Who Is the Best Actor of All Time? Not Biggest Star, but Best Actual Acting Talent?

Brando?

Interesting choice, r1.

R1 I agree with you that it’s Brando at least when he tried.

Neely Ohara, she's a talent but she doen' t believe it...

I'm a baracuda.

The acting you’re talking about, OP, where you forget you’re watching an actor, tends to be done by little-known actors, or at least not superstars.

Recently I thought Cory Michael Smith in Olive Kitteridge was really good. I also think Mandy Patinkin in Homeland is sublime.

Thanks, gals!

Perhaps by the time actors become stars, their ego has made them too mannered.

The Duse? Laurette Taylor?

Adam Sandler

Robert Duvall and Philip Seymour Hoffman are two who come to mind.

Butterfly McQueen

Curly Howard. Totally uninhibited and animated.

Spot the dog from The Little Rascals. Should have won at least 1 Oscar. And a lifetime supply of dog food.

Peter Sellers

Gena Rowlands.

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You bastard at R13, the dog's name is Petey!

Sorry this posted to best actor vs t v sex thread!

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Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Christian Bale and Michael Douglas....

Can I be the predictable bastard who mentions Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men?

TIE: Jessica Walter and Glenn Close

Sorry Donna Mills!

Oliver Hardy, of course.

Well-known actors who I find utterly entrancing: John Hurt Derek Jacobi Timothy Spall Cate Blanchett

Hurt and Spall, particularly, I've seen in everything from fantasy to tragedy to comedy, and been blown away by their performance.

You young ones won't remember him, but the greatest was undoubtedly David Garrick.

Casper Van Dien. Well, he was cute, anyway.

Actually no. I'm changing my mind. Alan Rickman.

Jay North as Dennis the Menace

Donald Pleasence

Richard Burbage.

Obviously.

I would say Phillip Seymore Hoffman was among the best.

Booth

Richard Burton!

R33 wins

Joseph Kearns

So I was R1 who first mentioned Brando, and I want to add some great women to the mix.

Bette Davis, Jessica Lange and (think about it) Tatiana Maslany

Rodney Allen Rippy

R36, girl, your choices are obvious. How about Margo Martindale? Alfre Woodard?

Good choices too r38. Touché

Obvious choice...Peter O'Toole. He phoned in quite a bit but I've never been more fascinated by a man when he did Lawrence of Arabia, Becket, or The Lion in Winter. Honorable mention to Tom Courtenay, I think about Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and Billy Liar often. He really shined in Doctor Zhivago as well. I wish I had the chance to see him on stage.

Paul Newman

Glenda Jackson.

Vanessa Redgrave.

Kim Stanley

Jeremy Irons Ralph Fiennes

The ones that wouldn't put out for roles and were run out of Hollywood on a rail.

Toni Collette

Phillip Seymour Hoffman

Hmm. Interesting.

47 replies and STILL no mention...

James Earl Jones

Gregory Peck, De Niro, David Niven, Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Kline.

A couple of people mentioned Phillip Seymore Hoffman - I'd definitely agree. He was phenomenal. Stole every scene in The Big Lewbowski, and I don't think any other actor could have made that role any more than a background part. He was just that good. Same with The Fantastic Mr. Ripley.

Have to mention two personal favorites of mine - Christoph Waltz and Tim Roth. Roth is criminally underrated, and Waltz is just a gem. Both are genuinely nice people, too, which is a rarity among actors these days.

Also, as a fan of old hollywood, I have to list a few of the oldies but goodies - Chaplin, Bogie, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Jimmy Dean, Orson Welles. And don't get me started on the ladies.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman definitely.

Sandy Dennis was always one of my favorite actresses. She was always fascinating to watch.

Agree, R30; I'd give a lot to have seen Richard Burbage. Richard III, Hamlet, Othello, Lear -- all were written for him. He obviously had tremendous range and physical presence. A number of his roles -- Richard III, Hamlet, Ferdinand in Webster's The Duchess of Malfi -- have a kinky, insinuating sexual quality.

R36 IMargo Martindale! good call

Charlize Theron in Monster

Setsuko Hara, muse of Ozu and the great screen actress ever.

Agnes Moorehead

Paul Muni

Of today? I would argue Robin Weigert. Compare her roles in Deadwood and Big Little Lies.

Elsa Lanchester.

Alla Nazimova

Judy Garland, if we're talking old school ladies. Brando and Seymour Hoffman for sure. Freeman too. Don't laugh too hard, but Gene Hackman!

Dawson.

Sidney Poitier, Cate Blanchett, Montgomery Clift, Peter Sellers, Liz, Morgan Freeman, Omar Sharif.

Katharine Hepburn

I was going to mention Gene Hackman as well, r59 -- tremendous range.

OMG...I completely forgot that I saw Tom Courtenay on Broadway in "The Dresser" until R40 brought his name up. Yes, he was wonderful on stage.

