The Best Actors Ever - 1920s

1. Buster Keaton

Joseph Frank Keaton was born on October 4, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas, to Joe Keaton and Myra Keaton. Joe and Myra were Vaudevillian comedians with a popular, ever-changing variety act, giving Keaton an eclectic and interesting upbringing. In the earliest days on stage, they traveled with a medicine ...

5628 points

2. John Gilbert

Actor | The Big Parade

John Gilbert was born into a show-business family - his father was a comic with the Pringle Stock Company. By 1915 John was an extra with Thomas H. Ince's company and a lead player by 1917. In those days he was assistant director, actor or screenwriter. He also tried his hand at directing. By 1919 ...

3413 points

3. Lon Chaney

Actor | He Who Gets Slapped

Although his parents were deaf, Leonidas Chaney became an actor and also owner of a theatre company (together with his brother John). He made his debut at the movies in 1912, and his filmography is vast. Lon Chaney was especially famous for his horror parts in movies like e.g. Quasimodo in The ...

3133 points

4. Charles Chaplin

Writer | The Great Dictator

Considered to be one of the most pivotal stars of the early days of Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin lived an interesting life both in his films and behind the camera. He is most recognized as an icon of the silent film era, often associated with his popular character, the Little Tramp; the man with the ...

2714 points

5. Harold Lloyd

Actor | Safety Last!

Born in Burchard, Nebraska, USA to Elizabeth Fraser and J. Darcie 'Foxy' Lloyd who fought constantly and soon divorced (at the time a rare event), Harold Clayton Lloyd was nominally educated in Denver and San Diego high schools and received his stage training at the School of Dramatic Art (San ...

2635 points

6. Emil Jannings

Actor | The Last Command

His real name was Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz, and in the early 1900s, he was already working in the theater under Max Reinhardt's company. Important movies where he defined himself as a convincing actor were Passion (1919) and Quo Vadis? (1924), followed by The Last Laugh (1924) (aka The Last ...

2504 points

7. Snitz Edwards

Actor | The Phantom of the Opera

Snitz Edwards was born Edward Neumann in Hungary. Married first wife in 1889 and was divorced some time later. Although he was almost 20 years older than his wife, Edwards married Eleanor Taylor, an actress from Boston, in 1906. They had three children, Cricket (b. 1906), Evelyn (b. 1914) and ...

2443 points

8. Fritz Rasp

Actor | Metropolis

Fritz Heinrich Rasp was the thirteenth child of a county surveyor. He was schooled from 1908-1909 at the Theaterschule Otto Königin in Munich where, due to a speech impediment, Rasp developed a Frankish dialect. Rasp debuted on the stage in 1909, as Amandus in Max Halbe's "Skandalstück Jugend" as ...

1952 points

9. Alfred Abel

Actor | Metropolis

This elegant actor of the golden age of German cinema appeared in several masterpieces, before the cameras of such inspired geniuses as Lang, Lubitsch and Murnau. Vocation had come rather late in his life, though. Abel was indeed already 33 when he made his first film. Beforehand, he had been a ...

1839 points

10. Conrad Veidt

Actor | Casablanca

Conrad Veidt attended the Sophiengymnasium (secondary school) in the Schoeneberg district of Berlin, and graduated without a diploma in 1912, last in his class of 13. Conrad liked animals, theater, cinema, fast cars, pastries, thunderstorms, gardening, swimming and golfing. He disliked heights, ...

1830 points

11. Douglas Fairbanks

Actor | The Thief of Bagdad

Douglas Fairbanks was born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman in Denver, Colorado, to Ella Adelaide (nee Marsh) and Hezekiah Charles Ullman, an attorney and native of Pennsylvania, who was a captain for the Union forces during the Civil War. Fairbanks' paternal grandparents were German Jewish immigrants, ...

1779 points

12. Werner Krauss

Actor | Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari

Werner Krauss was born on June 23, 1884 in Gestungshausen, Sonnefeld, Bavaria, Germany. He was an actor, known for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Paracelsus (1943) and Robert Koch: The Battle Against Death (1939). He was married to Liselotte Graf, Maria Bard and Paula Saenger. He died on ...

