Many actors choose to stay away from horror movies for different reasons, so it might come as a surprise that some classic Hollywood actors, known for their works in other genres, appeared in at least one horror movie. The horror genre has seen a variety of actors, many of them known for their performances in other genres, while others dedicate most of their careers to appearing in scary movies. However, what might seem surprising to many, is to know that some classic Hollywood stars also gave the horror genre a chance at some point.

Although the horror genre has been around for decades, and there are classic Hollywood stars who became famous for horror roles, such as Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, many are best known for their performances in drama movies. At some point in their careers, most of them towards the end, some classic Hollywood stars decided to visit the horror genre, and many of them delivered some truly iconic performances, which for some became their final roles.

10 Barbara Stanwyck – The Night Walker

Barbara Stanwyck was a star in the 1930s and 1940s, and a favorite of directors Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang, and Frank Capra. In 1944, she became the highest-paid actress in the U.S. and is considered among the greatest female stars in Hollywood history. Stanwyck’s final film role was in William Castle’s psychological horror film The Night Walker, where she played Irene Trent, the wife of a blind, pathologically possessive millionaire inventor. Irene lives in constant dread due to her husband’s extreme jealousy, and after his death, she’s haunted by increasingly disturbing nightmares.

9 Ruth Gordon – Rosemary’s Baby

Ruth Gordon started her film acting career in silent films and successfully transitioned to “talkies”, becoming known for her nasal voice. Although she had a stable career for decades, she gained international recognition and critical acclaim for her performances in movies from the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Among them is Roman Polanski’s psychological horror movie Rosemary’s Baby, where she played Minnie Castevet, Rosemary’s (Mia Farrow) neighbor who, along with her husband, was part of a cult that had targeted Rosemary for a very special but horrifying task.

8 Roddy McDowall – Fright Night

Roddy McDowall is best known for playing Octavian in 1963’s Cleopatra (starring Elizabeth Taylor) and Cornelius and Caesar in the original Planet of the Apes film series. Another notable performance in McDowall’s career was Peter Vincent in Fright Night, a former movie vampire hunter and now host of the TV show Fright Night. When 17-year-old Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) learns his new neighbor, Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon), is a vampire, he asks Vincent for help to kill him.

Related: What The Cast Of Fright Night Has Done Since 1985

7 Joan Fontaine – The Witches

Joan Fontaine is known for starring in various movies during Hollywood’s “Golden Age”, but she became widely known for her lead role in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca in 1940, followed by Suspicion, which gave her the Academy Award for Best Actress. Fontaine’s final role was in Cyril Frankel’s 1966 horror movie The Witches, also known as The Devil’s Own, based on the 1960 novel by Norah Lofts. Fontaine played Gwen Mayfield, a schoolteacher who after a nervous breakdown caused by an attack by witch-doctors while on a mission in Africa, returns to work in England. However, Mayfield soon discovers that black magic is also present in her small English village.

6 Joan Crawford – What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, Strait-Jacket, & Trog

Joan Crawford is considered one of the most prominent actresses in Hollywood history, and at one point in her career, she was one of the highest-paid women in the country. Although Joan Crawford’s career and achievements have been overshadowed by allegations of abuse against her adoptive children, Crawford is still one of the biggest, most talented classic Hollywood stars, mostly known for her dramatic roles. However, in 1962, she co-starred in the psychological horror thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, alongside Bette Davies, but that wasn’t her only horror project.

In 1964, Crawford starred in the psychological horror thriller Strait-Jacket, directed by William Castle. In it, Crawford played Lucy Harbin, who after murdering her husband and his lover is sent to a psychiatric hospital, but once she’s released, she becomes the suspect of a series of axe murders. Crawford’s final movie appearance was in the sci-fi horror Trog, where she played anthropologist Dr. Brockton, who learns that a caveman is alive and might be domesticated.

5 Charlton Heston – The Omega Man

Charlton Heston made a bit of everything throughout his career as an actor – from westerns with The Big Country to epic films like Ben-Hur and sci-fi adventures like Planet of the Apes. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that Heston also paid a visit to the horror genre at some point. In 1971, Heston starred in the post-apocalyptic action horror movie The Omega Man, where he played Robert Neville, a scientist who develops an antidote to a virus that has destroyed humankind and turned the infected into zombie-like creatures. The Omega Man was based on the 1954 novel I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson.

4 Bette Davis – Dead Ringer

Bette Davis is remembered not only for her performances in a variety of genres, but also for her forceful and intense acting style, her brave and confrontational attitude with studio executives, directors, and co-stars, and her strong personality. Though she’s best known for her performances in romantic dramas, Davis also visited the horror genre a couple of times, such as with What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, where she played the title character and main villain of the story. In 1964, she starred in the horror movie Dead Ringer, where she played twin sisters, Edith and Margaret, with the former murdering the latter and assuming her identity.

3 Joan Bennett – Suspiria

Joan Bennett is a star from the silent and sound eras of Hollywood, and is best remembered for playing femme fatale roles in film noir movies, most notably Fritz Lang’s films The Woman in the Window and Scarlet Street, as well as for her performance in the gothic 1960s soap opera Dark Shadows. Bennett’s final two movies were from the horror genre, first with House of Dark Shadows, the film adaptation of the Dark Shadows TV series. Bennett’s final movie was Dario Argento’s Suspiria, where she played Madame Blanc, the deputy headmistress of Tanz Akademie.

2 Fred Astaire – Ghost Story

Fred Astaire is not only one of the most famous and talented actors in Hollywood history but also one of the most skilled dancers, regarded as the “greatest popular-music dancer of all time”. As such, Astaire is best remembered for his performances in musicals, especially those alongside his dancing partner Ginger Rogers, and in 1981, he appeared in the supernatural horror movie Ghost Story. In it, Astaire played Ricky Hawthorne, a businessman who met with three friends every year to tell ghost stories.

1 Gregory Peck – The Omen

Gregory Peck was one of the most popular actors from the 1940s to the 1970s, and among his most notable projects are To Kill a Mockingbird, Spellbound, Cape Fear, and The Scarlet and the Black. In 1976, Peck gave the horror genre a chance and appeared in Richard Donner’s supernatural horror movie The Omen, where he played Robert Thorn, who secretly adopts a baby after his wife, Kathy, gives birth to a baby boy who dies. The Thorns name the boy “Damien”, but they soon learn there’s something sinister about their son.