe list of men and women who deserve to be recognized by the Kennedy Center Honors for their services to the Arts in the United States.
First, they must be alive and able to attend the ceremony in Washington D.C. They don't award posthumously.
The following are those who passed away since this list was formed;
Dick Clark; Levon Helm; Andy Griffith; Ernest Borgnine; Marvin Hamlisch; Phyllis Diller; Hal David; Charles Durning; Andy Williams;Marian McPartland OBE; Jeanne Cooper; Sid Caesar; Mickey Rooney; Elaine Stritch;Eli Wallach & Anne Jackson; James Garner; Robin Williams; Joan Rivers; Marian Seldes; David Bowie;Nancy Davis Reagan;Prince Patty Duke;Garry Marshall; Agnes Nixon; Leonard Cohen; Debbie Reynolds; Mary Tyler Moore; Sam Shepard; A.R. Gurney; Richard Wilbur;
Previous listings who were inducted in the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors were Dustin Hoffman, David Letterman and Natalia Makarova.
Previous listings who were inducted into the 2013 Kennedy Center Honors were Herbie Hancock, Billy Joel and Shirley MacLaine
2014: Tom Hanks was the only one on my list.
2015 recipients who were on this list before:
Rita Moreno; Carole King; Cicely Tyson and George Lucas
2016 recipients who were on this list:
Al Pacino, Mavis Staples and James Taylor
2017 recipients who were on the list:
Norman Lear and Lionel Richie
If you would like to nominate anybody here or anybody else, you can go to the http://www.kennedycenter.org/ and look to nominate somebody there online. You will get a reply in your email. Once you receive your reply, please file it in your folder.
George Walker (born in 1922) great American classical composer. He doesn't have a profile here.
1. Estelle Parsons
Actress | Bonnie and Clyde
The charming, witty, and immeasurably talented Estelle Parsons was born November 20, 1927 in Lynn, Massachusetts, to Elinor and Eben Parsons. She attended the Oak Grove School for Girls in Maine, and later graduated from Connecticut College in 1949. She worked as a singer with a band before she ...
An Oscar winning actress, Theatre Hall of Fame recipient, and constantly seen in guest appearances on "All In the Family" and "Roseanne." Watching her onstage in "August: Osage County" was inspirational and awe-dropping. At her age, she hasn't stopped or slowed down yet.
2. Alan Bergman
Soundtrack | Tootsie
Prolific songwriter ("Nice 'n' Easy", "Yellow Bird"), composer and author, educated at UCLA and the University of Northern Carolina (BA). During WW II, he wrote and directed Special Services shows, then directed TV shows for CBS in Philadelphia, PA from 1945-1953. He joined ASCAP in 1955 and wrote ...
Alan and Marilyn Bergman should both be inducted into the Kennedy Center Honors. While you may not know them by their names, you certainly know their music and songs.
3. Bob Newhart
Actor | Elf
Bob Newhart is an American actor and stand-up comedian. His comedic style involves deadpan delivery of dialogue, a slight stammer when talking, and comedic monologues. He has cited earlier comedians George Gobel (1919-1991), Ray Goulding (1922-1990), and Bob Elliott (1923-2016) as his main ...
One of the funniest dry humored men on television with successful longterm sitcoms like "The Bob Newhart Show" and "Newhart" along with other performances. His memoir is one of the best books ever written.
4. Gene Hackman
Actor | The French Connection
Eugene Allen Hackman was born in San Bernardino, California, the son of Anna Lyda Elizabeth (Gray) and Eugene Ezra Hackman, who operated a newspaper printing press. He is of Pennsylvania Dutch (German), English, and Scottish ancestry, partly by way of Canada, where his mother was born. After ...
Another brilliant actor, icon, and star of such films like "The Conversation" and "The French Connection" along with many others.
5. Gena Rowlands
Actress | The Notebook
Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands is an American film, stage, and television actress, whose career in the entertainment industry has spanned over six decades. A four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner, she is known for her collaborations with her late actor-director husband John Cassavetes ...
A terrific American actress who graces the small & big screens as well as the stage.
6. Robert Duvall
Actor | The Apostle
Veteran actor and director Robert Selden Duvall was born on January 5, 1931, in San Diego, CA, to Mildred Virginia (Hart), an amateur actress, and William Howard Duvall, a career military officer who later became an admiral. Duvall majored in drama at Principia College (Elsah, IL), then served a ...
A brilliant actor with a list of films that displayed his talent and genius like Tender Mercies.
7. William Shatner
Actor | Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
William Shatner has notched up an impressive 70-plus years in front of the camera, displaying heady comedic talent and being instantly recognizable to several generations of cult television fans as the square-jawed Captain James T. Kirk, commander of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise.