1613 points

13. Rudolf Klein-Rogge

Actor | Metropolis

During the heyday of German silent cinema, Rudolf Klein-Rogge was the prototype for the master criminal, the irredeemable arch villain or mad scientist. Born in Cologne, he served as a cadet in a Prussian military academy before finishing his matriculation. He then began to attend acting classes ...

1522 points

14. George Fawcett

Actor | His Children's Children

A grand, stoic presence of the silent screen, George Fawcett was an immensely popular stage thespian both here and in London at the turn of the century. During his heyday his eloquence rivaled that of both Lionel Barrymore and John Barrymore.

Born on August 25, 1860, in Alexandria Virginia, Fawcett ...

1501 points

15. Antonin Artaud

Actor | La passion de Jeanne d'Arc

Antonin Artaud was born on September 4, 1896 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. He was an actor and writer, known for The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Lucrezia Borgia (1935) and Napoleon (1927). He died on March 4, 1948 in Ivry-sur-Seine, Val-de-Marne, France.

1486 points

16. George Siegmann

Actor | The Birth of a Nation

George Siegmann was born on February 8, 1882 in New York, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Birth of a Nation (1915), Should She Obey? (1917) and The Three Musketeers (1921). He was married to Maude Darby. He died on June 22, 1928 in Hollywood, California, USA.

1462 points

17. Karl Dane

Actor | The Big Parade

Born Rasmus Karl Therkelsen Gottlieb in Copenhagen, Denmark, on October 12, 1886 the future Karl Dane had a rough childhood. His father was an alcoholic and spendthrift. At a young age his parents divorced. To escape his unhappy home he took a great interest in the arts, particularly puppeteering (...

1458 points

18. Lars Hanson

Actor | Gösta Berlings saga

Lars Hanson was born on July 26, 1886 in Gothenburg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden. He was an actor, known for The Saga of Gösta Berling (1924), Captain Salvation (1927) and The Scarlet Letter (1926). He was married to Karin Molander. He died on April 8, 1965 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, ...

1451 points

19. Ernest Torrence

Actor | Steamboat Bill, Jr.

He was the man you loved to hiss. This towering (6' 4"), highly imposing character star with cold, hollow, beady eyes and a huge, protruding snout would go on to become one of the silent screen's finest arch villains. Born Ernest Thayson Torrence-Thompson on June 26, 1878, in Edinburgh, Scotland, ...

1395 points

20. Wallace Beery

Actor | A Date with Judy

In 1902, 16-year-old Wallace Beery joined the Ringling Brothers Circus as an assistant to the elephant trainer. He left two years later after a leopard clawed his arm. Beery next went to New York, where he found work in musical variety shows. He became a leading man in musicals and appeared on ...

1337 points

21. Tully Marshall

Actor | Scarface

Tully Marshall intended to pursue a legal career, until he tried a dramatic course at Santa Clara University. He started stage work in San Francisco in 1883 and moved to New York in 1887, where he played in various roles on Broadway and on the road. After a few small parts in films he was given the...

1319 points

22. Gustav Fröhlich

Actor | Metropolis

Gustav Fröhlich was born on March 21, 1902 in Hanover, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for Metropolis (1927), Leb' wohl, Christina (1945) and Seine Tochter ist der Peter (1955). He was married to Maria Hajek and Gitta Alpar. He died on December 22, 1987 in Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland.

1259 points

23. Aleksandr Antonov

Actor | Bronenosets Potyomkin

Aleksandr Antonov was born on February 13, 1898 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was an actor, known for Battleship Potemkin (1925), Dvenadtsataya noch (1955) and The Country Bride (1938). He died on November 23, 1962 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].

1227 points

24. Rudolph Valentino

Actor | The Eagle

Hollywood's original Latin Lover, a term that was invented for Rudolph Valentino by Hollywood moguls. Alla Nazimova's friend Natacha Rambova (nee Winifred Hudnut) became romantically involved with Rudy and they lived together in her bungalow from 1921 (during the filming of Camille) until they ...