Claude Rains

I agree on Brando and a shout out for Bergman.

R56 Muni in Scarface is the greatest performance by a man in an American film and Hara is indeed the greatest actress ever. She is beyond praise.

I first saw Courtenay having no idea who he was in Otherwise Engaged on stage in London. He was mesmerizing and only later did I find out he was one of the great young English actors of the 60s.

Also on the trip saw another actor who I had never heard of-Judy Dench as Beatrice at Stratford. You could also see John Mills and Alec Guiness on the West End and Albert Finney at the National and Nureyev at Covent Garden with the Royal in Romeo and Juliet which was the first time I heard Prokofiev's glorious music.

I now hardly think it was possible.

Alec Guiness and Ralph Richardson

Helen Mirren

Charles Laughton

I know James Dean gets a lot of hate on this site, but personally I think he was brilliant and if he had lived would have gone on to be the all-time best male actor

Daniel Day-Lewis

Frances Ethel Gumm, of Grand Rapids Minnesota.

Alistair Sims.

My vote would go for either Alan Rickman...or yes, Johnny Depp.

Depp just because of what his range *used* to be- when you look at his performance in Ed Wood, you wouldn't think that the same actor could play Jack Sparrow.

Ditto Rickman. Colonel Brandon is light years away from Hans Gruber.

Paul Muni in I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang.

Not the greatest actor ever, but I think one of the greatest performances ever was F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus. He captured it all - Salieri’s love, hate, envy, spite.

Also agree with Peter O’Toole, wonderful, hammy in the best sense, and mesmerizing. And what a voice.

Peter Capaldi in Mr. Wakefield's Crusade, a BBC drama series with a gay theme

Ahem.

Ben Kingsley

Kevin Spacey

Shirley Booth

The Truth about Mr. Leslie - Must see film! Come Back Little Sheena w/ Burt Lancaster. Later in comedy role as NBC's Hazel!

Sheeba..

Come Back, Sheena Easton!

Todd Solondnz's 'Happiness' is full of exception performances. Philip Seymour Hoffman at his best, Jared Harris incredible as a seductive Russian, and Dylan Baker as an evil pedophile.

"About Mrs. Leslie". Booth was also wonderful in the soapy "Hot Spell,' with Hamthony Quinn. And DL fave Earl Holliman.

Yes, Depp was stellar for about 15 years. Really a character actor. I used to think he combined something of the British acting tradition with a touch of Actors Studio, in a unique way.

Gregory Finnegan who plays James Nightingale in Hollyoaks

I've never seen anyone get such universal praise without a single negative review than Gandolfini as Tony. Obviously, he was known for many other roles, but he WAS Tony.

David Dawson in The Mystery of Drood

Eddie Marsan

Ty r86 for title correction! Must have seen that film decades ago and this thread made me remember her performance.

Men: Rod Steiger, Sidney Poitier, Ian McKellan, Anthony Hopkins

Women: Cate Blanchett, Maggie Smith, Sigourney Weaver, Cicely Tyson

Gabriel Mann in Revenge

Speaking of "Ed Wood," it contained the best performance of the 1990s, that by Martin Landau.

Eric Sheffer Stevens who plays Dr. Reid Oliver in As the World Turns

Ben Gazarra

Fredric March - total chameleon from leading man in "The Royal Family of Broadway" to Jekyll and Hyde (1st Oscar) to alter kocker in "Inherit the Wind" - comedy opposite Carole Lombard in "Nothing Sacred" and Veronica Lake in "I Married a Witch" to drama in "Best Years of Our Lives" (2nd Oscar) to historical dramas like Anthony Adverse and Jean Valjean in 1935 "Les Miserables" and the 1st Norman Maine in "A Star is Born" opposite Janet Gaynor. Very different in every role, but still a big star, but without all the mannerisms of the personality people who always did the same.

Barbara Stanwyck - very versatile from screwball and romantic comedies to pre-Code potboilers to "Stellas Dallas" , "Double Indemnity", classic comedies like "Christmas in Connecticut", "Lady of Burlesque" and "Ball of Fire" to westerns to "The Big Valley" and "The Thorn Birds". Up there in the Bette Davis - Joan Crawford echelon, but with more consistently fine performances.

Men: Toni Servillo, Daniel Auteuil

Women: Gong Li, Liv Ullmann

Robert Duvall

Daniel Day Lewis

Bud Cort

R97 Barbara Stanwyck. Real name, Ruby Stevens.

It's hard to argue with Mark Rylance.

Barbara Stanwyck's last, big feature movie before she 'retired' to TV.

The Night Walker in which she pulls out all the stops in this scream fest.

Why is everyone trying to kill me?!

