Oscar-Winning Portrayals a to z

Anne Bancroft was an Oscar Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress famous for her roles in The Miracle Worker and The Graduate. She was married to comedian and film director Mel Brooks.

Ingrid Bergman was one of the most popular motion-picture actresses in the United States from the 1940s until her death in 1982. She was also an international star across Europe.

Yul Brynner was an actor of stage and screen most famous for portraying King Mongkut of Siam in The King and I.

Academy Award-winning actress Sandra Bullock is known for her roles in such films as Speed, While You Were Sleeping, The Proposal, and The Blind Side.

James Cagney was an Academy Award-winning actor who was known for playing gangsters and short-fused tough guys.

Truman Capote was a trailblazing writer of Southern descent known for the works Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood, among others.

June Carter Cash was a Grammy-winning country singer who was married to and performed with country music star Johnny Cash.

Ray Charles was a pioneer of soul music, integrating R&B, gospel, pop and country to creat hits like "Unchain My Heart," "Hit the Road Jack" and "Georgia on My Mind." A blind genius, he is considered one of the greatest artists of all time.

Gary Cooper's movie career spanned from silent films into the 1950s. He won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Alvin York in Sergeant York.

French actress Marion Cotillard won an Academy Award for her performance as Edith Piaf in the film La Vie En Rose. She also starred in the acclaimed films Inception and The Dark Knight Rises.

Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac was a French author and playwright best known for his political satire and science fantasy, including the play The Pedant Imitated (1654).

Idi Amin was a Ugandan president best known for his brutal regime and crimes against humanity while in power from 1971-1979.

Academy Award-winning English actor Daniel Day-Lewis is known for going to extreme lengths to prepare for a role. He has starred in several films, including Sunday, Bloody Sunday; My Beautiful Laundrette; My Left Foot; and Lincoln.

Legendary award-winning actor Robert De Niro has starred in such films as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Godfather: Part II and Silver Linings Playbook.

Dame Judi Dench is an Academy Award-winning British actress. She won an Oscar for her role as Queen Elizabeth in Shakespeare in Love.

Actress Patty Duke won an Academy Award in 1963, at age 16, for her portrayal of Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker—becoming the youngest Oscar recipient at the time.

A talented singer, comedian, and actor, Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx has proved to be a triple threat in the entertainment industry.

Mahatmas Gandhi was the primary leader of India's independence movement and also the architect of a form of civil disobedience that would influence the world.

French artist Paul Gauguin's bold colors, exaggerated body proportions and stark contrasts helped him achieve broad success in the late 19th century.

George VI served as king of the United Kingdom during World War II and was an important symbolic leader. He was succeeded by Queen Elizabeth II, in 1952.

Dashiell Hammett was an American writer of hard-boiled crime fiction, including the novels The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man.

Henry VIII, king of England, was famously married six times and played a critical role in the English Reformation, turning his country into a Protestant nation.

Katharine Hepburn was an actress known as a spirited performer with a touch of eccentricity in films such as The African Queen and On Golden Pond.

Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has gained recognition for his work in a series of successful films including Capote and Doubt.

Theater, film and television actor Jeremy Irons starred in the popular movies Reversal of Fortune, The Lion King, Lolita, Being Julia and The Fourth Angel.

Jennifer Jones was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-winning performance in the film The Song of Bernadette.

American educator Helen Keller overcame the adversity of being blind and deaf to become one of the 20th century's leading humanitarians, as well as co-founder of the ACLU.

Academy Award–winning actress Nicole Kidman starred in Dead Calm, Moulin Rouge and The Hours, and was married to Tom Cruise for ten years.

Ben Kingsley is an Academy Award-winning actor known for his work in films like Gandhi, Bugsy and Schindler’s List.

Modernist abstract painter and collage artist Lee Krasner, wife of Jackson Pollock, created the Little Image painting series and the multimedia collage "Milkweed."

Anglo-American stage and film actor Charles Laughton starred in The Old Dark House and Mutiny on the Bounty. He also directed The Night of the Hunter.

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. He preserved the Union during the U.S. Civil War and brought about the emancipation of slaves.

Loretta Lynn is a singer-songwriter known for "Coal Miner's Daughter," among many other country songs. A film about her by the same name was a critical hit.

Helen Mirren is a revered, award-winning actress who’s film and TV work includes Prime Suspect, Caligula, Shadowboxer, Elizabeth I and The Queen.

Thomas More is known for his 1516 book Utopia and for his untimely death in 1535, after refusing to acknowledge King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England. He was canonized by the Catholic Church as a saint in 1935.

American actor Paul Muni is best known for his film and stage portrayals of noted historical figures. He was nominated five times for the Academy Awards.

Anastasia was the daughter of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II. After she and her family were executed, rumors claimed that she might have survived.

St. Bernadette of Lourdes was best known as a saint who received visions from the Virgin Mary in a cave near Lourdes. Pope Pius XI canonized her as a saint in 1933.

Scientist Louis Pasteur came up with the food preparing process known as pasteurization; he also developed a vaccination for anthrax and rabies.

General George Patton led the Third Army in a very successful sweep across France during World War II in 1944. He was skilled at tank warfare.

Édith Piaf, also known as “The Little Sparrow,” was a French singer who became an icon of France during World War II.

Elizabeth I was the long-ruling queen of England, governing with relative stability and prosperity for 44 years. The Elizabethan era is named for her.

Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain was crowned in 1953. Her 60 years on the throne was celebrated in June 2012, with the Diamond Jubilee.

Anthony Quinn was an Oscar-winning Mexican-American actor known for his roles in Viva Zapata!, Lust for Life and Zorba the Greek.

Jason Robards Jr. was an intense stage and film actor, and a frequent interpreter of Eugene O'Neill's work. He starred in the 1960 television production The Iceman Cometh, and later starred in films like Philadelphia and Magnolia.

British actor Paul Scofield is one of only a handful of actors who have won an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony.

American actor George C. Scott starred in films and on Broadway during his 40-year career. In 1970, he won an Oscar for his portrayal of George S. Patton.

Maureen Stapleton was an American actress known primarily for her stage work in the plays of Tennessee Williams.

Barbra Streisand is the highest-selling female recording artist of all time, and has won awards and acclaim in every medium that she's worked in.

Anne Sullivan was a teacher who, at age 21, taught Helen Keller, who was deaf, mute, and blind, how to communicate and read Braille.

Charlize Theron is a South African-born actress, best known for her roles in such films as North Country and Monster, for which she won an Academy Award.

Businessman Claus Von Bulow was twice accused of attempting to kill his socialite wife, a diabetic, with doses of insulin, and was defended by Alan Dershowitz.

Actor, producer and director Forest Whitaker won an Academy Award for his portrayal of dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. He’s also known for films like Bird, Ghost Dog and The Butler.

Reese Witherspoon was introduced to the world of acting at a young age. She has since won numerous awards and worldwide recognition for her film performances.

English Writer Virginia Woolf became famous for her nonlinear prose style, especially noted in her novels Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse.

An abused child who later earned her living as a sex worker, Aileen Wuornos was found guilty of killing six men and was later executed in a Florida prison.