1207 points

25. George O'Brien

Actor | Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

George was the son of the San Francisco Chief of Police who became a college athlete. He was the Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the Pacific Fleet during World War I. In the early 1920s, George wound up in Hollywood where he worked as a stuntman and part time actor. In 1924, Director John Ford ...

1142 points

26. Max Schreck

Actor | Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens

Max Schreck was born in Berlin. He worked in an apprenticeship until his father's death before enrolling into a school for acting. He toured the country with his peers and was a member of several theaters until he became a part of Max Reinhardt's group of innovative German actors. He played mostly ...

1142 points

27. Carl Miller

Actor | The Kid

Carl Miller was born on August 9, 1894 in Iowa Park, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Kid (1921), The Lover of Camille (1924) and A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate (1923). He died on January 20, 1979 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

1127 points

28. Gustav von Wangenheim

Actor | Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens

Gustav von Wangenheim was a German actor, film director, and screenwriter from Wiesbaden. He is mostly remembered for playing the character Hutter in the classic horror film "Nosferatu" (1921). His character was based on the character of Jonathan Harker in the novel "Dracula" (1897) by Bram Stoker.

...

1105 points

29. J. Farrell MacDonald

Actor | Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

J. Farrell MacDonald was born on April 14, 1875 in Waterbury, Connecticut, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Sunrise (1927), My Darling Clementine (1946) and The Great Lie (1941). He was married to Edith Bostwick. He died on August 2, 1952 in Hollywood, California, USA.

1099 points

30. Hobart Bosworth

Actor | The Sea Wolf

Hobart Bosworth--pioneering movie director, writer, producer and actor--was born Hobart Van Zandt Bosworth on August 11, 1867, in Marietta, OH. He was a direct descendant of Miles Standish and John and Priscilla Alden on his father's side and of New York's Van Zandt family, the first Dutch settlers...

1068 points

31. Vladimir Fogel

Actor | Po zakonu

Vladimir Fogel was born in 1902 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was an actor, known for By the Law (1926), The Adventures of the Three Reporters (1926) and Chess Fever (1925). He died on June 8, 1929 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia].

1066 points

32. Gustav von Seyffertitz

Actor | Sherlock Holmes

Gustav von Seyffertitz was born on August 4, 1863 in Haimhausen, Dachau, Bavaria [now Bavaria, Germany]. He was an actor and director, known for Sherlock Holmes (1922), Son of Frankenstein (1939) and The Wizard (1927). He was married to Katharina Hoffmann, Eugenie von Mink, Toni Creutzburg, Nelly ...

1020 points

33. Jackie Coogan

Actor | Oliver Twist

Jackie Coogan was born into a family of vaudevillians; his father was a dancer and his mother had been a child star. On the stage by age 4, Jackie was touring at age 5 with his family in Los Angeles, California.

While performing on the stage, he was spotted by Charles Chaplin, who then and there ...

1020 points

34. Ramon Novarro

Actor | Ben-Hur A Tale of the Christ

Ramon Novarro was born José Ramón Gil Samaniego on February 6, 1899 in Durango, Mexico, to Leonor (Gavilan) and Dr. Mariano N. Samaniego Siqueiros, a prosperous dentist. Ramon and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1913, as refugees from the Mexican Revolution. After stints as a ballet dancer, ...

1019 points

35. Mack Swain

Actor | The Gold Rush

Mack Swain was born in 1876 and soon became a talented vaudevillian. In 1913 he was hired by Mack Sennett and appeared in a few Mabel Normand pictures until a year later he became even bigger when Charlie Chaplin arrived at the Keystone Studio. Swain later created a character by the name of Ambrose...

1012 points

36. Theodor Loos

Actor | M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder

Theodor Loos was born on May 18, 1883 in Zwingenberg, Hesse, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for M (1931), Metropolis (1927) and Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924). He died on June 27, 1954 in Stuttgart, Germany.

1010 points

37. Brandon Hurst

Actor | Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Brandon Hurst was born on November 30, 1866 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and Love (1927). He died on July 15, 1947 in Hollywood, California, USA.

