Famous People Who Won Awards a to z

Extraordinarily beautiful, Hedy Lamarr was a Austrian-American actress during MGM's "Golden Age."

Charles Lamb was an English poet and essayist who wrote Tales from Shakespeare and "Essays of Elia."

Ann Landers was the famous advice columnist who developed a newspaper readership counting into the millions.

Cyclist Floyd Landis won the 2006 Tour de France. Urine tests later revealed that he was using performance-enhancing drugs, and he was banned from the sport for two years.

Michael Landon was an American actor, writer, director and producer known for his roles in I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Bonanza and Little House on the Prairie.

Dorothea Lange was a photographer whose portraits of displaced farmers during the Great Depression greatly influenced later documentary photography.

Tom Lantos was a 14-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of California, as well as the first and only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress.

Estée Lauder started her own company. Seven years later, her Youth-Dew beauty oil launched Estée Lauder, Inc., which became a billion-dollar-a-year business.

Ralph Lauren is an American clothing designer best known for his sportswear line, Polo Ralph Lauren, which is the centerpiece of his fashion empire.

Taylor Lautner is an American actor who portrayed Jacob Black in the Twilight movie series, based on the books by Stephenie Meyer.

Mixing rock, punk and a rebellious style, Canadian singer Avril Lavigne's first album sold 15 million copies, thanks to hit singles "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi."

Jerome Lawrence was an American playwright. He collaborated with Robert Edwin Lee for over 50 years. Inherit The Wind is their most well known play.

T. E. Lawrence was a British Army officer during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule. He became known as Lawrence of Arabia, based on the 1962 film.

Henry Lawson was a revered Australian writer of short stories and poetry.

Author John Le Carré’s first published novel, Call for the Dead, introduced his ‘anti-hero’ George Smiley, who appears in most of his stories.

David Lean was a British director and screenwriter best known for his spectacular cinematography and adaptations of Charles Dickens classics, including Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948).

Stan Lee is a revered comic-book creator who co-launched superheroes like the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and the X-Men for Marvel Comics.

Film actress Janet Leigh, once Tony Curtis’s wife, is best remembered for her shower scene as Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller, Psycho.

Suzanne Lenglen was a French tennis player who won 31 championship titles between 1914 and 1926. She is largely credited as the first female tennis star.

Helen Levitt was a photographer, film editor and director known for her captivating portraits of New York urban life.

Jerry Lewis rose to fame as Dean Martin's comedic partner. The two performed on stage before their film career began in 1949.

NFL linebacker Ray Lewis is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Super Bowl MVP and played his entire 17-year career with the Baltimore Ravens.

Sol Lewitt was an American artist best known for helping to launch Conceptual Art and Minimalism of the Post-War era.

Jet Li is an actor and martial artist who has starred in a number of Chinese and English-language action films.

Roy Lichtenstein was an American pop artist best known for his boldly-colored parodies of comic strips and advertisements.

Conservative Rush Limbaugh hosts the syndicated and controversial radio talk show, The Rush Limbaugh Show. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.

Writer and aviation pioneer Anne Morrow Lindbergh was married to aviator Charles Lindbergh. The couple’s child was kidnapped for ransom and murdered in 1932.

Laura Linney is an American actress known for performances in such films as Lorenzo's Oil and Hyde Park on Hudson, and for her starring role on the television series The Big C.

Sol Myron Linowitz was an American diplomat, lawyer and businessman known as a presidential adviser and as a co-founder of Xerox.

American actor Ray Liotta is best known for his on-the-edge tough-guy characterizations in films like Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1992) and No Escape (1994).

Lucy Liu is a TV and film actress known for her work on Ally McBeal and in the Charlie's Angels films.

Viola Gregg Liuzzo was an activist in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. She was murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan for her efforts.

Blake Lively is an actress notable for her role as Serena van der Woodsen on the CW network's teen drama Gossip Girl.

Singer Kimberley Locke made a hugely successful run on American Idol and ended up placing third (behind runner-up Clay Aiken and winner Ruben Studdard).

Actress Heather Locklear was on the television series C.H.I.P.S, Dynasty, T.J. Hooker, Melrose Place and Sin City. She was also in the movie Firestarter.

Actress Eva Longoria landed her breakthrough role in 2004 as Gabrielle Solis on the hit television series Desperate Housewives.

