AFI's 100 YEARS...100 STARS

Description

As part of its ongoing national effort to lead the nation to discover and rediscover the classics, the American Film Institute (AFI) has announced the 50 greatest American screen legends — the top 25 women and top 25 men — naming Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart the number one legends among the women and men.

Each actor/actress on the list was presented by one of 50 stars of today, which is where the namesakes "100 Stars" comes from.

The preeminent national organization dedicated to advancing and preserving the moving image arts, AFI revealed the list on a three-hour CBS television special last night hosted by Shirley Temple Black, who was named among the greatest legends.

AFI defines an "American screen legend" as an actor or a team of actors with a significant screen presence in American feature-length films whose screen debut occurred in or before 1950, or whose screen debut occurred after 1950 but whose death has marked a completed body of work. The list was selected by leaders from the American film community, including artists, historians, critics and other cultural leaders, who chose from a list of 250 nominees in each gender category, as compiled by AFI historians.