Famous Actors a to z

Bud Abbott was a comedian best known for playing the "straight man" of the Abbott and Costello comedy duo.

J.J. Abrams is a screenwriter, director and producer known for TV shows like Felicity and Alias and films like Star Trek and Super 8.

American actor and comedian Don Adams is best known for his role as secret agent Maxwell Smart on NBC's hit 1960s sitcom Get Smart.

Ben Affleck is known for co-writing and acting in Good Will Hunting, starring in Armageddon, and directing, co-producing and acting in Argo.

Casey Affleck is best known as an actor in films including Gone Baby Gone, and as the brother of actor Ben Affleck.

Lou Albano was a professional wrestler-turned-wrestling personality in the hugely popular World Wrestling Federation of the 1980s.

Beginning with his first film in 1911 and in the years leading up to World War II, Hans Albers was one of Germany's most beloved movie stars.

Actor Eddie Albert starred in films like The Sun Also Rises and Roman Holiday as well as the TV show Green Acres.

Actor and director Alan Alda has starred in several films, but is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce on the long-running television series M*A*S*H.

Ira Aldridge was a 19th century African-American actor who became a renowned interpreter of Shakespearean tragedy on the European stage.

Flex Alexander is an American actor, dancer and choreographer best known for his roles in the films Juice and Snakes on a Plane.

Film, theater and television actor Jason Alexander played George Costanza opposite Jerry Seinfeld on the popular television sitcom Seinfeld.

American television personality Steve Allen is best known as the first host of The Tonight Show. He also starred on The Benny Goodman Show, and was an accomplished musician, composer, author and actor.

Tim Allen was a sporting goods salesman, drug dealer, and stand-up comedian before Home Improvement made him a sitcom star (and the voice of Buzz Lightyear).

Woody Allen is an American comedian, filmmaker and writer who directed and starred in two of his most famous films, Annie Hall and Manhattan.

Don Ameche was an actor know mostly for films in the 1930s and 1940s, radio and TV in the 1950s-1970s, and later the film Trading Places.

André 3000 is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor known for his work as part of the hip-hop duo OutKast.

One of the biggest classic pop performers, Canadian singer-songwriter Paul Anka moved from teen heartthrob to adult artist with a slew of hits.

Actor and director Alan Arkin is a three-time Academy Award nominee, whose notable films include Catch-22 and Wait Until Dark.

Desi Arnaz was a Cuban-born actor and musician who is remembered for his marriage to Lucille Ball and their TV show, I Love Lucy.

James Arness is an American actor best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon on the TV show Gunsmoke for 20 years.

Will Arnett is a comedic actor known for his wacky role as G.O.B. on TV's Arrested Development and his voice-over work in film.

Actor Tom Arnold was married to actress Roseanne Barr for four years and wrote for the sitcom Roseanne. He starred in the film True Lies (1994) and hosted The Best Damn Sports Show Period.

David Arquette is an actor known for paying quirky roles primarily in films, from Scream to Eight-Legged Freaks to Never Been Kissed.

Antonin Artaud was a French actor, costume designer and writer who revolutionized drama with his idea of a Theater of Cruelty.

Actor Ed Asner is best known as gruff-but-lovable newsman Lou Grant, who debuted on TV sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He also lent his voice to the movie Up.

William Atherton is an American actor known for playing heavies in films like Ghostbusters and Die Hard.

Comic actor and writer Rowan Atkinson starred on the TV series Not the Nine O'clock News and Blackadder. He is best known for his infamous role as Mr. Bean in the television series and 1997 feature film of the same name.

Richard Attenborough is an award-winning actor and director known for helming acclaimed works like Gandhi and Cry Freedom.

Steve Austin, also known as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, is best known as a Championship-winning professional wrestler in the WWF. After retirement, Austin pursued acting with roles on TV and film.

Alan Autry is best known for his role as Captain "Bubba" Skinner on the television series In the Heat of the Night. In later life, he was a successful mayor of Fresno, California.

Teen idol Frankie Avalon is known for singing the hit "Venus" and for starring in the popular Beach Party film series with Annette Funicello.

Dan Aykroyd is a Canadian actor and comedian known for his performances on Saturday Night Live, and in the hit films The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters.

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan is known for his roles in action movies like Zanjeer, and for hosting the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.

Jim Backus was a film and TV actor known for his roles in Rebel Without a Cause and Gilligan’s Island, as well as being the voice of Mr. Magoo.

Kevin Bacon is known for numerous movies (especially Footloose), his marriage to Kyra Sedgwick and the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

Conrad Bain was a Canadian-American actor best known for his role as Philip Drummond on the hit show Diff'rent Strokes.

Scott Baio is a comedic actor and former teen heartthrob best known for his television roles as Chachi on Happy Days and as Charles on Charles in Charge.

American film, television and theater actor Alec Baldwin stars on the sitcom 30 Rock, for which he received Golden Globes and an Emmy Award.

Billy Baldwin is one of the four Baldwin brothers, all actors. He starred as a firefighter in the hit film Backdraft and is a recurring character on television's Gossip Girl.

Stephen Baldwin, youngest brother of actor Alec Baldwin, is known for his television and film career, and for his conservative political and religious beliefs.