Madhabi Mukherjee, Smita Patil.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman Alan Rickman Toni Collette Tilda Swinton Maggie Smith Cate Blanchette Octavia Spencer Meryl Gary Oldman Daniel Day Lewis Emma Thompson Morgan Freeman Maggie Gyllenhal-sorry Michael Shannon Frances Mcdormand Jeffrey Wright Christian Bale - sorry Regina King

A confirmed eldergay, I've been attending the theater since the late '60's and the best I've ever seen is Kathy Bates. When she was starting out in the 1970's and early 1980's, she served up one unforgettable performance after another. She was great in "Vanities." She was riveting on Broadway in "'night, Mother," with Anne Pitoniak matching her every step of the way. She was even better off-Broadway in Sam Shepard's "Curse of the Starving Class." Her film work is very well known. She won an Oscar in her first significant film role, beating out Joanne Woodward and Meryl Streep. Not a bad start.

Many actors give good performances, but Bates does it again and again. Even Streep is not as consistently good as Kathy Bates.

Kathy Bates is indeed amazing.

Black actors don't really get opportunities to display range due to lack of roles, but I'm constantly impressed by Sophie Okonedo.

She did STUNNING work in The Hollow Crown and blew her revered castmates off the screen.

My vote goes to Cybil Sheppard.

Laurie Metcalf and Jean Smart are great in everything they do

I think Michael Pitt is the best actor of his generation.

And I agree with Maggie Gyllenhaal as well. She is amazing.

Gena Rowlands, for the three part power punch of Opening Night, A Woman Under the Influence, and Gloria.

[quote]I've never seen anyone get such universal praise without a single negative review than Gandolfini as Tony.

I agree that his performance in The Sopranos might be the greatest sustained performance of all-time.

I know it's a cliché to say it, but threads like this are why I still come to DL after all these years.

Informed discussion on an interesting theme, with contributions from people who know what they're talking about.

Maggie Gyllenhall and Kathy Bates are good choices I wouldn't have first gone to, and Gene Hackman also.

How Kathy Bates in Night Mother which I saw get through that 8 performances a week(the character had every reason to kill herself) without becoming genuine depressed and suicidal is I guess why they call it acting.

I agree, R113. I've seen plenty of performances that I would rate highly (James McAvoy in Split is one that comes to mind, Michael Sheen in pretty much anything) but this question is so hard to answer. I've already said Jack Nicholson and Alan Rickman, then Richard Burton... but what about Kenneth Brannagh or Pete Postelthwaite? What about Cumberbatch? I haven't even thought about actresses either!

Also I think there are too many stars around these days and not enough talent, but that's probably something that's best left for another thread.

Cumberbatch?

Kim Stanley

Um, Tracey Ullman, anyone?

Another vote for Rowlands.

Lately, the fact that Tatiana Maslany could actually make you forget that you weren't watching multiple actresses on "Orphan Black" puts her up toward the top of the ranks.

Keanu Reeves

Sophie Okonedo was the one in The Hollow Crown who played the widowed queen mother (of Henry V and Henry VI, guess)? I only caught a little of the Hollow Crown series, but she was indeed a standout. Everyone was very good, but she stole every scene in which I saw her. THAT's charisma.

We'll never agree on the greatest acting talent, but can we agree on the most underrated? Tom Wilkinson. He is a genius actor who can play just about any male role, and he's never gotten an Oscar.

[quote]We'll never agree on the greatest acting talent, but can we agree on the most underrated?

Good idea. I've been reminded of great performances I'd forgotten and with a refreshing lack of bitchiness about who's right or wrong.

Streep and Day-Lewis

Right now Daniel Day-Lewis, Meryl Streep, Laurie Metcalf and Mark Rylance all come to mind.

When you see Rylance on stage, it's something to behold.

And in the past few months I've seen Metcalf in "Getting On" (HBO series), on stage in "A Doll's House Part 2" and in "Lady Bird". I've always thought she was excellent. Now I see her as one of the greats.

Judi Dench. She's going to receive a nomination for Victoria and Abdul. She may even win.

Winona Ryder

Yes r125! Loved Notes on a Scandal!

"They'll fly by!"

Judi Dench is good at playing one character - herself! She is obese and gassy

Oprah Winfrey.

Streep, Dench, Mirren YASSS BITCHESSS

Also this.

Rylance in Richard lll was one of the worst performances I have ever seen on the professional stage. In fact everyone in that production was miserable.

I was in pain listening to that dialogue spoken by those people.

I waited until intermission to flee because I was 5th row center in the orchestra.

Enjoyed though Boeing Boeing a lot. Who could have ever imagined a banal 60s sex comedy being so much fun?

I keep wanting to like Cate Blanchett but she is too weird with the husband and Australia. Those people are weirdos. Outwardly sunny but privately neurotic.

Saorsie Ronan and Oscar Isaac very good.

F. Murry Mumbleham! That Queen is bananas

[quote]Saorsie Ronan and Oscar Isaac very good.

