AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains
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AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes & Villains is a list of the one hundred greatest screen characters (fifty each in the hero and villain categories) as chosen by the American Film Institute in June 2003. It is part of the AFI 100 Years... series. The list was first presented in a CBS special hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The presentation program was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Nonfiction Special.[1]
Criteria
The jurors were limited to feature-length (at least 60 minutes), narrative, English-language films with significant financial and/or creative backing from the United States. All characters, whether hero or villain, were to "have made a mark on American society in matters of style and substance" and "elicit strong reactions across time, enriching America’s film heritage while continuing to inspire contemporary artists and audiences".[2]
The list
Heroes
The AFI defines a hero as "a character(s) who prevails in extreme circumstances and dramatizes a sense of morality, courage and purpose. Though they may be ambiguous or flawed, they often sacrifice themselves to show humanity at its best."[2]
Villains
The AFI defines a Villain as "a character(s) whose wickedness of mind, selfishness of character and will to power are sometimes masked by beauty and nobility, while others may rage unmasked. They can be horribly evil or grandiosely funny but are ultimately tragic."[2]
Rank | Villain | Gender | Actor | Film | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hannibal Lecter | Male | Anthony Hopkins | The Silence of the Lambs | 1991 | |
2 | Norman Bates | Male | Anthony Perkins | Psycho | 1960 | Loosely based upon Ed Gein |
3 | Darth Vader | Male | David Prowse (voiced by James Earl Jones) | The Empire Strikes Back | 1980 | |
4 | The Wicked Witch of the West | Female | Margaret Hamilton | The Wizard of Oz | 1939 | |
5 | Nurse Ratched | Female | Louise Fletcher | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | 1975 | Received Academy Award |
6 | Mr. Potter | Male | Lionel Barrymore | It's a Wonderful Life (2) | 1946 | |
7 | Alex Forrest | Female | Glenn Close | Fatal Attraction | 1987 | Nominated for Academy Award |
8 | Phyllis Dietrichson | Female | Barbara Stanwyck | Double Indemnity | 1944 | Nominated for Academy Award |
9 | Regan MacNeil (as possessed by the demon "Pazuzu") | Female / Demon hybrid | Linda Blair (voiced by Mercedes McCambridge) | The Exorcist | 1973 | Nominated for Academy Award |
10 | The Evil Queen | Female | Voice by Lucille La Verne | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | 1937 | |
11 | Michael Corleone | Male | Al Pacino (2) | The Godfather Part II | 1974 | Nominated for Academy Award |
12 | Alex DeLarge | Male | Malcolm McDowell | A Clockwork Orange | 1971 | |
13 | HAL 9000 | Und. | Voice by Douglas Rain | 2001: A Space Odyssey | 1968 | |
14 | The Alien | Und. | Bolaji Badejo | Alien | 1979 | |
15 | Amon Göth | Male | Ralph Fiennes | Schindler's List (2) | 1993 | Historical figure; nominated for Academy Award |
16 | Noah Cross | Male | John Huston | Chinatown | 1974 | |
17 | Annie Wilkes | Female | Kathy Bates | Misery | 1990 | Received Academy Award |
18 | The Shark | Male | "Bruce"[3] | Jaws | 1975 | |
19 | Captain Bligh | Male | Charles Laughton | Mutiny on the Bounty | 1935 | Historical figure; nominated for Academy Award |
20 | "Man"[a] | Male | N/A[b] | Bambi | 1942 | |
21 | Mrs. Eleanor Iselin | Female | Angela Lansbury | The Manchurian Candidate | 1962 | Nominated for Academy Award |
22 | The Terminator | Und. | Arnold Schwarzenegger (2) | The Terminator | 1984 | Character also appears on Heroes list.[c] |
23 | Eve Harrington | Female | Anne Baxter | All About Eve | 1950 | Nominated for Academy Award |
24 | Gordon Gekko | Male | Michael Douglas | Wall Street | 1987 | Received Academy Award |
25 | Jack Torrance | Male | Jack Nicholson (1) | The Shining | 1980 | |
26 | Cody Jarrett | Male | James Cagney (1) | White Heat | 1949 | |
27 | Martians | Und. | Various | The War of the Worlds | 1953 | |
28 | Max Cady | Male | Robert Mitchum (1) | Cape Fear | 1962 | |
29 | Reverend Harry Powell | Male | Robert Mitchum (2) | The Night of the Hunter | 1955 | Loosely based upon Harry Powers |
30 | Travis Bickle | Male | Robert De Niro | Taxi Driver | 1976 | Loosely based upon Arthur Bremer and Lee Harvey Oswald; nominated for Academy Award |
31 | Mrs. Danvers | Female | Judith Anderson | Rebecca | 1940 | Nominated for Academy Award |
32 | Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker | Male / Female | Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway (1) | Bonnie and Clyde | 1967 | Historical figures; both nominated for Academy Award |
33 | Count Dracula | Male | Bela Lugosi | Dracula | 1931 | |
34 | Dr. Szell | Male | Laurence Olivier | Marathon Man | 1976 | Nominated for Academy Award |
35 | J.J. Hunsecker | Male | Burt Lancaster | Sweet Smell of Success | 1957 | Based upon columnist Walter Winchell |
36 | Frank Booth | Male | Dennis Hopper | Blue Velvet | 1986 | |
37 | Harry Lime | Male | Orson Welles | The Third Man | 1949 | |
38 | Caesar Enrico Bandello | Male | Edward G. Robinson | Little Caesar | 1931 | |
39 | Cruella De Vil | Female | Voice by Betty Lou Gerson | One Hundred and One Dalmatians | 1961 | |
40 | Freddy Krueger | Male | Robert Englund | A Nightmare on Elm Street | 1984 | |
41 | Joan Crawford | Female | Faye Dunaway (2) | Mommie Dearest | 1981 | Historical figure; received Razzie Award[4] |
42 | Tom Powers | Male | James Cagney (2) | The Public Enemy | 1931 | |
43 | Regina Giddens | Female | Bette Davis (1) | The Little Foxes | 1941 | Nominated for Academy Award |
44 | Baby Jane Hudson | Female | Bette Davis (2) | What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? | 1962 | Nominated for Academy Award |
45 | The Joker | Male | Jack Nicholson (2) | Batman (2) | 1989 | |
46 | Hans Gruber | Male | Alan Rickman | Die Hard | 1988 | |
47 | Tony Camonte | Male | Paul Muni | Scarface | 1932 | Loosely based upon Al Capone |
48 | Roger "Verbal" Kint / Keyser Söze | Male | Kevin Spacey | The Usual Suspects | 1995 | Received Academy Award |
49 | Auric Goldfinger | Male | Gert Fröbe (voiced by Michael Collins) | Goldfinger | 1964 | |
50 | Detective Alonzo Harris | Male | Denzel Washington | Training Day | 2001 | Received Academy Award |
Notes
- ^ Specifically, the hunter who shot and killed Bambi's mother.
- ^ The character does not speak or appear on screen.
- ^ Within the films, these are different but physically identical characters, both played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
References
- ^ The 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
- ^ a b c "AFI's 100 YEARS…100 HEROES & VILLAINS". American Film Institute. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
- ^ Jackson, Nicholas (3 August 2011). "Shark Week: Remembering Bruce, the Mechanical Shark in 'Jaws'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
- ^ Razzie Awards: The Movies That Won The Most Razzies - The Delite
External links
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains
- List of the 400 nominated screen characters
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains at IMDb