Shatner was born ...
What more could he do to earn such an honor? He's done it all on stage, film and television. Who doesn't like somebody like Shatner to poke fun at himself at times?
8. Clive Davis
Soundtrack | Deadpool 2
Clive Davis was born in Brooklyn, New York. He entered Harvard Law School on a full scholarship and graduated in 1956. Four years later, he arrived at Columbia Records as an attorney. In 1965, he was promoted to administrative vice-president of the label, became vice-president and general manager a...
He discovered Whitney Houston and so many others.
9. Ellen Burstyn
Actress | Requiem for a Dream
Ellen Burstyn was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Correine Marie (Hamel) and John Austin Gillooly. She is of Irish, French/French-Canadian, Pennsylvania Dutch (German), and Native American ancestry.. She worked a number of jobs before she became an actress. At 14, she was a short-order cook at a ...
A consummate professional actress of stage, film and television.
10. Kim Novak
Actress | Vertigo
Kim Novak was born in Chicago, Illinois on February 13, 1933 with the birth name of Marilyn Pauline Novak. She was the daughter of a former teacher turned transit clerk and his wife, also a former teacher. Throughout elementary and high school, Kim did not get along well with teachers. She even ...
11. Eileen Fulton
Actress | As the World Turns
Eileen Fulton was born on September 13, 1933 in Asheville, North Carolina, USA. She is an actress, known for As the World Turns (1956), Our Private World (1965) and Girl of the Night (1960).
She's played Lisa Miller Mitchell on "As The World Turns" for over 5 decades. She's an accomplished cabaret singer and author as well. She's one of the finest actresses to ever be on daytime television.
12. Don Hastings
Actor | As the World Turns
Actor and writer, best known as "The Video Ranger", "Jack Lane", and "Dr. Bob Hughes" on television. The youngest son of Hazel and Charles Hastings, he lived in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant area until he was six, attending Our Lady of Victory parochial school for one year. The family then moved to...
He has spent 50 years playing a role of "Dr. Robert Hughes" on the long running serial, "As The World Turns." He's played the role with decency, class, dignity, and grace.
13. Pat Boone
Soundtrack | Journey to the Center of the Earth
Actor, singer, author and songwriter ("Exodus") Pat Boone was educated at David Lipscombe College, North Texas State College and Columbia University (from which he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1958). His career in entertainment began when he emceed a teenage talent show on radio and ...
An American icon!
14. Herb Alpert
Music_department | Never Say Never Again
Bandleader who had several big instrumental hits in 1960s with his band, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass. First big hit was "The Lonely Bull" in 1963. He and the Brass followed that with other big hits like "Tijuana Taxi", "Spanish Flea" (familiar to some as "the Dating Game song"), "A Taste of ...
His services to music and the arts!
15. Johnny Mathis
Soundtrack | Zodiac
He was the fourth of seven children born to Clement and Mildred Mathis. His father performed briefly in vaudeville and exposed all of the Mathis siblings to music. Before he entered his teens, young John received vocal lessons from Connie Cox in exchange for performing chores around her home. When ...
He's been in the business for over 50 years. He can sing like nobody else with a sparkle in his songs to make them special.
16. Woody Allen
Writer | Annie Hall
Woody Allen was born on November 30, 1935, as Allen Konigsberg, in The Bronx, NY, the son of Martin Konigsberg and Nettie Konigsberg. He has one younger sister, Letty Aronson. As a young boy, he became intrigued with magic tricks and playing the clarinet, two hobbies that he continues today.
Allen ...
Actor, director, producer, performer, writer. He's done a lot for the film industry and the television industry in his days of writing. Woody Allen's films are legendary for a reason. Can't imagine New York City without Woody Allen and won't bother too. His films are independent and character driven rather than story driven. He can do more without special effects but with great actors and actresses. His films don't have to be long but they are brilliant in study.
17. Trisha Brown
Actress | The Man Who Envied Women
Trisha Brown was born on November 25, 1936 in Aberdeen, Washington, USA. She was an actress, known for The Man Who Envied Women (1985), Linoleum (1966) and Water Motor (1978). She was married to Burt Barr. She died on March 18, 2017 in San Antonio, Texas, USA.
18. David Shire
Music_department | Zodiac
David Shire was born on July 3, 1937 in Buffalo, New York, USA. He is a composer and writer, known for Zodiac (2007), Short Circuit (1986) and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974). He has been married to Didi Conn since February 11, 1984. They have one child. He was previously married to Talia...
