Famous Film & Theater Personalities Of The 19th Century

Vote for Your Favourite Film & Theater Personalities Of The 19th Century

Right IconThis ranking is based on an algorithm that combines various factors, including the votes of our users and search trends on the internet.

 1 
Charlie Chaplin
(The Greatest Comic Artist Ever & One of the Most Important Figures in Motion-Picture History)
Charlie Chaplin
20
Birthdate: April 16, 1889
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Walworth, London, England
Died: December 25, 1977

Cinema lovers around the world hold Charlie Chaplin in high esteem. One of the biggest stars of the silent film era and an icon, he left the audience in splits with his comedic performances. Even today, his performances in movies like Modern Times and The Gold Rush are considered classic. The legendary actor was also a writer, director and producer.

 2 
D. W. Griffith
(American Director Who is One of the Most Influential Figures in the History of the Motion Picture)
D. W. Griffith
4
Birthdate: January 22, 1875
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Crestwood, Kentucky, United States
Died: July 23, 1948
 3 
Jesse James
(American Entrepreneur, Automotive Mechanic and Television Personality)
Jesse James
4
Birthdate: April 19, 1969
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Long Beach, California, United States
Recommended Lists:
 4 
John Barrymore
(Best Known for His Silent Films: ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’, ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and ‘The Sea Beast’)
John Barrymore
4
Birthdate: February 15, 1882
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: May 29, 1942
John Barrymore, father of actor Drew Barrymore, began his career as a stage actor, appearing in plays such as Hamlet. He was nicknamed “the Great Profile” and starred in films such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Sherlock Holmes. He struggled with alcoholism throughout his life.
Recommended Lists:
 5 
Matthew Lewis
(Actor)
Matthew Lewis
6
Birthdate: June 27, 1989
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Height: 6'0" (183 cm)
 6 
Lionel Barrymore
(Actor & Director Best Known for His Role as ‘Mr. Potter’ in the Film ‘It's a Wonderful Life’)
Lionel Barrymore
4
Birthdate: April 28, 1878
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Philadelphia
Died: November 15, 1954

One of the earliest members of the famous Barrymore family of actors, Lionel Barrymore remains best known for his portrayal of Mr. Potter in the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. Unlike many of his descendants, Barrymore also composed music. For his contribution to motion picture and radio, Barrymore was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Recommended Lists:
 7 
Will Rogers
(Vaudeville Performer, Humorist)
Will Rogers
4
Birthdate: November 4, 1879
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Oologah, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma)
Died: August 15, 1935
 8 
Edward Burns
(Actor)
Edward Burns
3
Birthdate: September 21, 1879
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Glendive, Montana, United States
Died: July 4, 1954
 9 
Ethel Barrymore
2
Birthdate: August 15, 1879
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: June 18, 1959
 10 
Samuel Goldwyn
(Film Producer)
Samuel Goldwyn
2
Birthdate: August 17, 1879
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Warsaw
Died: January 31, 1974
 11 
George Cukor
(Film Director)
George Cukor
2
Birthdate: July 7, 1899
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Died: January 24, 1983
 12 
Billie Burke
(Actress)
Billie Burke
3
Birthdate: August 7, 1884
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Washington, District of Columbia, USA
Died: May 14, 1970
Height: 5'3" (160 cm)
 13 
Douglas Fairbanks
(Actor)
Douglas Fairbanks
3
Birthdate: May 23, 1883
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Denver, Colorado, United States
Died: December 12, 1939
Height: 5'7" (170 cm)
 14 
Esme Creed-Miles
(Actress)
Esme Creed-Miles
5
Birthdate: February 5, 2000
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: London Borough of Barnet Barnet, England
 15 
Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
(Military Leader)
Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
3
Birthdate: September 13, 1887
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, USA
Died: July 12, 1944
 16 
Jack Haley
(Vaudevillian)
Jack Haley
3
Birthdate: August 10, 1897
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Died: June 6, 1979
Height: 5'9" (175 cm)
 17 
F. W. Murnau
(Film director)
F. W. Murnau
2
Birthdate: December 28, 1888
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Bielefeld, Germany
Died: March 11, 1931

F. W. Murnau was a German film director best remembered for directing the 1922 silent horror film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, which is widely regarded as a masterpiece of German Expressionist cinema. He also made Hollywood films like Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, which is often counted among the best movies ever made by critics and film directors.

