GOOD AND EVIL RIVAL FOR TOP SPOTS IN AFI’s 100 YEARS…100 HEROES & VILLAINS
Atticus Finch of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD proclaimed #1 Hero and Dr. Hannibal Lecter of THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS declared #1 Villain
Indiana Jones, Norman Bates, James Bond, Darth Vader, Rick Blaine, The Wicked Witch of the West, Will Kane and Nurse Ratched Top the List
“You never know someone, until you step inside their skin and walk around a little.” — Atticus Finch
The American Film Institute (AFI) revealed the top 50 heroes and top 50 villains of all time in AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Heroes & Villains three-hour television event hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who earned both a hero and villain honor for his portrayal of the “Terminator.” Deeply principled and idealistic attorney Atticus Finch (portrayed by Gregory Peck), from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, was chosen as the greatest hero in 100 years of film history, while the greatest villain was revealed as the brilliant, cunning and psychotic Dr. Hannibal Lecter (portrayed by Anthony Hopkins) from THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and HANNIBAL.
Rounding out the top 10 heroes in ranking order were Indiana Jones, James Bond, Rick Blaine, Will Kane, Clarice Starling, Rocky Balboa, Ellen Ripley and T.E. Lawrence. Joining Dr. Lecter’s circle of top 10 villains, also in ranking order, were Norman Bates, Darth Vader, The Wicked Witch of the West, Nurse Ratched, Mr. Potter, Alex Forrest, Phyllis Dietrichson, Regan MacNeil and The Queen (in SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS). [Download the full list with characters and film details below.]
“This year, the 100 Heroes & Villains list may be one of the most thought provoking to date,” stated AFI Director and CEO Jean Picker Firstenberg. “We hope these top 50 heroes and 50 villains lists will inspire movie lovers to acquaint and reacquaint themselves with these amazing and often complex characters in American film.”
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The characters
Batman, It’s a Wonderful Life, Schindler’s List, and The Silence of the Lambs are the only films to have characters appear on both lists. The Alien is from Alien and Ripley is listed for the sequel, Aliens; Darth Vader is listed for The Empire Strikes Back and not Star Wars; the Terminator is listed under The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day; and James Bond is listed for Dr. No and not Goldfinger.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is the only film to have two characters appear in the same list, Han Solo and Obi-Wan Kenobi as heroes.
Four characters from four separate Stanley Kubrick films appear; three on the villains list (Alex DeLarge, HAL 9000, and Jack Torrance) and one on the heroes list (Spartacus).
The Terminator is the only character to be listed as both a villain (The Terminator) and a hero (Terminator 2: Judgment Day). (Note that, in the series, these are two different robots using the same name, built after an identical model.)
Only nine heroines appear (counting Lassie from Lassie Come Home) and sixteen female villains (counting the Alien from Alien).
Regan MacNeil from The Exorcist is the youngest character on the list, being only 12 years of age (not counting Lassie). However, the evil demon that possessed her throughout the movie, Pazuzu, is implied to be centuries, if not millennia old.
In Bambi, the man listed is the man who killed Bambi’s mother. In the televised special it is said to represent all of humanity.
Lassie is the only character not portrayed by a human on the heroes list.
The actors
Gary Cooper is the only actor to appear three times on the list; in all three instances he appears on the heroes list.
10 actors have appeared twice on the same list; James Cagney, Robert Mitchum, and Jack Nicholson on the villains list, and Humphrey Bogart, Henry Fonda, Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and James Stewart on the heroes list. Two actresses also appear twice on the same list, both as villains: Bette Davis and Faye Dunaway.
Al Pacino and Arnold Schwarzenegger are the only actors to each appear on both lists; both appear once (Schwarzenegger appears on both lists portraying different Terminators, while Pacino appears portraying two characters from unrelated films). No actress appears on both lists.
Kirk Douglas and Michael Douglas are the only family members to appear in the list. Michael Douglas appears at #24 on the villains list portraying Gordon Gekko, and Kirk Douglas at #22 on the heroes list portraying Spartacus.
Of all the actors appearing on the list, Meryl Streep has the most nominations, having been nominated for an Oscar 16 times, and 25 times for a Golden Globe. Jack Nicholson has won more Oscars than any other actor on the list.
Out of all the actors who appear on the list, twenty-one of them–Kathy Bates, Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, Russell Crowe, Robert Donat, Michael Douglas, Sally Field, Louise Fletcher, Jodie Foster, Gene Hackman, Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, Ben Kingsley, Frances McDormand, Gregory Peck, Julia Roberts, George C. Scott, Kevin Spacey, Spencer Tracy, Denzel Washington and John Wayne–received Oscars for their performances; Gary Cooper won twice, once for Will Kane and once for Alvin York (he also received a third nomination, which he did not win, for the role of Lou Gehrig). Of the remaining actors, Judith Anderson, Anne Baxter, Warren Beatty, Linda Blair, Humphrey Bogart, Glenn Close, Bette Davis, Geena Davis, Faye Dunaway, Ralph Fiennes, Henry Fonda, Alec Guinness, Angela Lansbury, Charles Laughton, Paul Muni, Liam Neeson, Paul Newman, Robert De Niro, Laurence Olivier, Peter O’Toole, Al Pacino, Susan Sarandon, Sylvester Stallone, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver were also nominated, but did not win.
Real people
In some cases on the list, real people (portrayed by actors) or characters based on real people appear.
Heroes: Alvin York, Erin Brockovich, George S. Patton, Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein, Lou Gehrig, Spartacus, Mahatma Gandhi, Butch Cassidy & Sundance, Oskar Schindler, T. E. Lawrence, Father Edward J. Flanagan, Frank Serpico, Moses and Karen Silkwood.
Villains: William Bligh, Amon Göth, Bonnie Parker & Clyde Barrow, and Joan Crawford.
Two heroes, Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle and Norma Rae Webster, were based on a real-life people. Doyle was based on a New York City detective named Eddie Egan and Webster on southern mill worker Crystal Lee Jordan. The villain Norman Bates from Psycho was loosely based on real life killer Ed Gein.
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