10 Best Actors

...for me though, my top 10 is honest and I think they are all truly the finest actors I've ever seen. Now, I'm sure you are dying to get to my list, so let's get on to them….

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10) Robin Williams --- Is he funniest actor in the history of the movies? If Bob Hope isn't, then I'm sure most people would vote for Williams. Quite possibly the greatest improviser I've ...
...trait that many standup comedians have been trying to reach for years with no success. His zany character of Mork on the smash TV series "Mork & Mindy," made him an instant star; he won an Emmy for the show, which unfortunately didn't last long. Williams made his starring debut in 1980 playing the sailor with huge muscles and a pipe in Popeye (a perfect casting choice, I must say). However, he shocked audiences by doing a dramatic turn ... more

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TEN GREATEST ACTORS OF ALL TIME
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I thought I might as well do a companion piece to my previous op, which was on the Ten Greatest Actresses of All Time. It took me several hours to choose the women and compose the list. It wasn't anything like deciding who should be in this list however; my final count of 71 one of my favorite actors was a list I thought would be impossible to select standouts from. To be honest, I knew who #1 would be from the get-go, and some other guarantees were warranted, though I still had to choose 7 more out of the list, which was a daunting task.

Some of the actors from the 1930s-1960s that were considered though, alas, didn't make it, were Gene Kelly (SINGIN' IN THE RAIN), John Wayne (THE QUIET MAN), Albert Finney (TOM JONES), James Cagney (ONE, TWO, THREE), Anthony Perkins (PYSCHO), Sidney Poitier (THE DEFIANT ONES), Cary Grant (THE PHILADELPHIA STORY), Jack Lemmon (THE APARTMENT), and Charles Chaplin (CITY LIGHTS). However, I'm proud to mention them as runner ups; they are all fine actors, which will never be forgotten; the only one still alive among them is Finney, who is still going strong.

Many of the more modern ones I had to put in my original list were Kevin Spacey (AMERICAN BEAUTY), Harrison Ford (RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK), Denzel Washington (TRAINING DAY), Gary Oldman (SID AND NANCY), Woody Allen (CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS), Gene Wilder (BLAZING SADDLES), Kevin Kline (A FISH CALLED WANDA), Liam Neeson (SCHINDLER'S LIST), Edward Norton (AMERICAN HISTORY X), John Cusack (SAY ANYTHING…), William Hurt (CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD), Morgan Freeman (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION), Adrien Brody (THE PIANIST), and Kevin Bacon (STIR OF ECHOES), and Marlon Brando (THE GODFATHER).

I want to especially mention three honorable mentions before going on to my list now. I know that audiences love them, and they are considered by many to be among greatest actors, and they all just narrowly missed my list. They are Al Pacino (DOG DAY AFTERNOON), Robert De Niro (RAGING BULL), and Gene Hackman (UNFORGIVEN). I truly do apologize, and I'm sure you would replace them with a couple I have listed; for me though, my top 10 is honest and I think they are all truly the finest actors I've ever seen. Now, I'm sure you are dying to get to my list, so let's get on to them….

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10) Robin Williams --- Is he funniest actor in the history of the movies? If Bob Hope isn't, then I'm sure most people would vote for Williams. Quite possibly the greatest improviser I've ever seen, his unpredictable, gaspingly hilarious comic timing is a trait that many standup comedians have been trying to reach for years with no success. His zany character of Mork on the smash TV series "Mork & Mindy," made him an instant star; he won an Emmy for the show, which unfortunately didn't last long. Williams made his starring debut in 1980 playing the sailor with huge muscles and a pipe in Popeye (a perfect casting choice, I must say). However, he shocked audiences by doing a dramatic turn in 1982's THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP. This lead to remarkable performances in 1988's DEAD POETS SOCIETY and 1997's GOOD WILL HUNTING. However, many people consider his funniest turn in 1992's ALLADIN, where most of his dialogue was ad-libbed. And what is he doing now? Answer: Filming MRS. DOUBTFIRE 2!!!

Academy Award Nominations (4): Good Morning Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), The Fisher King (1991), and Good Will Hunting (WON, 1997). 11 Golden Globe Nominations, 5 won.

