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Post by topbilled on Nov 8, 2022 15:01:36 GMT
I've been wanting to do this for a long time, and never got around to it on the TCM message board.
I am going to post lists of studio era performers who had top billing or second lead billing in a Hollywood film between 1930 and 1959.
This will not include people like Rudolph Valentino who only starred in silent films. It also eliminates anyone who may have had small parts in the late 50s but became a star in the 1960s, like Lee Van Cleef.
It does include people who headlined B films at poverty row studios, since they had top billing. It also includes any character actors or character actresses who were occasionally cast in a lead or second lead role, like Marjorie Main in the Ma and Pa Kettle films.
I will only include foreign stars if they had a lead or second lead in a Hollywood film during these years. If someone was a big star in their native country but did not have a Hollywood film to their credit, they will not be included.
If I have omitted anyone who fits these parameters, please let me know!
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Post by topbilled on Nov 8, 2022 15:05:14 GMT
LETTER A
Walter Abel
Mary Astor
Robert Alda
Jean Arthur
George Arliss
Evelyn Ankers
Ross Alexander
Grace Allen
Robert Armstrong
Pier Angeli
Bud Abbott
Judith Anderson
Lew Ayres
Eddie Albert
Brian Aherne
Heather Angel
Richard Arlen
Andrews Sisters
Fred Astaire
Desi Arnaz
Eve Arden
John Archer
Anna Maria Alberghetti
John Agar
June Allyson
Don Ameche
Julie Adams
Dana Andrews
Merry Anders
Gene Autry
Elizabeth Allan
Jean-Pierre Aumont
Edward Arnold
Pedro Armendariz
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson
Rex Allen
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Post by topbilled on Nov 8, 2022 15:16:09 GMT
LETTER B
Baby Sandy (real name Sandra Lea Henville)
Scotty Beckett
Vivian Blaine
Eddie Bracken
Anne Baxter
John Boles
Ethel Barrymore
Charles Bickford
Carroll Baker
Scott Brady
Jane Bryan
George Brent
Lucille Ball
Jack Benny
Diana Barrymore
Humphrey Bogart
Ingrid Bergman
Richard Barthlemess
Spring Byington
Johnny Mack Brown
Joan Bennett
Ray Bolger
Ann Blyth
Lionel Barrymore
Tallulah Bankhead
Marlon Brando
Alice Brady
Gene Barry
Constance Bennett
Ernest Borgnine
Lucille Bremer
George Burns
Jocelyn Brando
Kenny Baker
Helen Broderick
Walter Brennan
Lynn Bari
Ralph Bellamy
Joan Blondell
Adrian Booth (also billed as Lorna Gray)
Warner Baxter
Shirley Booth
Richard Burton
Clara Bow
Charles Boyer
Binnie Barnes
David Brian
Billie Burke
David Bruce
Fay Bainter
John Barrymore
Carla Balenda
John Drew Barrymore (also billed as John Barrymore Jr.)
Fanny Brice
Clive Brook
Mari Blanchard
Freddie Bartholomew
Suzan Ball
Lex Barker
John Bromfield
Karin Booth
Smith Ballew
Wendy Barrie
Pat Boone
Betsy Blair
Harry Belafonte
Turhan Bey
Mary Boland
Wallace Beery
Stephanie Bachelor
William Bendix
Claire Bloom
Wally Brown
Lauren Bacall
Stephen Boyd
Tom Brown
Beulah Bondi
Steve Brodie
Virginia Bruce
Joe E. Brown
Anne Bancroft
Lee Bowman
Hilary Brooke
Richard Basehart
Betty Bronson
Jim Bannon
May Britt
Yul Brynner
Phyllis Brooks
Joe Besser
Joan Barclay
El Brendel
Bruce Bennett
Edgar Bergen
Bob Baker
John Beal
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Post by starliteyes on Nov 8, 2022 15:18:26 GMT
I think Walter Abel fits into your parameters. He starred in a few films, including the 1935 version of The Three Musketeers. He also played second leads in a number of films, as well as many substantial supporting parts.
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Post by starliteyes on Nov 8, 2022 15:22:25 GMT
How about Freddie Bartholomew?
