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Special Guests

TCM’s passion for classic movies has earned the respect of the world’s most admired directors, producers, writers, actors, technicians, craftspeople and historians. Be sure to visit this site often for details about 2026 TCM Classic Film Festival special guests in the weeks ahead. Programming is subject to change.

John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson on the red carpet prior to PULP FICTION (1994) in 2024

Jamie Lee Curtis and Jodie Foster at Jodie Foster’s handprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre in 2024

Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins prior to THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994) in 2024

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 14: George Clooney speaks onstage at the screening of

George Clooney speaks onstage at the screening of OCEAN’S ELEVEN in 2023.

Michael Allin, RZA, and Jacqueline Stewart speak onstage at the screening for ENTER THE DRAGON (1973) at the Hollywood Legion Theater.

Michael Allin, RZA, and Jacqueline Stewart speak onstage at the screening for ENTER THE DRAGON (1973) in 2023.

Lou Diamond Phillips and Edward James Olmos attend a screening of STAND AND DELIVER (1988) at the Hollywood Legion Theater in 2023

Ann-Margret and Dave Karger speak onstage at the screening for BYE BYE BIRDIE (1963) at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX.

Ann-Margret and Dave Karger speak onstage at the screening for BYE BYE BIRDIE (1963) in 2023.

Shari Belafonte, Ben Mankiewicz, Donald Bogle, Louis Gossett Jr., Debra Martin Chase, and Lawrence Hilton Jacobs attend the screening of CARMEN JONES (1954) in 2023.

Candy Clark and Richard Dreyfuss attend the screening of AMERICAN GRAFFITI during the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival on April 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.

Candy Clark and Richard Dreyfuss attend the screening of AMERICAN GRAFFITI in 2023.

Pam Grier speaks onstage at the screening of COFFY (1973) in 2022.

Steven Spielberg and Jane Seymour attend the 40th Anniversary Screening of E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) during opening night in 2022.

Paul Reiser, Tim Daly, Kevin Bacon, Steve Guttenberg, and Dave Karger attend the screening of DINER (1982) in 2022.

Rob Reiner, Meg Ryan, and Billy Crystal attend The 30th Anniversary Screening of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (1989) in 2019.

Donald Bogle, Stephanie Allain, Molly Haskell and Jacqueline Stewart at “The Complicated Legacy of Gone With the Wind” panel in 2019.

John Carpenter, Dave Karger, and Kurt Russell attend the screening of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK(1981) in 2019.

Joie Lee and Ruth E. Carter speak onstage at the screening of DO THE RIGHT THING (1989) in 2019.

Rita Moreno attends a book signing in 2016.

Illeana Douglas and Dick Cavett speak onstage in 2017.

Cicely Tyson places her handprints in the forecourt of the TCL Chinese IMAX Theatre in 2018.

“Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival: Michael Douglas” in 2017.

Anjelica Huston in 2010.

Francis Ford Coppola attends 'The Conversation' screening during the 2016 TCM Classic Film Festival

Francis Ford Coppola attends THE CONVERSATION (1974) screening in 2016.

Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd speak onstage at 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' screening during day 3 of the TCM Classic Film Festival 2016

Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd speak onstage at ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (1975) in 2016.

Kim Novak at the 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival

Kim Novak in 2012.

Hayley Mills at the 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival

Hayley Mills in 2012.

Eva Marie Saint in 2010.

Mel Brooks in 2012.

Robert Osborne and Debbie Reynolds in 2012.

Tippi Hedren in 2013.

Quincy Jones in 2014.

Shirley Jones in 2014.

Announced 2026 Special Guests:

Brooke Adams – actor, painter, writer

Jeremy Arnold – author

Diane Baker – actor, producer, educator

Charlotte Barker – Paramount Pictures archivist, author

Christopher Barnes – director, producer, assistant director, proud father, actor

Craig Barron – visual effects artist

Doris Berger – art and film curator, writer, scholar

Erin Blunt – DJ, actor

Donald Bogle – film historian, author

Yvette Nicole Brown – actor, host

Carol Burnett – comedian, actor, singer, writer

Charles Burnett – director, writer, producer

Ben Burtt – sound designer

Mario Cantone – actor, comedian

Keith Carradine – actor

Maxwell Caulfield – actor

Gary Cavagnaro – businessman, actor

Glenn Close – actor

Cameron Crowe – writer-director, author, journalist

Maureen Crowe – music supervisor

Joe Dante – director

Sloan De Forest – writer, actor, film historian

Michael De Luca – Co-Chair and CEO Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group