Great choices. Excited to see what they do in the future. Really looking forward to LADY BIRD.

John Hurt.

Sir John Vincent Hurt, CBE (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose screen and stage career spanned more than 50 years. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors; director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in the world".[

I'd award "the greatest sustained performance of all-time" to Jerry Orbach, r112, for his revered Lennie Brisco on "L&O." Not to mentionthat, as a song and dance man, Orbach originated some great roles on Broadway. Does Gandolfini have a NY thoroughfare named for him?

Gak! "Briscoe," of course!

I'll add more......he's not in the tippy-too, but he IS magical -- Kevin Kline. Another actress who is the female Tim Roth (criminally undervalued) is Helena Bonham Carter. Shirley MacClaine deserves her spot, whack job though she is.

I would say Cate Blanchet for sure, but what about Kate Winslet? I can't decide, which I think means a no.

Ultimately, image my picks by recalling how it felt to watch them -- did I lose myself knthe performace? Did I feel everything possible? Did I believe the actor with my entire soul?

Michael Pitt is 100% the greatest of his age, but I wish more people were exposed to him.

LOVE Tom Wilkinson, r121! He was terrific in "The Full Monty"!

To the "Most Under-Rated" I'd add David Strathairn and James Cromwell.

John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, Meryl Streep, Dame Maggie, Dame Judi, Glenda Jackson, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cate Blanchett, Bette Davis, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Ian McKellen

Another vote for Timothy Spaull being underrated.

Didn't see Rylance's Richard, but HATED his Olivia in "Twelfth Night". So far I find him much less hammy in film than on stage.

Sarah Bernhardt.

R140, yes Glenda Jackson will always be 'Elizabeth R' to me.

According to the “human lie detector,” Renee Ellory, most actors are terrible at synching their facial expressions and body language up with the emotional content of their lines. She finds fictional TV shows and films painful to watch so doesn’t have much of a catalogue to pull from, but the ones she’s found the most believable were: Helen Hunt, Dustin Hoffman, Tim Allen, Ray Romano, and Meryl Streep.

It’s hard for me to imagine Tim Allen or Ray Romano are good actors by any metric but Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman seem like solid contenders.

Meryl Streep is so good, one can't really put her in the running. She's head and shoulders above any of her peers.

Calculon!

Ray Romano is actually a very good actor, unlike Jerry Seinfeld, another comedian, who while successful, on a sitcom can barely get a good line reading. Romano was very good recently opposite Holly Hunter in "The Big Sick", good movie!

Interesting, r147. Romano is also very good in "Get Shorty," which deserves more attention after a great first season on Epix, which is kind of an obscure channel (Berlin Station is a good show on that network, too).

Okay, I will have to give Romano a second look. But does anyone here think Tim Allen is good?

Tom Hiddleston

Lee Pace

Gabriel Mann in Parallel Sons, a gay-themed drama film

Hands down LeBron. So excellent in that classic history making film with the first lady of theatre Any Schumer.

Or else Jim Parsons. Or is he the first lady.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Ben Whishaw

Mark Rylance

James McAvoy

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Adèle Haenel

Emily Watson

Eva Green

Judi Dench

Olivia Colman

Samantha Morton

Tilda Swinton

Toni Collette

Vanessa Redgrave

Mark Rylance

Brian Cox

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Marlon Brando

Kathy Bates

Andrea Riseborough

Brendan Gleeson

Daniel Day Lewis

Sir John Gielgud

Al Pacino in Donnie Brascoe practically broke my heart. I completely forgot he was acting, let alone that he was Al Pacino,

Gene Hackman. Claude Rains. John Cazale. Paul Giamatti.

I'm going to go the cliche route and say Olivier. There was nothing he couldn't do and it was effortless.

Followed closely by Robert Shaw and Donal McCann, for the same reasons.

For the Americans, Nicholson and Hackman. Nicholson was guilty of phoning it in and self-parody in his later career but every now and then would do,something like The Pledge to remind you why he was such a star (I'd include de Niro and Tommy Lee Jones for the same reasons).

Pepe Serna could have been in the same class with better opportunities. Watch The Man From Reno for an idea of,what he,could have been as a leading man as opposed to a character actor.

For the ladies, most of my choices have been mentioned. I would add Dale Dickey, who with the right role could have a had a career comparable to M, but tends to get stereotyped. Also Laila Robbins but she seems to be fine as a stage actress.

^ If you saw the Jazz Singer you'd realize that there were things Olivier couldn't do

Antony Hopkins and Meryl Streep

Jaime Foxx, but Datalounge will never admit it.

Walter Brennan was one of the best actors of yesteryear.

He won 3 Best Supporting Actor Oscars, the first for Come And Get It way back in 1936 opposite Frances Farmer. A great character actor.

How can we possibly choose for "all time"?

