Career: In 1973, von Sydow was cast in The Exorcist, which became one of his biggest hits to date. He didn't land another career-defining role until 1980 when he played Ming the Merciless in a much loved version of Flash Gordon. A string of hit-and-miss movies followed, including Conan the Barbarian, Never Say Never Again, Dune and Hannah and Her Sisters. He also turned his hand to directing in 1988 with the movie Ved vejen. In recent years he made a return to the world of blockbusters with Minority Report and Rush Hour 3, and also added dramatic weight to TV series The Tudors. His recent work includes Shutter Island, Robin Hood, and Truth & Treason.

Career: McCallum became an assistant stage manager, but National Service interrupted his career. He made his film debut in 1957's These Dangerous Years, and appeared in numerous British movies before moving to Hollywood in the early 1960s. He landed roles in Billy Budd and The Great Escape but it was his performance as Illya Kuryakin in The Man from UNCLE that made him a household name in 1964. The series ran until 1968, and a spin-off TV movie was made in 1983. He also released four albums in the 1960s. Other major projects include Colditz, The Invisible Man, Sapphire and Steel, Mother Love, Hear My Song, and Cluedo. Since 2003, he has starred in popular American drama NCIS, playing forensics expert Dr Donald 'Ducky' Mallard.

Career: After the war, Heston worked as a model and honed his skills while running a theatre in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1947, he made his Broadway debut in Antony and Cleopatra. His first film was 1950's Dark City. Other major movies include Ben-Hur (for which he won an Oscar), Touch of Evil, The Big Country, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Ten Commandments, Planet of the Apes and Earthquake. He also appeared in The Colbys, Wayne's World 2, and provided a voice for Cats and Dogs. Heston died of natural causes at his home in Beverly Hills on April 5, 2008, at the age of 84.

Career: Wayne began doing bit parts in westerns and adventures and appeared in about 70 movies before his breakthrough role in John Ford's Stagecoach (1939). He went on to star in more than 20 John Ford pictures, including Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Rio Grande (1950), The Searchers (1956) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). Other notable films included Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), The Alamo (1960), The Green Berets (1968), True Grit (1969) and The Shootist (1976). He died of stomach cancer on June 11, 1979 at the age of 72.

Career: Poitier initially proved unpopular with audiences as he was judged to be tone deaf and not a talented singer or dancer, something that was expected of black actors at the time. He resolved to rid himself of his Bahamian accent and achieve stage success. After receiving excellent theatrical reviews, he left the stage for the screen in 1950 for the film noir No Way Out. His breakout role came at the age of 27, when he appeared in Blackboard Jungle, and was the first black actor to be nominated for a competitive Academy Award for The Defiant Ones in 1958. He went on to win the Oscar for Best Actor five years later for his performance in Lilies of the Field. By this time, Poitier had risen to become the first major black star in Hollywood, a role he took very seriously, and was the biggest box office draw in 1967. It was this year that he starred in his most acclaimed films To Sir, with Love and In the Heat of the Night. He reprised his role as Virgil Tibbs from the latter film two more times in the following decade. His last major role was as FBI deputy director Carter Preston in 1997's The Jackal. Poitier also directed a number of films, including Stir Crazy, Hanky Panky and Ghost Dad.

Career: While working in a department store in LA, Lansbury met a casting director through her mother. He offered her a role in the 1944 film Gaslight; she was just 18, but it landed her an Oscar nomination. Roles in National Velvet, Blue Hawaii and Bedknobs and Broomsticks followed. She gained further Academy Award nominations for The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Manchurian Candidate. She's also worked extensively on stage, winning a record five Tony Awards. But it was playing Jessica Fletcher in the long-running TV series Murder, She Wrote, that turned her into a household name. More recently, Lansbury has appeared in Nanny McPhee and Mr Popper's Penguins.