Career: Loren became a huge star in Italy, and also began making waves in Hollwyood in movies such as The Pride and the Passion and Houseboat. In 1960, her performance in Two Women made her the first person to win a Best Actress Oscar for a non-English speaking role, and her success continued throughout the decade as she became one of the biggest movie stars in the world. After becoming a mother in 1969, she scaled back on her film work, although in 1980 she did play herself and her mother in the TV film Sophia Loren: My Story. More recently, she's appeared in the likes of Pret a Porter, Grumpier Old Men and Nine.

Career: Howard had small roles in the films The Way Ahead (1944) and The Way to the Stars (1945) before his big break in 1945, playing the stoic Dr Alec Harvey in David Lean's Brief Encounter. He went on to have an acclaimed film career, starring in The Third Man (1949), Outcast of the Islands (1951), The Cockleshell Heroes (1955), The Key (1958), Sons and Lovers (1960), Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) and Rawlinson End (1980). He died on January 7, 1988 at the age of 74.

Career: Courtenay's film debut was in 1962 with Private Potter. This was followed by The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and Billy Liar, two highly acclaimed films and performances which helped usher in the British New Wave of the early-to-mid 1960s. For these roles Courtenay was awarded the 1962 Bafta for most promising newcomer and the 1963 award for best actor. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1965 for his role as revolutionary leader Pasha Antipov in Doctor Zhivago. Despite being catapulted to fame via the big screen he concentrated on stage work. Both Courtenay and pal Albert Finney received nominations for Best Actor in the 1984 Academy Awards for their roles in The Dresser. He teamed up again with Finney in the acclaimed BBC drama A Rather English Marriage. More recent work includes Last Orders, The Golden Compass, and an appearance in the 2008 Christmas special of The Royle Family.

Career: Mills made his film debut in The Midshipmaid (1932) and went on to appear in a number of films, including Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939), before he enlisted in the Royal Engineers at the start of the Second World War. His war was cut short in 1942 by a stomach ulcer. He quickly returned to acting and went on to star in a number of acclaimed films in a career that spanned 70 years. Notable works included Great Expectations (1946), Scott of the Antarctic (1948), The Colditz Story (1954), Ice Cold in Alex (1958), Tunes of Glory (1960), Swiss Family Robinson (1960), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Ryan's Daughter (1970), Young Winston (1972), Gandhi (1982) and Hamlet (1996). Among his roles on TV, he starred in Quatermass, Young at Heart, A Woman of Substance and Martin Chuzzlewit. He also appeared in a number of productions on Broadway. He was knighted in 1976. He died on April 23, 2005, at the age of 97.