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Arts & Letters
Novelists, poets, musicians, actors, directors and designers who made the country's culture.
Role:
Any
Actor 58
Novelist 46
Singer 39
Songwriter 31
Musician 30
Filmmaker 26
Painter 26
Composer 18
Poet 14
Author 11
Photographer 11
Comedian 10
Activist 9
Founder 8
Playwright 8
Sculptor 8
Educator 7
Broadcaster 6
Journalist 6
Rapper 6
Designer 5
Illustrator 5
Producer 5
Choreographer 4
Executive 4
10 people
Charlie Chaplin 1889–1977Film, Television & ComedyBritish-American actor and filmmaker whose Tramp character became an icon of the silent film era.
Lucille Ball 1911–1989Film, Television & ComedyComedic actress and producer whose I Love Lucy pioneered the sitcom format and changed television.
Groucho Marx 1890–1977Film, Television & ComedyComedian who turned the verbal insult into the engine of American comedy, from vaudeville and the Marx Brothers pictures to 14 years of You Bet Your Life.
Johnny Carson 1925–2005Film, Television & ComedyHost of The Tonight Show for thirty years and the model for American late-night television.
Buster Keaton 1895–1966Film, Television & ComedySilent-film comedian and director whose visual precision, stunts, and deadpan style became foundational to screen comedy.
Richard Pryor 1940–2005Film, Television & ComedyComedian whose candid treatment of race, class, addiction, and personal experience transformed American stand-up.
George Carlin 1937–2008Film, Television & ComedyComedian whose linguistic precision and challenges to censorship made him a defining voice in modern American stand-up.
Joan Rivers 1933–2014Film, Television & ComedyComedian and the first woman to host a late-night network talk show
Lenny Bruce 1925–1966Film, Television & ComedyProsecuted into bankruptcy for obscenity, and modern stand-up runs directly from him.
Phyllis Diller 1917–2012Film, Television & ComedyStand-up comedy