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Post by topbilled on Nov 8, 2022 15:23:58 GMT
LETTER C
Ronald Colman
Mae Clarke
Peter Cookson
Madeleine Carroll
Macdonald Carey
Lee J. Cobb
Judy Canova
Dane Clark
Kitty Carlisle
Tony Curtis
Mady Christians
Lou Costello
Tom Conway
Ruth Chatterton
Ricardo Cortez
Peggy Cummins
James Cagney
Valentina Cortese
Buster Crabbe (also billed as Larry Crabbe)
John Carroll
Wendell Corey
Broderick Crawford
Ina Claire
Ben Cooper
Dolores Costello
Rod Cameron
Bing Crosby
Sunset Carson
Joan Collins
Rory Calhoun
Phil Carey
Steve Cochran
Rosemary Clooney
Jack Carson
Joan Crawford
Charles Coburn
Claudette Colbert
Richard Carlson
Gary Cooper
Jeanne Crain
Jeff Chandler
Robert Cummings
Joan Caulfield
Montgomery Clift
Cyd Charisse
Richard Conte
Henrietta Crosman
James Craig
Janis Carter
Lon Chaney (Sr.)
Lon Chaney Jr.
Charlie Chaplin
Bernice Claire
Alan Carney
Phyllis Calvert
Carleton Carpenter
Dorothy Comingore
Richard Cromwell
Nancy Carroll
Tullio Carminati
Leslie Caron
Jackie Cooper
Peggie Castle
Joseph Cotten
Marguerite Chapman
Maurice Chevalier
Mary Carlisle
Bruce Cabot
Constance Cummings
Laird Cregar
Pat Crowley
Ken Curtis
John Carradine
Cantinflas
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Post by topbilled on Nov 8, 2022 15:24:33 GMT
How about Freddie Bartholomew? |
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Post by topbilled on Nov 8, 2022 15:37:57 GMT
LETTER D
Lili Damita
Eddie Dean
Linda Darnell
Melvyn Douglas
Arlene Dahl
James Dunn
Marion Davies
Ellen Drew
Brian Donlevy
Joan Davis
Richard Denning
Frances Dee
Dan Dailey
Cass Daley
Tom Drake
Faith Domergue
Bella Darvi
John Derek
Gail Davis
Ted Donaldson
Dorothy Dandridge
Frankie Darro
Jane Darwell
Dan Duryea
Marlene Dietrich
Jimmy Durante
Doris Day
Brandon deWilde
Yvonne De Carlo
John Dall
Marie Dressler
Helmut Dantine
Nancy Davis
James Darren
Sandra Dee
Ray Danton
Ann Dvorak
Kirk Douglas
Dolores Del Rio
Bobby Driscoll
Bebe Daniels
Gloria DeHaven
Philip Dorn
Laraine Day
Howard Duff
Betsy Drake
Bette Davis
Richard Dix
Irene Dunne
James Dean
Deanna Durbin
Douglas Dick
Joanne Dru
Jim Davis
Denise Darcel
Paul Douglas
Joan Dixon
Olivia de Havilland
Fifi D'Orsay
Jeff Donnell
Dorothy Dell
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Post by topbilled on Nov 8, 2022 15:42:32 GMT
LETTER E
Madge Evans
James Ellison
Anita Ekberg
William Eythe
Vera Ellen
Stuart Erwin
Sally Eilers
Buddy Ebsen
Dale Evans
Leif Erickson
Faye Emerson
Vince Edwards
Maurice Evans
Leon Errol
John Ericson
Florence Eldridge
Richard Egan
Joan Evans
Nelson Eddy
Patricia Ellis
Bill Elliott (also billed as Wild Bill Elliott)
Taina Elg
Gene Evans
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Post by topbilled on Nov 8, 2022 15:46:52 GMT
LETTER F
Dick Foran (sometimes billed as Nick Foran and Richard Foran)
Louise Fazenda
Fabian
Sally Forrest
W.C. Fields
Rhonda Fleming
Mel Ferrer
Frances Farmer
Robert Francis
Jane Frazee
Paul Ford
Dianne Foster
Barry Fitzgerald
Edith Fellowes
Frank Fay
Alice Faye
Errol Flynn
Nina Foch
Henry Fonda
Betty Field
Jose Ferrer
Mona Freeman
Eddie Fisher
Geraldine Fitzgerald
Glenn Ford
Joan Fontaine
Kay Francis
Felicia Farr
Susanna Foster
Douglas Fairbanks (Sr.)