Best Quote: "Ah, yes, divorce, from the Latin word meaning to rip out a man's genitals through his wallet!" --- ROBIN WILLIAMS: LIVE ON BROADWAY

9) Johnny Depp --- My vote for the most underrated actor of the past 20 years, Depp would finally garner an Oscar nomination in 2004…for a friggin' pirate movie!!! Don't get me wrong, his performance, as Capt. Jack Sparrow was a genuine delight, though it's kind of sad that his great performances before that had been largely ignored. Possibly his greatest idol was Vincent Price, who he had met while working on EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, in which he gave a moving portrayal of a lost humanoid who was lacking human hands. His greatest performance I think came when he filled the shoes of legendarily awful director Edward D. Wood, Jr. in the 1994 film ED WOOD; I'm praying that he receives his third Oscar nomination in a row, for CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, in which his spirited, versatile, and energetic role as Willy Wanka was a hard sell for many Gene Wilder fans (me included). Amazingly, he pulled it off though, and I'm sure the best is yet to come for this superb actor.

Academy Award Nominations (2): Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2004), Finding Neverland (2005); 5 Golden Globe Nominations, 0 wins.

Best Quote: "Everything in this room is EATable. Even I am EATable, but that is called cannibalism my dear children, which is frowned upon in most cultures." --- CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

8) Dustin Hoffman --- Hoffman's role in the landmark 1967 film THE GRADUATE is what catapulted him to stardom, and then he would receive his first Oscar nomination in 1969's MIDNIGHT COWBOY as Ratzo Rizzo, a vagrant with a good heart trying to survive in modern day New York City. However, the first time I discovered this irresistible actor was in 1982's TOOTSIE which (despite the Lemmon and Curtis roles in SOME LIKE IT HOT) I still consider THE best performance of a woman like a man; like his character says in the film, "This is one of the greatest acting challenges a man could ever have!" While his role RAIN MAN was great, I thought it was a bit overrated (keep reading and you will see why). Hoffman has taken more unusual roles in recent years, though his turn as Mr. Focker was a real treat.

Academy Award Nominations (7): The Graduate (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969), Lenny (1974), Kramer vs. Kramer (WON, 1979), Tootsie (1982), Rain Man (WON, 1988), Wag The Dog (1997); 12 Golden Globe Noms, 5 Won.

Best Quote: "HEY! Hey, hey, hey! I'm walking here! No, f*ck you! I'm walking here! --- MIDNIGHT COWBOY

7) Humphrey Bogart --- Known today by virtually everyone as "Bogey," Mr. Bogart is still widely remembered today, despite having died almost 50 years ago. Born on Christmas Day before the turn of the Century, he wouldn't find his fame on the big screen until he turned 36, with his performance as gangster Duke Mantee in THE PETRIFIED FOREST; Bogey had recreated his stage role, and the star of that film Leslie Howard (GONE WITH THE WIND) had pleaded with the studio to cast him. Bogart never forgot that act of kindness, and after Howard's death in a plane crash in 1943, Bogey named his daughter after the great actor. While many audiences know him best in the Hollywood classic CASABLANCA, many consider his finest performance as Sam Spade in 1941's THE MALTESE FALCON; however, I think his role, as Phillip Marlowe in THE BIG SLEEP was even better. Three of his best films came in the 1950s before his death: THE AFRICAN QUEEN, SABRINA, and THE CAINE MUTINY.

Academy Award Nominations (3): CASABLANCA (1942), THE AFRICAN QUEEN (WON, 1951), and THE CAINE MUTINY (1954)

Best Quote: "Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!" --- CASABLANCA

6) Richard Dreyfuss --- At age 19, Dreyfuss had made unbilled bit parts in such films as VALLEY OF THE DOLLS and THE GRADUATE. He had no idea that his first starring role for the little, low-budget film AMERICAN GRAFFITTI would make him an instant star. Soon, he was cast in the Steven Spielberg classics JAWS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND; then he would make history by becoming the youngest actor ever to win a Best Actor Oscar, for 1977's THE GOODBYE GIRL. His role as a bearded stage actor who plays his guitar naked in the middle of the night established him as a romantic leading man. In the 1980s to the early 1990s, he starred in a string of popular comedies, always giving intelligent performances; some of the best include 1986's DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS, 1987's STAKEOUT, and 1991's WHAT ABOUT BOB? I love this actor so much, and yet he hasn't gotten many good roles in recent years; he is currently filming POSEIDAN, which is a remake of the 1972 disaster film THE POSEIDAN ADVENTURE.

Academy Award Nominations (2): The Goodbye Girl (WON, 1977), Mr. Holland's Opus (1996); 4 Golden Globe Noms, 1 Win.

