PEOPLE KNOWN FOR: acting
American singer, songwriter, and dancer
Michael Jackson was an American singer, songwriter, and dancer who was one of the most popular and influential entertainers in the world in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Jackson transformed popular...
American director, writer, and actor
Woody Allen is an American motion-picture director, screenwriter, actor, comedian, playwright, and author who is best known for his bittersweet comic films containing elements of parody, slapstick, and...
American actor, director, and writer
Orson Welles was an American motion-picture actor, director, producer, and writer. His innovative narrative techniques and use of photography, dramatic lighting, and music to further the dramatic line...
American singer and actor
Before Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and all the teen idols who followed in their footsteps, there was Frank Sinatra: a skinny kid from New Jersey who became one of the most sought-after performers in the...
American director, writer, and actor
John Huston was an American motion-picture director, writer, and actor whose taut dramas were among the most popular Hollywood films from the early 1940s to the mid-1980s. Many of his films were literary...
French singer and actor
Johnny Hallyday was a French rock singer and actor whose powerful vocals and prolific career spanning more than half a century enabled him to achieve unprecedented stardom in France. Credited with popularizing...
American singer and actress
Madonna is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and entrepreneur whose immense popularity in the 1980s and ’90s allowed her to achieve levels of power and control that were nearly unprecedented for...
American musician
Louis Armstrong was the leading trumpeter of the 20th century and one of the most influential artists in jazz history. He was the genre’s first superstar, known worldwide as “Satchmo.” Armstrong helped...
English actor, poet, and producer
David Garrick was an English actor, producer, dramatist, poet, and comanager of the Drury Lane Theatre. Garrick was of French and Irish descent, the son of Peter Garrick, a captain in the English army,...
American rapper and actor
Tupac Shakur was an influential American rapper and actor who was one of the leading names in 1990s gangsta rap. With his raw talent and thoughtful lyrics, he frequently addressed social issues in his...
British actor, producer, writer, and director
Charlie Chaplin was a British comedian, producer, writer, director, and composer who is widely regarded as the greatest comic artist of the screen and one of the most important figures in motion-picture...
American singer and actor who rose from rags to riches to become “the King of Rock ’n’ Roll”
Elvis Presley was an American popular singer and actor widely known as “the King of Rock ’n’ Roll.” One of rock music’s dominant performers from the mid-1950s until his death, Presley revolutionized popular...
American actor and director
Clint Eastwood is an American film actor who emerged as one of the most popular Hollywood stars in the 1960s, known for his portrayal of tough individualists, first as The Man with No Name in Sergio Leone’s...
American filmmaker
Otto Preminger was an Austrian-born American director who defied Hollywood’s Production Code with a series of controversial films—notably The Moon Is Blue (1953), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), and...
Indian actress
Kareena Kapoor is an Indian actress known for her work in Bollywood films. Especially noted for her charismatic screen presence and versatility, Kapoor has portrayed a wide range of feisty characters such...
Indian actor, film producer, and television presenter
Salman Khan is an Indian actor, film producer, and television host whose iconic roles, blockbuster hits, and mass appeal have earned him the status of a megastar in Bollywood. Over the years, he has become...
American actor and comedian
Stephen Colbert is an American actor and comedian who was best known as the host of The Colbert Report (2005–14), an ironic send-up of television news programs, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015–26)....
Indian actress
Deepika Padukone is one of the most successful Bollywood actresses of the early 21st century. A model and an ambassador for luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Cartier, Padukone has acted in several...
American actor and philanthropist
Paul Newman was an American actor and director whose striking good looks, intelligence, and charisma became hallmarks in a film career that spanned more than 50 years, during which time he became known...
American actor and director
Rob Reiner was an American actor and director known especially for his role as Michael (“Meathead”) Stivic in the television series All in the Family (1971–79) and for his direction of such culturally...
American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
Dolly Parton was an American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress who pioneered the interface between country and pop music styles and became one of the most iconic entertainment figures...
American-born Australian actress
Nicole Kidman is an American-born Australian actress known for her considerable range and versatility as well as for her glamorous looks and cool demeanor. She won an Academy Award for best actress for...
American entertainer
Janet Jackson is an American singer and actress and the youngest member of Motown’s famed Jackson family. Starting out in the 1970s as a child actor who occasionally performed music with her siblings,...
American Canadian actor
Matthew Perry was an American Canadian comedic actor best known for his portrayal of the wisecracking Chandler Bing on the hugely popular sitcom Friends (1994–2004). Matthew Perry was the only child born...
American actor
Charlie Sheen is an American actor who became equally famous for his work in such films as Platoon (1986) and Major League (1989) and the television series Two and a Half Men (2003–11) and Anger Management...
