Bryan Brown

The virile yet thoughtful lead of numerous Australian features in the 1970s and 1980s, including such landmark films as "Breaker Morant" (1980) and "Stir" (1980), Bryan Brown's sturdy performances brought him to Hollywood in the 1980s, where he essayed largely one-dimensional figures in "F/X" (1986) and "Cocktail" (1988). He was better served in more independent-minded fare, where his ability to root out and examine the flaws of these stoic figures was put to better use; Brown would later give more nuanced turns in Australian-made fare like "Two Hands" (1999), with Heath Ledger, and "Dirty Deeds" (2002). A leading figure in that country's film and television career for over three decades, Brown's body of work commanded and received the respect due to a versatile performer who favored quality over box office returns.