American actress Kelly McGillis was BOTD in 1957. Born in Newport Beach, California to a middle-class family, she showed an early interest in acting, and studied at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Santa Maria. In 1975, she moved to New York to study acting at the Juilliard School alongside Kevin Spacey (which no one holds against her). She made her film debut in Reuben, Reuben in 1983, before her breakout role as an Amish mother in the thriller-romance Witness, opposite Harrison Ford. A series of disposable girlfriend roles followed, including Top Gun, in which she convincingly made Tom Cruise look heterosexual. She made an impressive comeback in 1988’s The Accused, co-starring with Jodie Foster, playing a lawyer who prosecutes a group of gang rapists. After playing lesbian roles in the crime thriller The Monkey’s Mask and cult TV series The L Word, McGillis came out as lesbian in 2009. Married and divorced twice, she was also in a brief civil union with her partner Melanie Leis. McGillis lives in North Carolina where she teaches acting. Her absence from the 2022 Top Gun sequel provoked an industry debate about ageism and sexism in Hollywood.