100 of the Greatest Characters in Film History

I recently read an article in Premiere magazine. The idea was to list the greatest characters in film history. Was it a great list? Yes, sure. Did it include great characters? Most definitely. Did I agree with the order of the list? No. But, each to their own. So I have decided to give readers my own list of the greatest characters in film history.

100 to 1

100. Daphne or Jerry in Some Like It Hot

Played by Jack Lemmon.

99. Gordon Gekko in Wall Street

Played by Michael Douglas

98. Alien Queen in Aliens

Played by the Alien Queen

Character moment: She's big, she's bad and she's out for revenge. She's the biggest, baddest "bitch" in the universe, and this puny human female, Ellen Ripley thinks she can just kill all of her offspring and get away with it. Big mistake.

97. Dr. Evil in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

Played by Mike Myers

Character moment: This character can be summed up in one word: Hilarious. He doesn't like insolence. When one of his henchmen are bad, he sends them down to a pit of hell where they are burned to death. Well, sometimes this doesn't work properly.

96. Austin Powers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

Played by Mike Myers

Character moment: Austin is running around, stark naked. We never see it of course, because everything in the foreground is perfectly hiding is winkie. Thank God.

95. Private Hudson in Aliens

Played by Bill Paxton

Character moment: As much as he's a great comedy relief and an annoying whiner, when Hudson is faced with the one thing he fears most, the private fights admirably to his death.

94. T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Played by Robert Patrick

Character moment: Slick, sleek and perfectly designed to immulate a human being, this Porche of a Terminator breaks into a police helicopter, and slithers into one of the seats. Still not completely formed yet, the T-1000 simply tells the pilot to get out. The pilot jumps out of the helicopter. Whether he survived or not is still a big mystery. Even though it's 20 to 30 feet off the ground, I might just have to do the same.

93. Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory

Played by Gene Wilder

Character moment: Willy's whimsical entrance - first teetering with a cane, and ending with the execution of a perfect somersault.

92. Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard

Played by Gloria Swanson

Character moment: Norma's final appearance: "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."

91. Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction

Played by Samuel L. Jackson

Character moment: After mob henchman, Jules declares that he's going to walk the Earth like "Kane in Kung Fu," a desperate couple tries to rob this quaint diner. Jules practically talks both of them out of committing suicide and let's them leave.

90. Howard Beale in Network

Played by Peter Finch

Character moment: "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

89. Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street

Played by Robert Englund

Character moment: Just when you thought horror couldn't get any more wild, you get Freddy Krueger. He can rip his face off and laugh. He can make everything you see change in a flash. He can kill you in your dreams any way he wants. There's no one moment in which Freddy Krueger shines.

87. Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Played by Johnny Depp

Character moment: What perfectly describes this character is his introduction. He's docking at port on a rapidly sinking boat. It's oddly brilliant.

86. Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront

Played by Marlon Brando

Character moment: "I could've been a contender. I could've been somebody." Need I say more?

85. Norma Rae in Norma Rae

Played by Sally Field

Character moment: She starts a protest.

84. Aurora Greenway in Terms of Endearment

Played by Shirley MacLaine

83. Neo in The Matrix

Played by Keanu Reeves

82. Roger "Verbal" Kint in The Usual Suspects

Played Kevin Spacey

81. "Mad" Max Rockatansky in Road Warrior

Played by Mel Gibson

80. Jack Torrance in The Shining

Played by Jack Nicholson

Character moment: "Here's Johnny!"

79. Batman in Batman Begins

Played by Christian Bale

78. Ace Ventura in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Played by Jim Carrey

77. Jigsaw in Saw

Played by Tobin Bell

Character moment: After lying on the floor, playing dead throughout the entire movie, this man just stands up and walks out. And boy, what a surprise ending.

76. The Joker in Batman

Played by Jack Nicholson

75. Dr. Strangelove in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Played by Peter Sellers

74. Tony Montana in Scarface in Scarface

Played by Al Pacino

Character moment: "Say hello to my little friend!"

73. Harry Tasker in True Lies

Played by Arnold Schwartzenegger

Character moment: "Yes, but they were all bad."

72. Carrie White in Carrie

Played by Sissy Spacek

Character moment: Carrie is fed-up with her peers and all of their pranks. She decides to wipe them out at her high school prom. God help them.

71. Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind

Played by Olivia De Havilland

70. Inspector Jacques Clouseau in A Shot in the Dark

Played by Peter Sellers

69. Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now

Played by Robert Duvall

68. John "Bluto" Blutarsky in Animal House

Played by John Belushi

Character moment: "Food fight!" or "Toga, toga!"

