Male Actors

Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards, first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2009. Early life Douglas was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, a son of Kirk Douglas and Bermudian actress Diana Dill. His paternal grandparents, Herschel Danielovitch and Bryna Sanglel, were Jewish immigrants from Gomel in Belarus (at that time a part of the Russian Empire). His mother and maternal grandparents, Lieutena…

James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor of stage and screen, well known for his deep basso voice. To modern audiences, he is known for providing the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise and the tagline for CNN. Early life Childhood James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, the son of Ruth, a teacher and maid, and Robert Earl Jones (1910–2006), an actor, boxer, butler, and chauffeur who left the family shortly after James Earl's birth. Jones and his father reconciled many years later in the 1980s and 1990s. Jones was raised by his maternal grandparents, farmers Maggie and John Henry Connolly, and is of African, Irish, Choctaw…

Edward James "Eddie" Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is a Mexican American actor and director. Among his most memorable roles are Commander/Admiral William Adama in the Battlestar Galactica re-imagined series, Lt. Martin Castillo in Miami Vice, teacher Jaime Escalante in Stand and Deliver, patriarch Abraham Quintanilla in the film Selena, Detective Gaff in Blade Runner, and narrator El Pachuco in both the stage and film versions of Zoot Suit. Early life Olmos was born Edward James Olmos in Los Angeles, California, where he was raised, the son of Eleano and Pedro Olmos, who was a welder. His father was a Mexican immigrant and his mother Mexican American. He grew up wantin…

Raúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay (March 9, 1940 – October 24, 1994) was a Puerto Rican actor. Born in San Juan, he gained interest in acting while still in school. Upon completing his studies, Juliá decided to pursue a career in acting. After performing in the local scene for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson Bean to move and work in New York City. Juliá who had been bilingual since his childhood, soon gained interest in Broadway and "Off Broadway" plays. He performed in mobile projects, including the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre. Juliá was eventually noticed by Joseph Papp, who offered Juliá work in the New York Shakespeare Festival. After gain…

Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor of screen and stage, as well as a playwright, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Morpheus in the Matrix science fiction film trilogy and as singer-musician Ike Turner in the Tina Turner biopic What's Love Got to Do With It. He became the first African American to portray Othello in a motion picture by a major studio when he appeared in Kenneth Branagh's 1995 film adaption of the Shakespearean play. Currently, he stars as Dr. Raymond Langston on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Early years Fishburne was born in Augusta, Georgia, the son of Hattie Bell (…

Peter Lorre (26 June 1904 – 23 March 1964) was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner. He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M. Later he became a popular featured player in Hollywood crime films and mysteries, notably alongside Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet, and as the star of the successful Mr. Moto detective series. Biography Lorre was born as László Löwenstein into a Jewish family in Rózsahegy (Hungarian), Rosenberg (German), Kingdom of Hungary, part of Austria-Hungary, now Ružomberok, Slovakia. His parents were Alois and Elvira. When h…

James Todd Spader (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor best known for his eccentric roles in movies such as Pretty in Pink; sex, lies, and videotape; Crash; Stargate; and Secretary. His most famous television role is that of the colorful attorney Alan Shore from The Practice and its spin-off Boston Legal, for which he won three Emmy Awards. Early life Spader was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of teachers Jean and Todd Spader. During his early education, he attended The Pike School (where his mother taught art) and enrolled in the Brooks School (where his father taught) for one year in North Andover, Massachusetts. Spader later transferred to Phillips Aca…

Judd Asher Nelson (born November 28, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, Alec Newbary in St. Elmo's Fire, and Jack Richmond in Suddenly Susan. Early life Nelson was born in Portland, Maine, the son of Jewish-American parents Merle, a court mediator and former member of the Maine state legislature, and Leonard Nelson, a corporate lawyer who was the first Jewish president of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. He has two sisters, Eve and Julie. He went to school at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire and Waynflete School in Portland, Maine, and studied at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, leaving during hi…

Robert Hepler "Rob" Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor. He became known after appearing in 1980s movies such as The Outsiders and St. Elmo's Fire, which included other members of the Brat Pack. Lowe is also known for his role as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing and as Senator Robert McCallister on Brothers & Sisters. Early life Lowe was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, the son of Barbara, a teacher, and Charles Lowe, a trial lawyer; his parents divorced when Lowe was young. His mother took Lowe and his younger brother, actor Chad Lowe, to California. He also has two step-siblings. Because of a virus during infancy, he is deaf in his right ear (he would la…

