Choosing our favorite film heroes

Are Bonnie and Clyde heroes or villains? What about Thelma and Louise? Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? No one disputes that Freddie Krueger of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is one of the big screen’s nastier villains, but can the same be said about the Blair Witch, who is never seen on camera?

Those are just some of the intriguing questions that some 1,500 members of the Hollywood creative community will grapple with as the American Film Institute on Tuesday sent out ballots to name American cinema’s 50 greatest heroes and 50 greatest villains.

Ballot names range from the Vampire, played by Theda Bara in 1915’s “A Fool There Was,” to Gandalf in “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” to Det. Alonzo Harris in “Training Day.”

The most-represented male actor on the ballot is John Wayne, with seven different characters, while Bette Davis leads the actresses with four.

The ballot even includes animal characters, including the great white shark in “Jaws.”

The vote will be announced during a three-hour special called “AFI’s 100 Years ... 100 Heroes & Villains” that will be taped next June for broadcast on CBS at a date to be determined.