994 points

38. Sam De Grasse

Actor | The Man Who Laughs

Born in Canada, Sam De Grasse entered films in 1912 and specialized in playing thoroughly disreputable, nasty, slimy bad guys. Douglas Fairbanks was so impressed with De Grasse's villainy that he used the actor in several of his more memorable productions. He wasn't the only member of the De Grasse ...

992 points

39. Harold Goodwin

Actor | All Quiet on the Western Front

Harold Goodwin was born on December 1, 1902 in Peoria, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), The Better 'Ole (1926) and Movie Crazy (1932). He died on July 12, 1987 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.

969 points

40. Alexander Granach

Actor | Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens

Alexander Granach was born in the region of Galizia, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire (today Ukraine). Given the name Jessaja Szajko Gronish, he was one of a dozen children of a poor Jewish family eking out a living, first in a farming village, later in a series of small towns and ...

960 points

41. Edward Connelly

Actor | The Devil

American character actor of silent films, Edward Connelly, a native New Yorker, was a newspaperman before he became an actor, being a reporter for the New York Sunl. At 25 he joined a theatrical stock company in Kansas City and appeared subsequently on Broadway in such plays as "Shore Acres," "The ...

954 points

42. Marc McDermott

Actor | He Who Gets Slapped

Marc McDermott was born Marcus Patrick McDermott in Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia, on July 24, 1871. His father Patrick James McDermott and mother Annie Massey McDermott were born in Ireland, and Marc later became an English citizen when he moved to London. His younger sister May, was born ...

950 points

43. Nils Asther

Actor | The Man in Half Moon Street

Nils Asther was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1897 and raised in Malmö, Sweden, by his wealthy Swedish parents. After attending the Royal Dramatic Theater School in Stockholm, he began his stage career in Copenhagen. His film debut came in 1916 when the director Mauritz Stiller cast him in the ...

938 points

44. Kurt Gerron

Actor | Der blaue Engel

Gerron fled to France (because he was Jewish), then settled in Amsterdam in 1933. He was arrested by the SS in 1943 and was sent to Theresienstadt in 1944 to direct a staged documentary intended to persuade world public opinion that Jews were well treated in concentration camps. He made a film ...

936 points

45. Brooks Benedict

Actor | Why Girls Go Back Home

Brooks Benedict was born on February 6, 1896 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Why Girls Go Back Home (1926), Speedy (1928) and Orchids and Ermine (1927). He died on January 1, 1968 in Houston, Texas, USA.

923 points

46. Charles Farrell

Actor | 7th Heaven

Popular Hollywood leading man of late silents and early talkies. He is best remembered for his teaming with Janet Gaynor in 12 screen romances between 1927 and 1934. He retired from films in the early 1940s, but TV audiences of the 1950s would see him as Gale Storm's widower dad in the popular ...

910 points

47. Heinrich George

Actor | Metropolis

Heinrich George was born on October 9, 1893 in Stettin, Pomerania, Germany [now Szczecin, Zachodniopomorskie, Poland]. He was an actor and producer, known for Metropolis (1927), Burning Hearts (1945) and Die Degenhardts (1944). He was married to Berta Drews. He died on September 25, 1946 in Soviet ...

865 points

48. Victor Sjöström

Actor | Smultronstället

Victor Sjöström was born on September 20, 1879, and is the undisputed father of Swedish film, ranking as one of the masters of world cinema. His influence lives on in the work of Ingmar Bergman and all those directors, both Swedish and international, influenced by his work and the works of ...

847 points

49. Tore Svennberg

Actor | Körkarlen

Tore Svennberg was born on February 28, 1858 in Stockholm, Sweden. He was an actor, known for The Phantom Carriage (1921), A Woman's Face (1938) and Klostret i Sendomir (1920). He died on May 8, 1941 in Stockholm, Sweden.

847 points

50. Maurice Schutz

Actor | La passion de Jeanne d'Arc

Maurice Schutz was born on August 4, 1866 in Paris, France. He was an actor and assistant director, known for The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Vampyr (1932) and Cyrano de Bergerac (1923). He died on March 22, 1955 in Clichy-la-Garenne, Hauts-de-Seine, France.

