The World's Greatest Actor

[corkbouy]

I wasn't sure where to put this, but since this aired on Channel 4, i thought it might as well go here.

The results are in and in Channel 4's humble opinion, the greatest actors (not movie stars) are:




50. James Dean
49. Dennis Hopper
48. Burt Lancaster
47. Sidney Poitier
46. Vivien Leigh
45. Orson Welles
44. Greta Garbo
43. Steve McQueen
42. Alison Steadman
41. Helena Bonham-Carter
40. Denzel Washington
39. Tom Hanks
38. Charlie Chaplin
37. Charles Laughton
36. Gary Oldman
35. Frank Sinatra
34. Rod Steiger
33. John Mills
32. Gena Rowlands
31. Gene Hackman
30. Brad Pitt
29. Kate Winslet
28. Judy Garland
27. Humphrey Bogart
26. Meryl Streep
25. John Gielgud
24. Peter Sellers
23. Cary Grant
22. Albert Finney
21. Dustin Hoffman
20. Maggie Smith
19. Sean Penn
18. Edward Norton
17. Bette Davis
16. Montgomery Clift
15. Daniel Day-Lewis
14. Christoper Walken
13. James Stewart
12. Richard Burton
11. Alec Guinness
10. Spencer Tracy
9. Katherine Hepburn
8. Judi Dench
7. Jack Nicholson
5. = Robert De Niro
5. = Al Pacino
4. Laurence Olivier
3. Anthony Hopkins
2. Johnny Depp
1. Marlon Brando

And discuss! :)

[Barney_Tabasco]

Where's Leslie Nielsen?

[Squirrel God]

The results are in and in Channel 4's humble opinion, the greatest actors (not movie stars) are:

No, it's not in Channel 4's humble opinion. It's in the opinion of all the actors that they surveyed for the show, who voted for their own favourite actors.

I enjoyed the show but I was disappointed with the limited number of actors and critics/journalists that were interviewed for commentary.

I was really surprised that Tom Cruise was nowhere to be found. Maybe that's more a reflection of his popularity among his peers than his acting ability?

[corkbouy]

No, its a reflection of his acting ability.

[Munas]

:eek: 2. Johnny Depp :eek:

[Captain_Howdy666]

No Paul Newman? I'm shocked :(

[CrazyHorse]

No Shatner?! Where's Shatner?!! An absolute disgrace I tell you.

[bigry]

wtf wheres charlton heston

[Captain_Howdy666]

And David Hasselhoff :(

[stu_69]

Brad Pitt is in that list. He's an OK actor but I would not put him in the top 50.

And Paul Newman is not in the list at all.

[worthit]

Kevin Spacey? (IMO of course)

And there women there too :thinking: It's meant to be Actors not Actresses ;)

[damell]

Brad Pitt is in that list. He's an OK actor but I would not put him in the top 50.


I was pretty surprised at that considering it's voted for by other actors/actresses, film critics etc and not the general public. I rate him though.

[Bapapapa]

Where's Hugh Grant..?

[Marts62]

Where's Hugh Grant..?

On the corner of Wiltshire and Van Nuys.

[baldrick]

No JOHN WAYNE,JACK LEMON,KIRK DOUGLAS,BOB MITCHUM

[corkbouy]

I was pretty surprised at that considering it's voted for by other actors/actresses, film critics etc and not the general public. I rate him though.

I don't. when he appeared on Friends, Jennifer acted him off the screen. :thumbs:

[damell]

I don't. when he appeared on Friends, Jennifer acted him off the screen. :thumbs:

I blame the writers and Brad's decision making because it was a terrible role.

[Hood]

I don't. when he appeared on Friends, Jennifer acted him off the screen. :thumbs:

Absolutely. Because one tiny role in a sitcom makes the actor. :cuckoo:

[Mr Blobby]

Marlon Brando was a good actor and did a few good films but he also did some rubbish films. And the same goes for the rest of the actors on the top 50 list.

Marlon probably made about 4 or 5 good films in his life time - Streetcar Named Desire - On The Waterfront - The Godfather - Julias Ceasar - and maby Apocalypse Now. The rest were forgettable.

Can you judge a great actor on the films that were a success, in which case there were other actors who made more films than Marlon, and those films that are seen as classics who could be in the number one place. There were other actors who were more versatile than Marlon and made more successfull classic films in Comedy/Drama/Western/ than he did.

[corkbouy]

Absolutely. Because one tiny role in a sitcom makes the actor. :cuckoo:


No, but its a good indication when an actor has to jump into a role, make something of it...and can't.

[hookbeak]

I think Brando is vastly overrated. Most of his career consisted of being really fat and mumbling.

[velvet75]

If this IS true surely it means that 'Don Juan De Marco' is the best film ever made acting wise??? :thinking:

[bezza]

Kate Winslet - 29
Tom Hanks - 39???

am i missing something? :cuckoo:

[damell]

30-38? :shrug:

[stu_69]

I just noticed that Frank Sinatra is on that list WTF :shrug:

[Mr Blobby]

I wasn't sure where to put this, but since this aired on Channel 4, i thought it might as well go here.

