Gregory Peck Atticus Finch, a Depression-era lawyer and widowed father, in a film adaptation of the Harper Lee novel "To Kill a Mockingbird". Released in 1962 during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the Southern United States, this film and his role were Peck's favorites. In 2003, Peck's portrayal of Atticus Finch was named the greatest film hero of the past 100 years by the American Film Institute. Peck served as the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1967, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Film Institute from 1967 to 1969, Chairman
Ellen Ripley Film Institute ranked her as the eighth best hero in American film history in their list of the 100 greatest heroes and villains, the second highest ranked female character after Clarice Starling. In 2009, "Entertainment Weekly" ranked Ripley fifth on their list of "The 20 All Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture", calling her "one of the first female movie characters who isn't defined by the men around her, or by her relationship to them". The same year, she was ranked #9 on "Empire" magazine's compilation of "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters" in 2008 and #5 in 2015, being the