Best Quote: "You know what we got here? 'Taming of the Shrew' is what we got here! Despite the fact, that you are one large pain in the arse, last night was the greatest thing that's happened to me, just to let you know! And if you were not behaving like such a horse's rectum this morning, you should have known that we would have been touching and fondling and licking each other until about 9 o'clock, when I have to go to rehearsal. Personally, madam, I think you blew it!" --- THE GOODBYE GIRL

5) Tom Hanks --- It's been a quarter of a century since Hanks made his debut, as a slain teenager in the forgettable 1980 slasher film HE KNOWS YOU'RE ALONE. Yet, audiences know him primarily as not only one all time great actors, but also as one of the biggest box office superstars; a rare combination, to be sure. Hanks would garner stardom in Ron Howard's SPLASH, in which he falls in love with mermaid Daryl Hannah. Since then, his irresistible, everyman persona would give him equal praise from audiences and critics alike; seriously, I cannot imagine anyone disliking Hanks. His first Oscar nomination came for the 1988 hit BIG; and, yes, I think his role (as a 13-year-old trapped in a man's body) should have won him the award (oh, and thanks Jennifer Garner for ripping off his performance years later!). Everyone has their favorite Hanks performance, and I think the films he won Oscars for are worthy; alas, it was for the ones I didn't win that I prefer, which include as baseball coach Jimmy Dugan in A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, Captain Miller in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, and (most especially) as FedEx man Chuck Noland in CAST AWAY; the last one I'm particularly disappointed he didn't win because I truly believe that any other actor in the role would have failed and the performance would have been boring. Hanks turns 50 years old in 6 months, and his next film, Howard's THE DA VINCI CODE, based on the best-seller, is highly anticipated.

Academy Award Nominations (5): BIG (1988), PHILADELPHIA (WON, 1993), FORREST GUMP (WON, 1994), SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998), CAST AWAY (2000); 6 Golden Globe Noms, 4 Won.

Best Quote: "Before I met you, I was in Little League; um, I was in Little League and I rode my bike to school and played with my friends and hung out with them and…I want to go home! I miss my family, Susan, and I want to go home!" --- BIG

4) Harold Russell --- I'm willing to bet that not one of you has heard of this actor; maybe that's because he technically wasn't an actor! Believe it or not, but Harold Russell is the only person to win 2 Oscars…for the exact same role! In 1944, while he was working for the U.S. Navy, he lost both of his hands in a dynamite explosion; in place of his hands, he was given hooks in which he had trained himself to do just about anything. That same year, he had appeared in an Army training film entitled, "Diary of a Sergeant." Academy Award-winning director William Wyler watched the film and was so moved by the veteran that he asked him to be in his 1946 film THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, a drama about three veterans returning home from WW2. The result was a nonactor, with no experience whatsoever, giving a highly emotional and shattering performance, which had perfectly captured the joy (and pain) of a disabled veteran returning from war. Because of his disability, his chances of finding another film were impossible, so he went to college; when he found out he had been nominated for Best Supporting Actor he was shocked beyond measure…and so was Hollywood, for that matter, because almost everybody had no idea who he was. His competition was four popular, respected actors (including Claude Rains); when his name was called he said he was "practically thrown out onto the stage." Later on, he won a SECOND Oscar, this time "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES." Russell said while onstage accepting the 2nd Oscar, holding it carefully in his hooks, "It's not what you have lost, but what you have left that counts." His role as Homer Parrish must be seen to be believed!

Academy Award Nominations (1): The Best Years Of Our Lives (WON, 1946). Won Special Golden Globe for Non-Professional Acting.

Best Quote: "My hands are there on the bed. I can't put them on without asking someone for help. I can't smoke a cigarette or read a book. If that door should close, I can't open it to get out of this room. I'm dependent as a baby who doesn't know how to get anything but just cry for it!" --- THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES

3) James Dean --- Probably the greatest actor of 1950s Hollywood, Dean has become a legend in the eyes of audiences around the world. Despite his sexy appearance, which would make girls swoon for him, his talent, as an actor, was so unprecedented that it makes you wonder what he would have done had he not died at the age of 24 in a tragic automobile accident. The impact was so strong that even Rock Hudson (his co-star in 1956's GIANT) who had constantly argued with Dean onset and disliked him, fell to pieces, crying on the floor. After only four bit parts, he would make his starring debut in Elia Kazan's EAST OF EDEN; though his signature performance came in 1955's REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, in which flawlessly brought to the screen Jim Stark, an alienated teenager who finds strong friendships in a new town, despite the pressures of violence being introduced by others. Stark has become the symbol of what postwar teenagers were like; the resonance is still present in teenagers to this very day! Dean will never be forgotten, as his three films, which have all stood the test of time.