 18 
Georges Méliès
(One of the First Filmmakers to Use Storyboards & Fictional Narratives in Movies)
Georges Méliès
3
Birthdate: December 8, 1861
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: January 21, 1938

Initially a professional illusionist and later a film director, Georges Méliès became interested in motion pictures after watching the first real film made by Lumière brothers. Realizing the potential of film-making as an art, he soon started experimenting, making technical and narrative developments. Among the 400 films he made were Christ Walking on Water, A Trip to the Moon etc

 19 
Sarah Bernhardt
(One of the Most Popular French Actresses of the Late 19th and Early 20th Century)
Sarah Bernhardt
4
Birthdate: October 23, 1844
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: March 26, 1923

Sarah Bernhardt was a French actress known for playing important roles in popular French plays of the early-20th century.  Her decision to play Hamlet inspired Theresa Rebeck's play Bernhardt/Hamlet, in which Janet McTeer portrayed Sarah Bernhardt. In 1960, Bernhardt became the earliest born person to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

 20 
Bud Abbott
(Comedian)
Bud Abbott
3
Birthdate: October 2, 1897
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States
Died: April 24, 1974
Height: 5'8" (173 cm)
 21 
Ed Wynn
(Actor)
Ed Wynn
3
Birthdate: November 9, 1886
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Died: June 19, 1966
Height: 6'0" (183 cm)
 22 
Duke of Windsor
(Former King of the United Kingdom)
Duke of Windsor
3
Birthdate: June 23, 1894
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Richmond Park, England
Died: May 28, 1972
Height: 5'7" (170 cm)
 23 
Preston Sturges
(Playwright, Director)
Preston Sturges
2
Birthdate: August 29, 1898
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died: August 6, 1959
 24 
Frank Morgan
(Actor)
Frank Morgan
3
Birthdate: June 1, 1890
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA
Died: September 18, 1949
Height: 5'8" (173 cm)
 25 
Louis B. Mayer
(Canadian-American Film Producer Who Co-Founded Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
Louis B. Mayer
3
Birthdate: July 12, 1884
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Dymer, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire [now Vyshhorod Raion, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine]
Died: October 29, 1957
Height: 5'6" (168 cm)
 26 
George Halas
(American football player)
George Halas
3
Birthdate: February 2, 1895
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Died: October 31, 1983
Height: 6'0" (183 cm)
 27 
Bert Lahr
(Actor)
Bert Lahr
3
Birthdate: August 13, 1895
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA
Died: December 4, 1967
Height: 5'9" (175 cm)
 28 
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
(Independence Activist, Reformer)
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
3
Birthdate: May 28, 1883
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Bhagur
Died: February 26, 1966

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was an Indian politician and independence activist. He formulated the Hindu nationalist philosophy of Hindutva and was a leading figure in the Hindu Mahasabha. He was known for his strong oratory skills and was an eloquent writer. He was initially charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi but was later acquitted.

