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| The voting's over. Now it's time to find out who the 100 Greatest Movie Stars of all time are, as voted by you. Watch Channel 4's 100 Greatest Movie Stars to find out if these nominees made it onto the final list. |
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| Mae West |
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Truly a star ahead of her time, Mae West was born in New York in 1893. She began as a playwright and courted scandal for her play called Sex, released in 1926. Her film career began in 1932, with a bit part in Night After Night. However, after West had rewritten her role she stole every scene in the movie. For an America going through the 30s depression, West's independent and risqué performances were enjoyed by the public and railed against by the censors. After her first starring role in She Done Him Wrong, each of her films was attacked more and more by the moralists. West retired from the screen after making just nine movies, but such had been their success that she had dragged a near bankrupt Paramount back into profit. |
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| Marcello Mastroianni |
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One of the few Italian actors to achieve fame on a par with Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni was born in 1923. Having appeared as an extra in several films during the early 1940s, his breakthrough came on the stage in the play Angelica. Thereafter a long career in cinema followed, in films like Fellini's La Dolce Vita, Divorce Italian Style for which he was Oscar nominated and The Stranger. Mastroianni also made headlines off-screen and had affairs with many of his leading ladies, including Faye Dunaway and Catherine Deneuve. |
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| Marilyn Monroe |
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Norma Jean Mortenson was born in LA in 1926. An illegitimate child, her mother's family had a history of mental imbalance and suicide. With her mother resident in mental institutions for much of her childhood, Norma Jean lived in foster homes where she suffered neglect and even attempted rape. At 16 she married; at 17 she attempted suicide. Surviving to make a living as a model, she was signed by 20th Century Fox in 1946, establishing herself by the mid-50s. Worshipped as a (dyed) blonde sexpot, Monroe never got away from this image despite a keen desire to better herself. Always dogged by ill health and depression, she died of an overdose in 1962, a uniquely alluring but tragic icon, perhaps best remembered for Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Seven Year Itch (1955). |
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| Marlene Dietrich |
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Born in Berlin in 1901 (although mystery, much of it created by Dietrich herself, surrounds her origins - accounts of her year of birth and even her real name vary). A talented violinist as a teen, she took up acting when she injured her wrist and by 1930 was a popular performer in Germany. Her classic performance in The Blue Angel saw her transferred to Hollywood, where she was touted as a rival to Greta Garbo and Oscar nominated for her role in Morocco. Exuding exotic sex appeal, Dietrich gained a reputation for bedding her co-stars, and began a craze for women wearing slacks. Turning down a personal offer from Hitler to return to Germany, she became a US citizen and, in later years, a cabaret singer. |
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