Ramón Antonio Gerard Estévez (born August 3, 1940), better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an actor known for his performances as Captain Willard in the film Apocalypse Now, Confederate General Robert E. Lee in the film Gettysburg, President Josiah Bartlet in the television series The West Wing, and as the voice of The Illusive Man in the video game Mass Effect 2. He has worked for some of cinema's prominent directors, including Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, Francis Ford Coppola, Richard Attenborough, Terrence Malick and Mike Nichols. With the critical acclaim he has received as an actor, Sheen has become known as an activist. Born and raised …

James Harrison Coburn, Jr. (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor who appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career. He played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as Glen Whitehouse in the film Affliction. Early life Coburn was born in Laurel, Nebraska, the son of Mylet S. and James Harrison Coburn, Sr., a garage mechanic. His maternal grandparents were immigrants from Sweden.Coburn was raised in Compton, California, and attended Compton Junior College. He enlisted in the US Army in 1950, serving as an Army truck driver and also was an occasiona…

Date of Birth 15 September 1979, Suffern, New York, USA Birth Name David Rodman Annable Mini Biography David Rodman Annable, or better known as just Dave Annable was born on September 15, 1979, in Suffern, New York. Dave grew up in Walden, a small town located in upstate New York together with his parents and sisters, Rebecca and Stacey. Growing up, he enjoyed playing baseball, rugby and hockey. Dave even played for the local Plattsburgh team. He is also a big fan of the New York Giants, New York Mets and the New Jersey Devils. While he was still in New York, he attended SUNY Plattsburgh where he was a member of the Plattsburgh State Television. Dave participated in…

Lee Marvin (February 19, 1924 – August 29, 1987) was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou (1965), he landed more heroic and sympathetic leading roles. Early life Marvin was born in New York City, the son of Lamont Waltman Marvin, an advertising executive and the head of the New York and New England Apple Institute and his wife Courtenay Washington Davidge, a fashion writer and beauty consultant. His father was a direct descendant of Matthew Marvin…

Sherman Alexander Hemsley (born February 1, 1938) is an American actor, most famous for his role as George Jefferson on the CBS television series All in the Family and The Jeffersons and as Deacon Ernest Frye on Amen. He also played Earl Sinclair's horrifying boss, a Triceratops named B.P. Richfield on the Jim Henson sitcom, Dinosaurs. Career Early life Hemsley was born and raised in South Philadelphia by his mother, who was a factory worker. He dropped out of school and joined the Air Force, where he stayed for four years. When he left the Air Force, he moved back to Philadelphia where he worked for the Post Office during the day while attending acting school at night…

John Carroll O'Connor (August 2, 1924 – June 21, 2001) best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades. Known at first for playing the role of Major General Colt in the 1970 cult movie, Kelly's Heroes, he later found fame as the bigoted workingman Archie Bunker, the main character in the 1970s CBS television sitcoms All in the Family (1971 to 1979) and Archie Bunker's Place (1979 to 1983). O'Connor later starred in the NBC television crime drama In the Heat of the Night from 1988 to 1995, where he played the role of Police Chief William (Bill) Gillespie from 1988 to 1994, and Sheriff Gillespie in 19…

George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985), best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, writer, actor, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio. Noted for his innovative dramatic productions as well as his distinctive voice and personality, Welles is widely acknowledged as one of the most accomplished dramatic artists of the twentieth century, especially for his significant and influential early work, despite his notoriously contentious relationship with Hollywood. His distinctive directorial style featured layered, nonlinear narrative forms, innovative uses of lighting and chiaroscuro, unique camera angles, soun…

Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1939)[1] is an English actor who has appeared in 63 films. He has had great commercial success in memorable roles such as young Billy Budd in Billy Budd (1962), butterfly collector Freddie Clegg in The Collector (1965), the strange visitor in Theorem (1968), second arch-villain General Zod in Superman (1978) (plus it 1980 sequel), the drag queen Bernadette in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), Wilson in The Limey (1999), the Supreme Chancellor Valorum in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), antagonist ghost Ramsley in The Haunted Mansion (2003), Elektra's master Stick in Elektra (2005), Cross friend Pekwar…