Christian Bale is an award winning actor who as a child starred in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun, and is also know for his roles in Batman movies.

Spanish actor Antonio Banderas starred in several of Pedro Almodóvar’s films. In America, he has played Zorro, and Puss in Boots in the Shrek film series.

Javier Bardem is a Spanish actor, and the first Spaniard to be nominated for an Oscar. He played lead roles in Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Eat, Pray, Love.

Jean-Louis Barrault was a French actor director, and mime. He is best known for his role in the film The Children of Paradise (1945).

Philip Barry is an American playwright best known for writing comedies of life. His most famous play is The Philadelphia Story.

Head of the famous Barrymore acting family, Lionel Barrymore was one of the most important character actors of the early 29th century.

Singer and actor James Lance Bass came to fame as a member of the boy band 'N Sync.

Jason Bateman is an American actor known for playing Michael Bluth on the comedy series Arrested Development, and for starring in films like Juno and Hancock.

Actor Sean Bean played the villains in Patriot Games and GoldenEye. More recently, he played Boromir in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Odysseus in Troy.

Warren Beatty is an Oscar-winning director and actor known for such films as Bonnie and Clyde, Reds and Heaven Can Wait.

Sir Herbert Beerbohm was a stage actor and well-known figure in English theater. He both managed and produced several plays in London including Charles Dickens and Shakespearean classics.

Harry Belafonte has achieved lasting fame for such songs as "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)," and for his humanitarian work.

Jean-Paul Belmondo is a French actor best known for starring in Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless.

Jim Belushi, younger brother of the late John Belushi, starred on his own TV sitcom, According to Jim, as well as in several theater and film productions.

John Belushi was an actor and comedian, one of the first performers on "Saturday Night Live" and one half of the Blues Brothers.

Robert Benchley was an American humorist, drama critic and film actor who is best known for his small roles in over 40 films, including How To Sleep.

Roberto Benigni is an Italian actor, director and producer best known for his 1997 Oscar winning film La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful).

For more than 50 years, comedian Jack Benny was a star of radio, the stage and screen. His radio show, The Jack Benny Program, was a forerunner of the sitcom genre.

American actor Tom Berenger is best known for playing the hard-drinking TV star in the The Big Chill, the sexy killer in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and violent Hatfield clan member Jim Vance in the TV miniseries Hatfields & McCoys.

Milton Berle was a Jewish-American comedian who started in vaudeville acts, and was a success in the early days of TV, becoming known as "Uncle Miltie."

Mexican actor and director Gael García Bernal starred as Che Guevera in The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) and as Stéphane Miroux in The Science of Sleep (2006).

Entertainer Joey Bishop starred in his own TV sitcom, and hosted his own late-night talk show. He was a member of the Rat Pack, along with Frank Sinatra.

Film and TV actor Jack Black appeared in the popular comedy films Shallow Hal, High Fidelity and Tropic Thunder, and is the voice of Kung Fu Panda.

Rubén Blades is an acclaimed Panamanian singer, musician and actor known for albums like Buscando America and hits like "Pedro Navaja."

Robert Blake is an Emmy-winning actor known for his film roles and as the star of the '70s cop drama Baretta. He's also known for the murder trial of his second wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley.

Mel Blanc was a voice actor and entertainer who provided voices for Bugs Bunny and over 400 other cartoon characters.

One of Great Britain's leading male actors in the 1950s, Dirk Bogarde is known for his complex roles in the dark films Death in Venice (1912), Victim (1961) and The Night Porter (1974).

Actor Humphrey Bogart became a legend for his roles in 1940s-era films like Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon and To Have and Have Not.

Hugh Bonneville is a British actor chiefly known for playing Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, on the hit TV series Downton Abbey.

On April 14, 1865, actor John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln while he was watching Our American Cousin at Ford Theater in Washington, D.C.

Actor Ernest Borgnine’s role in the film Marty transformed him from a stereotyped character actor to a leading man, earning him an Academy Award as Best Actor.

Chadwick Boseman is an American actor known for his roles on the TV show Lincoln Heights and as baseball great Jackie Robinson in the biopic 42.

Tom Bosley was an award-winning American actor best known for playing Howard Cunningham in the 1970s hit TV sitcom Happy Days.

Charles Boyer was an Oscar-nominated French actor of stage, film and television with a career that spanned almost six decades.

American actor Peter Boyle is best known as the grumpy dad on the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, a role he held for eleven years.

Wayne Brady is a comedian and actor known for his work on TV's Whose Line Is It Anyhow, The Wayne Brady Show and Don't Forget the Lyrics.

Zach Braff is an American actor known chiefly for his role on TV's Scrubs and in the big-screen film Oz the Great and Powerful.

Kenneth Branagh is an Irish-born English stage and motion-picture actor, director and writer who is best known for his film adaptations of Shakespearean plays.

Comedian Russell Brand is famous for his controversial comments and stunts, past struggles with addiction and his short-lived marriage to singer Katy Perry.

Legendary screen presence Marlon Brando performed for more than 50 years and is famous for such films as A Streetcar Named Desire and The Godfather.