19. Richard Maltby Jr.
Soundtrack | Miss Potter
Richard Maltby Jr. was born on October 6, 1937 in Ripon, Wisconsin, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Miss Potter (2006), Miss Saigon and I'd Rather Be Rich (1964). He has been married to Janet Brenner since 1987. They have three children. He was previously married to Barbara Black Sudler.
20. Jane Fonda
Actress | Klute
Born in New York City to legendary screen star Henry Fonda and Ontario-born New York socialite Frances Seymour Brokaw, Jane Seymour Fonda was destined early to an uncommon and influential life in the limelight. Although she initially showed little inclination to follow her father's trade, she was ...
Okay, I know this will outrage some people particularly her past behavior in Vietnam but I'm thinking about her contributions to the arts and entertainment--on stage, film, and television as well. She's controversial, outspoken, and vocal about her views. Her films particularly "Coming Home" where she played a wife of a military man (played by Bruce Kern) is worth watching. She did the film after the Vietnam disaster in 1978 alongside actual Vietnam Veterans.
21. Tina Packer
Actress | Doctor Who
Tina Packer was born on September 28, 1938 in Wolverhampton, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Doctor Who (1963), David Copperfield (1966) and Two a Penny (1967).
A British actress who has spent the last 4 decades in the United States. The last 3 decades as director, actress, producer, and leader of the Shakespeare & Company Theatre in Lenox, Massachusetts.
22. Ted Turner
Writer | WCW Monday Nitro
Ted Turner was born on November 19, 1938 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA as Robert Edward Turner III. He is the founder of CNN, Turner Broadcast System (TBS) and Turner Network Television (TNT). He was previously married to Jane Fonda, Jane Shirley Smith and Judy Nye. He started in the business as a ...
An American original who revolutioned television forever with CNN, TNT, TBS, and TCM among his enterprise.
23. Tommy Tune
Actor | Hello, Dolly!
Tommy Tune is possibly the tallest dancer in the country. He was in the New York Company of "How Now Dow Jones" when Ernest Lehman engaged him to play Ambrose Kemper in the film, "Hello, Dolly!". His father is a Texas restaurateur. Tommy acted in, directed and choreographed school productions, ...
One of the worlds best known dancers & choreographers!
24. Francis Ford Coppola
Producer | Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppola was born in 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, but grew up in a New York suburb in a creative, supportive Italian-American family. His father, Carmine Coppola, was a composer and musician. His mother, Italia Coppola (née Pennino), had been an actress. Francis Ford Coppola graduated ...
His Godfather films are an accomplishment in themselves. Nobody has made brilliant films like that since nor will they ever in the future. The Godfather trilogy is not just about film-making but the study of an Italian American family over time with dynamic performances by up and coming stars like DeNiro, Pacino, Keaton, Duvall, and the comeback of Marlon Brando.
25. Judy Collins
Actress | Junior
Judy Collins was born on May 1, 1939 in Seattle, Washington, USA. She is a music artist and actress, known for Junior (1994), Hereditary (2018) and Starsky & Hutch (2004). She has been married to Louis Nelson since April 16, 1996. She was previously married to Peter A. Taylor.
An American folk singer whose career has lasted decades. She's still active in singing and performs concerts regularly. Her voice is our nation's conscience during tough times.
26. Paul Williams
Soundtrack | Phantom of the Paradise
Known for timeless classics such as "We've Only Just Begun," "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Evergreen," "Just an Old Fashioned Love Song," and "Rainbow Connection," Paul Williams is responsible for what will remain part of our popular culture for many years to come. His music has been recorded by some ...
An American original composer, musician, & singer!
27. Susan Harris
Writer | Soap
Susan Harris was born on October 28, 1940 in New York City, New York, USA. She is a writer and producer, known for Soap (1977), The Golden Girls (1985) and It Takes Two (1982). She was previously married to Paul Junger Witt and Berkeley Harris.
The writer and creator for "Soap" and "The Golden Girls." She's the original Golden Girl.
28. Ann-Margret
Actress | Carnal Knowledge
Actress and singer Ann-Margret is one of the most famous sex symbols and actresses of the 1960s and beyond. She continued her career through the following decades and into the 21st century.
Ann-Margret was born Ann-Margret Olsson in Valsjöbyn, Jämtland County, Sweden, to Anna Regina (Aronsson) and ...
29. Eric Braeden
Actor | The Young and the Restless
Eric Braeden is a German actor in America who began his career playing Nazis and eventually became a star of daytime soap operas. Born Hans Gudegast in Kiel, Germany, during the Second World War, he was a superb athlete who excelled in track-and-field events. As a teenager, he immigrated to the ...