Academy Award Nominations (2): East of Eden (1954), and Giant (1956); both were posthumous. 2 Golden Globe Won.

Best Quote: "YOU ARE TEARIN' ME APARRRRRRRRRRT!!!!!" --- REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE

2) Jack Nicholson --- Jack is THE MAN! Well, even more than that, he is truly one of the best of the best; a unique, brilliant actor who has been onscreen for nearly half a century. Discovered by cult filmmaker Roger Corman in the late 1950s, he would make 15 films with Corman before winning accolades as a boozy attorney who hits the road with some bikers in 1969's EASY RIDER. It would be the first in a very long line of Oscar and Golden Globe nominations; Nicholson starred in many of the best films of the 1970s, including FIVE EASY PIECES, CARNAL KNOWLEDGE, THE LAST DETAIL, CHINATOWN, and ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEXT. There may have been bad films he was in, but I've never seen a bad performance by Jack; well into the 1980s and 1990s he would rise in stature as one of the all-time great actors; even in the 21st century, he would score with such films as ABOUT SCHMIDT and SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE, both of which he was bold enough to show his ass bare onscreen. Finally, I must say that I think he still gives the best performance of the Devil in history (sorry Al Pacino fans!).

Academy Award Nominations (12): Easy Rider (1969), Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Last Detail (1973), Chinatown (1974), One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (WON, 1975), Reds (1981), Terms of Endearment (WON, 1983), Prizzi's Honor (1985), Ironweed (1987), A Few Good Men (1992), As Good As It Gets (WON, 1997), and About Schmidt (2002). 16 Golden Globe Noms, 6 Won.

Best Quote: "God, ungrateful little BITCHES aren't they??? Let me ask you something, I know you are all church-going folk: do you really think God knew what he was doing when he invented "woman"? Huh? No Shit! I really want to know; was it just one of his minor mistakes like tidal waves, earthquakes, floods! So, women --- a mistake? Or did he DO IT TO US ON PURPOSE! Because I really want to know, and I was thinking maybe we could do something about it. Find a cure! Invent a vaccine! BUILD UP OUR IMMUNE SYSTEMS!!!" --- THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK

1) James Stewart --- The one. The only. The original. Oh, yes, I'm sure many of you didn't expect him to be my favorite actor of all time, though I know others will agree with me 100%. Like Bogart, James "Jimmy" Stewart would begin appearing onscreen in the early 1930s, and in 1939 he was chosen by Frank Capra to play the idealistic senator Jefferson Smith in MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON. This powerful film about an all-American young man who finds nothing but corruption in the U.S. Senate had Stewart trying to bring the truth to light in a climactic filibuster speech which has brought audiences to tears for almost seven decades. One year later, he would win his first Oscar for THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, a supremely witty comedy in which Stewart starred alongside legendary actors Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. Like on reviewer noted, "Grant may have gotten the girl, but Stewart got the Oscar," for playing the fast-talking reporter who falls for society girl Kate. Stewart's list of great performances is more than endless; many critics cannot decide which one is their favorite. There is George Bailey in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, who discovered what life would be like if he had not existed. There is Elwood P. Dowd who is the only one that could see a giant rabbit in 1950's HARVEY. And who cannot forget his famous roles in Hitchcock films, including his peeping tom photographer L. B. Jeffries in REAR WINDOW and acrophobic police detective Scottie Fergeson in VERTIGO. His last film was 1992's AN AMERICAN TAIL: FIEVEL GOES WEST, in which he provided the voice for Wylie Burp, a sheriff in a Western town. I will always miss him, though I believe his films and performances will still continue to be admired and loved until the end of time. On a final note, in 1985, he won an Honorary Oscar for his "Fifty years of memorable performances, for his high ideals both on and off screen, with respect and affection of his colleagues."

Academy Award Nominations (5): Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939), The Philadelphia Story (1940), It's A Wonderful Life (1946), Harvey (1950), and Anatomy of a Murder (1959). 3 Golden Globe Noms, 2 Won.

Best Quote: "Liberty is too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders! Men should hold it up to them every single day of their lives and say, "I'm free, to think and to speak." --- MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON

Thank you very much for reading and I look forward to all of your comments! I will be leaving very soon to work out at sea for six months, so this may very well be my final review, though I will do my best to get another one in before I leave. If I can't, I will surely miss you all! Chris xxx

 

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