So, the Brad Pitt discussion on the Seven thread got me thinking.... who are the greatest film actors of all time? (no, Brad is not one of them.....yet ) It's not all that easy a list to compile. There are brilliant character actors, movie stars, great performances by actors who are otherwise merely "good", and there are likeable, personal favorites... and it's subjective as hell. Anyway, here are 10 names I came up with, in no particular order -- and I'm only talking men. Dustin Hoffman Robert Duvall Marlon Brando Jack Nicholson Laurence Olivier Robert DeNiro Gene Hackman Denzel Washington Paul Newman Johnny Depp Honorable mention: Al Pacino, only because I think he's become somewhat of a caricature of himself in the last 10-15 years. What are your 10?
Jack Lemmon Paul Newman Morgan Freeman Gary Oldman Robert Downey Jr. Robert DeNiro Sidney Poiter Dustin Hoffman Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson Jimmy Stewart Laurence Olivier Spencer Tracy Dustin Hoffman Marlon Brando Paul Newman Gary Cooper Daniel Day Lewis Cary Grant
I agree with a lot of those. I have to add George C. Scott Tom Hanks Gregory Peck , cant recall if I saw his name or not.
I agree with Gregory Peck, and I don't think he was mentioned before you Bevoette. Also, you said 'actors' that denotes males. Women who act are referred to as 'actresses.'
I'll go a little more recent...just to be different. Daniel Day Lewis Paul Giammatti Russell Crowe Kevin Spacey Johnny Depp Ralph Fiennes Christopher Walken Ben Kingsley Ian McShane Ray Winstone Clive Owen Benicio del Toro Leonardo DiCaprio Don Cheadle
mandingo, you obviously didn't read the note- "Since there is absolutely no way that more than one of the Top 10 actors of all time could be anything other than an American, please do not waste our time by listing fewer than 9 American actors. Thank you."
Well, all but but one of my furrenners can do a real good American accent, so I think they should count...(and he's Puerto Rican. Doesn't that kinda make him American, too?)
Wow. I don't know how you can say that about Hoffman. I think he's the most versatile actor on my list. And so many great filmes.... But, to each his own. Lots of good choices here and many I considered. One I totally whiffed on is Jack Lemon. Great actor. And to make Napolean feel better, I'll add Alec Guiness, Peter O'Toole and Charles Laughton
Clive Owen....LOL I agree with the original list (although searching for the real vulnerable dramatic side of Depp at times, though I love his work), but agree on adding: Hanks Pacino Hopkins Oldman Connery Lewis del Toro
In my Top 10 that I haven't seen mentioned:Sean PennJohn Malkovich Others: Anthony Hopkins Robert DeNiro Robert Duval D.D.Lewis Jack Nicholson Paul Newman Morgan Freeman Jack Lemmon Capable of nailing a role: Gene Hackman Al Pacino James Caan Samuel L. Jackson James Woods Kevin Spacey Joe Pesci Val Kilmer Michael Douglas Dennis Hopper George C. Scott Certainly in the conversation: Denzel Washington Tom Hanks Harrison Ford Leonardo DiCaprio Up-n-Comers: Ed Norton Phillip Seymour Hoffman Djimon Hounsou Vincent D'Onofrio Christian Bale -- Hard to argue that John Cazale shouldn't at least be mentioned since he he starred in 5 feature films and all 5 were nominated for Best Picture. -- Christopher Walken?? (mandingo) No way. Might as well throw out Alec Baldwin's name. (also under-rated comedic actor who excels on SNL)
Best non-native English speaking actors: Gael Garcia Bernal Omar Sharif Toshiro Mifune Chow Yun-Fat Max Von Sydow Bruno Ganz Javier Bardem Gerard Depardieu Alain Delon Daniel Auteuil Marcello Mastroianni Jean-Paul Belmondo Min-sik Choi honorable mention to Argentinian athletes: Diego Maradona, Manu, Oberto, Scola, etc.
Keanu Reeves. No, but seriously: Denzel Washington Tom Hanks Gary Oldman Johnny Depp Val Kilmer Tommy Lee Jones All deserve to be in any conversation involving great actors. wh
One name that seems to rarely be mentioned is one of my all-time favorites Burt Lancaster. I've heard it argued that he's more "movie star" than actor but his resume says otherwise.Great Films Seven Days in May Birdman of Alcatraz From Here to Eternity Elmer Gantry Sweet Smell of Success Judgement at Nuremberg The Young Savages Excellent Rocket Gibraltar Come Back, Little Sheba The Rainmaker Run Silent Run Deep The Train Field of Dreams Local Hero Very Good Twilight's Last Gleaming Go Tell the Spartans Scorpio Valdez is Coming The Professionals Atlantic City Executive Action(not the Kurt Russell movie by the same name) Trapeze The Gypsy Moths The Unforgiven Ulzana's Raid Tough Guys There's a few others worthy of listing but if those aren't enough to make a case then somebody's got a problem. One that I would highly recommend is The Young Savages which came out in 61 and was probably a bit ahead of its time. Also, The Hallelujah Trail is one of the funniest comedy/western's you'll ever see.
I was getting worked up about one glaring omission from the lists above. Then I read I Dont Exist's post. Nice work. Lancaster was the ****. I'd put 'Local Hero' under great, though.