He is a brilliant actor whose performance of Victor Newman has captivated fans and a following for the last 30 years! He is still going strong!
30. Wayne Newton
Actor | Vegas Vacation
Wayne Newton was born on April 3, 1942 in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Vegas Vacation (1997), Licence to Kill (1989) and The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990). He has been married to Kathleen McCrone since April 9, 1994. They have one child. He was previously ...
The King of Las Vegas Entertainment. Still performs regularly on the Strip.
31. Eliot Feld
Actor | West Side Story
Eliot Feld was born in Brooklyn, New York, and studied dance at the School of American Ballet, the New Dance Group, the High School of Performing Arts, and with Richard Thomas. At age 11 he danced with the New York City Ballet as the "Child Prince" in Balanchine's original production of The ...
32. 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, ...
33. Garrison Keillor
Actor | A Prairie Home Companion
Garrison Keillor was born Gary Edward Keillor on August 7, 1942, in Anoka, a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota. He is one of six children of Grace Ruth (Dunham) and John Philip Keillor, who was a carpenter and postal worker. His father was of English, Welsh, and German, descent, and his paternal ...
34. George Benson
Soundtrack | Michael
George Benson was born on March 22, 1943 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a music artist and actor, known for Michael (1996), Hit and Run (2012) and All That Jazz (1979). He has been married to Johnnie Lee since 1962. They have six children.
35. Barry Manilow
Soundtrack | Thumbelina
Barry Manilow was born on June 17, 1943 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a music artist and actor, known for Thumbelina (1994), Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) and Transsiberian (2008). He has been married to Garry Kief since April 2014. He was previously married to Susan Deixler.
36. Carly Simon
Soundtrack | All Good Things
Carly Simon has an unparalleled career that spans five decades of openhearted storytelling both in song and print. Joining the singer-songwriters of the early 1970s, Simon changed the public's conception of pop music to an honest, sensitive and intelligent craftwork. Simon's biggest success came ...
37. Mick Jagger
Soundtrack | Alfie
Michael Philip Jagger was born in Dartford, Kent on 26th July 1943. When he was 4 he met Keith Richards until they went into secondary schools and lost touch. But one day in 1960 they accidentally met on the Dartford train line and both realized that they had an interest in rock n roll combined ...
38. Randy Newman
Soundtrack | The Princess and the Frog
Randy Newman is an American film composer and singer who is well-known for composing The Princess and the Frog, Meet the Parents and various Pixar films including the Toy Story, Monsters, Inc and Cars franchises as well as A Bug's Life. He wrote iconic songs such as "Short People", "You've Got A ...
You may not know him as well but you've heard his music through Pixar movies, television, and films as well over the last forty years.
39. Patti LaBelle
Soundtrack | Miami Vice
Patti LaBelle was born Patricia Louise Holte on May 24, 1944 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Patti began her career in the early 1960s as lead singer of the band Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles. A decade later the group changed their name to Labelle and recorded the hit song "Lady Marmalade". Patti...
40. Frederica von Stade
Actress | The Marriage of Figaro
Frederica von Stade was born on June 1, 1945 in Somerville, New Jersey, USA. She is an actress, known for The Marriage of Figaro (1974), Les noces de Figaro (1980) and La Cenerentola (1982).
A well-known soprano.
41. Helen Mirren
Actress | The Queen
Dame Helen Mirren was born in Queen Charlotte's Hospital in West London. Her mother, Kathleen Alexandrina Eva Matilda (Rogers), was from a working-class English family, and her father, Vasiliy Petrovich Mironov, was a Russian-born civil servant, from Kuryanovo, whose own father was a diplomat. ...
42. Liza Minnelli
Soundtrack | Cabaret
Liza Minnelli was born on March 12, 1946, the daughter of Judy Garland and movie director Vincente Minnelli. She was practically raised at MGM studios while her parents worked long hours there and she made her film debut at 14 months of age in the movie In the Good Old Summertime (1949). Her ...
One of America's greatest living female entertainers. I would like to see her do her own show in Las Vegas where she can do 4 performances per week instead of Broadway's 8 shows a week killer. Still one of Broadway's darlings and living legends in the entertainment field. She's unforgettable as Sally Bowles in the film role, "Cabaret." To this day, I won't see anybody else in that role. That's how brilliant she is in her role. She has plenty of recordings, performed onstage, film and television. She can make any song her own.
43. Erika Slezak
Actress | One Life to Live
Erika Slezak was born on August 5, 1946 in Hollywood, California, USA. She is an actress, known for One Life to Live (1968), One Life to Live (2013) and Next Stop, Christmas (2021). She has been married to Brian Davies since August 4, 1978. They have two children. She was previously married to R. ...
