Signed to a recording contract at the age of 12, Aaliyah became an overnight R&B sensation. At the height of her stardom, a fatal plane crash ended her life.
1979-2001
1977-
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.
1960-
Angela Bassett is an Academy Award- and Emmy Award-nominated actress known for roles in What's Love Got to Do With It, Waiting to Exhale, Malcolm X and The Rosa Parks Story.
1958-
Film actor. Kate Beckinsale is an actress whose starring role in the Underworld films catapulted her to international stardom.
1973-
In 1935, actor John Carradine began a non-stop film career. He appeared in 10 films by director John Ford, including The Prisoner of Shark Island.
1906-1988
Lon Chaney Jr. was known for being the only actor to play all of the "big four" monsters: the Mummy, the Wolf Man, Frankenstein and Dracula.
1902-1973
A-list actor and Scientologist Tom Cruise is the star of many box office hits, including Risky Business, A Few Good Men, The Firm, and Jerry Maguire.
1962-
1943-
Once a child star, actress Kirsten Dunst has garnered over 40 film and television credits and continues to command hefty sums for acting appearances.
1982-
1976-
Peter Fonda is an actor, but most well-known as a counterculture icon of the 1960s. He starred in the film Ulee's Gold, which earned him an Oscar nomination.
1939-
Ethan Hawke is an actor, director, screenwriter and novelist first gained fame playing a prep school student in the 1989 film Dead Poet’s Society.
1970-
Salma Hayek is an actress, director and producer of Mexican descent who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Frida.
1966-
Boris Karloff was an English-born actor whose name became synonymous with horror movies.
1887-1969
Actor Klaus Kinski made his mark in such films as Aguirre (1972), Nosferatu (1979) and Fitzcarraldo (1982).
1926-1991
Actor Frank Langella portrayed Richard Nixon in the Broadway and film version of Frost/Nixon. He won a Tony Award and an Oscar nomination.
1938-
Christopher Lee began his legendary career in monster movies in the 1950, playing both Frankenstein’s monster and Dracula, the latter in several classics of the genre. Lee has recently become known to a whole new generation of filmgoers in The Lord
1922-
Count Dracula was Actor Bela Lugosi's most famous role. Lugosi played him in stage productions and in the 1931 Universal Pictures film Dracula.
1882-1956
Film actor. William Marshall was an actor best known for his lead role in the legendary blaxploitation film Blacula.
1924-2003
Stephen Moyer is best known for his portrayal of seductive vampire Bill Compton on HBO's hit show True Blood.
1969-
Actor and comedian Eddie Murphy began doing stand-up as a teenager. He became a popular Saturday Night Live cast member and starred in several box-office hits.
1961-
Leslie Neilsen was an actor known for his deadpan comic delivery in such films as Airplane! and The Naked Gun
.
1926-2010
David Niven was an actor of stage and the big screen who epitomized dapper charm in films like The Pink Panther.
1909-1983
Gary Oldman is an English actor and film director whose edgy, intense style has brought him acclaim in such hits as Sid and Nancy, JFK, and The Dark Knight.
1958-
Jack Palance was an American actor best known for playing villainous roles in the 1960s and for his award-winning appearance in the film City Slickers.
1919-2006
Actor Robert Pattinson is known for such roles as Cedric Diggory in 2005's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Edward Cullen in 2008's Twilight.
1986-
Actor and producer Brad Pitt is a Golden Globe and Academy Award nominee and a two-time winner of People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" title (1995 and 2000.)
1963-
Irish actor Stephen Rea is well-known for his roles in V for Vendetta, Interview with the Vampire and The Crying Game.
1946-
Max Schreck made film history with his creepy portrayal of a vampire in F.W. Murnau’s classic silent film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Terror (1922).
1879-1936
1976-
1969-
Wesley Snipes is an actor known for his action roles in such films as Blade and Passenger 57 and for his trouble with the law over unpaid taxes.
1962-
In 2008, actress Kristen Stewart landed the role of Bella Swan in the saga Twilight and the movies made her an instant star.
1990-
Actor Kiefer Sutherland, son of Donald Sutherland, appeared in numerous coming-of-age films throughout the 1980s, including Stand by Me and The Lost Boys.
1966-
Model and actress Sharon Tate is best remembered for her tragic and untimely death at the hands of serial killer Charles Manson.
1943-1969