Man of La Mancha 1972 premiere

1. James Coco

Actor | Murder by Death

Born in New York City of humble means, character player James Coco was the son of Feliche, an Italian shoemaker, and Ida (Detestes) Coco. Shining shoes as a youngster with his father, his interest in acting occurred early on as a child. At age 17 he toured with a children's theatre troupe for three...

2. Arthur Hiller

Director | Love Story

Arthur Hiller was born on November 22, 1923 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He was a director and producer, known for Love Story (1970), The Hospital (1971) and See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989). He was married to Gwen Hiller. He died on August 17, 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

3. Dale Wasserman

Writer | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Dale Wasserman was born on November 2, 1914 in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), The DuPont Show of the Month (1957) and The Vikings (1958). He was married to Martha Nelly Garza and Ramsay Ames. He died on December 21, 2008 ...

4. Lucille Ball

Actress | I Love Lucy

The woman who will always be remembered as the crazy, accident-prone, lovable Lucy Ricardo was born Lucille Desiree Ball on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York, the daughter of Desiree Evelyn "DeDe" (Hunt) and Henry Durrell "Had" Ball. Her father died before she was four, and her mother worked ...

5. Johnny Carson

Soundtrack | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Johnny Carson, the legendary "King of Late Night TV" who dominated the medium's nether hours for three decades, was born in Corning, Iowa, but moved with his family to nearby Norfolk, Nebraska when he was eight years old. He was the son of Ruth E. (Hook) and Homer Lloyd "Kit" Carson, a manager of ...

6. Sonny Bono

Soundtrack | The Sonny and Cher Show

Sonny Bono was born on February 16, 1935 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for The Sonny and Cher Show (1976), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Hairspray (1988). He was married to Mary Bono, Susie Coelho, Cher and Donna Rankin. He died on January 5, 1998 in South Lake Tahoe...

7. Cher

Actress | Moonstruck

The beat goes on ... and on ... and as strong as ever for this superstar entertainer who has well surpassed the half-century mark while improbably transforming herself from an artificial, glossy "flashionplate" singer into a serious, Oscar-worthy, dramatic actress ... and back again! With more ups ...

8. Dyan Cannon

Actress | Heaven Can Wait

Dyan Cannon is the first woman in the history of the Motion Picture Academy to be nominated for Oscars both in front of and behind the camera. Her diligence and determination have been rewarded by many prestigious honors.

She received her first Academy Award nomination for her memorable role as ...

9. Jack Benny

Actor | The Jack Benny Program

The son of a saloon keeper, Jack Benny (born Benny Kubelsky) began to study the violin at the age six, and his "ineptness" at it, would later become his trademark (in reality, he was a very accomplished player). When given the opportunity to play in live theatre professionally, Benny quit school ...

10. Barbara Stanwyck

Actress | Double Indemnity

Today Barbara Stanwyck is remembered primarily as the matriarch of the family known as the Barkleys on the TV western The Big Valley (1965), wherein she played Victoria, and from the hit drama The Colbys (1985). But she was known to millions of other fans for her movie career, which spanned the ...

11. Julie Gregg

Actress | The Godfather

Julie Gregg was born on January 24, 1937 in Niagara Falls, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: A Novel for Television (1977) and Man of La Mancha (1972). She died on November 7, 2016 in Van Nuys, California, USA.

12. Gino Conforti

Actor | Man of La Mancha

Gino Conforti was born on January 30, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is an actor, known for Man of La Mancha (1972), Thumbelina (1994) and Monsters, Inc. (2001).

13. Polly Bergen

Actress | Cry-Baby

In a six-decade-plus career (she started out as a radio performer at age 14), there are very few facets of entertainment that lovely singer/actress Polly Bergen has not conquered or, at the very least, touched upon. A nightclub and Columbia recording artist of the 50s and 60s, she is just as well ...

14. Donna Wood

Actress | Pot o' Gold

Donna Wood was born on April 14, 1917 in Somerville, Massachusetts, USA. She was an actress, known for Pot o' Gold (1941). She died on April 9, 1947 in Hollywood, California, USA.

15. Paul Ziffren

Self | Joanne Carson's VIPs

Paul Ziffren was born on July 18, 1913 in Davenport, Iowa, USA. He was married to Muriel Ziffren and Phyllis Rochelle Kolinsky Ziffren Deutsch Owensmith. He died on May 31, 1991 in Malibu, California, USA.

16. Ross Hunter

Producer | Airport

Noted Hollywood producer Ross Hunter served in Army intelligence during World War II. After the war he signed with Columbia Pictures and appeared in a number of forgettable B-movies. He then became a producer and produced more than 60 films. Most of his films tended to be bright confections, many ...

17. Nancy Sinatra

Soundtrack | Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Nancy Sandra Sinatra was born the first child of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Barbato Sinatra on June 8, 1940 in Jersey City, New Jersey. Her first television appearance was with her father and Elvis Presley in 1959. She first appeared as a film actress in For Those Who Think Young (1964) and Get ...