844 points

51. Michel Simon

Actor | Le quai des brumes

The son of a sausage-maker, Michel Simon was conscripted into the Swiss Army at the start of World War I, but was thrown out through a combination of tuberculosis and general insubordination. He was variously a boxer, photographer, general handyman and right-wing anarchist, finally becoming a stage...

844 points

52. Hans Heinrich von Twardowski

Actor | Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari

Hans Heinrich von Twardowski was born on May 5, 1898 in Stettin, Pomerania, Germany [now Szczecin, Zachodniopomorskie, Poland]. He was an actor and writer, known for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Hangmen Also Die! (1943) and Crown of Thorns (1923). He died on November 19, 1958 in New York ...

839 points

53. Gösta Ekman

Actor | Faust: Eine deutsche Volkssage

Generally spoken of as Swedish theater's most legendary stage actor, Gösta Ekman enjoyed a prolific stage career during his short life, becoming the first real star of Swedish theater. His boyish good looks attracted both sexes, helping to create a massive cult following and elevating him to the ...

830 points

54. William Dieterle

Actor | Faust: Eine deutsche Volkssage

Born in Ludwigshafen, Germany, Wilhelm Dieterle was the youngest of nine children of parents Jacob and Berthe Dieterle. They lived in poverty, and when he was old enough to work, young Wilhelm earned money as a carpenter and a scrap dealer. He dreamed of better things, though, and theater caught ...

830 points

55. Richard Arlen

Actor | Island of Lost Souls

During World War I, Richard Arlen served in the Royal Canadian Flying Corps as a pilot, but he never saw combat. After the war he drifted round and eventually wound up in Los Angeles, where he got a job as a motorcycle messenger at a film laboratory. When he crashed into the gates of Paramount ...

829 points

56. T. Roy Barnes

Actor | It's a Gift

T. Roy Barnes was born on August 11, 1880 in Lincolnshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for It's a Gift (1934), Scratch My Back (1920) and Sally (1929). He was married to Blanche Berner, Mamie McNab and Bessie Crawford (actress). He died on March 30, 1937 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, ...

822 points

57. Bernard Siegel

Actor | Laugh, Clown, Laugh

Bernard Siegel was born on April 19, 1868 in Lemberg, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Lviv, Ukraine]. He was an actor, known for Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928), Beau Geste (1926) and The Wolf (1914). He died on July 9, 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

819 points

58. James Murray

Actor | The Crowd

Sometimes the early tragic death of a Hollywood actor can lead to immortality, as in the cases of icons James Dean and Marilyn Monroe--and, to a somewhat lesser extent, little Bobby Driscoll, who died a Skid Row bum in the streets, a victim of drug addiction. Not so for actor James Murray, whose ...

818 points

59. Bert Roach

Actor | So Long Letty

Chubby silent film comic Bert Roach began on the New York stage at the age of 17. In 1911, he headlined in the two-act musical farce Louisiana Lou and then spent several years in stock as a lead tenor. Two years later, he made his screen debut at Keystone in Mack Sennett's Fatty's Magic Pants (1914)...

818 points

60. Robert Ober

Actor | The Big Parade

Robert Ober was born on March 10, 1881 in Bunker Hill, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Big Parade (1925), Across the Atlantic (1928) and The Woman Racket (1930). He was married to Mabel Taliaferro, Maude Fulton and Ruth Boyd. He died on December 7, 1950 in New York City, ...

811 points

61. Sergey Komarov

Actor | Miss Mend

Sergey Komarov was born on March 2, 1891 in Vyazniki, Vyazniki uyezd, Vladimir Governorate, Russian Empire [now Vyaznikovsky District, Vladimir Oblast, Russia]. He was an actor and director, known for The Adventures of the Three Reporters (1926), Cosmic Journey (1936) and Potseluy Meri Pikford (...

809 points

62. Nigel De Brulier

Actor | Ben-Hur A Tale of the Christ

British-born Nigel De Brulier's long career began in silent films, but unlike many performers of that era, he managed to successfully transition into sound films. His authoritarian and somewhat regal bearing was perfect for the many bishops, cardinals, knights and other authority figures he often ...