John Dean – attorney, former White House Counsel

Andreas Deja – Disney Legend, Disney animation historian

Dana Delany – actor

Laura Dern – actor

Ernest Dickerson – director, cinematographer

Faye Dunaway – actor

Jayme Escobedo – actor

Scott Feinberg – Executive Editor of awards coverage at The Hollywood Reporter

George Feltenstein – Warner Bros. Discovery Library Historian

Scott Firestone – producer, director, writer, actor

Kate Flannery – actor, writer, singer

Jane Fonda – actor, author, activist

Bob Furmanek – archivist

Lara Gabrielle – author

Jonah Goldberg – columnist, author, commentator

Bruce Goldstein – Founding Repertory Artistic Director of New York’s Film Forum

Marsha Gordon – author, film historian, film studies professor

Randy Haberkamp – film historian

Jan Handzlik – lawyer, actor

Monika Henreid – actor, director, daughter of Paul Henreid

Barbara Hershey – actor

Alan Horn – Co-founder CastleRock Entertainment, current Consultant for WBD

Annette Insdorf – Columbia University film professor, author

Ken Jennings – Jeopardy! host, author

Julianne Jordan – music supervisor

William Joyce – animator, author, illustrator

Andrea Kalas – VP Media and Archival Services, Iron Mountain

Owen Kline – filmmaker, actor

Casey LaLonde – archivist, grandson of Joan Crawford

Christina Lane – author, film historian

Chris Lewis – President and CEO American Wheelchair Mission, son of Jerry Lewis

Ron Livingston – actor

Lorna Luft – actor, entertainer

Kim Luperi – author, researcher

Alfred Lutter – businessman, actor

Kate MacMurray – daughter of actors Fred MacMurray and June Haver

Alison Macor – author

John Malahy – author, TCM staffer

Jessie Maltin – author

Leonard Maltin – film historian, author, film critic

Josh Mankiewicz – Dateline correspondent

Brett Marx – ex-little league bench warmer, producer

Charlie Matthau – director, producer, son of Walter Matthau

Paul McCrane – actor, television director

Christopher McDonald – actor

Tara McNamara – film critic, journalist

Ben Model – silent film accompanist

Jay Mohr – comedian, actor

Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

Alexander Payne – director, screenwriter, producer

Ethan Peck – actor, grandson of Gregory Peck

Gigi Perreau – actor

Kevin Pollak – actor, director, comedian

David Pollock – businessman, civic leader, actor

Daniel Raim – writer, director

Mary Ramos – music supervisor

Andrew Rannells – actor, singer

Danny Reid – author, librarian

K.J. Relth-Miller – Director of Film Programs at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Luis Reyes – historian, scholar, journalist

Alan K. Rode – author, historian

Alan Ruck – actor

Johnathon Schaech – actor, screenwriter

Matt Severson – Executive Vice President of Academy Collection and Preservation at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts

Martin Shafer – Co-Founder and CEO of Castle Rock Entertainment

Tony Shalhoub – actor, writer

Adam Shankman – director, producer, choreographer

Tina Sinatra – actor, singer, author, daughter of Frank Sinatra

Kurtwood Smith – actor

David Stambaugh – minister, actor

Ben Stein – writer, lawyer, actor, comedian

George Stevens Jr. – writer, director, producer, playwright, champion of American film

Sharon Stone – actor

Julia Sweeney – actor, comedian, author

Robert Townsend – actor, director, writer, producer

John Turturro – actor, writer, director

Michael Uslan – producer, author

Mario Van Peebles – actor, director

Nicholas Josef von Sternberg – cinematographer, son of Josef von Sternberg

Lesley Ann Warren – actor

Peter Weller – actor

Paul Williams – songwriter, author, actor

Kimberly Williams-Paisley – actor

Edgar Wright – filmmaker

Adrian Zmed – actor, singer

We regret the following will no longer attend as previously announced:

Jackie Earle Haley – actor, commercial director

The TCM Classic Film Festival has featured appearances by:

