Norodom Sihanouk

Filmmaking was a hobby of Cambodia's former King Norodom Sihanouk, and in life he played enough roles to fill a Hollywood epic. Sihanouk, who died Oct. 15 at 89, was at various times a teenage King, an independence leader, a Prime Minister, an exile and a peace negotiator. His benevolent image was marred by his cooperation with the murderous Khmer Rouge, whose regime left 1.7 million dead. When they came to power in 1975, they made him nominal head of state. He resigned the next year in horror. Years after they were brought down by a Vietnamese invasion, he helped broker a peace deal with Vietnam. In 1993 he returned to the throne for 11 years but could not script a happy ending for his nation. As he once said, "Unfortunately, I am not a god."