18. Helen Hayes

Actress | Airport

Known as "The First lady of the American Theater", Helen Hayes had a legendary career on stage and in films and television that spanned over eighty years. Hayes was born in Washington, D.C., to Catherine Estelle "Essie" Hayes, an actress who worked in touring companies, and Francis van Arnum Brown,...

19. Howard Koch

Writer | Casablanca

Playwright and author of sophisticated screenplays, a graduate of Bard College and Columbia University Law School. Howard Koch started out as a practicing lawyer in Hartsdale, New Jersey, but soon found himself dissatisfied with his career choice and began to write plays on the side. His first two ...

20. Luis Estevez

Costume_designer | Cover Up

Luis Estevez was born on December 4, 1930 in Havana, Cuba. He was a costume designer and actor, known for Cover Up (1984), Interval (1973) and Bare Essence (1983). He was married to Betty Dew Menzies. He died on November 28, 2014 in Miami, Florida, USA.

21. Armand Deutsch

Producer | Kind Lady

Armand Deutsch was born on January 25, 1913 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a producer, known for Kind Lady (1951), The Girl Who Had Everything (1953) and Right Cross (1950). He was married to Harriet Berk and Benay Venuta. He died on August 13, 2005 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

22. Joanne Carson

Actress | StalkHer

Joanne Carson was born on October 20, 1931 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for StalkHer (2015), Guess My Sign (1968) and Joanne Carson's VIPs (1972). She was married to Johnny Carson and Richard Rever. She died on May 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

23. Rhonda Fleming

Actress | Out of the Past

A native-born Californian, Rhonda Fleming attended Beverly Hills public and private schools. Her father was Harold Cheverton Louis (1896-1951). Her mother, Effie Olivia Graham (1891-1985), was a famous model and actress in New York. She has a son (Kent Lane), two granddaughters (Kimberly and Kelly)...

24. William Wyler

Director | The Best Years of Our Lives

William Wyler was an American filmmaker who, at the time of his death in 1981, was considered by his peers as second only to John Ford as a master craftsman of cinema. The winner of three Best Director Academy Awards, second again only to Ford's four, Wyler's reputation has unfairly suffered as the...

25. Margaret Tallichet

Actress | Stranger on the Third Floor

Margaret Tallichet was born on March 13, 1914 in Dallas, Texas, USA. She was an actress, known for Stranger on the Third Floor (1940), A Desperate Adventure (1938) and It Started with Eve (1941). She was married to William Wyler. She died on May 3, 1991 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

26. Frederick De Cordova

Producer | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Educated at Northwestern University, Frederick De Cordova began his show business career on the stage, and came to Hollywood in the mid-'40s as a dialogue director. He graduated to director in 1945. He spent much of his career at Universal Pictures, where he turned out medium-budget westerns, ...

27. Janet De Cordova

Self | AFI Life Achievement Award

Janet De Cordova was born on September 14, 1919. She was married to Frederick De Cordova. She died on September 1, 2009 in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

28. Henry Mancini

Soundtrack | Breakfast at Tiffany's

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, but brought up in Pennsylvania, where he played the flute in a local band, as a youth, before sending some arrangements to Benny Goodman. Goodman offered him a job and, after serving in WWII, he joined the rearranged Glenn Miller band. In 1952, he was given a two-week ...

29. 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...

30. Lloyd Hand

Self | LBJ: Triumph and Tragedy

31. Walter Mirisch

Producer | In the Heat of the Night

Walter Mirisch and brothers Marvin Mirisch and Harold Mirisch were one of the most successful producing teams in Hollywood history. Their Mirisch Company produced such diverse hits as Some Like It Hot (1959), The Magnificent Seven (1960), West Side Story (1961), The Great Escape (1963), The Pink ...

32. David Janssen

Actor | The Green Berets

David Janssen was born David Harold Meyer in 1931 in Naponee, Nebraska, to Berniece Mae (Graf) and Harold Edward Meyer, a banker. He was of German, and some Swiss-German and Ulster-Scots, descent. David took the surname of his stepfather, Eugene Janssen. The Janssen family settled in Hollywood when...

33. Dani Crayne

Actress | The Story of Mankind

A pretty, green-eyed, husky-voiced champagne blonde, she was born Darlyne Danielle Swanson in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her family moved to California when she was five. Schooled there, she later attended the University of California in Berkeley. At sixteen, she married a Frenchman named Donalde ...

34. Jim Nabors

Actor | Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

Tall, spade-jawed, hopelessly genial balladeer/actor Jim Nabors was born in James Thurston Nabors on June 12, 1930 in Sylacauga, Alabama and raised there, graduating from the University of Alabama. A typing clerk at the United Nations in his salad days, he eventually moved to Los Angeles, ...