Humphrey Bogart was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart as the greatest male star of classic American cinema.
His breakthrough from supporting roles to stardom came with High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon, considered one of the first great noir films. Bogart's private detectives, Sam Spade (in The Maltese Falcon) and Phillip Marlowe (in The Big Sleep), became the models for detectives in other noir films. His most significant romantic lead role was with Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca.
Bogart's performances in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and In a Lonely Place are now considered among his best, although they were not recognized as such when the films were released. As a cantankerous river steam launch skipper with Katharine Hepburn's missionary in the World War I adventure The African Queen, Bogart received the Academy Award for Best Actor.