67. Aileen Wuornos in Monster

Played by Charlize Theron

66. Lex Luther in Superman

Played by Gene Hackman

65. Inspector Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry

Played by Clint Eastwood

64. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark in Hamlet

Played by Laurence Olivier

63. Michael Myers in Halloween

Played by Nick Castle

62. Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai

Played by Alec Guiness

Character moment: The Colonel scratches his head and asks, "What have I done?"

61. Annie Wilkes in Misery

Played by Kathy Bates

Character moments: Annie doesn't want Paul (Kahn) to leave so much so that she resorts to using a sledgehammer in the wrong, most-cringe worthy place known to mankind.

60. Carl Spackler in Caddyshack

Played by Bill Murray

59. Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich

Played by Julia Roberts

58. Tyler Durden in Fight Club

Played by Brad Pitt

Character moment: "I want you to hit me as hard as you can."

57. John McClane in Die Hard

Played by Bruce Willis

56. Blondie or The Man with No Name in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Played by Clint Eastwood

55. Moses in The Ten Commandments

Played by Charlton Heston

Character moment: With the help of God, Moses parts the Red Sea.

54. William Wallace in Braveheart

Played by Mel Gibson

Character moment: Wallace is riding in front of an entire army of his countrymen, giving them a speech that is still my favorite of its kind in movie history.

53. Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins

Played by Julie Andrews

52. Bonnie Parker in Bonnie and Clyde

Played by Faye Dunaway

51. Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever

Played by John Travolta

Character moment: Tony starts dancing to the Bee Gees.

50. Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire

Played by Vivien Leigh

49. King Kong in King Kong

Played by King Kong

48. Det. Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop

Played by Eddie Murphy

Character moment: The whole banana in the tail pipe gag pretty much sums up the entire character.

47. Kevin McCallister in Home Alone

Played by Macaulay Culkin

Character moment: Kevin's slapping of aftershave on his cheeks, and his "Aaaahhh!" reaction.

46. Sean Thornton in The Quiet Man

Played by John Wayne

Character moment: Sean has picked a fight with his new bride, Mary Kate's brother over her dowry. They are throwing punches at each other all over this quaint Scottish town. It's absolutely brilliant. Also, look for the scene where Sean pulls Mary Kate (Maureen O'Hara) to his lips in the windiest kiss scene ever done.

45. Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver

Played by Robert De Niro

Character moment: Travis' massacre rehearsal, "You talkin' to me?" and the scene in which he slowly rocks his TV set and eventually crashes it to the floor.

44. Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia

Played by Tom Hanks

Character moment: When he's in that red light, listening to music as if he were tripping, it's the most memorable part of a fantastic performance by Tom Hanks.

43. Susan Vance in Bringing Up Baby

Played by Katharine Hepburn

Character moment: Cary Grant's character, Dr. David Huxley rips off the rear end of her dress and she pulls him close to hide her fanny in this fantastic screwball comedy. I just wish I could put Cary Grant somewhere on this list.

42. Randle Patrick McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Played by Jack Nicholson

Character moment: In order to escape, Randle gets many of the other patients at this mental hospital to go with him sailing.

41. Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Played by Louise Fletcher

Character moment: The sweetheart of a nurse takes away everyone's chance to see the World Series.

40. Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation

Played by Chevy Chase

Character moment: Clark's Christmas has gone to pot. The family hates him. His company just screwed him out of a bonus. He loses his head. He curses everyone and everything. Then finally, Clark asks, "Where's the Tylenol?"

39. Oda Mae Brown in Ghost

Played by Whoopi Goldberg

Character moment: Oda's reluctant donation of a $4 million check to charity, after being prompted by Sam.

38. Rose Sayer in The African Queen

Played by Katharine Hepburn

Character moment: Heroine Rose's moment of emotional liberation after 'going over the falls'.

37. Charlie Allnut in The African Queen

Played by Humphrey Bogart

Character moment: The character has so many great moments in this film, it's hard to pick just one. Let's just say, it's a great performance by Humphrey Bogart in one of the greatest films. I especally like to remember him kicking his boat's engine.

36. Judah Ben-Hur in Ben-Hur

Played by Charleton Heston

Character moment: "May God grant me vengeance upon my return!" He's just been double-crossed by Messala. He's being dragged out of his enemy's presence. We can see on his face how much he now hates his old buddy.

35. Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon

Played by Humphrey Bogart

Character moment: Sam's act of turning over femme fatale love Brigid O'Shaughnessy (Mary Astor) to the cops.

34. T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia

Played by Peter O'Toole

Character moment: Lawrence is talking to his superior, General Lord Edmund Allenby (Jack Hawkins). Allenby is trying to convince Lawrence that he's an extraordinary man. "I don't want ordinary friends!" I think is the line that best sums up the character of T. E. Lawrence.

33. Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction

Played by Glenn Close

Character moment: Alex's conversation with Dan (Michael Douglas) the morning that he leaves: "You thought you'd have a good time. You didn't stop for a second to think about me."

32. The Little Tramp in City Lights

Played by Charlie Chaplin

Character moment: Chaplin was this character in many of his movies. What really sets this one great silent movie apart from the others is the love story between the Tramp and the blind Flower Girl (Virginia Cherrill).

31. E.T. in E.T.: The Extraterrestrial

Played by E.T.

Character moment: "I'll be right here." E.T. is saying goodbye to his best friend on Earth, little Elliot. The little squashy guy wants to reassure the boy that he'll never forget him. And, neither will we.

30. Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Played by Linda Hamilton

Character moment: Sarah has been plagued with terrible visions of a future nuclear holocaust and in order to make sure this never happens, she's ready to kill the man responsible, Miles Dyson (Joe Morton). She's got him in her sights. She sees that he's just a man. Sarah stops herself from pulling the trigger. Forget all of the landmark effects, because this is one of the most dramatic moments an actress can have in a movie.

29. The Sundance Kid in Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid

Played by Robert Redford

Character moment: "Think you used enough dynamite there, Butch." Butch and Sundance have so many adventures together, it's tough to pick just one moment.

28. Butch Cassidy in Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid

Played by Paul Newman

Character moment: "I don't want to fight you, Harvey." Butch and Sundance have so many adventures together, it's tough to pick just one moment.

27. Luke Skywalker in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Played by Mark Hamill

Character moment: The Rebel Alliance is trying to destroy the dreaded Death Star. Darth Vader and a squadron of fighters are trying to stop them. Every Rebel squadron leader has been killed. Then, there's this one farm boy from Tattooine who may or may not have the power of the Force behind him. Luke Skywalker takes it upon himself to destroy the Empire's planet-killing space station.

26. Detective Virgil Tibbs in In The Heat of The Night

Played by Sidney Poitier

Character moment: Virgil's unblinking response through clenched teeth: "They call me Mister Tibbs," after being insulted by chief of police Bill Gillepsie (Rod Steiger): "Virgil - that's a funny name for a nigger boy from Philadelphia. What do they call you up there?"

25. Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz

Played by Judy Garland

Character moment: Dorothy is back in Kansas and the movie has transformed from Technicolor to that ugly brownish yellow again. Dorothy sees everyone from Oz watching over her and says, "There's no place like home."

24. George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life

Played by James Stewart

Character moment: George Bailey's entire life was devoted to others, most importantly his family. After everything goes wrong, George is left running from the law. He ends up wanting to kill himself. Everything was caused by one man, Mr. Potter. George and Potter have always despised each other. Then after George saw what life would be like if he never existed, he runs through the streets, screaming "Merry Christmas" to everyone in town - including Mr. Potter.

23. Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird

Played by Gregory Peck

Character moment: Atticus' lesson to daughter Jean Louise ('Scout') (Mary Badham) who got into a fight at school: "Do you know what a compromise is? It's an agreement reached by mutual consent."

22. Margo Channing in All About Eve

Played by Bette Davis

Character moment: Margo's menacing, self-mocking, legendary quip at a party as guests arrive, as she jealously suspects young acolyte Eve (Anne Baxter): "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night."

21. Forrest Gump in Forrest Gump

Played by Tom Hanks

Character moment: "Stupid is as stupid does." There's so many Forrest Gump adventures in this one movie, it's hard to pick just one moment.

20. Fred C. Dobbs in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Played by Humphrey Bogart

Character moment: Dobbs' reaction to Curtin's (Tim Holt) challenge about putting his hand under a rock, where he doesn't believe that a Gila monster is hiding.

19. The Monster in Frankenstein and or Bride of Frankenstein

Played by Boris Karloff

Character moment: "Friend: Good." I don't know if that's exactly how the line was scripted, but it captures the meaning in the delivery. The Frankenstein monster is becoming human in the company of a blind old man. He speaks and cries in the same scene. This touching moment in the middle of this timeless horror movie works beautifully.

