Greatest Actor...ever

[anorcross]

Originally Posted by Chimper

Who's the greatest actor ever?

"You can't handle the truth!!!!!!"

Yeah, he's pretty good too (as is the guy in your avatar).

[Pikachu]

I can't believe nobody even mentioned Jackie Gleason. IMHO, possibly the most versatile actor of all time. He could play any part he was cast in, and play it well.

[Florian]

Not sure if he is the greatest actor ever, but I like Robert De Niro.

[Bill Huber]

I am with Sheldon on this one, and I will add one more

Gene Hackman, Sean Connery and Robert Duvall, Harrison Ford.

[Duffy Pratt]

Some that have not been mentioned:

Spencer Tracy
Henry Fonda
Jason Robards
George C. Scott
Paul Newman
Jack Lemmon
Peter O'Toole

of the newer crop, I like

Ralph Feinnes
Gary Oldman
John Turtorro (sp?)
Ed Norton (Art Carney was good too)
Russell Crowe
Adrian Brody

[Leba]

Gary Oldman and Robert De Niro, they can play anything.

[wapiti]

Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. Lonesome Dove. It doesn't get any better than that.

[sbug_adam]

i read some names... Kevin Costner, Nicholas Cage?!?!?! please lay off the drugs, LOL.. those guys are TERRIBLE! especially costner. same role, same emotions, same attitude in EVERY movie he plays.

John Tuturro
William H. Macy
Morgan Freeman
Mickey Rourke
Mos Def (hes great!)

[KeithnFW]

Henry Fonda. . . .

could be a good guy. . . .
"12 Angry Men"

and could also be a very bad, bad guy
"Once Upon a Time in the West"

[darktiger]

Jean Claude Van Damme or Steven Segal






Just kidding :) :P

[Bruce M. Morris]

Originally Posted by darktiger

Jean Claude Van Damme or Steven Segal






Just kidding :) :P

This is obviously some interpretation of "Great Actor" that I am unfamiliar with......

[anorcross]

Originally Posted by darktiger

Jean Claude Van Damme or Steven Segal






Just kidding :) :P

Now don't lump these two together. Van Damme is the worst actor in the history of this and any possible universe (closely followed by Dolph Lundgren). Seagal is merely wooden and rather one-dimensional (though that one dimension worked fairly well for a while, at least through Under Siege). Seagal is also an infinitely better martial artist and a reasonably thoughtful guy (big on the environment, Buddhism, etc). It was painful to see Seagal in movies like Fire Down Below wearing knee-length leather coats to cover his increasing girth, and doing fewer and fewer of his own fights. His high point was Marked For Death.

[David]

Alan Alda
Joan Crawford
Norma Shearer
Lizabeth Scott
Greta Garbo
Alla Nazimova
Mary Pickford

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Chaplin!
The Barrymores- all except Drew
For westerns the Duke or Eastwood- The Good The Bad and the Ugly proves that you don't need to say a whole hell of a lot to get the point across.
For Shakespeare- The Boothe Brothers- yeah we never saw them on film but when you get your picture in some of the most scholarly works about Shakespeare in the late 19th century then you had to be good.
For Gangster Roles- Cagney, Bogart, Al Pacino (Scarface) and of course the GODFATHER himself- BRANDO (who was a great actor in his own right).
For Plain silliness- the Monty Python Troop- can't do much better than A Life of Brian and Monty Python and the Holy Grail for pure sillyness. Buster Keaton could do some great work himself on screan as well as Mr Lloyd *can't think of his first name but he was a big silent screan star.

For just plain Drama I would pick Fonda but there are a few other greats that could hold their own against him.
For Horror- Lon Chaney Jr (his dad was a great actor in his own right), Bella Legosi, Boris Karlof and don't forget Peter Lorrie, while most of the current actors in the genre are mediocre hiding behind masks or makeup that do not allow any emotion to really to come through.

It has been shown recently that some Film actors just bomb when performing live on stage and some stage actors are such prima donnas that few will deal with them on a film set.

One sad thing is that there are a lot of silent movies that have been totally lost since no one took the time to try to save them.