We don't know except by reputation of the great actors before the invention of film: Richard Burbage, Edward Alleyn, Hugh Clark, David Garrick, Junius Booth, Sarah Siddons, Mrs. Laura Keene, Booth, Helena Modjeska, William Charles Macready, Forrest, Maude Adams, Henry Irving, Lillie Langtry, Mrs. Leslie Carter, James O'Neill...

Bonnie Franklin

Alec Guinness. John Candy was a wonderful actor but is remembered as a mere comedian. Anthony Hopkins when he's not opting to chew scenery. Silent film star Lon Chaney was brilliant in his infrequent dramatic roles minus heavy makeup, and had technique closer to modern film acting than to stagy silent films.

Spencer Tracy. After his death, Dore Schary, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, said, "There can be no question that he was the best and most protean actor of our screen."

Minnie Maddern Fiske

Yes, Lon Chaney was a revelation to me when I started looking at his work fairly recently.

Charlize Theron in "Monster' was in a category of her own.

Paul Scofield.

Tyne Daly. I once caught a scene from Cagney and Lacey with an emotional conflict between her and her character's husband. It was powerful, but controlled and realistic. I felt like a voyeur.

Hear hear on Michael Pitt! Amy Adams Meryl Streep Gene Hackman John Turturro

Agreed, R165, he rocked my world.

Thandie Newton

Catherine 0' Hara

Forbes Robertson

Anna Magnani in "Bellissima." Bette Davis said it was the best screen performance she'd ever seen.

When it comes to an actor in certain roles, their performance is so good that to me it supersedes their entire career. Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence, for one. And, strike me down, Charlize Theron as Mavis Gary in Young Adult is one of the best performances I've ever seen. I *know* women exactly like Mavis and Charlize completely fulfilled the role of a former high school mean girl with an almost scarily accurate portrayal.

It's the unknown actors who really make you forget they are acting. I love The Onion's mockmentaries. Below is a spoof of a trashy reality sexed-up show like BB.

For famous stars, Mark Ruffalo is quite diverse in his many indie roles. Loved him in Infinitely Polar Bear, DL fave The Normal Heart, and that Spotlight movie.

Ben Whishaw.

Actress Renee Maria Falconetti gave possibly the greatest screen performance of all time in her silent movie (1928), The Passion Of Joan Of Arc. Critics like Pauline Kael and others say that it has never been surpassed. It was her only movie and was so realistic that she was almost burned during the fiery stake scene. Great movie and excellent actress who gave her all for her only film performance.

He is black, I am sure of that.

Charlize really was brilliant in Young Adult. She captured that kind of woman perfectly.

She can sometimes be a little hammy, but I always buy Jennifer Jason Leigh every time I see her on screen.

Tyne Daly is a wonderful choice, too. I've never seen a Rose in Gypsy be both realistically larger than life and deeply human at the same time. I don't there was ever a more effortlessly realistic Rose.

Ralph Fiennes

Alan Rickman and Jimmy Stewart.

Tom Wilkinson

Stanley Tucci

Brian Cox

After seeing Bohemian Rhapsody, that performance by Rami Malek surely puts him up there.

Kenneth Branagh's "performance" as basically a walking Woody Allen impression in the 1998 movie Celebrity should disqualify him from this thread entirely. R115

Anthony Hopkins, Gary Oldman, Cate Blanchett

Spencer Tracy

Barbara Stanwyck

Honorable Mention -- Don Cheadle, to go by the "so natural you never see the acting" criteria.

Margaret Tyzack-

I agree with the person who said Regina King...she is amazing in EVERYTHING she does. I forgot she was in Jerry McGuire...it was on cable the other day. She should have won the Oscar for Supporting Actress that year.

Theron is overrated as fuck she's a two notes actress she's either overrating or playing every character with the same [bold]A[/bold]cting

Sidney Poitier

Ben Whishaw

Emily Watson

Peter O'Toole

Jean Gabin and Anna Magnani.

Barbara Stanwyck also.

Jack Lemmon

I haven't read all the posts. But the true actor cares only about the art.

Mark Rylance (who may/should have already been named but I'm not reading 200 posts for it).

He is seamless and you never see the work.

James Gandolfini

Aden Young

Tatiana Maslany

Ben Mendelsohn

Whishaw

Rylance

Vanessa Redgrave

Denis O'Hare

McAvoy

Angela Lansbury

Laurence Olivier

Nancy Kelly. Thread closed.

Me! Mahogany!

Honorable mention - Norma Desmond

Sevigny

Witherspoon

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Kristen Stewart

Sally Hawkins

Olivia Colman

Eva Green

Rebecca Hall

Collette

Morton

Watson

Eddie Redmayne

Bryan Cranston

Charles Laughton is up there.

