Reel to Real

• Bernie Brillstein – one of two “behind-the-scenes” people that made my top 10. A producer and super agent whose company Brillstein-Grey Entertainment was responsible for such shows as “The Sopranos” and “The Larry Sanders Show.” Brillstein, before teaming with Brad Grey, produced “Hee Haw,” “The Muppet Show” and “Saturday Night Live,” among others.

• Charlton Heston – he parted the sea in “The Ten Commandments,” battled primates in “Planet of the Apes,” and was one of the most underrated American Shakespearean actors.

• George Carlin – yes, he made headlines decades ago when he was arrested in Milwaukee for performing his landmark, “10 Words You Can Never Say on Television” routine, but for more then 40 years he used his comedic stand-up routines to make us laugh and think.

• Jim McKay – a legendary sportscaster for ABC who brought the 1972 Olympic Munich tragedy into our homes and will forever be associated with ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” and the “agony of defeat.”

• Paul Newman – much more then the king of condiments whose “Newman’s Own” brand has raised millions for charities, the blue-eyed star with the classic good looks left us dozens of memorable films – think “Cat On a Hot Tin Roof,” “The Hustler, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “The Sting.”

• Tim Russert – his unexpected death resulted in a public outpouring from news junkies who lamented the loss of a true “old school” journalist.

• Warren Cowan – not a household name, but a legendary publicist who guided the careers of such Golden Age stars as Paul Newman, Kirk Douglas, Elizabeth Taylor, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Tony Curtis.

• Sydney Pollack – a character actor in more then 30 films, Pollack made his biggest mark as a director of such hit films as “The Way We Were,” “Out of Africa” and “Tootsie.”

• Heath Ledger – perhaps my hardest inclusion on the list. While his film credentials are few due to his untimely death at age 28, his performances in “Brokeback Mountain” and “The Dark Knight” have given him almost a James Dean-type of mystique.

• Estelle Getty – the only female actress to make the list, she deserves inclusion for her plucky performance as Sophia on the long-running sitcom, “The Golden Girls.”

Honorable mention: Harvey Korman, Van Johnson and Richard Widmark.