807 points

63. Bert Woodruff

Actor | Speedy

Bert Woodruff was the son of non-professionals Hannah R. and William A. Woodruff of Peoria, Illinois. He was married to Hattie M. Sprague. He entered the theatrical profession in 1876 in Minstrels and toured for two years as a Minstrel. Toured on the stage from 1878 until 1882, and then entered ...

806 points

64. Tom McGuire

Actor | Steamboat Bill, Jr.

Tom McGuire was born on September 1, 1873 in Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), City Girl (1930) and The Reckless Age (1924). He died on May 6, 1954 in Hollywood, California, USA.

803 points

65. Aleksandr Chistyakov

Actor | Konets Sankt-Peterburga

Aleksandr Chistyakov was born in 1880. He was an actor, known for Konets Sankt-Peterburga (1927), Salamander (1928) and Veseley nas net (1940). He died on December 31, 1942.

786 points

66. James A. Marcus

Actor | Sadie Thompson

James A. Marcus was born on January 21, 1867 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Sadie Thompson (1928), The Eagle (1925) and Oliver Twist (1922). He was married to Lillian Hathaway. He died on October 15, 1937 in Hollywood, California, USA.

768 points

67. Fritz Kortner

Actor | Die Büchse der Pandora

Fritz Kortner was born on May 12, 1892 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was an actor and director, known for Pandora's Box (1929), Somewhere in the Night (1946) and The Hands of Orlac (1924). He was married to Johanna Hofer. He died on July 22, 1970 in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany.

731 points

68. William Haines

Actor | Show People

Born in Staunton, Virginia, William Haines ran off to live life on his own terms while still in his teens, moving to New York City and becoming friends with such later Hollywood luminaries as designer Orry-Kelly and Cary Grant. His film career started slowly, but by the end of the silent era he was...

717 points

69. Jim Mason

Actor | A Race for Life

Jim Mason was born on February 3, 1889 in Paris, France. He was an actor, known for A Race for Life (1928), The Penalty (1920) and All Faces West (1929). He was married to Lillian Ericson. He died on November 7, 1959 in Hollywood, California, USA.

699 points

70. Montagu Love

Actor | Gunga Din

Montague Love - certainly an intriguing name - but his own - started his working life as a newspaper man in London. His primary expertise centered on being a field illustrator and cartoonist who covered the Boer War (1899-1902). His realistic battle sketches gained him popularity among readers, but...

662 points

71. Nikolay Batalov

Actor | Aelita

Nikolai Petrovich Batalov was born on December 6, 1899, in Moscow, Russia, into the family of a clerk. From 1910-1915 he studied at the Moscow Mercantile School named after the Czar Aleksander III. His interest in theatre and literature was supported by his grandmother, who encouraged his voracious...

653 points

72. Lewis Stone

Actor | The Mask of Fu Manchu

By the time that he was 20, Lewis Stone had turned prematurely grey. He enlisted to fight in the Spanish American War and when he returned, he returned to be a writer. This turned to acting and he began to appear in films during the middle teens. His career was again interrupted by war as he served...

651 points

73. Paul Hörbiger

Actor | The Third Man

Paul Hörbiger was born on April 29, 1894 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. He was an actor and producer, known for The Third Man (1949), Three Girls Around Schubert (1936) and The Gypsy Baron (1954). He was married to Josefa Gettke. He died on March 5, 1981 in Vienna, Austria.

650 points

74. Adolphe Menjou

Actor | Paths of Glory

The words "suave" and "debonair" became synonymous with the name Adolphe Menjou in Hollywood, both on- and off-camera. The epitome of knavish, continental charm and sartorial opulence, Menjou, complete with trademark waxy black mustache, evolved into one of Hollywood's most distinguished of artists...

649 points

75. Roscoe Karns

Actor | His Girl Friday

On stage since age 15, Roscoe Karns parlayed his machine-gun delivery and street-wise demeanor (although many thought of him as a New Yorker, he was actually from San Bernardino, California) into character roles in dozens of films from the 1920s to the 1960s. His peak period, though, was in the ...