Ellen Burstyn, Lee Grant, Gena Rowlands - my best of the 1970s,

Tom Hiddleston

I didn't see him in other roles but American actor William Gillette acting as Sherlock Holmes knocked Basil Rathbone down to second place, and Benedict Cumberbatch to a distant third for me. Gillette introduced the props of magnifying glass, violin, syringe and the curved pipe to the character, and formulated the complete phrase "This is elementary, my dear fellow".

In short, William Gillette on stage and screen did more to make subsequent screen portrayals of the fictional character Sherlock Holmes more his invention than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's.

Sam Waterston

Sam Rockwell, Naomi Watts

(the) Wrigleyville Cumdump

This thread is boring.

R146, I'm glad someone here finally recognized Calculon and his UN-HOLY... AC-TING... TAL-ENT.

Sam Rockwell is a joke

James Mason

Judith Evans

Marie Dressler. James Cagney

Olivier, of course

M....

Martin Landau completely disappeared into the character.

Peter Dinklage

Jean Gabin, Gérard Philippe, Richard Widmark, James Spader, Edwige Feuillère,Isabelle Adjani, Hillary Swank and an actor who was a theater actor not very well known in the Us but a great one Robert Hirsch ( as Richard III).

Isabelle Huppert

I feel strongly the very best actors are French and actresses are Italian with runner up Spanish or Latin American. But more in history, up to say 1970.

Stellan Skarsgard

Ooh, R230, good call on Richard Widmark! In a similar vein, Joseph Cotten never really gets his due as an actor despite starring in some of the greatest films ever made, possibly because Orson Welles tends to overshadow everyone on screen with sheer star power. But there's a reason Welles chose to work with him again and again.

Paprika Steen

Ingrid Bergman Klaus Kinski Judith Anderson

Gérard Depardieu

Maurice Evans

Gene Hackman

Charlotte Rampling

I prefer Isabella Rossellini to Ingrid Bergman

Jane Fonda?

Vivien Leigh completely disappeared into her iconic role of Blanche Dubois and won a second Oscar for playing a Southern Belle.

A Streetcar Named Desire took 6 months to make and her immersion into the role took a toll on her fragile mental state and made it worse. Downward spiral.

Jeremy. Fucking. Brett. God damn I miss this man.

Eleanor David

Robert DeNiro

Edith Massey--for her range alone.

Maggie Cheung / 張曼玉

Ensembles: ‘Happiness’ was a revelation. I felt like I’d been hit in the head with a 2x4. So many superb actors that it’s hard to pick the best, but Hoffman and Baker and Harris were stunning.

‘I, Claudius’ was stuffed to the gills with great acting. Sian Phillips’ Livia was one of the greatest of all time. Hurt, Blessed, Tyzack, Jacobi, Stewart. It’s almost painful to watch.

R243 Vivien Leigh, an English actress, won 2 Oscars for playing Southern Belles. She won the first Oscar for one of the greatest roles of all time, Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind.

She paid her dues and established herself as one of the best actresses in the history of Hollywood, always to be remembered.

Rod Steiger

Harvey Keitel

Colleen Dewhurst

Rosalind Russell

Anthony Hopkins

Ian McKellan

Cicely Tyson

Maggie Smith

R35 I agree that Joseph Kearns was a great character actor. He took the role of 'good ole Mr. Wilson' and made it his own. He made a grumpy, persnickety old grouch lovable. But Gale Gordon who took over the role of Mr. Wilson after Joe died was as boring and bland as cardboard. No personality at all and not very likeable. Incidentally, both Joe Kearns and Gale Gordon were gay.

Ian McKellan

*Ian McKellen

Glenda Jackson is also my choice.

Off the top of my head, Daniel Day-Lewis.

Albert Finney always impressed me as a great actor.

Gale Gordon gay?!!!!

Alan Bates

Honorable mention: John Douglas Thompson

I haven’t had time to read through this thread, but I imagine l’m safe saying, “Thank you, I’m humbled.”

Emma Thompson is top notch. Meryl, obviously. Cate. Judi Dench, Maggie Smith. Kate Winslet.

Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Anthony Hopkins. James McAvoy, Ethan Hawke. I know DL loves to hate Tom Cruise, but I think he's a very good actor. I always find him believable in his roles.

r236 Thanks for your post, it prompted me to realize I misidentified Judith Anderson as Judith Evans.

R262 I thought you were praising Edith Evans.

Walter Huston. His performance in Dodsworth us one of the greatest performances by an American actor ever. And he wasn't bad in The Treasure of Sierra Madre (and others films) either.

Toshiro Mifune and Tony Leung Chiu Wai.

Ronald Reagan

Slightly off topic, but I think Gandolfini & Falco having that last knock down, drag out fight in their pool house, as Tony & Carmela, was one of the most riveting & powerful scenes ever shown on TV.

Glenda Jackson & Vanessa Redgrave in the 70s MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, were absolutely incredible.

