Robert's 200 greatest movie actor profiles

As previously mentioned, early in 2024 I spent a lot of time putting together a document containing biographies of who I identified as the 200 greatest movie actors and actresses.

Except for a couple of Japanese I would now include, I think I'm still pretty happy with my selections.

If you want to name an actor, I'll share their biography if I did one for them.

The bios are basically edits of what's on Wikipedia about them, plus a few screenshots.
There is a longer version and a shorter version. The longer version is typically in the order of 10% of the total content of the Wiki bio, hopefully including the most interesting bits.

I hope you haven't left out Neil Breen.

__________________
HEI guys.

Your initiative to compile biographies of the 200 greatest movie actors and actresses is impressive and reflects a deep appreciation for cinema. It’s interesting to hear that you’re mostly satisfied with your selections, aside from a couple of Japanese actors you might now include—this indicates an evolving perspective on talent and representation in film.

I have unfortunately (he has escaped my attention tbh), but appreciate the suggestion.
Care to make another one?

I'll start things off with the first entry

1. Douglas Fairbanks (Born 1883 Film Debut 1915) In the 1920s, Douglas Fairbanks was the King of Hollywood, whose daring stunts fascinated audiences Fairbanks began working under legendry silent film director D. W. Griffith in 1915. His first film was The Lamb in which he debuted his athletic abilities which became famed among theatre audiences[1]. By 1918, Fairbanks was Hollywood's most popular actor [2]. To avoid being controlled by the studios and to protect their independence, Fairbanks, Mary Pickford (who Fairbanks was having an affair with and would marry in 1920), D.W.Griffith and Charlie Chaplin formed United Artists in 1919, which created their own distributorships and gave them complete artistic control over their films and the profits generated. By 1920 Fairbanks had the inspiration of staging a new type of heroic adventure-costume picture, which made use of his athleticism; The Mark of Zorro was a smash success and shot the actor into the rank of superstar. He took the concept further in The Thief of Bagdad (the original magic carpet adventure), which saw him scaling palace walls and rescuing Princesses, shirtless. In 1921 Fairbanks helped to organise the Motion Picture Fund to assist those in the industry who could not work. He was a founding member of The Motion Picture Academy and hosted the 1st Academy Awards in 1929.
Founding member of United Artists. Founding member of The Motion Picture Academy.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 1st President. Hosted the 1st Academy Awards 1929.
Academy Honorary Award: legendary career achievements in the development of motion pictures
Notable films: The Lamb (1915) The Mark of Zorro (1920) The Thief of Bagdad (1924).
(Films highlighted in bold in notable films lists are included in the US National Film Registry)


Footnotes
1
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexp...nks-1883-1939/ PBS, American Experience, Douglas Fairbanks
2
https://web.archive.org/web/20081208...984717,00.html The “King of Hollywood”, by Richard Corliss.

Tommy Wiseau.

Don't know him.

Would rather do this as the intention of providing a bio for a favourite actor, rather than trying to undermine my work 'catch me out' sort of thing.

Maybe that wasn't your intention in which case apologies, please continue.

Audrey Hepburn

(P.S. Since you're not listing the 200, we can't know if we're making a genuine suggestion or a "catch me out" suggestion as 200 bios is bare fraction among the universe of accomplished actors.)

__________________
Scarecrow: I haven't got a brain ... only straw. Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got a brain? Scarecrow: I don't know. But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they? Dorothy: Yes, I guess you're right.