645 points

76. Gibson Gowland

Actor | Greed

Gibson Gowland was born on January 4, 1877 in Spennymoor, Durham, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Greed (1924), Blind Husbands (1919) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). He was married to Rachelle Marie Gertrude Dervaes (pianist/actress) and Sylvia Andrew. He died on September 9, 1951 in ...

644 points

77. George Bancroft

Actor | Stagecoach

George Bancroft was raised in Philadelphia and attended high school at Tomes Institute (Philadelphia). He won an impressive appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and graduated as a commissioned officer. He served in the Navy for the prescribed period of required service but no...

628 points

78. Jean Hersholt

Actor | Greed

If ever there was a Great Dane in Hollywood it was Jean Hersholt - and one of its great hearts as well. He was from a well-known Danish stage and entertainment family that had toured throughout Europe performing with young Jean as an essential cast member. He graduated from the Copenhagen Art ...

625 points

79. Robert Edeson

Actor | The Prisoner of Zenda

A noted stage actor at the turn of the 20th century, Robert Edeson began his film career working with Cecil B. DeMille on The Call of the North (1914), then moved on to Vitagraph where he remained for the rest of the teens. In the 1920s he returned to work for De Mille, playing the man-of-the-world...

586 points

80. Eugene Pallette

Actor | The Adventures of Robin Hood

This eminently recognizable, bulbous, beetle-browed character actor left Culver Military Academy and began acting in repertory companies before becoming a Hollywood extra and stunt man. Eugene's father had also been a thespian at one time but eventually ended his career as an insurance salesman. In...

584 points

81. Roy D'Arcy

Actor | La Bohème

Roy D'Arcy was born Roy Giusti in San Francisco in 1894 but educated in Europe. For a while he traveled with a band of gypsies throughout the Continent, but left to study art and painting in Paris. After several years of traveling and various business ventures in South America and Asia he returned ...

578 points

82. Lawrence Gray

Actor | Spring Is Here

Gray was known in the film business as a dependable "player" and to the public as a doting son. Throughout his Hollywood career he lived with his parents or his mother until his marriage in 1935. Built the home he shared with his parents, Henry and Mamie Gray. Henry died in 1932, Larry continued to...

578 points

83. Albert Steinrück

Actor | Asphalt

Albert Steinrück was born on May 20, 1872 in Wetterburg, Bad Arolsen, Hesse, Germany. He was an actor, known for Asphalt (1929), Helen of Troy (1924) and Der Richter von Zalamea (1920). He died on February 10, 1929 in Berlin, Germany.

577 points

84. Alan Hale

Actor | The Adventures of Robin Hood

Alan Hale decided on a film career after his attempt at becoming an opera singer didn't pan out. He quickly became much in demand as a supporting actor, starred in several films for Cecil B. DeMille and directed others for him. With the advent of sound, Hale played leads in a few films but soon ...

573 points

85. Ronald Colman

Actor | A Double Life

British leading man of primarily American films, one of the great stars of the Golden Age. Raised in Ealing, the son of a successful silk merchant, he attended boarding school in Sussex, where he discovered amateur theatre. He intended to attend Cambridge and become an engineer, but his father's ...

558 points

86. Paul Richter

Actor | Der Hexer

Paul Richter was born on April 1, 1895 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was an actor, known for The Ringer (1932), Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922) and Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924). He was married to Elisabeth Hölzl and Aud Egede-Nissen. He died on December 30, 1961 in Vienna, Austria.

545 points

87. Uno Henning

Actor | Damen med kameliorna

Uno Henning was born on May 11, 1895 in Stockholm, Sweden. He was an actor, known for Damen med kameliorna (1925), The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927) and Ödets man (1924). He was married to Ragni Frisell. He died on May 16, 1970 in Stockholm, Sweden.