No love for Garbo? Her Anna Christie only is something to behold. And then there's Queen Christina, Camille, Ninotchka, Grand Hotel...

Ben Whishaw

James McAvoy

Toshiro Mifune, at least in the Kurosawa movies. (As noted above, great thread.)

Mads Mikkelsen.

Geraldine Page

Maggie Smith

Cate Blanchette

Vanessa Redgrave

Bette Davis

Fiona Shaw

Mark Rylance

Marlon Brando

Daniel Day-Lewis

Dustin Hoffman

Jack Nicholson

R268 Major love for Garbo here. Otherworldly. Her naturalism on film at a time when such a style and idea hadn't even been developed in film yet is astounding.

Her first scene with Robert Taylor in Camille. When she leaves the table coughing and they are alone in the firelight. OMG. Staggering. She is so subtle. So private. It's beautiful, and could transfer to film today. The same performance. Talkies were less than a decade old and she had such a naturalistic quality and impulse. Also her death scene. My god.

Anna Christie is thrilling. Major. A major performance. That whole film is brilliant and not well known anymore, sadly.

Queen Christina!! The lesbian dream! Her voice! Her body! Her look! Again, thrilling!

Ninotchka is marvelous. Grand Hotel! Oh! Her sadness! Her tragedy! Her romance!

Years ago, "What would Garbo do?" is the phrase one of my acting teachers would throw out to the women when they were clearly heading down the wrong road in a scene. It was great. He was right.

R261 Go with your love for Tom Cruise. Why not? Tom Cruise is always what is needed, I find in films. And certain ones--Magnolia, Born on the 4th of July, Rain Man, Risky Business all come to mind, he's way more than just that. All of those performances are excellent on any level.

In those, he is both the movie star the world wants and needs him to be, but then also actor and talent in him also is working at a really high level. All those characters are very different from each other. Very specific. And those performances are all pretty great.

Gale Harold hands down.

Greta Garbo was a stunning, unique actress, one of the best ever. She was great in Camille and Robert Taylor was at his most beautiful.

Garbo in the iconic end shot of Queen Christina.

Same-sex kiss in Queen Christina.

Angela Lansbury; films, TV and stage

Tilda Swinton >>> Cate Blanchett

Kevin S... noooo Christopher Plummer u bitches!!!!!!

On the TV side, I think Vic Morrow was a great talent on the small screen.

The best stage performance I’ve ever seen was Christine Lahti in Three Hotels.

R264, I was glad to see your comment on Huston. I didn't see.Dodsworth until decades into my fairly extensive film viewing and was just stunned by his work in that. So immediate and real. I love Astor in that too. During the filming, her child-custody trial was going on, including stories about her notorious diary, and she later said that she thought about her character in the film when she needed support. I believe that co-star Ruth Chatterton, a very accomplished woman, attended the trial to support Astor.

'Dodsworth' was a William Wyler film. Undisciplined egotists and schmucks (Bette Davis and Chuck Heston) can win Oscars in a William Wyler film.

What's with the Davis hate?

I think Samuel L.Jackson also deserves a mention here.

R286 I'm quite happy to party over 'The Letter' and 'Little Foxes'.

But Davis was appallingly undisciplined within a very narrow range. She was OK playing screeching divas like Margo. But only a lion-tamer like Wyler could break her pouting, campy ego to play a normal woman in normal family situations.

R287 No. He tends to shout his lines and goes over the top with his mannerisms. Adequate actor but not a great one.

Montgomery Clift Emily Watson Tilda Swinton Jeffrey Wright Isabelle Huppert

Agree, with some Tilda reservations.

Tom Cruise?! According to whom - Xenu?

Tilda Swinton's weirdness and appearance overshadows her acting talents. She really is a strange duck.

Denzel Washington is always perfect. I think Johnny Depp is very good. I loved Phillip Seymore Hoffman. Can we include women? Cause I liked Sharon Stone and Betty Davis.

Another vote for Tilda Swinton.

I thought of Walter Brennen too.

Ed Norton is going to be forgotten --- he already is in many ways --- but that's not the way it should have gone for him. His talent, his craftsmanship, his acting ability, etc ... comfortably the best of his generation but bleached out of existence.

Don't think there's a best, but: Don Cheadle, Edward Arnold, Jean Simmons, Lee Remick.

Robert Carlyle

from the biggest stars Tammy Cruise and Witherspoon

from the others Emily Watson and Ben Whishaw

I knew some pretentious asswipe would tongue bathe Maria Falconetti in that Joan of Arc crapfest. It is the definition of risible silent screen acting.

Tatiana Maslany

A lot of great male stars already mentioned (Spall, Rickman, Hackman, Tracy) but I can't believe Woody Harrelson hasn't been. He finds the truth in all his characters.

