Career: After making the decision to get into acting in 1956, Hackman joined the Pasadena Playhouse in California (where incidentally, he struck up a friendship with Dustin Hoffman). After performances in several off-Broadway plays, Hackman's first movie was Lilith alongside Warren Beatty, who then cast him in his breakthrough film, Bonnie and Clyde. Hackman was soon in demand, showcasing his talents in everything from comedy (in Young Frankenstein) to villainy (as Lex Luthor in Superman). He's also won two Oscars - Best Actor for The French Connection, and Best Supporting Actor for Unforgiven. He retired from acting in 2004 to concentrate on writing novels.

Career: Early in his career, Washington landed small parts on TV, and made his movie debut in 1981's Carbon Copy. A starring role in St Elsewhere led to bigger projects such as Cry Freedom, Glory (for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar), and Mo' Better Blues. The eponymous role of Malcolm X made him a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood in 1992. Since then, he's starred in Philadelphia, Crimson Tide, The Hurricane, Training Day (picking up a Best Actor Oscar for his role as a crooked cop), American Gangster, The Book of Eli, Crimson Tide, Unstoppable, Flight, 2 Guns and The Equalizer. He continues to act on stage whenever his schedule allows.

Career: After several years of theatre work, Mortensen made his first film appearance playing an Amish farmer in Peter Weir's Witness. During the 1990s, Mortensen appeared in supporting roles in a variety of films, including Jane Campion's The Portrait of a Lady and Young Guns II, as well as taking leading roles in American Yakuza and Gus Van Sant's Psycho. Mortensen's major mainstream breakthrough came in 1999, when Peter Jackson cast him as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Since then, he has scored major successes with crowd-pleasing cowboy film Hidalgo, and super-tough David Cronenberg vehicles A History of Violence and Eastern Promises. His last major film was the post-apocalyptic drama The Road.

Career: Gandolfini's early film outings included roles in True Romance (1993), Get Shorty (1995) and She's So Lovely (1997), but his breakthrough came on the small screen in 1999 when he began playing gangster boss Tony in HBO's acclaimed TV series The Sopranos. He won three Emmys, two Screen Actors Guild awards, and a Golden Globe for the role. High-profile movie offers followed and he went on to star in The Mexican (2001), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), The Last Castle (2001), In the Loop (2009), The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009), Zero Dark Thirty (2012), Enough Said (2013) and The Drop (2014). He died on June 19, 2013, during a holiday in Italy.