Top 5 Favorite Actors Of All Time

[Chaps]

1. John Wayne

2. Cary Grant

3. Humphrey Bogart

4. Gary Cooper

5. Spencer Tracy


Danny

[Finski]

1. Clint Eastwood

2. Lee Marvin

3. Steve McQueen

4. Edward Norton

5. Paul Newman

[John 5]

Humphrey Bogart (cannot get any smoother)

John Malkovich (can't beat his gravitas)

Robert De Niro (his pre-comedy days)

Clint Eastwood (no one can call a punk a punk quite like him)

Stewie Griffin (Machiavellian’esque toddler with matricidal tendencies, who speaks like Rex Harrison to boot – what’s not to love)

John

[fallingwickets]

I'm thinking about my list, however most are women. Didn't a time come to pass when the word actor encompassed both?

"well, what do you do?"
"I am an ac-tor"

Clive

[John 5]

I'm thinking about my list, however most are women. Didn't a time come to pass when the word actor encompassed both?

I still think of actors as meaning both sexes. Keeping the list all male was the easy way out – it ensures my list is not skewered by looks, just acting ability alone. With males, their appearance plays no role in what makes them my ‘favorite’ or not. But with the gals, lets just say it’s a different story all together . Humm, let me give it whirl:

Claire Forlani
Jennifer Connelly
Jessica Biel
Charlize Theron
Heather Graham

See what I mean?! Perhaps the most talented actress alive today, Meryl Streep, didn’t even make my top five if ‘favorite’ is the guideline. And I feel no shame.

John

[jvan]

Felt obligated to add one more name to the mix:

Jack Nicholson

[sal]

John Wayne
Clint Eastwood
Van Johnson
Jimmy Stewart
Sean Connery

[Chaps]

I guess I still consider actor=male and actress=female. However, please feel free to include the ladies. This may be for anothor thread, but since I created this one, my favorite actresses are:

Myna Loy

Katherine Hepburn

Barbara Stanwyck

Marilyn Monroe

Grace Kelly

Danny

[Darkwolf]

In no particular order:

Sean Connery
Clint Eastwood
James Woods,
Jeremy Irons
Clive Owen

I know, none of the classics, but I have very base preferences in movies...I like action, I don't like most comedy (the last good comedy IMO was A Fish Called Wanda), and dramas put me to sleep.

I would have thrown Bruce Willis in there, but if you loose your wife to somone like Ashton Kutcher you just don't have the right to be added to any good lists!

[jww]

Hmmm - my fav 5 - in no particular order of priority:

Jimmy Stewart
Paul Newman
Dustin Hoffman
Morgan Freeman
John Thaw - famed Brit actor of Inspector Morse fame - he did tons of great stuff, most of which we never get/got to see over here.

[Chaps]

In no particular order:

Sean Connery
Clint Eastwood
James Woods,
Jeremy Irons
Clive Owen

I know, none of the classics, but I have very base preferences in movies...I like action, I don't like most comedy (the last good comedy IMO was A Fish Called Wanda), and dramas put me to sleep.

I would have thrown Bruce Willis in there, but if you loose your wife to somone like Ashton Kutcher you just don't have the right to be added to any good lists!

I'd say that Sean Connery and Clint Eastwood are classics Good choices.

Danny

[Kalypso]

1. Tom Hanks
2. Anthony Hopkins
3. Johnny Depp
4. Robin Williams
5. Clint Eastwood

[Big Ren]

A few that haven't been mentioned - Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall and Gene Hackman.


Ren

[kd7kip]

Gene Hackman-- Never a bad movie out of this guy
Jeremy Irons-- The voice
James Earl Jones-- another excellent voice
Robert Duval-- So many great parts
John Wayne-- Particularly in True Grit and the cavalry trilogy

-Scott

EDIT- It pays to read all the posts first. I saw Big Ren's only after having posted mine. I try not to be redundant.

[hampsteronastick]

Bogey
Clint Eastwood
John Wayne
John Saxon (Was there a 70's movie that didn't have him in the credits?)
Derek Jacobi


Dan

[Chaps]

Gene Hackman-- Never a bad movie out of this guy
Jeremy Irons-- The voice
James Earl Jones-- another excellent voice
Robert Duval-- So many great parts
John Wayne-- Particularly in True Grit and the cavalry trilogy

-Scott

EDIT- It pays to read all the posts first. I saw Big Ren's only after having posted mine. I try not to be redundant.

Hey...both you and Big Ren have good taste

Danny

[reginald-van-gleason]

Some great character actors who, IMHO, don't get their due:

John Cazale
Philip Seymor Hoffman (okay, he won an oscar)
Luis Guzman
Harry Dean Stanton
Peter Boyle
William H. Macy
Warren Oates
JT Walsh
Forrest Whitaker

Top 5 actors I've seen live on stage:

William Peterson
John Malkovich
David Suchet
Michael Gambon
Ian MacKellen

[Pauldog]

Another unsung (but familiar) actor - James Coburn. I only learned today that he died in 2002.

I don't think his his 1960's movie "Duffy" ever made it to video, though I just found "The President's Analyst" on DVD in the library.

Al Pacino, James Caan, Michael Caine, Henry Fonda, and Lawrence Olivier haven't appeared here yet. (I think someone already mentioned Nicholson.) And I have to mention Jack Benny (!) for his hilarious and memorable role in the original version of "To Be or Not to Be". ("That great, great Polish actor, Joseph Tura...") And his co-star, Carole Lombard.

And Gene Wilder for being one of the great recent comic actors. Harold Lloyd for being one of the great earlier comic actors.

Bill Murray is one of my favorites, though he's been in enough bad movies.

For actresses, I'll pick one out of left field - Maureen Stapleton (?), for being the only character with some life in her in the weird movie "Interiors".

[goolimari]

these guys never make it to anybody's favourite list, but knock the socks off most of 'em..

john turturro
benicio del toro
paul giamatti
steve buscemi
Robert Carlyle

[wenestvedt]

What about prissy William Powell from the great "Thin Man" movies?