Stanwyck is very good as long as she doesn't overplay the histrionics. She tends to step on her own lines and add 'Oh GOD' to too many exchanges when she gets riled up. I just watched her in East Side, West Side last night -- an understated performance that helped a pretty standard 'woman's picture'. But she was actually and completely believable.

I'm probably the only one who thought she was embarrassing in 'The Thorn Birds'.

I addition to Huston, Astor, and Ouspenskaya (also nominated), Chatterton may have given her best performance in "Dodsworth"

Vanessa Redgrave

R305 Chatterton may have given her best performance in "Dodsworth" because she only appeared in minor and silent films.

R267, that was a great Sopranos scene: Tony and Carmela in the knock-down, drag-out. Gandolfini and Falco were so good in the Sopranos. It's a TV show (not the movies), but those two were so damn good in their roles. Another good scene (in the kitchen) was when Tony subtly confronts Carmela for stealing the $40,000 from the bird feeder.

Jaye Davidson

Julianne Moore

Peter sellers. It’s spooky how good he could be when he actually tried. His work in Lolita is amazing and he topped himself in being there.

Harry Treadaway

JJ Feild

Daniel Day-Lewis and his 3 Oscars

Kim Stanley Geraldine Fucking Page Sandy Dennis Anna Magnani Laura Dern Vanessa Redgrave Marion Coitillard

Sorry. All the great ones seem crazy as fuck. Same with the mens

Dustin Hoffman

Tom Wilkinson, Hackman, Daniel Day Lewis,Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Cazale, Meryl, Bardem, Spacek, Redgrave

Alec Guinness

I think there should be a balance of naturalism and performance. Otherwise it's dull if people act in every movie like they are in a documentary. Different genres call for different approaches. I love Spencer Tracy, Alec Guinness, Richard Attenborough, Orson Welles.

I think its misguided to think only 100 per cent natural acting is good. Its more than that, it's about body language, inflection, expression, nuance.

I find Daniel Day Lewis very mannered actually. He chewed the scenery in There will be Blood.

This question can't be quantified, any answer is totally subjective.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Sandy Dennis, Jeff Bridges, Anna Faris, Angela Lansbury, Brad Dourif, Catherine O'Hara, Ellen Burstyn, Sam Rockwell, Allison Janney, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, Faye Dunaway...love them all and I've never seen them give a bad performance. Sometimes, they have to transcend the material they're given, but they're always at least entertaining and trying, against all odds, to make it work. To me, the mark of a great actor isn't just transformation or believability in the role, but if they're able to add a bit of fun into an otherwise lousy movie/play/TV show. Not many can do that.

Faye Dunaway always gives big performances. She never gives natural acting performances.

I'm sure you've all seen the Tonight Show clip of Bette Davis saying that Faye Dunaway was the most unprofessional actor she had ever worked with.

But she's entertaining, isn't she? That might be why R322 likes her. As they said, there's something about actors who can bring a little life to the movies and shows they're in. Tell me you wouldn't be happy if Faye Dunaway randomly showed up in some awful, boring Transformers sequel, chewed some scenery, and livened up the movie for a few minutes.

Interesting question OP. I was blown away by some famous performances.(Honourable mentions) . First come to mind : Vivien Leigh in GWTW, especially if you have read the book. It's mesmerizing and actually underrated, because we are so used to it. . She's equally prodigious in streetcar. Giulietta Masina in " la strada" was unforgettable. Joanne Woodward and Alan Bates had incredible talent/range. Lila Kedrova, Gena Rowlands, Simone Signoret, have also delivered fantastic performances, so has Vanessa Redgrave. Bette in ' baby jane 'is a Land mark of great acting. But hear me. Last year I watched ' Ryan 's daughter "on TV and was very surprised to see John Mills in the end credits. I couldn't figure who he was in the movie. Having missed the beginning, I decided he must have been an english officer , but his name was too high on the list for that, so I had to turn to Wikipedia. I was ASTONISHED to read that he was the dimwit, because not only did I simply not know him, he was so good that I thought "this is not a professional actor, they used a real tard". I am still flabbergasted. This has never happened before or since. So... There

Laurence Fishburne owns this thread.

Peggy Ashcroft, amazing actress, but mostly stuck to stagework, so most of what we can now see was done when she was older, but she had a huge range--all the big Shakespearean roles, but also very natural as the meek Bobbie, the retired missionary, in The Jewel in the Crown. Won Best Supporting in A Passage to India for another old lady role. Being able to be grand enough for Shakespeare while able to disappear into a role completely for film is a rare ability.

Floating effortlessly through breezy comedy to high romance and then into gripping drama, Lynda Day George is peerless in terms of range and emotional power.

It’s as if Carole Lombard, Deborah Kerr, and Liv Ullmann rolled together in a thespian masterclass. Add a pinch of Viola Davis and Anna Magnani, and you’ve got LDG.