Career: O'Toole's professional career began at the Bristol Old Vic in 1954. Rave reviews led to film roles, but he didn't become a star until Lawrence of Arabia in 1962. He gained an Oscar nomination for his outstanding performance; further nods came for Becket, The Lion in Winter, Goodbye Mr Chips, The Ruling Class, The Stunt Man, My Favourite Year and Venus. During the late 1970s, he concentrated on health issues following serious illness, but on his recovery appeared in the likes of Casanova, The Tudors, Iron Road, Troy, Lassie, Stardust and Dean Spanley. In 2012, he announced his retirement from acting. He died a year later on December 14.

Career: Hepburn won an Academy Award for Morning Glory (1933) and her next film, Little Women (1933), was a big hit. A string of flops followed but she bounced back with Alice Adams (1935), which gave the actress her second Academy Award nomination. She went on to star in a number of poorly received movies and she would eventually buy herself out of her contract for $75,000. She resurrected her career in 1939 when she took to the stage in Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story. It was a big hit and ran for 417 performances on Broadway. She would star in the movie version alongside Cary Grant and it was one of the biggest hits of 1940. She picked up her third Academy Award nomination for the picture. She received another nomination for Woman of the Year (1942), her first role alongside Spencer Tracy. They would eventually make nine movies together in a screen-partnership that lasted 25 years. She picked up her fifth Academy Award nomination for The African Queen (1951). She won further nominations for Summertime (1955), The Rainmaker (1956), Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) and Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962). She would win Academy Awards for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968) and On Golden Pond (1981). Her final appearance on the big screen was alongside Annette Bening and Warren Beatty in Love Affair (1994). She died on June 29, 2003, at the age of 96.

Career: Hopkins's first professional work was on stage. He later joined Laurence Olivier's National Theatre, but left to make acclaimed movie The Lion in Winter. A steady stream of TV and film work followed (as well as some theatre appearances), including War and Peace, The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, The Bunker, A Bridge Too Far, The Elephant Man, and Across the Lake. But Hopkins didn't become a major Hollywood star until after giving up alcohol. He won an Oscar for 1991's The Silence of the Lambs, and since then has starred in such hits as The Remains of the Day, Howards End, Hannibal, Shadowlands, Thor and Hitchcock.

Career: Dalton joined the Birmingham Rep and began gaining TV work in the mid-1960s. Peter O'Toole recommended him for a role in Oscar-winning movie The Lion in Winter in 1968. He turned down Bond around this time, claiming he was too young for the part and made several forgettable films instead, including Mary, Queen of Scots, Cromwell, and Sextette. He refused Bond again in the early 1980s, eventually taking the role in 1987's The Living Daylights. Licence to Kill was his second and final outing as 007. Other career highlights include Agatha, Jane Eyre, Hawks and Cleopatra. In recent years he has appeared on the big screen in Hot Fuzz, Toy Story 3 (as Mr Pricklepants), and The Tourist, and on the small screen in Doctor Who, Chuck and Penny Dreadful.