A RADA graduate and another daytime veteran. Her role of Vikki Lord Buchanan has earned her 6 Emmys for her performance in almost 40 years on the air. She's played a multiple personality and has just about encountered every single obstacle in Vikki's life imaginable onscreen. I expect since One Life to Live will end that she will move her talents to the stage and theatre. I have watched the show on and off for almost 30 years. Slezak's Vikki is a combination of many personalities but mostly as a strong matriarch of her family.
44. Dick Wolf
Producer | Law & Order
Dick Wolf was born on December 20, 1946 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Law & Order (1990), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001). He has been married to Noelle Lippman since June 17, 2006. They have two ...
Without him, there would be no Law & Order and Homicide: Life on the Street which launched the careers of many and kept New York City area actors working when they were the only game in town. His contributions to television drama is impeccable and unforgettable.
45. Susan Lucci
Actress | All My Children
Susan Lucci was born on December 23, 1946, in Scarsdale, New York, to Jeanette (Granquist) and Victor Lucci, a building contractor. She is of Italian (father) and Swedish, German, and French (mother) descent. Susan grew up in Garden City. Since she can remember, she wanted to be a performer, and ...
Many actresses would have ditched Erica Kane long ago in the 1970s to pursue a career but not Susan Lucci. She developed and matured Erica Kane into an iconic character to ever be on television. She can be a brilliant comedic actress and a tragic actress as well in her role as Erica Kane. Despite bad scripts, Lucci has overcome the Emmy losses like a lady. For 41 years, she has played a role with passion, loyalty, determination, and dedication to her fans, cast, and crew alike without growing old and retired. She's shown that women can get better with age and is still passionate as ever in her role. Her Erica Kane is sorely missed on television and we'll never have another like her again.
46. Jimmy Buffett
Soundtrack | Jurassic World
Jimmy Buffett was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi and grew up living beside the the Gulf of Mexico. After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi he worked his way to success in the music industry. His hits in the 1970s including "Margaritaville" and "Come Monday". He struck a chord ...
47. Emmylou Harris
Soundtrack | Brokeback Mountain
Emmylou Harris was born on April 2, 1947 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. She is a music artist and actress, known for Brokeback Mountain (2005), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) and Lawless (2012). She was previously married to Paul Kennerley, Brian Ahern and Tom Slocum.
48. Carole Bayer Sager
Soundtrack | The Spy Who Loved Me
Carole Bayer Sager was born on March 8, 1944 in New York City, New York, USA. She is a composer, known for The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Arthur (1981) and Junior (1994). She has been married to Robert A. Daly since June 8, 1996. She was previously married to Burt Bacharach and Andrew Sager.
49. 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...
50. David Mamet
Writer | House of Games
Born in 1947 in Chicago, he was educated at Goddard College, in Vermont, and studied drama at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, before returning to Chicago and establishing the St Nicholas Theatre Company in 1972. He remained their resident writer for four years. The first of his plays to secure ...
An American playwright who has written astonishing plays like "American Buffalo;" "Glengarry Glen Ross;" and many others to mention. His plays reflect upon today's society in attitudes and personality.
51. Stephen Schwartz
Soundtrack | The Prince of Egypt
Stephen Schwartz was born on March 6, 1948 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a composer and writer, known for The Prince of Egypt (1998), Pocahontas (1995) and Enchanted (2007). He has been married to Carole Piasecki since July 6, 1969. They have two children.
The musical lyricist behind "Wicked" and other Broadway musicals since the 1970s.
52. Phylicia Rashad
Actress | The Cosby Show
Phylicia Rashad was born in Houston, Texas to African-American parents Vivian Elizabeth (Ayers), a poet and art director, and Andrew Arthur Allen, an orthodontist. As a child, Phylicia, her older brother Andrew (called Tex), and younger sister, dancer and actress Debbie Allen, lived in Mexico. She ...
53. Lynn Ahrens
Soundtrack | Anastasia
Lynn Ahrens was born on October 1, 1948 in New York City, New York, USA. She is a writer and actress, known for Anastasia (1997), Schoolhouse Rock! (1973) and Dear Alex and Annie (1978).
54. Ted Nugent
Soundtrack | Superbad
Ted Nugent was born on December 13, 1948 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for Superbad (2007), The Heat (2013) and Pain & Gain (2013). He has been married to Shemane Nugent since January 21, 1989. They have one child. He was previously married to Sandra Ann Jezowski.