 29 
Ben Hecht
(Screenwriter)
Ben Hecht
2
Birthdate: February 28, 1893
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: New York City, U.S.
Died: April 18, 1964
 30 
Chico Marx
(American comedian)
Chico Marx
3
Birthdate: March 22, 1887
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: New York City, New York
Died: October 11, 1961
 31 
Jack Frost
(Composer)
Jack Frost
3
Birthdate: November 25, 1893
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Died: October 21, 1959
 32 
George M. Cohan
(Entertainer, Playwright and Composer Who is Considered to be ‘The Father of American Musical Comedy’)
George M. Cohan
3
Birthdate: July 3, 1878
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Died: November 5, 1942
 33 
Rose Wilder Lane
(Journalists)
Rose Wilder Lane
3
Birthdate: December 5, 1886
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: De Smet, South Dakota, USA
Died: October 30, 1968
 34 
Walter Pidgeon
(Former Actor who starred in The Bad and the Beautiful and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Walter Pidgeon
3
Birthdate: September 23, 1897
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Saint John, Canada
Died: September 25, 1984
Height: 6'2" (188 cm)
 35 
Maria Goretti
(Regarded as a Roman Catholic saint and martyr)
Maria Goretti
3
Birthdate: October 16, 1890
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Corinaldo, Italy
Died: July 6, 1902
 36 
James Wong Howe
(Cinematographer)
James Wong Howe
3
Birthdate: August 28, 1899
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Taishan, Guangdong, China
Died: July 12, 1976
Chinese-American James Wong Howe Known, known as The Poet of the Camera, had aspired to be a boxer but then earned his living as a bellboy and a cleaner, before stepping into cinematography. The Oscar-winning cinematographer used innovative techniques with the camera, such as roller-skating to film fighting scenes.
 37 
Konstantin Stanislavski
(Co-founder of ‘Moscow Art Theatre’ and Developer of Stanislavski's System of Acting)
Konstantin Stanislavski
5
Birthdate: January 17, 1863
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Moscow, Russia
Died: August 7, 1938

Legendary Soviet and Russian theatre-practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski, who played an instrumental role in promoting new Russian drama of his time, is best-known for co-founding the world-renowned Moscow Art Theatre and developing the Stanislavski's system of training and preparing actors. Sergeyevich was considered one of the prominent theatre directors of his day and also earned repute as a remarkable character actor.

 38 
Kathrine Narducci
4
Birthdate: November 22, 1965
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Height: 5'5" (165 cm)
 39 
Lillie Langtry
(Actress)
Lillie Langtry
3
Birthdate: October 13, 1853
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Jersey
Died: February 12, 1929
 40 
Sydney Greenstreet
(Actor)
Sydney Greenstreet
2
Birthdate: December 27, 1879
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Sandwich, Kent, England
Died: January 18, 1954
Height: 5'9" (175 cm)
 41 
John Rogan
(Second tallest person in history)
John Rogan
5
Birthdate: February 16, 1868
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Hendersonville, Tennessee, United States
Died: September 12, 1905
 42 
Sessue Hayakawa
(Actor, Novelist, Screenwriter, Film director)
Sessue Hayakawa
5
Birthdate: June 10, 1889
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Chiba
Died: November 23, 1973

Sessue Hayakawa was a Japanese actor who became a popular Hollywood star during the silent film era. He was the first Asian actor to achieve stardom in Europe and the United States of America. Renowned for portraying sexually dominant villains, Sessue Hayakawa became a heartthrob among American women; he was also one of Hollywood's first male sex symbols.

 43 
Wallace Beery
2
Birthdate: April 1, 1885
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Clay County
Died: April 15, 1949
 44 
Irving Thalberg
(Film producer)
Irving Thalberg
2
Birthdate: May 30, 1899
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died: September 14, 1936
Height: 5'11" (180 cm)
 45 
Tom Mix
(Actor)
Tom Mix
2
Birthdate: January 6, 1880
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Mix Run, Pennsylvania, USA
Died: October 12, 1940
Height: 6'0" (183 cm)
 46 
Ronald Colman
2
Birthdate: February 9, 1891
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Richmond, Surrey, England
Died: May 19, 1958
 47 
Max Schreck
(Actor)
Max Schreck
2
Birthdate: September 6, 1879
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Berlin, Germany
Died: February 20, 1936
Height: 6'3" (190 cm)
 48 
Arnold Ridley
(Actor)
Arnold Ridley
3
Birthdate: January 7, 1896
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Bath, Somerset, England, UK [now Bath and North East Somerset, England, UK]
Died: March 12, 1984
 49 
Robert A. Taft
(Politician)
Robert A. Taft
2
Birthdate: September 8, 1889
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Died: July 31, 1953
 50 
Paul Muni
(American Stage and Film Actor)
Paul Muni
2
Birthdate: September 22, 1895
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Lviv
Died: August 25, 1967

Paul Muni was an Austro-Hungarian American actor best remembered for his portrayal of Louis Pasteur in the 1936 biographical film The Story of Louis Pasteur, which earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor. Muni is also remembered for his performance in the play Inherit the Wind, which earned him the prestigious Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.