The 28 best biopics of all time

 2013’s “12 Years a Slave” is the kind of film that couldn’t possibly fail. From its outstanding cast (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson, Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, and Brad Pitt) to its director (Steve McQueen) to its screenplay (by John Ridley) to its music (courtesy of Hans Zimmer), “12 Years a Slave” succeeded in every aspect and won three Oscars. Although the film isn't that old, it's based on a memoir of the same name that was written all the way back in 1853 by Solomon Northup.

Based on the life of Nobel Laureate John Nash and a 1998 book of the same name by Sylvia Nasar, “A Beautiful Mind” explores the battle that was fought within Nash’s own head, which pitted his brilliance against his paranoid-schizophrenic tendencies. The film starring Russell Crowe won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director (Ron Howard), Best Adapted Screenplay (Akiva Goldsmith), and Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Connelly), and earned four additional nods.

Although Antonio Salieri’s jealousy and conspiracy against composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is fictionalized and very much exaggerated, 1984’s “Amadeus” still serves as a solid biography for the brilliant musician, and is a fantastic film nonetheless - as evidenced by the 40 accolades it won, including eight Academy Awards.

The biggest win for Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman" was an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, but it nabbed five other Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture), four Golden Globe nods (including Best Drama), and the Grand Prix at Cannes. The true story of Ron Stallworth, a black police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan, also owns a 96-percent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic teamed up with director and fellow Vietnam vet Oliver Stone to pen the screenplay for “Born on the Fourth of July,” an adaptation of Kovic’s memoir of the same name that chronicles how he was injured and paralyzed in battle, and later became an anti-war activist. The film marked Tom Cruise’s first Oscar nomination, and although he failed to win, “Born on the Fourth of July” still picked up two Academy Awards.

Sir William Wallace was a Scottish knight who led his country in the First War of Scottish Independence against England (1296–1328) and inspired 1995’s “Braveheart,” which was written and directed by Mel Gibson, who also starred in the film. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, “Braveheart” won five, including Best Picture and Best Director.

In the 2005 biopic “Capote,” Philip Seymour Hoffman blew audiences away with his portrayal of Truman Capote and the writer's work on the 1966 non-fiction novel “In Cold Blood.” Hoffman rightfully won a best actor Oscar, Golden Globe, and SAG Award, among numerous other accolades.

  Matthew McConaughey lost 47 pounds and stayed indoors for six months in order to play AIDS patient and activist Ron Woodruff in 2013’s “Dallas Buyers Club.” Woodruff smuggled unapproved pharmaceutical drugs across the Mexican border into his home state of Texas during the 1980s, a time when HIV and AIDS were under-researched, misunderstood, and highly stigmatized. McConaughey and co-star Jared Leto both won Oscars for their roles, making “Dallas Buyers Club” only the fifth film to ever nab both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor honors.

When it was first announced that a biopic about the life of Mahatma Gandhi would be made, there was a lot of speculation as to who would play the famed leader of the Indian independence movement. English actor Ben Kingsley (who has Indian heritage on his father’s side) was selected and astonished audiences with his performance. “Gandhi” earned a whopping 11 Academy Award nominations and won eight, including Best Picture and Best Director (Richard Attenborough).

“Goodfellas” is often considered one of the greatest crime films ever made, mostly thanks to the spectacular direction of Martin Scorsese and the all-star cast that includes Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Paul Sorvino. Although the 1990 film is widely beloved, some people don’t realize that Henry Hill was actually a real person, and “Goodfellas” is an adaptation of Nicholas Pileggi’s 1986 non-fiction book “Wiseguy,” which tells Hill’s tale. The movie earned nearly $47 million at the box office, won an Oscar (for Pesci), and has since been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Everyone knows about the Space Race, but few knew about the critical work of the black female mathematicians that made it happen at NASA before the release of "Hidden Figures" in 2016. Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe led the cast of this acclaimed drama, which earned Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay nominations at the Academy Awards.

If Sir Daniel Day-Lewis appears in a biopic, look out, because it’s sure to be a strong performance that will almost certainly lead to some Oscar attention. (If you didn’t know that already, you’ll be convinced by the end of this slideshow.) In 1993’s “In the Name of the Father,” Day-Lewis plays Gerry Conlon, an Irishman who, along with three others, was wrongly convicted and sentenced to life in prison for an IRA bombing that killed five people and wounded 65 others in 1975. Although the Jim Sheridan-directed film didn’t win any Academy Awards, “In the Name of the Father” had seven nominations.

Behind the starpower of Peter O’Toole, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif, and Sir Alec Guinness, “Lawrence of Arabia” earned seven Oscars while bringing the life and times of British military officer and diplomat T.E. Lawrence to the big screen. Often referred to as one of the greatest films of all time, the David Lean-directed biopic chronicled Lawrence’s fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Arab Revolt, which culminated in the 1918 capture of Damascus.

Remember all that stuff we said about biopics starring Daniel Day-Lewis? In 2012, DDL starred in “Lincoln” (directed by Steven Spielberg), which focused on the 16th President of the United States and the last four months of his life, including his efforts to pass the Thirteenth Amendment and abolish slavery. Day-Lewis’ performance earned him his third Academy Award for Best Actor, the only person to ever achieve the feat.

Director Spike Lee and veteran actor Denzel Washington have teamed together on four films, but the best has to be the 1992 biopic “Malcolm X.” Washington stars as the famous human rights activist in the film, which covers everything from Malcolm’s childhood and early life to his assassination and legacy. Largely based on Alex Haley's 1965 book “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” the movie’s script was penned by Lee and screenwriter Arnold Perl, but included the assistance of Haley himself. This, on top of a Oscar-nominated performance by Washington, made the film accurate, educational, and engrossing.