55. Barbara Mandrell
Actress | Touched by an Angel
Barbara Mandrell was born on December 25, 1948 in Houston, Texas, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Touched by an Angel (1994), The Rockford Files (1974) and Baywatch (1989). She has been married to Ken Dudney since May 28, 1967. They have three children.
I love her. She was a country music singer, television star, and films as well. I remember and would like her to be honored in some way.
56. Patti LuPone
Actress | Beau Is Afraid
A fireball of talent and a musical force to be reckoned with, singer/actress Patti LuPone was born on April 21, 1949 in Northport on Long Island, New York, of Italian heritage. Her parents, Orlando Joseph LuPone, a school administrator, and mother Angela Louise (Patti), a librarian, eventually ...
One of America's best known musical actresses!
57. Alan Menken
Soundtrack | Beauty and the Beast
Alan Menken is an American composer, songwriter, music conductor, director and record producer.
Menken is best known for his scores and songs for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores and songs for The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and ...
58. David Foster
Music_department | St. Elmo's Fire
David Foster was born on November 1, 1949 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He is a composer and producer, known for St. Elmo's Fire (1985), The Bodyguard (1992) and The Secret of My Success (1987). He has been married to Katharine McPhee since June 28, 2019. They have one child. He was ...
59. Alan Silvestri
Composer | The Polar Express
In his ongoing, decades-long career as a composer, Alan Silvestri has blazed an innovative trail with his exciting and melodic scores, winning the applause of Hollywood and movie audiences the world over. With a credit list of over 100 films Silvestri has composed some of the most recognizable and ...
60. Jay Leno
Producer | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Jay Leno began his career in night clubs, where he worked 300 nights a year before hitting it big in 1992 with his own late-night talk show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992). By that time he had appeared on television, acted in a few films (American Hot Wax (1978)) but hit paydirt with his ...
Besides the Tonight Show for the last 19 years, he's done stage about 150 shows a year regularly. He keeps doing standup and practicing his art form. Too bad, he declines the Oscar hosting duties. He's one of the most charitable performers as well. As a standup comedian and talk show host, he has also helped launch careers of other standup comics. Many standup comics stop doing standup when they hit his level of success but not Leno. Unlike his predecessor, he works at his act. He's the last person to leave for the night and the first to arrive at the studio.
61. George Strait
Soundtrack | Pure Country
George Harvey Strait Sr. is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait's success began when his first single "Unwound" was a hit in 1981, signaling the arrival of the Neotraditional movement. During the 1980s, seven of his albums reached number one on the ...
62. Gelsey Kirkland
Actress | The Nutcracker
Innocent-looking, girlish and pretty, this diminutive and emotional legendary ballerina has had more drama in her real-life than there ever was onstage. While she was called by Mikhail Baryshnikov, himself, "the best of her generation", she was probably more famous for her raging cocaine addiction ...
63. Chuck Lorre
Writer | Two and a Half Men
For the past twenty years, award-winning creator, executive producer and writer Chuck Lorre has conquered the entertainment industry with hit shows like Grace Under Fire (1993), Dharma & Greg (1997), Roseanne (1988) and Cybill (1995) as well as the number 1 comedy on television and four year ...
A comic genius in producing hits like "Big Bang Theory," and "Two and Half-Men."
64. Julie Taymor
Director | Frida
Julie Taymor is an Academy Award-nominated director, known for such films as Frida (2002) and Across the Universe (2007).
She was born on December 15, 1952, in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Her father, Melvin Lester Taymor, was a gynecologist. Her mother, Elizabeth Bernstein, was a ...
A Broadway musical director of the Lion King and others as well.
65. Rafe Esquith
Self | Now with Bill Moyers
Rafe Esquith was born in 1954 in the USA. He is married to Barbara Tong.
Founder and Father of the Hobart Shakespeare Company which is really the 5th grade class at the Hobart Elementary School in Los Angeles, California. For the last 30 years, he has helped his ten year old students to perform and take part in an unabridged Shakespeare play a year to an audience. The challenge is awe-inspiring as he changes the lives of those students. A great, incredible, miracle working teacher who loves his students and other students as well.
66. Ron Howard
Producer | Arrested Development
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard is one of this generation's most popular directors. From the critically acclaimed dramas A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Apollo 13 (1995) to the hit comedies Parenthood (1989) and Splash (1983), he has created some of Hollywood's most memorable films.
Howard ...
67. Jerry Seinfeld
Producer | Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Betty (Hesney) and Kalman Seinfeld. His father was of Hungarian Jewish descent, while Jerry's maternal grandparents, Salha and Selim Hosni, were Syrian Jewish immigrants (from Aleppo). He moved with his family, including sister Carolyn, to ...