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Glenda Farrell
Charles Farrell
Gracie Fields
Preston Foster
Anne Francis
Steve Forrest
Sidney Fox
John Forsythe
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Post by topbilled on Nov 8, 2022 15:52:28 GMT
LETTER G
Betty Garrett
James Garner
Ruth Gordon
Richard Greene
Mitzi Gaynor
Jean Gabin
Gladys George
John Garfield
Lillian Gish
James Gleason
Ava Gardner
Sydney Greenstreet
Nancy Guild
Edmund Gwenn
Paulette Goddard
Cary Grant
Jean Gillie
Farley Granger
Peggy Ann Garner
John Gilbert
Charley Grapewin
Mitzi Green
Stewart Granger
Anne Gwynne
Wynne Gibson
Vittorio Gassman
Greta Garbo
Jane Greer
Betty Grable
Gloria Grahame
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Charlotte Greenwood
Clark Gable
Greer Garson
Judy Garland
Andy Griffith
Janet Gaynor
William Gargan
Kathryn Grayson
Leo Gorcey
Coleen Gray
Richard "Skeets" Gallagher
Frances Gifford
Alec Guinness
Rita Gam
Nancy Gates
Bonita Granville
Beverly Garland
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Post by topbilled on Nov 8, 2022 16:04:17 GMT
LETTER H
Jack Hawkins
Charlotte Henry
Phillips Holmes
Audrey Hepburn
Tim Holt
June Haver
Dick Haymes
Signe Hasso
John Hodiak
Jean Harlow
Phil Harris
Josephine Hutchinson
Rex Harrison
Barbara Hale
Charlton Heston
Marsha Hunt
Sterling Hayden
Wanda Hendrix
O.P. Heggie
Mary Beth Hughes
John Hubbard
Katharine Hepburn
Jack Haley
Celeste Holm
Jeffrey Hunter
Susan Hayward
Edward Everett Horton
Gloria Henry
Robert Hutton
Rita Hayworth
Tab Hunter
Miriam Hopkins
William Haines
Jennifer Holt
Paul Henreid
Harriet Hilliard (also billed as Harriet Nelson)
Louis Hayward
June Havoc
Leslie Howard
Judy Holliday
Rock Hudson
Valerie Hobson
Jon Hall
Julie Harris
Bob Hope
Josephine Hull
Hurd Hatfield
Ruth Hussey
Ian Hunter
Jean Hagen
Walter Huston
Kim Hunter
William Holden
Linda Hayes
Jack Holt
Rochelle Hudson
John Howard
Ann Harding
Oliver Hardy
Leila Hyams
Skip Homeier
Sonja Henie
Richard Hart
Irene Hervey
Van Heflin
Mary Hatcher
David Hedison
Huntz Hall
Jean Hersholt
Monte Hale
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Post by topbilled on Nov 8, 2022 16:05:04 GMT
LETTER I
John Ireland
Frieda Inescort
Burl Ives
Jose Iturbi
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Post by topbilled on Nov 8, 2022 16:09:02 GMT
LETTER J
Butch Jenkins
Katy Jurado
Gordon Jones
Rita Johnson
Rick Jason
Anne Jeffreys
Allan Jones
Gloria Jean
Allyn Joslyn
Zita Johann
Al Jolson
Shirley Jones
Dorothy Jordan
Victor Jory
Brenda Joyce
Van Johnson
Jennifer Jones
Louis Jourdan
Sybil Jason
Buck Jones
Glynis Johns
Curd Jurgens
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Post by topbilled on Nov 8, 2022 16:55:16 GMT
LETTER K
John Kerr
Elyse Knox
Paul Kelly
Evelyn Keyes
Danny Kaye
Andrea King
Charles Korvin
Helen Kane
Gene Kelly
Deborah Kerr
Richard Kiley
Brian Keith
Kay Kendall
Percy Kilbride
Patsy Kelly
Howard Keel
Susan Kohner
Boris Karloff
Grace Kelly
Buster Keaton
Phyllis Kirk
Guy Kibbee
Ruby Keeler
Patric Knowles
Nancy Kelly
Alexander Knox
Jack Kelly
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