The Ten Commandments 1956 premiere

1. Charlton Heston

Actor | Ben-Hur

With features chiseled in stone, and renowned for playing a long list of historical figures, particularly in Biblical epics, the tall, well-built and ruggedly handsome Charlton Heston was one of Hollywood's top leading men of his prime and remained active in front of movie cameras for over sixty ...

2. Yul Brynner

Actor | The King and I

Exotic leading man of American films, famed as much for his completely bald head as for his performances, Yul Brynner masked much of his life in mystery and outright lies designed to tease people he considered gullible. It was not until the publication of the books "Yul: The Man Who Would Be King" ...

3. Anne Baxter

Actress | All About Eve

Anne Baxter was born in Michigan City, Indiana, on May 7, 1923. She was the daughter of a salesman, Kenneth Stuart Baxter, and his wife, Catherine Dorothy (Wright), who herself was the daughter of Frank Lloyd Wright, the world-renowned architect. Anne was a young girl of 11 when her parents moved ...

4. Yvonne De Carlo

Actress | The Ten Commandments

Yvonne De Carlo was born Margaret Yvonne Middleton on September 1, 1922 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was three when her father abandoned the family. Her mother turned to waitressing in a restaurant to make ends meet--a rough beginning for an actress who would, one day, be one of ...

5. Bob Morgan

Actor | La spada e la croce

Bob Morgan was born on November 14, 1916 in Mt. Carmel, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for La spada e la croce (1958), The Big Country (1958) and The Boss (1956). He was married to Yvonne De Carlo. He died on February 22, 1999 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.

6. Cecil B. DeMille

Producer | The Ten Commandments

His parents Henry C. DeMille and Beatrice DeMille were playwrights. His father died when he was 12, and his mother supported the family by opening a school for girls and a theatrical company. Too young to enlist in the Spanish-American War, Cecil followed his brother William C. de Mille to the New ...

7. Cecilia de Mille

Actress | What's His Name

Cecilia de Mille was born on October 5, 1908 in Orange, New Jersey, USA. She was an actress, known for What's His Name (1914). She was married to Joseph Wesley Harper and Francis Calvin (railroad consultant). She died on June 23, 1984 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

8. Lydia Clarke

Actress | The Atomic City

Lydia Clarke came to Chicago in 1941, at the age of 18, and graduated from Northwestern University in 1945. She worked in summer stock at the Belfry Theater in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, and with the University Players at Northwestern. After graduating, she had four years of professional experience ...

9. Edward G. Robinson

Actor | Double Indemnity

Emanuel Goldenberg arrived in the United States from Romania at age ten, and his family moved into New York's Lower East Side. He took up acting while attending City College, abandoning plans to become a rabbi or lawyer. The American Academy of Dramatic Arts awarded him a scholarship, and he began ...

10. Martha Scott

Actress | The Ten Commandments

Martha Ellen Scott was born in Jamesport, Missouri, to Letha (McKinley) and Walter Alva Scott, an engineer and garage owner. She entered films in the early 1940s, following an initial appearance in stock. Her first film appearance was Our Town (1940), playing the same character as she played on the...

11. Mel Powell

Actor | A Song Is Born

Mel Powell was born on February 12, 1923 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for A Song Is Born (1948), The Lonely Night (1954) and American Frontier (1953). He was married to Martha Scott. He died on April 24, 1998 in Van Nuys, California, USA.

12. William Holden

Actor | Stalag 17

Billy Wilder proclaimed William Holden to be "the ideal motion picture actor". For almost four decades, the handsome, affable 'Golden Holden' was among Hollywood's most durable and engaging stars. He was born William Franklin Beedle Jr., one of three sons to a high school English teacher, Mary ...

13. Brenda Marshall

Actress | The Sea Hawk

This alluring hazel-eyed 1940s leading lady was born Ardis Ankerson on the Philippine island of Negros, one of two siblings. Her father was Otto Peter Ankerson who held an important position as overseer of a large sugar plantation. Following the premature death of her mother in 1925, Ardis and her ...

14. John Wayne

Actor | True Grit

John Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison in Iowa, to Mary Alberta (Brown) and Clyde Leonard Morrison, a pharmacist. He was of English, Scottish, Ulster-Scots, and Irish ancestry.

Clyde developed a lung condition that required him to move his family from Iowa to the warmer climate of southern ...

15. Pilar Wayne

Actress | Sabotear en la selva

Pilar Wayne was born on September 3, 1928 in Peru. She is an actress, known for Sabotear en la selva (1953), Hollywood Greats (1977) and Live! On City Line (1987). She was previously married to Jesse L. Upchurch, Stephan Steward, John Wayne and Richard Weldy.

16. Tony Curtis

Actor | Some Like It Hot

Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz, the eldest of three children of Helen (Klein) and Emanuel Schwartz, Jewish immigrants from Hungary. Curtis himself admits that while he had almost no formal education, he was a student of the "school of hard knocks" and learned from a young age that the only ...

17. Janet Leigh

Actress | Psycho

Janet Leigh was the only child of a couple who often moved from town to town. Living in apartments, Janet was a bright child who skipped several grades and finished high school when she was 15. A lonely child, she would spend much of her time at movie theaters. She was a student, studying music and...

18. Barney Balaban

Barney Balaban was born in 1887. He was a producer. He died in 1971.

19. Olive Deering

Actress | The Ten Commandments

Olive Deering was born on October 11, 1918 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Ten Commandments (1956), Samson and Delilah (1949) and Shirley Temple's Storybook (1958). She was married to Leo Penn. She died on March 22, 1986 in Manhattan, New York City, New...