68. Harvey Fierstein
Actor | Mrs. Doubtfire
Harvey Fierstein is an American actor, screenwriter and playwright who has been in several stage productions, films, shows and games. He voiced Yao in Mulan and Huaca in Kingdom of the Sun (prototype for The Emperor's New Groove). He also acted in Hairspray, Independence Day, Mrs. Doubtfire, Bros, ...
An openly gay playwright, actor, producer, director, etc. He has always been honest in his works especially his plays and his musical. For the last thirty years, he has done a lot in stage, film, and television.
69. Susan Stroman
Director | The Producers
Susan Stroman is the recipient of 5 Tony Awards, 2 Laurence Olivier Awards, 5 Drama Desk Awards, 8 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 2 Lucille Lortel Awards, a record 5 Fred Astaire Awards, and the George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Theater. She directed and choreographed "The ...
Another Broadway director of "The Producers" and others as well.
70. Yanni
Soundtrack | The Last Days of Chez Nous
Yanni was born on November 14, 1954 in Acroyali, Kalamata, Greece. He is a composer and producer, known for The Last Days of Chez Nous (1992), Treasure Hunt (1994) and Heart of Midnight (1988).
71. Denzel Washington
Actor | Fences
Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr. was born on December 28, 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York. He is the middle of three children of a beautician mother, Lennis, from Georgia, and a Pentecostal minister father, Denzel Washington, Sr., from Virginia. After graduating from high school, Denzel enrolled at ...
From St. Elsewhere to the film industry, he has always been the consummate professional actor in every role.
72. Tony Kushner
Writer | West Side Story
Tony Kushner's play "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes" earned him the Pulitzer Prize, among many other awards. His other acclaimed plays include "Slavs", "Homebody/Kabul" and "Caroline, or Change". He has collaborated with children's author and illustrator Maurice Sendak on ...
73. Diane Warren
Soundtrack | Armageddon
Diane was born in Van Nuys, California, USA on September 7, 1956 to parents David and Flora Warren. She become a prolific writer in her neighborhood, writing songs every day and eventually surpassing 1,000 of them. Her dad (an insurance salesman) took Diane to see publishers who said she had ...
74. Frances McDormand
Actress | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Frances Louise McDormand was born on June 23, 1957, in Gibson City, Illinois. She was adopted by Canadian-born parents Noreen Eloise (Nickleson), a nurse from Ontario, and Rev. Vernon Weir McDormand, a Disciples of Christ minister from Nova Scotia, who raised her in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. She ...
75. Anita Baker
Soundtrack | Blockers
Anita was born January 26, 1958 in Toledo, Ohio and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. She began singing in church choir when she was 12 and at 16 sang in a local group along with high school friends. In 1975 she successfully auditioned for the group Chapter 8, having been approached by bass player ...
76. Madonna
Soundtrack | A League of Their Own
The remarkable, hyper-ambitious Material Girl who never stops re-inventing herself, Madonna has sold over three hundred million records and CDs to adoring fans worldwide. Her film career, however, is another story. Her performances have consistently drawn scathing or laughable reviews from film ...
It's hard to imagine that she's still around after all these years but she's still doing concerts and has been keeping a lower profile than in the 1980s and 1990s. Maybe she's grown up and I've grown up with her music and style as well. There might be imitators out there but they'll only be one of her.
77. 'Weird Al' Yankovic
Soundtrack | UHF
Few would have guessed that "Weird Al" Yankovic - who as a shy, accordion-playing teenager got his start sending in homemade tapes to the Dr. Demento Radio Show - would go on to become a pop culture icon and the biggest-selling comedy recording artist of all time, with classic song and music video ...
78. Randy Travis
Soundtrack | Deep Impact
Randy Travis was born on May 4, 1959 in Marshville, North Carolina, USA. He is a music artist and actor, known for Deep Impact (1998), The Rainmaker (1997) and National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007). He has been married to Mary Davis Travis since March 21, 2015. He was previously married to ...
79. Deborah Voigt
Actress | The Metropolitan Opera HD Live
Deborah Voigt was born on August 4, 1960 in Wheeling, Illinois, USA. She is an actress, known for The Metropolitan Opera HD Live (2006), Great Performances at the Met (2007) and Elektra (1994).
A well-known and beloved American soprano singer, I expect that she'll get inducted in the near future.
80. Stephen Flaherty
Soundtrack | Anastasia
Stephen Flaherty was born on September 18, 1960 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a composer and writer, known for Anastasia (1997), High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008) and Once on This Island.
