Biographical Information (Yale Library Film Studies)

Use these databases and reference sources to find out information about individuals in the film industry. People can also be searched as subject headings in Orbis. See also Movie Guides and Credits and Movie Industry and Personnel.

Selected Subject Headings for Searching Orbis

Motion picture producers and directors--Japan--Biography
Motion picture actors and actresses--Mexico--Biography
Gay motion picture actors and actresses--United States--Biography
African American motion picture actors and actresses--Biography--Dictionaries
Motion pictures--Africa, North--Biography--Dictionaries
Welles Orson
Goldwyn Samuel

Annual index to motion picture credits. Westport, Conn., Greenwood Press.: SML, Stacks, LC Classification PN1993 A48+ [1978-1999]
Biography & Genealogy Master Index: SML Reference, Z5305 U5 +B562
Biography Index New York: H. W. Wilson, 1946- .: SML Reference, Z5301 B56; Cumulative index to biographical information in books and magazines. The print volumes cover 1946- present, and the online version goes back to 1984.
Biography Resource Center: Includes Contemporary theatre, film, and television.
Blacks in American films and television: an encyclopedia. Donald Bogle. New York: Garland, 1988.: SML, Reference PN1995.9 N4 +B62 1988
Cinema: A Critical Dictionary: The Major Film-Makers. Ed. Richard Roud. New York: Viking, 1980.: CCL Reference PN1993.45 C5
Directors and their films: a comprehensive reference, 1895-1990. Brooks Bushnell. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, c1993.: SML, Reference PN1998 B85X 1993+
Film actors. Hollywood, CA: IFilm Pub.: Distributed to the trade by National Book Network, c2001-: SML Reference, PN1998.A1 F43+
Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies. John Walker. New York: HarperPerennial, 1999.
SML Reference PN1993.45 +H37 1999: Includes not only a large biographical dictionary, but also lists of remakes, series, studios and production companies, a dictionary of technical and critical terms, various lists of "top" movies, lists of movie awards, and more.
Haven't I seen you somewhere before?: remakes, sequels, and series in motion pictures, videos, and television, 1896-1990. James L. Limbacher. Ann Arbor, MI: Pierian Press, c1991.: SML Reference PN1995.9 R45 +L5 1991
Hollywood.com guide to film directors: baseline Hollywood film director directory. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2004.: SML, Reference PN1998.2 H645 2004
The Illustrated Guide to Film Directors. David Quinlan. Totowa, NJ: Barnes and Noble, 1983.
CCL Reference PN1998 A2 Q85 1983
The Illustrated Who's Who of the Cinema. Ed. Ann Lloyd, Graham Fuller. New York: Macmillan, 1983.
CCL Reference PN1998 A2 +I48
The International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Ed. Nicholas Thomas, James Vinson, consulting editor, 2nd ed., 5 vols. Chicago: St. James Press, 2000.: SML, Reference PN1994 I58 2000+ [and online]; This 4-volume set includes concise, yet detailed, essays on Films, Directors, Actors and Actresses, and Production people. Each article includes a bibliography of further references.
The international film index 1895-1990. Edited by Alan Goble. London: Bowker-Saur, 1991.: SML, Reference PN1998 G63 1991+
New biographical dictionary of film. David Thomson. 4th ed. New York: Knopf, 2002.: SML, Reference PN1998.2 .T49 2002
Screen world presents the encyclopedia of Hollywood film actors. Edited by Barry Monush. New York: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, c2003-: SML, Reference PN1998.2 .S38X 2002+
St. James women filmmakers encyclopedia: women on the other side of the camera. Edited by Amy L. Unterburger. Detroit: Visible Ink Press, c1999.: SML, Reference PN1998.2 S683X 1999
Who Was Who on Screen. Evelyn Mack Truitt. 3rd ed. New York: London, 1983.: CCL Reference PN1998 A2 +T78 1983
World Biographical Index