This affable blond performer took a decade to advance from second lead and character actor to starring status. Like James Stewart in an earlier generation, the unthreatening, wholesome Pullman labored through small parts in good films and leading roles in bombs before finally coming into his own. A doctor's son, he earned his MFA from the University of Massachusetts and then worked in construction and as a drama teacher and director before trying acting.

Exuding an air of gravitas in whatever role he played, Academy-Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley made a specialty of playing historical characters, ranging from Dmitri Shostakovich in "Testimony (1987) to mobster Meyer Lansky in "Bugsy" (1991). His most acclaimed performance, however, was in Sir Richard Attenborough’s epic biopic “Gandhi” (1984), in which he played the title role of one of the 20th Century’s most revered and influential figures.