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.
| 1998 | 100 Movies |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 100 Stars |
| 2000 | 100 Laughs |
| 2001 | 100 Thrills |
| 2002 | 100 Passions |
| 2003 | 100 Heroes & Villains |
| 2004 | 100 Songs |
| 2005 | 100 Movie Quotes |
| 2005 | 25 Scores |
| 2006 | 100 Cheers |
| 2006 | 25 Musicals |
| 2007 | 100 Movies (Updated) |
| 2008 | AFI's 10 Top 10 |
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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.
| No. | Female legends | Male legends | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Katharine Hepburn
(12 May 1907 – 29 June 2003) |
|
Humphrey Bogart
(25 December 1899 – 14 January 1957) |
|
| 2 | Bette Davis
(5 April 1908 – 6 October 1989) |
|
Cary Grant
(18 January 1904 – 29 November 1986) |
|
| 3 | Audrey Hepburn
(4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) |
|
James Stewart
(20 May 1908 – 2 July 1997) |
|
| 4 | Ingrid Bergman
(29 August 1915 – 29 August 1982) |
|
Marlon Brando
(3 April 1924 – 1 July 2004) |
|
| 5 | Greta Garbo
(18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) |
|
Fred Astaire
(10 May 1899 – 22 June 1987) |
|
| 6 | Marilyn Monroe
(1 June 1926 – 4 August 1962) |
|
Henry Fonda
(16 May 1905 – 12 August 1982) |
|
| 7 | Elizabeth Taylor
(27 February 1932 – 23 March 2011) |
|
Clark Gable
(1 February 1901 – 16 November 1960) |
|
| 8 | Judy Garland
(10 June 1922 – 22 June 1969) |
|
James Cagney
(17 July 1899 – 30 March 1986) |
|
| 9 | Marlene Dietrich
(27 December 1901 – 6 May 1992) |
|
Spencer Tracy
(5 April 1900 – 10 June 1967) |
|
| 10 | Joan Crawford
(23 March 190?[Note 1] – 10 May 1977) |
|
Charlie Chaplin
(16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) |
|
| 11 | Barbara Stanwyck
(16 July 1907 – 20 January 1990) |
|
Gary Cooper
(7 May 1901 – 13 May 1961) |
|
| 12 | Claudette Colbert
(13 September 1903 – 30 July 1996) |
|
Gregory Peck
(5 April 1916 – 12 June 2003) |
|
| 13 | Grace Kelly
(12 November 1929 – 14 September 1982) |
|
John Wayne
(26 May 1907 – 11 June 1979) |
|
| 14 | Ginger Rogers
(16 July 1911 – 25 April 1995) |
|
Laurence Olivier
(22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) |
|
| 15 | Mae West
(17 August 1893 – 22 November 1980) |
|
Gene Kelly
(23 August 1912 – 2 February 1996) |
|
| 16 | Vivien Leigh
(5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967) |
|
Orson Welles
(6 May 1915 – 10 October 1985) |
|
| 17 | Lillian Gish
(14 October 1893 – 27 February 1993) |
|
Kirk Douglas
(9 December 1916 – 5 February 2020) |
|
| 18 | Shirley Temple
(23 April 1928 – 10 February 2014) |
|
James Dean
(8 February 1931 – 30 September 1955) |
|
| 19 | Rita Hayworth
(17 October 1918 – 14 May 1987) |
|
Burt Lancaster
(2 November 1913 – 20 October 1994) |
|
| 20 | Lauren Bacall
(16 September 1924 – 12 August 2014) |
|
Marx Brothers | 
|
| 21 | Sophia Loren
(born 20 September 1934) |
|
Buster Keaton
(4 October 1895 – 1 February 1966) |
|
| 22 | Jean Harlow
(3 March 1911 – 7 June 1937) |
|
Sidney Poitier
(20 February 1927 – 6 January 2022) |
|
| 23 | Carole Lombard
(6 October 1908 – 16 January 1942) |
|
Robert Mitchum
(6 August 1917 – 1 July 1997) |
|
| 24 | Mary Pickford
(8 April 1892 – 29 May 1979) |
|
Edward G. Robinson
(12 December 1893 – 26 January 1973) |
|
| 25 | Ava Gardner
(24 December 1922 – 25 January 1990) |
|
William Holden
(17 April 1918 – 12 November 1981) |
|
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 actors that are part of the complete list of nominees are:
The Actresses that are part of the complete list of nominees are:
NOTE: Those listed in bold indicate that the star is still living.