542 points

88. Henry B. Walthall

Actor | The Birth of a Nation

Henry B. Walthall was a respected stage actor who became a favorite of pioneering film director D.W. Griffith. Born in 1878 in Alabama, Walthall embarked on a law career but quit law school in 1898 to enlist in the US Army in order to fight in the Spanish-American War. Returning from the war he ...

503 points

89. Johnny Mack Brown

Actor | Valley of Fear

An All-American halfback while attending the University of Alabama, Johnny Mack Brown chose the silver screen over the green grass of the football field when he graduated. Signed to a contract with MGM in 1926, Brown debuted in Slide, Kelly, Slide (1927) with William Haines in a film about - ...

495 points

90. Fred Kohler

Actor | The River of Romance

Prolific "heavy" in American films of the silent and early talkie eras. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Kohler left home as a teenager, working various jobs while trying to establish a career in vaudeville. During this time, according to his son, actor Fred Kohler Jr., Kohler worked in a mine ...

441 points

91. Gary Cooper

Actor | High Noon

Born to Alice Cooper and Charles Cooper. Gary attended school at Dunstable school England, Helena Montana and Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa (then called Iowa College). His first stage experience was during high school and college. Afterwards, he worked as an extra for one year before getting a ...

439 points

92. Clive Brook

Actor | Cavalcade

Born in London, England to Charlotte Mary (opera singer) and George Alfred Brook. He was educated privately. Stage experience included: "Oliver Twist", "Voysey Inheritence", "If I were King", "Importance of Being Ernest", Fair and Warmer", "Over Sunday", "Clothes and the WOman", and many others. ...

401 points

93. Willy Fritsch

Actor | Frau im Mond

Willy Fritsch was born on January 27, 1901 in Kattowitz, Upper Silesia, Germany [now Katowice, Slaskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Woman in the Moon (1929), Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Amphitryon (1935). He was married to Dinah Grace. He died on July 13, 1973 in Hamburg, Germany.

401 points

94. Gustav Diessl

Actor | Die Büchse der Pandora

Gustav Diessl was an Austrian artist, film and stage actor. He studied art, painting and sculpture in Vienna. From 1921 he worked in Berlin as an actor for G.W. Pabst in his silent film, "Abgründe" (1928). In 1929 he played in The White Hell of Pitz Palu (1929) ("The White Hell of Pitz Palu"). ...

401 points

95. Bernhard Goetzke

Actor | Salamandra

Bernhard Goetzke was born on June 5, 1884 in Danzig, West Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia, Germany [now Gdansk, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Salamander (1928), Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922) and Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924). He died on October 7, 1964 in West Berlin, West Germany.

400 points

96. Francis X. Bushman Jr.

Actor | The Three Musketeers

Francis X. Bushman Jr. was born on May 1, 1903 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor, known for The Three Musketeers (1933), Spell of the Circus (1930) and Dangerous Traffic (1926). He was married to Beatrice Margaret Danti. He died on April 16, 1978 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

399 points

97. Hans Adalbert Schlettow

Actor | Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler

Hans Adalbert Schlettow was born on June 11, 1887 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He was an actor, known for Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922), Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924) and Volga Volga (1928). He died on April 30, 1945 in Berlin, Germany.

397 points

98. Semyon Svashenko

Actor | Shturmovye nochi

Semyon Svashenko was born on September 1, 1904 in Dergachi, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire [now Derhachi, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine]. He was an actor, known for Shturmovye nochi (1931), Quiet Flows the Don (1957) and Tikhiy Don II (1958). He died on November 23, 1969 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now ...

397 points

99. Lloyd Ingraham

Actor | Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

Lloyd Ingraham was born on November 30, 1874 in Rochelle, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Intolerance (1916), At the Sign of the Jack O'Lantern (1922) and Man's Desire (1919). He was married to Maude May Plopper and Blanche M. Stoddard. He died on April 4, 1956 in Woodland ...

394 points

100. Hans Albers

Soundtrack | Soul Kitchen

Life companion was the actress Hansi Burg. Their relationship started in 1925. They separated in 1935 due to the pressure of the German Nazi government. In 1938 she went into exile in Switzerland (later London). Shortly after this she married the Norwegian Erich Blydt. Burg returned to Germany and ...

394 points