AFI's_100_Years...100_Stars

AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars

AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars

List of legends of American film history


AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars is the American Film Institute's list ranking the top 25 male and 25 female greatest screen legends of American film history and is the second list of the AFI 100 Years... series.

Quick Facts

The list was unveiled through a CBS special on June 15, 1999, hosted by Shirley Temple (who is herself honored on the female legends list), with 50 then-current actors making the presentations.[1]

AFI defines an "American screen legend" as "an actor or a team of actors with a significant screen presence in American feature-length films (films of 40 minutes or more) whose screen debut occurred in or before 1950, or whose screen debut occurred after 1950 but whose death has marked a completed body of work." In other words, the list generally honors actors recognized for their contributions to classical Hollywood cinema.[1] Jurors selected the final lists from 250 male and 250 female nominees.[2]

When the lists were unveiled, Gregory Peck, Katharine Hepburn, Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley Temple, Lauren Bacall, Kirk Douglas (the longest-lived star at 103) and Sidney Poitier were alive, but have since died. At 89 in 2024, Sophia Loren is the sole surviving star.

The AFI's 50 greatest screen legends

More information No., Female legends ...

Nominees

The legends were chosen out of a list of 250 male and 250 female nominees. The adjoining reference gives the lists of the original selection.[3]

With the death of Sidney Poitier in January 2022, all male living legends and nominees have now died. There is one surviving female living legend, Sophia Loren (89), and 5 remaining female nominees: Ann Blyth (95), Claire Bloom (93), Mitzi Gaynor (92), Rita Moreno (92) and Margaret O'Brien (87). The most recent nominee to die is Piper Laurie, aged 91, in October 2023.

The 250 male nominees

The Actors that are part of the complete list of nominees are:

The 250 female nominees

The Actresses that are part of the complete list of nominees are:

NOTE: Those listed in bold indicate that the star is still living.

Notes

  1. Either 1904, 1905, 1906, or 1908, according to various sources (see biographical entry).

References

  1. "AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars: The 50 Greatest American Screen Legends". American Film Institute. Retrieved November 10, 2019.

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