American actor and race-car driver
Patrick Dempsey is an American actor and professional race-car driver best known for his role on the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy (2005– ), created by American producer Shonda Rhimes. In the show, Dempsey...
American actor and producer
Noah Wyle is an American actor and producer best known for playing a pair of fictional hospital physicians: John Carter on the hit NBC medical drama ER (1994–2009) and Michael (“Dr. Robby”) Robinavitch...
American actor
Born in Kentucky and trained in Chicago theater, Michael Shannon emerged in the early 21st century as a versatile actor in film and television. Known for the combustible intensity he brings to his performances,...
Indian actor
Perhaps no other Indian actor has left as indelible an imprint on Bollywood and popular culture as Amitabh Bachchan (born October 11, 1942, Allahabad [now Prayagraj], India), known for his baritone voice,...
American actor, filmmaker, and screenwriter
Stanley Tucci is a prolific American actor, filmmaker, and writer widely recognized for his versatile acting skills in film, television, and theater, as well as his acclaimed work behind the camera. His...
American singer and actor
Billy Ray Cyrus is an American country singer and actor best known for his 1992 song “Achy Breaky Heart,” a smash hit that crossed over to the pop charts and inspired a line dancing craze. He also acted...
American comedian, writer, and director
Jon Stewart is an American comedian, writer, and director who is best known for hosting (1999–2015, 2024– ) the satiric television news program The Daily Show. During his first stint on the show, which...
Indian actor and politician
Sunny Deol is an Indian actor and politician known for his action hero roles in Bollywood films. Deol’s career peaked in the 1980s and ’90s and remained stable through the release of the blockbuster Gadar:...
American comedian and actor
Chris Rock is an American comedian, actor, and director who broke into show business in the late 1980s with his electrifying stand-up routines, which often address racial matters with biting humor and...
American actor
Owen Wilson’s path to Hollywood comedy stardom began with what he once described as a “little idea” that he cooked up in his early 20s with Wes Anderson, his college friend and lifelong collaborator. That...
Puerto Rican singer and songwriter
Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter who helped bring reggaeton and trap music to a wider audience and led to him being crowned “the king of Latin trap.” His urban music style, also called...
Indian actor
Ranveer Singh is an Indian actor known for his work in Bollywood, noted especially for his on-screen versatility and his spirited, energetic off-screen persona. Some of his standout performances have been...
American actor
Brad Pitt is an American actor known for his portrayal of unconventional characters. After gaining attention for his role in Thelma & Louise (1991), Pitt channeled his magnetism as a leading man in such...
Canadian actress
Catherine O’Hara was a Canadian comedic actor whose improvisational skills and ability to imbue her comic characters with depth and humanity brought her respect and a number of career-defining roles. O’Hara...
American actor
Tramell Tillman is an American actor best known for playing the turtleneck-wearing, exceedingly loquacious supervisor Seth Milchick on the award-winning Apple TV (formerly Apple TV+) dystopian sci-fi thriller...
American actress
Linda Cardellini is a versatile actress who rose to prominence portraying teenager Lindsay Weir in the cult-classic coming-of-age television series Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000). She is also known for playing...
British actor
Ian McKellen is a British actor of great versatility, noted for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and for his eclectic filmography. Counted among the most respected stage actors of his time,...
American British actress and consort of Prince Harry
Meghan, duchess of Sussex is an American actress who in 2018 married Prince Harry, duke of Sussex, now fifth in line to the British throne. She previously acted on television shows, notably in the legal...
American actress
Jean Smart is an American actress recognized for her long, eclectic career in a range of comedic and dramatic roles, most notably as caustic stand-up comic Deborah Vance in the HBO comedy-drama television...
American singer
Beyoncé is an American singer-songwriter and actress who achieved fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the R&B group Destiny’s Child and then launched a hugely successful solo career. In 2023 she...
English film director
John Schlesinger was an English film director known for a wide variety of sensitively told stories set in his homeland and in the United States. Schlesinger’s father was a pediatrician, and both of his...
American director, producer, and actor
Sydney Pollack was an American director, producer, and actor who helmed a number of popular films, including The Way We Were (1973), Tootsie (1982), Out of Africa (1985), and The Firm (1993). Although...
American actor and director
John Cassavetes was an American film director and actor regarded as a pioneer of American cinema verité and as the father of the independent film movement in the United States. Most of his films were painstakingly...
American actress
Christina Applegate is an American actress who rose to fame as the airheaded teenage character Kelly Bundy on the sitcom Married... with Children (1987–97). Applegate has since enjoyed a prolific career,...
Indian actor
Rajinikanth is an Indian actor whose unique mannerisms and stylized line delivery made him one of the leading stars of Tamil cinema. With roles in more than 170 films, he also enjoyed considerable success...