Jim AbrahamsDebbie AllenAllison AndersPaul Thomas AndersonJulie AndrewsAnn-MargretAlan ArkinGillian ArmstrongFrankie AvalonKevin BaconJohn BadhamJohn BaileyDiane BakerRick BakerBob BalabanAlec BaldwinDrew BarrymoreNed BeattyWarren BeattyEd Begley Jr.Shari BelafonteJean-Paul BelmondoRobert BentonTom BerengerTheodore BikelJacqueline BissettAnn BlythPeter BogdanovichJohn BoormanErnest BorgnineBeau BridgesJeff BridgesJames L. BrooksMel BrooksKevin BrownlowGeneviève BujoldSteve BurumCharles BuschDyan CannonMario CantoneLeslie CaronJohn CarpenterKeith CarradineRuth E. CarterVeronica Cartwright“Baby Peggy” Diana Serra CaryDick CavettGeorge ChakirisMarge ChampionGeorge ClooneyAnne V. CoatesFrancis Ford CoppolaBilly CrystalAlan CummingTony CurtisJoe DanteFrank DarabontCarl DavisRebecca De MornayBruce DernCaleb DeschanelDana DelanyGuillermo Del ToroZooey DeschanelDanny DevitoLeonardo DiCaprioAngie DickinsonStanley DonenIlleana DouglasKirk DouglasMichael DouglasRichard DreyfussKeir DulleaFaye DunawayRobert EvansSally FieldMichael FeinsteinRhonda FlemingJane FondaPeter FondaJody FosterWilliam FriedkinBetty GarrettMitzi GaynorDanny GloverJeff GoldblumGinnifer GoodwinElliot GouldTopher GraceJennifer GrantLee GrantColeen GrayJoel GreyPam GrierPeter GuberSteve GuttenbergTaylor HackfordBill HaderMolly HaskellTippi HedrenBuck HenryJohn Michael HigginsDustin HoffmanKatharine HoughtonMarsha HuntTab HunterAnjelica HustonDanny HustonOlivia HusseyChris IsaakJames IvorySamuel L. JacksonNorman JewisonQuincy JonesShirley JonesAnna KarinaStacy KeachAnna KendrickCallie KhouriSusan KohnerBarbara KoppleNancy KwanDavid LaddRicki LakeMartin LandauJohn LandisAngela LansburySherry LansingPiper LaurieGeorge LazenbyRuta LeeSpike LeeTerry LeonardBarry LevinsonJerry LewisChristopher LloydNorman LloydGina LollabrigidaSophia LorenJon LovitzGeorge LucasLuluA.C. LylesAli MacGrawShirley MacLaineLeonard MaltinMichael MannRob MarshallJerry MathersTim MathesonMarlee MatlinAlbert MayslesTom McCarthyPatty McCormackMalcolm McDowellSteve McQueenDennis MillerHayley MillsJuliet MillsLiza MinnelliWalter MirischJuanita MooreRita MorenoRobert MorseMira NairMarni NixonKim NovakFrance NuyenMargaret O’BrienMaureen O’HaraEdward James OlmosNancy OlsonPatton OswaltPeter O’TooleAl PacinoSimon PeggRon PerlmanTyler PerryLori PettyMichelle PfeifferLou Diamond PhillipsJim PiddockChristopher PlummerSidney PoitierJane PowellPaula PrentissLuise RainerCarl ReinerRob ReinerPaul ReiserMaggie RenziBurt ReynoldsDebbie ReynoldsRobert RichardsonTim RobbinsMickey RooneyFred RoosRichard RoundtreeBarbara RushKurt RussellMeg RyanEva Marie SaintJulian SandsJohn SaylesThelma SchoonmakerMartin ScorseseJane SeymourMark ShaimanMartin SheenRon SheltonRichard ShermanMartin ShortNancy SinatraTina SinatraJohn SingletonSteven SoderberghSteven SpielbergRuss TamblynQuentin TarantinoJoan TewkesburyUma ThurmanJohn TollRobert TowneRobert TownsendJohn TravoltaCicely TysonMario Van PeeblesMelvin Van PeeblesJon VoightMax Von SydowRobert WagnerEli WallachCass WarnerDon WasAdam WestHaskell WexlerLeonard WhitingFred WillardEsther WilliamsJohn WilliamsDebra WingerJane WithersEdgar WrightMichael YorkDavid ZuckerJeff Zuckerand many others!