57. Audrey Hepburn (no relation to Katharine)(Born 1929 Film Debut 1948)
Recognised as a film and fashion icon.
Born into an aristocratic family in Ixelles, Brussels, Hepburn spent parts of her childhood in Belgium and England part in Arnhem in the Netherlands under Nazi occupation. Arnhem was severely damaged during Operation Market Garden during which food and fuel supplies were extremely limited, and like other families Hepburn’s resorted to making flour out of tulip bulbs to bake cakes and biscuits The Van Heemstra family's financial situation changed significantly through the occupation, during which time many of their properties (including their principal estate in Arnhem) were damaged or destroyed . Suffering from the effects of malnutrition, after the war ended Hepburn became gravely ill with jaundice, anaemia, oedema, and a respiratory infection.
After the war ended in 1945, Hepburn moved with her mother and siblings to Amsterdam, where she began ballet training under Sonia Gaskell, a leading figure in Dutch ballet, and Russian teacher Olga Tarasova. Due to the loss of the family fortune, Ella had to support them by working as a cook and housekeeper for a wealthy family. Later that year, Hepburn moved to London after accepting a ballet scholarship with Ballet Rambert. After she was told by Rambert that despite her talent, her height and weak constitution (the after-effect of wartime malnutrition) would make the status of prima ballerina unattainable, she decided to concentrate on acting , and started as a chorus girl in the West End, which led eventually to a small role in a bilingual film, Monte Carlo Baby (1952), which was filmed in Monte Carlo. Coincidentally, French novelist Colette was at the Hôtel de Paris during the filming, and decided to cast Hepburn in the title role in the Broadway play Gigi. Hepburn went into rehearsals having never spoken on stage The play ran for 200 performances before going on a 7 month tour of the United States. .
Hepburn had her first starring role in the movie in Roman Holiday (1953), playing Princess Ann, a European princess who escapes the reins of royalty and has a wild night out with an American newsman (Gregory Peck). The producers of the film had initially wanted Elizabeth Taylor for the role, but Wyler was so impressed by Hepburn's screen test that he cast her instead. Wyler later commented, "She had everything I was looking for: charm, innocence, and talent. She also was very funny. She was absolutely enchanting, and we said, 'That's the girl!'" Hepburn was signed to a seven-picture contract with Paramount, with 12 months in between films to allow her time for stage work. Following her success in Roman Holiday, Hepburn starred in Billy Wilder's romantic Cinderella-story comedy Sabrina (1954), in which wealthy brothers (Humphrey Bogart and William Holden) compete for the affections of their chauffeur's innocent daughter (Hepburn). Bosley Crowther of The New York Times stated that she was "a young lady of extraordinary range of sensitive and moving expressions within such a frail and slender frame. She is even more luminous…than she was as a princess last year . Hepburn also returned to the stage in 1954, playing a water nymph who falls in love with a human in the fantasy play Ondine on Broadway. A critic for The New York Times commented that, " Miss Hepburn…gives a pulsing performance that is all grace and enchantment, disciplined by an instinct for the realities of the stage" (uncited). Hepburn is probably most famous for starring as New Yorker Holly Golightly in Blake Edwards's Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). The character is considered one of the best-known in American cinema. The dress she wears during the opening credits has been considered an icon of the twentieth century, and perhaps the most famous "little black dress" of all time . In 1964 she starred in George Cukor's film adaptation of the stage musical My Fair Lady. Critics applauded Hepburn's performance. The reviewer in Time magazine said her "graceful, glamorous performance" was "the best of her career" .
Hepburn was known for her fashion choices and distinctive look. In 1954, fashion photographer Cecil Beaton declared Hepburn the "public embodiment of our new feminine ideal" in Vogue . Hepburn was associated with a minimalistic style, usually wearing clothes with simple silhouettes that emphasised her slim body, such as monochromatic colours with occasional statement accessories . Hepburn's influence as a style icon still continues several decades after the height of her acting career in the 1950s and 1960s . In the 1950s, Hepburn narrated two radio programmes for UNICEF, re-telling children's stories of war. In 1989, Hepburn was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF. Throughout her life, Hepburn lived in many countries, including spending her childhood in Belgium, England and the Netherlands, and her adult years in the United States, Italy and Switzerland, and travelled extensively during her later years of life as part of her humanitarian work with UNICEF. Alongside her native English and Dutch, Hepburn also had some fluency in French (which she learned at school in Belgium), German, Italian and Spanish .
Academy Award Best Actress x 1 (+4 nominations)
Academy Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
BAFA Best British Actress x 3
Golden Globe award Best Actress x 1 (+8 nominations)
New York Film Critics Circle Award x 1 (+4 nominations)
BAFA's Lifetime Achievement Award
Cecil B. DeMille Award
Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award
Special Tony Award.
First actress to win an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA for a single performance
Hepburn is one of only eighteen people who have won competitive Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony
AFI’s 3rd greatest female screen legend from the Classical Hollywood cinema
Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work with UNICEF.
UNICEF statue "The Spirit of Audrey" at UNICEF New York headquarters
International Best Dressed List since 1961
Notable films: Roman Holiday (1953) Sabrina (1954) The Unforgiven (1960) Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) My Fair Lady (1964)


FOOTNOTES
James, Caryn (1993). "Audrey Hepburn, actress, Is Dead at 63". The New York Times. Archived from the original
Woodward, Ian (31 May 2012). Audrey Hepburn: Fair Lady of the Screen. Ebury Publishing. pp.52-53
ibid
ibid
Telegraph, 4 May 2014, 'I suppose I ended Hepburn's career' Archived Wayback Machine "Princess Apparent". Time. 7 September 1953. Archived from the original
Thurman, Judith (1999). Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p.483
"History Lesson! Learn How Colette, Audrey Hepburn, Leslie Caron & Vanessa Hudgens Transformed Gigi". Broadway.com. Archived
Paris, Barry (2001) [1996]. Audrey Hepburn. Berkley Books. as cited by Wikipedia
Paris, Barry (2001) [1996]. P.72 as cited by Wikipedia
Crowther, Bosley (23 September 1954). "Screen: 'Sabrina' Bows at Criterion; Billy Wilder Produces and Directs Comedy". The New York Times. Archived
https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebr...hepburn-dress/ Wikipedia
Time, Still the Fairest One of All https://content.time.com/time/subscr...876358,00.html Wikipedia
Hill, Daniel Delis (2004). As Seen in Vogue: A Century of American Fashion in Advertising. Texas Tech University Press. p.78 cited by WWikipedia
Lane, Megan (7 April 2006). "Audrey Hepburn: Why the fuss?". BBC News. Archived As cited by Wikipedia
Moseley, Rachel (7 March 2004). "Audrey Hepburn – everybody's fashion icon". The Guardian. Archived Wikipedia
Almaden, Sarah Angela (30 April 2022). "Audrey Hepburn and 9 Other Celebrities Who Speak Multiple Languages". Beelinguapp. Archived Wikipedia

Hepburn A posted

I know it's all the rage to be critical of work people have put time and commitment into producing, but I don't follow the point you were making there?

Earlier in a response to Exiler96 you wrote:

So I was just pointing out that any actor we ask for will just be a guess given we don't know who is in your 200. And because 200 is such a tiny fraction of the universe of legitimate actors we might value but you don't, or haven't run across, any request runs the risk of falling into that "catch me out" category. It's much easier to request something from the menu rather than ask the chef if perhaps he's already prepared something in the kitchen.

Thanks for the posting on Audrey ...

As I see it there's no problem with people naming an actor I haven't done one for.

The issue I had was someone (a poster I generally seem to 'get on with' and it's not a big deal at all), giving names for the purpose of trying to highlight ones which I don't have but which they think I should have. Maybe that wasn't the case, but I was just saying if it is the case, that's a bit disrespectful of the probably couple of hundred hours of work I put into creating the documents.

cough

How about Fredric March?

No I don't know him.