Sir Reginald “Rex” Carey Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor of stage and screen. Harrison won both an Academy Award and a Tony Award. Youth and stage career Harrison was born in Huyton, then part of Lancashire, and educated at Liverpool College. After a bout of childhood measles, Harrison lost most of the sight in his left eye which on one occasion caused some on-stage difficulty.He first appeared on the stage in 1924 in Liverpool. Harrison's acting career was interrupted during World War II whilst he served in the Royal Air Force, reaching the rank of Flight Lieutenant. He acted in various stage productions until 11 May 1990. He acted in the Wes…

Shemar Franklin Moore (born April 20, 1970) is an American actor and former male fashion model with Irene Marie Models, best known for his role as Malcolm Winters on The Young and the Restless, which he originally played from 1994 to 2002, and as the third permanent host of Soul Train, from 1999 to 2003. Currently, he plays FBI Special Agent Derek Morgan on Criminal Minds. Moore was born in Oakland, California, the son of Marilyn Wilson, a business consultant, and Sherrod Moore. Moore has 3 half siblings, Kosheno Moore, Sheburra Moore and Shenon Moore. Moore's father is African American and his mother, who was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, is of Irish and French-Canadi…

Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon. He quickly became a key cast member in the inaugural season of Saturday Night Live, where his Weekend Update skit soon became a staple of the show. Chase is also well-known for his portrayal of the character Clark Griswold in four National Lampoon's Vacation films, and for his roles in other successful comedies such as Caddyshack (1980), Fletch (1985), and ¡Three Amigos! (1986). He has hosted the Academy Awards twi…

Carmine Dominick Giovinazzo (born August 24, 1973) is an American actor and singer, known for his role as Detective Danny Messer in CSI:NY Biography Early life Giovinazzo was born and raised on Staten Island, the son of Nancy and Dominick, who was a police officer. He comes from a family of policemen and has Italian (originally from Calabria), Norwegian, Native American and English ancestry. Growing up in the streets of Staten Island, Giovinazzo was an avid athlete; though he played many different sports, baseball and roller hockey were his preferences. He graduated from Port Richmond High School in 1991 and attended Wagner College. He had hoped to become a professiona…

James Caan (born March 26, 1940) is an American actor. He is best-known for his role of Santino 'Sonny' Corleone in 1972's The Godfather. He also starred as Paul Sheldon in Stephen King's Misery and as "Big Ed" Deline in the television series Las Vegas. Early life Caan was born in The Bronx, New York City, the son of Sophie and Arthur Caan, Jewish refugees from Germany. His father was a meat dealer. Caan grew up in Sunnyside, Queens, New York City. He was educated at P.S. 150 40-01 43rd Avenue School in Queens, at the private Rhodes Preparatory School, also in New York City, and then attended Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, studying economics. Caan…

William Louis Petersen (born February 21, 1953) is an American actor and producer, best known for playing Dr. Gilbert "Gil" Grissom on the hit CBS series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He has also portrayed President John F Kennedy in the 1998 TV film The Rat Pack. Petersen is notoriously selective about the film roles he chooses, and has turned down roles in several films that went on to become modern classics. Early life Petersen, the youngest of six children, was born in Evanston, Illinois, to parents who worked in the furniture business. His father was Danish-American Arthur Edward Petersen, Sr. (1907-2004) and his mother was German-American June Hoene Petersen (…

Lionel Atwill (1 March 1885 – 22 April 1946) was an English stage and film actor born in Croydon, London, England. He studied architecture before his stage debut at the Garrick Theatre, London in 1904. He become a star in Broadway theatre by 1918, and made his screen debut in 1919. He acted on the stage in Australia but was most famous for his U.S. horror roles in the 1930s. His two most memorable parts were as the crazed, disfigured sculptor in Mystery of the Wax Museum (Warner Brothers, 1933), and as Inspector Krogh in Son of Frankenstein (1939), memorably sent up by Kenneth Mars in Mel Brooks's Young Frankenstein (1974). When he was not cast in macabre roles, Atwill …

George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999) was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his bravura stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and an early flamboyant film performance as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. He has also widely been known for his rather gravelly voice. Early life Scott was born in Wise, Virginia, the son of Helena Agnes (1904–1935) and F. Scott (1896–1948). He was the only son and younger of their two children. His mother died just before his eighth birthday, and he was raised by his father, an executive at the Buick…