Professional golfer Nancy Lopez was named Player of the Year four times during her career. She was the first woman to be awarded the Frances Ouimet Award.

Audre Lorde wrote the poetry collections From a Land Where Other People Live (1973) and The Black Unicorn (1978), as well as memoirs like A Burst of Light (1988).

Jim Lovell is a former U.S. astronaut who commanded NASA's nearly disastrous Apollo 13 flight to the moon.

Civil rights leader, social activist and minister Joseph Lowery has fought against prejudice and discrimination against African-Americans for more than 50 years.

Susan Lucci is an American actress, best known for portraying Erica Kane on the daytime drama All My Children.

Director Sidney Lumet was best known for his films Twelve Angry Men and Serpico. He made more than 40 films during his career.

David Lynch is a film director and screenwriter known for his dark, offbeat films, notable Blue Velvet and Eraserhead

.

Antonio López de Santa Anna was a 19th century Mexican military officer who acted as the country’s president and dictator at different periods.

Sean MacBride was an Irish politician and the former chief of staff of the IRA

Liberal political journalist Rachel Maddow is known for hosting the MSNBC TV show The Rachel Maddow Show, as well as an Air America radio show of the same name.

Tobey Maguire is an American actor and producer who is best known for his role as Peter Parker in the 2002-2007 Spiderman films.

Mary Mahoney became the first black woman to complete nurse's training in 1879.

Aristide Maillol was a French artist, mostly known as a sculptor of monumental statues of female nudes.

Theodore H. Maiman was a physicist, company leader, consultant and author who created the first working laser in 1960.

David Mamet is a playwright and screenwriter known for such heady works as American Buffalo and Glengarry Glen Ross.

American actor, comedian and television personality Howie Mandel is best known for creating the cartoon series Bobby's World and hosting Deal or No Deal.

American producer, director and screenwriter Joseph L. Mankiewicz was known for creating memorable characters. He worked with many major Hollywood stars.

One of the most dominant quarterbacks in NFL history, Peyton Manning has won multiple MVP awards and led the Indianapolis Colts to victory in Super Bowl XLI.

Jayne Mansfield was an American actress best known for her bombshell curves and roles in films during the 1950s and '60s.

Actor, scriptwriter and improvisational comic Jason Mantzoukas has played Rafi on the FX show The League and co-starred with Sacha Baron Cohen in The Dictator.

Robert Mapplethorpe, recognized as a giant of late 20th century photography, is best known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white portraits.

Soccer great Diego Maradona led Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup, though his accomplishments were later overshadowed by his battles with drug abuse.

American baseball player Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in 1961 to break the single-season record held by the legendary Babe Ruth.

J. Willard Marriott is a 20th-century American entrepreneur who started in food service and eventually opened a hotel chain.

John Marshall became the fourth chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1801. He is largely responsible for establishing the Supreme Court's role in federal government.

Actor, singer Dean Martin starred in several films with Jerry Lewis and belonged to the "Rat Pack," which included Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr.

U.S. Psychologist Abraham Maslow was a practitioner of humanistic psychology. He is known for his theory of “self-actualization.”

Walter Matthau was an actor known for his gruff on-screen demeanor in such films as The Odd Couple and Grumpy Old Men.

Lois Maxwell was an actress best known for her role as Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond film series.

Louis B. Mayer was a film mogul and the most influential person in Hollywood from the mid-1920s to the late-1940s.

Architect Thom Mayne helped found the architectural design firm Morphosis, and co-founded the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc).

American boxer Floyd Mayweather is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters of his generation. HBO's documentary about him, 24/7, increased his popularity.

James McAvoy is a Scottish actor best known for his roles in The Last King of Scotland (2006), Atonement (2007) and X-Men: First Class (2011).

British vocalist, songwriter, musician, and composer, Paul McCartney was a member of the Beatles as well as one of the most popular solo performers of all time.

Actress Rue McClanahan is best-known for her role as self-absorbed bombshell Devereaux on the 1980's sitcom Golden Girls. 

Reba McEntire is a chart-topping, award-winning country music singer who has acted in films and starred on her own sitcom. She also owns several businesses.

Rory McIlroy is an Irish golfer best known for winning the 2011 U.S Open and the 2012 PGA Championship, becoming the youngest player to win a PGA Tour playoff.

Claude McKay was a Jamaican-born poet and novelist whose Home to Harlem (1928) was the most popular novel written by an American black to that time.