81. Wynton Marsalis
Soundtrack | A Star Is Born
Wynton Marsalis is widely recognized as the pre-eminent jazz artist of our time. He is hailed not only as a performer on the trumpet, but also as a music educator and a promoter of the history and culture of jazz. Marsalis is also an established artist in performing trumpet in works of classical ...
82. Jodie Foster
Actress | The Silence of the Lambs
Jodie Foster started her career at the age of two. For four years she made commercials and finally gave her debut as an actress in the TV series Mayberry R.F.D. (1968). In 1975 Jodie was offered the role of prostitute Iris Steensma in the movie Taxi Driver (1976). This role, for which she received ...
83. Neil LaBute
Writer | In the Company of Men
Acclaimed and highly discussed filmmaker Neil LaBute has made himself a force to be reckoned with and a name to watch. With his true-to-life cynical and self-absorbed characters and all-too-true social themes, he has firmly established himself as an unforgiving judge of the ugliest side of human ...
84. Sam Mendes
Producer | 1917
Samuel Alexander Mendes was born on August 1, 1965 in Reading, England, UK to parents James Peter Mendes, a retired university lecturer, and Valerie Helene Mendes, an author who writes children's books. Their marriage didn't last long, James divorced Sam's mother in 1970 when Sam was just 5-...
A film and stage director mostly. He is the artistic director of the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City.
85. Janet Jackson
Soundtrack | Poetic Justice
Janet Damita Jo Jackson was born on May 16, 1966 in Gary, Indiana, to Katherine Jackson (née Katherine Esther Scruse) and Joe Jackson, a musician. She is the youngest of ten children. Before her birth, her brothers formed a band later called The Jackson 5. She lived at home with her sisters, while ...
86. Tyler Perry
Writer | Diary of a Mad Black Woman
Perry was born and raised in New Orleans, to Willie Maxine (Campbell) and Emmitt Perry, Sr. His mother was a church-goer and took Perry along with her once a week. His father was a carpenter and they had a very strained and abusive relationship, which led Perry to suffer from depression as a ...
He's an actor, entrepreneur, writer, director, and producer. He's building an empire in Atlanta, Georgia.
87. Audra McDonald
Actress | Beauty and the Beast
Audra McDonald was born on July 3, 1970 in Berlin, Germany as Audra Ann McDonald. She's an actress and singer, best known for her many roles on Broadway. Her mother was a university administrator and her father was a high school principal stationed in West Berlin with the U.S. Army. She has a ...
88. Barbara Gaines
Actress | Another Saturday Night
Barbara Gaines is known for Another Saturday Night (1973), Pritzker Military Library Presents (2006) and The 62nd Annual Tony Awards (2008).
An actress, producer, founder and artistic director of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater in Chicago, Illinois for the last 30 years.
89. Emily Mann
Writer | Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
Emily Mann is known for Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years (1999), Great Performances (1971) and Saigon: Year of the Cat (1983).
She's based in Princeton, New Jersey at the McCarter Theatre. She's a talented director and artistic director in developing projects.
90. Barbara E. Robertson
Actress | The Straight Story
Barbara E. Robertson is known for The Straight Story (1999), Soul Survivors (2001) and Adventures in the Sin Bin (2012).
Winner of 7 Joseph Jefferson Awards!
91. Peggy Roeder
Actress | Groundhog Day
Peggy Roeder is known for Groundhog Day (1993), Eagle Eye (2008) and Road to Perdition (2002).
A well known Chicago actress
92. Mary Zimmerman
Self | The Metropolitan Opera HD Live
Mary Zimmerman is known for The Metropolitan Opera HD Live (2006), Invitation to World Literature (2010) and WEDU Arts Plus (2013).
A Chicago theatre director and stage adaptor of works as well.
93. Alene Robertson
Self | Gus: An American Icon
She was awarded the 1989 Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Actress in a Principal Role in a Musical for "Gypsy" at the Drury Lane Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
9 time Joseph Jefferson Award Winner out of 19 nominations.
94. Robert Falls
Writer | Aida
Robert Falls is known for Aida, SubUrbia (1996) and Death of a Salesman (2000).
95. Jeanine Tesori
Soundtrack | West Side Story
Jeanine Tesori was born on November 10, 1961 in Port Washington, New York, USA. She is a composer and actress, known for West Side Story (2021), Nights in Rodanthe (2008) and tick, tick... BOOM! (2021).
96. Jon Jory
Director | Great Performances
Jon Jory was born on June 1, 1937 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a director and actor, known for Great Performances (1971), Shannon (1961) and The 34th Annual Tony Awards (1980). He has been married to Marcia Dixcy since March 8, 1987. They have one child. He was previously married to Lee ...
Top Theatre Director and longtime associated with the Actors Theatre of Louisville.
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