18. Captain Louis Renault in Casablanca

Played by Claude Rains

Character moment: "Round up the usual suspects." Capt. Renault has just witness his good friend, Rick Blaine kill his Nazi superior. Will he continue to be a Nazi stooge or will he be the great man we all know he is? That's the question in one fleeting moment at the end of this great film.

17. Robin Hood in The Adventures of Robin Hood

Played by Errol Flynn

Character moment: Robin's crashing of a dinner event being held by Prince John (Claude Rains), with a dead deer draped on his back, and being called a "saucy fellow."

16. Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane

Played by Orson Welles

Character moment: Kane's plea to his second wife Susan (Dorothy Comingore) as she leaves him: "You can't do this to me."

15. T-101 Terminator in The Terminator and or Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Played by Arnold Schwartzenegger

Character moment: It's tough. When the Terminator is in the police station looking around for the perfect place to park his car, he says, "I'll be back." Then of course, there's that famous moment when the good T-101 model is standing in an open window with a mini gun, blasting every cop car in the area. He's had a lot of great moments in these movies, it's a hard decision to make.

14. James Bond in Dr. No or Goldfinger or From Russia with Love

Played by Sean Connery

Character moment: It's difficult to say. Connery's Bond has had so many great moments in these movies. Whether it is killing bad guys, man-handling everyone to get information or simply being the coolest and most suave guy to walk in a room, his greatest moment remains a hard decision to make.

13. Annie Hall in Annie Hall

Played by Diane Keaton

Character moment: Annie's decision to remain in LA with a music producer (Paul Simon), with newly-discovered self-recognition, rather than return to New York to marry Alvy (Woody Allen).

12. Jack Dawson in Titanic

Played by Leonardo DiCaprio

Character moment: Locked away in steerage while the ship is going down, young Jack Dawson is trying to save himself and the love of his life from drowning in the decks below. With the help of some friends, he busts through the gate like a bat out of hell. Then of course, there's that scene in the freezing North Atlantic in which Jack asks Rose to live a titanic life. It's a tough one.

11. Darth Vader in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Played by David Prowse and James Earl Jones

Character moment: Darth Vader announces to Luke Skywalker that he happens to be his father. Then of course, there are those moments when he's killing more of the bad guys than the good guys. This sort of proves that Vader isn't totally bad.

10. Ilsa Lund in Casablanca

Played by Ingrid Bergman

Character moment: When Ilsa confronts her true love with a revolver to obtain some vital letters of transit.

9. Rick Blaine in Casablanca

Played by Humphrey Bogart

Character moment: Rick lies to the love of his life to get her on the plane with her husband. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday and for the rest of your life...."

8. Rose DeWitt Bukator in Titanic

Played by Kate Winslett

Character moment: I'm torn between the "I'm flying" scene or the tap-dancing scene in steerage. Rose is trying to break free and enjoy life. Either one of these scenes captures this character trait perfectly.

7. Ellen Ripley in Aliens

Played by Sigourney Weaver

Character moment: Ellen is trying to rescue her surrogate daughter. She finds the alien nest. She sees eye to eye with the Alien Queen and decides to purge her fury. Ellen takes matters into her own hands and blasts the crap out of every alien egg she sees.

6. Norman Bates in Psycho

Played by Anthony Perkins

Character moment: "Every boy's best friend is his mother." This line completely defines this strange, and ultimately disturbing human being.

5. Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark

Played by Harrison Ford

Character moment: In the middle of Egypt, it's hot and Indy's chasing after his girl. A man with a sword challenges him to a duel. Indiana simply pulls out his revolver, and shoots the man in the head.

4. Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs

Played by Anthony Hopkins

Character moment: Hannibal is discussing the case with FBI agent, Clarise Starling and utters these famous words, "I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti." It is utterly chilling every time.

3. Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind

Played by Clark Gable

Character moment: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." Rhett is leaving the one woman he's ever been in love with. He's watched as Scarlett's kept him at a distance so that she could be with her precious Ashley. By the end of the film, he is sick of it and so is everyone else watching.

2. Vito Corleone in The Godfather

Played by Marlon Brando

Character moment: "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." Vito is trying to cheer up his Godson. The person he's talking about in this classic line is a movie producer. It is soon followed by the famous scene with a certain horse.

1. Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind

Played by Vivien Leigh

Character moment: "If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill, as God as my witness, I will never be hungry again!" Everything in her life has led up to this point. Not only is she stronger in this moment, she has declared herself more independent than most women in history.