Coincidentally, “Milk” is the third film in a row in this slideshow that deals with someone who was assassinated while fighting for equality. In this 2008 Gus Van Sant film, Sean Penn stars as Harvey Milk, the former San Francisco Board of Supervisors member who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California. He and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, another city supervisor, in 1978. Penn won a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Milk, and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black earned one for Best Original Screenplay.

The last Daniel Day-Lewis film in this slideshow, “My Left Foot” was also the actor’s first of three Academy Awards for Best Actor. Although somewhat fictionalized, the 1989 biopic is based on the life of Christy Brown, an Irishman who suffered from cerebral palsy but taught himself how to write, type, and paint using only the toes of his left foot. In fact, “My Left Foot” is based on Brown’s 1954 autobiography of the same name.

1970 film “Patton” brought General George S. Patton’s role in World War II to the big screen, and the Franklin J. Schaffner film ended up winning seven Academy Awards, including a Best Actor honor for the biopic’s star, George C. Scott. Scott, however, famously refused to accept the award, citing his disdain for the voting process and the competition among actors in general. He was the first actor ever to do so.

Jake LaMotta was a World Middleweight Champion boxer who amassed a 83-19-4 record thanks to a notoriously vicious fighting style. LaMotta had a turbulent life both in and out of the ring, as chronicled in his 1970 memoir, “Raging Bull: My Story.” When it was turned into a movie, Martin Scorsese was at the helm with Robert De Niro playing LaMotta and Joe Pesci playing Joey, Jake’s brother/manager. As you surely already know, the Scorsese/De Niro/Pesci formula almost always leads to Oscar gold, and “Raging Bull” took home two honors (out of eight total nominations) at the 53rd Academy Awards.

Jamie Foxx absolutely shined in his role as legendary musician Ray Charles in the 2004 film “Ray,” winning an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a SAG Award in the best actor categories. However, the victories were bittersweet. Ray Charles personally participated in the production of the film, but sadly passed away from liver disease just months before it was set to premiere, and thus never saw the finished product. We think he would have been overjoyed by the end result, as “Ray” is often considered one of the best biopics ever made.

Taron Egerton absolutely shined as Elton John in the 2019 biopic "Rocketman," crocodile rocking his way to a Golden Globe win for Best Actor. The Elton John and Bernie Taupin picked up Golden Globes for Best Song, with the film itself earning a best picture nod. Elton & Bernie also won the same award at the Oscars, too!

The Holocaust was filled with an unfathomable amount of pain, death, and heartbreak - but there were some beacons of light that shined through the darkness. One such story was that of Oskar Schindler, who personally saved the lives of more than a thousand Jews in Poland. His story was brought to big screen as the 1993 film “Schindler’s List,” which starred Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, and Caroline Goodall, and was directed by Steven Spielberg. The film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay (the script was based on Thomas Keneally’s 1982 novel “Schindler’s Ark”).

Putting both his career and life on the line, officer Frank Serpico bravely blew the whistle on corruption within the New York Police Department in the 1960s and 1970s. Although he received a bullet to the face mostly thanks to a few fellow officers who controversially refused to back him up during a drug sting, Serpico was eventually seen as a hero, was awarded an NYPD Medal of Honor, and had a movie starring Al Pacino made about his life. Based on a biography written by Peter Maas, 1973’s “Serpico” was directed by Sidney Lumet and earned two Oscar nods, as well as a Best Actor Golden Globe for Pacino.

Starring veteran actors Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, and Peter Ustinov, Stanley Kubrick’s epic 1960 biopic “Spartacus” was, at one time, the most successful film in Universal Studios history. Written by blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, “Spartacus” won four Academy Awards and was so popular that President John F. Kennedy crossed American Legion picket lines to view the film.

The 2004 Howard Hughes biopic “The Aviator” has a whole lot going for it. The film features an all-star cast (Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, Jude Law, Alan Alda, Alec Baldwin, Willem Dafoe, and John C. Reilly) and had Martin Scorsese in the director’s chair, and it earned a startling 11 Academy Award nominations. “The Aviator” won five of these, but Cate Blanchett was the only one to earn a major prize. Still, this epic drama is often referred as a biographical masterpiece.

“The King’s Speech” only deals with a very brief portion of the life of King George VI, but the snappy script, a fantastic performance by Colin Firth (not to mention those of Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, and Guy Pearce), and the direction of Tom Hooper earned the 2010 film a dozen Oscar nominations, including wins for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay.

“The Last Emperor” holds quite an impressive distinction. Not only was the 1987 Bernardo Bertolucci film nominated for nine Oscars at the 60th Academy Awards, but it won every single one. It also holds a 92-percent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 88-percent audience score, meaning the film - a biopic about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China - is almost universally loved by all.

Based on an autobiographical book of the same name by Jewish composer Władysław Szpilman, “The Pianist” focuses on Szpilman’s life during World War II, when he was forced to live in the Warsaw Ghetto, narrowly avoided a concentration camp, became separated from his family (who were all later killed), and spent the remainder of the war in the bombed-out city of Warsaw struggling to survive. In addition to being awarded the Palme d’Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, “The Pianist” also won three Oscars for Best Director (Roman Polanski), Best Actor (Adrien Brody), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Ronald Harwood).