The results are in and in Channel 4's humble opinion, the greatest actors (not movie stars) are:




50. James Dean
49. Dennis Hopper
48. Burt Lancaster
47. Sidney Poitier
46. Vivien Leigh
45. Orson Welles
44. Greta Garbo
43. Steve McQueen
42. Alison Steadman
41. Helena Bonham-Carter
40. Denzel Washington
39. Tom Hanks
38. Charlie Chaplin
37. Charles Laughton
36. Gary Oldman
35. Frank Sinatra
34. Rod Steiger
33. John Mills
32. Gena Rowlands
31. Gene Hackman
30. Brad Pitt
29. Kate Winslet
28. Judy Garland
27. Humphrey Bogart
26. Meryl Streep
25. John Gielgud
24. Peter Sellers
23. Cary Grant
22. Albert Finney
21. Dustin Hoffman
20. Maggie Smith
19. Sean Penn
18. Edward Norton
17. Bette Davis
16. Montgomery Clift
15. Daniel Day-Lewis
14. Christoper Walken
13. James Stewart
12. Richard Burton
11. Alec Guinness
10. Spencer Tracy
9. Katherine Hepburn
8. Judi Dench
7. Jack Nicholson
5. = Robert De Niro
5. = Al Pacino
4. Laurence Olivier
3. Anthony Hopkins
2. Johnny Depp
1. Marlon Brando

And discuss! :)

Dennis Hopper is not by any means a great actor, good but not great. Alison Steadman and Helena Bonham Carter do not belong in the list nor do Tom Hanks, Denzil Washington, Frank Sinatra, Gary Oldman, Gena Rowlands, Brad Pitt, Kate Winslet, they are also good but not great actors.

Henry Fonda should be on the list as should Peter O'Toole, Peter Ustinov, Kate O'Hara and so many others.

Johnny Depp at No2? come on a good actor yes but not a great actor.

[Kirs-tea]

Where's Hugh Grant..?

Hmmm... Hugh Grant - the same in every film he's made - the posh buffoon.... Almost as bad an actor as his ex-Liz Hurley! :nuts:

[Dan]

Arnold?

[Mr Blobby]

Arnold?

ACTORS lad A-C-T-O-R-S, not planks of wood :nono:

[bazkeane82]

Hmmm... Hugh Grant - the same in every film he's made - the posh buffoon.... Almost as bad an actor as his ex-Liz Hurley! :nuts:

same goes for judi dench

[andybhoy]

Far too many names on that list because of their names, rather than any fantastic acting ability.

[utero]

Where is Paul Walker on that list, it's a complete joke

[thescrounger]

No Shatner?! Where's Shatner?!! An absolute disgrace I tell you.

And Patrick Stewart. Or Robert Downey Jnr.

The list is a big pile of trendy populist poop.

[CrazyHorse]

Originally posted by andybhoy
Far too many names on that list because of their names, rather than any fantastic acting ability.

Agree with that.

I saw parts of the show last night and noticed that Brian Cox was one of the interviewees offering his opinions on fellow thesps. I would have put him on that list above a few who actually made the 50.

[Dan]

ACTORS lad A-C-T-O-R-S, not planks of wood :nono:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :clap:

[thescrounger]

I'd happilly trade Depp off that list for Arnold.

How many Depp films do I like? 1 or 2. How many Arnold films do I like, almost all of them. Arnie has very limited range, but he has bags of charisma. Depp has the former but lacks the latter.

[Mike]

I'm quite happy with Brando at one. His performance in "Last Tango In Paris" is the greatest single piece of acting I have ever seen or ever expect to see. The only performance which comes anywhere close to it is Harvey Keitel in "Bad Lieutenant".

What Brando does is take risks which border on the insane. This often doesn't work but when it does - "Last Tango", "Reflections in a Golden Eye", "Missouri Breaks", "Streetcar", "Apocalypse Now" - the results are extraordinary because he dares to go to the limit and then a bit further.

As to the rest of the list, I'd have put Hackman nearer the top and omitted Ms. Bonham Carter and Brad Pitt in favour of Robert Mitchum and Paul Newman.

[gooseUK]

My old bones couldn't hack staying up till 1am to see this live, so I finally watched it video yesterday...

and I'm gutted: Doug McClure Didn't win :nono:

But seriously, these lists are always going to be contentious (Sinatra? Bonham Carter?) and all the omissions people listed so far are very worthy.

But I was truly gobsmacked to see this actor missed from that list: Gregory Peck. Surely, he should have made the list, if not the Top 10?

[Grunge]

I was pretty surprised at that considering it's voted for by other actors/actresses, film critics etc and not the general public. I rate him though.

I rate him too, Brad pitt is a great actor. he may not have done a oscar winning role yet but at least he does act and does a lot of very different roles.

[Grunge]

No, but its a good indication when an actor has to jump into a role, make something of it...and can't.

heh, yeah Brad pitt has real problems jumping into different roles doesn't he. :lol:

Fight club
Twelve Monkeys
Troy
Snatch
Seven
Seven years in tibet.
Interview with the Vampire


No variation in roles there at all is there! :suspect:

[Mr Blobby]

At end of the day this bit of fluff from Channell 4 was simply a space filler rather than a seriouse attempt to find the greatest actor.

It was another of those list programs - the 100 greatest love songs - the 50 worse holiday destinations, that sort of crap.

As has been pointed out there was no sign of Gregory Peck or Henry Fonda or Peter O'Toole. Richard Attenborough another ommission. I dont understand why Charlie Chaplin was there, he was more a comedian than an actor.

[rooster]

I often wonder how these polls actually work. This was the top 50 as voted by fellow actors so how do folk like Charlie Chaplin actually get in? You wouldn't think he would be first choice for anyone. You would think they would struggle to get 50 different answers. So i take it they must work from a list and then if so who makes the list?

Depp at number 2 was the biggest surprise to me, Pacino and a few others deserve at this time to be higher than him.

[GrossePointeJack]

There is a list that's made, and then people have to choose from the list.

[cliff homewood]

Personally to be a great actor you should be able to see a soul in the actors eyes, see a living person, pain, regret etc reflected through the performance, giving it so much more depth than just the lines themselves. Brando is worthy, he could do this. The best example I saw was the clip of Laurence Olivier from the end of the entertainer. Thats acting my dear boy!

Depp should not be that high, he's more a showy quirky actor, frequently ott (the much loved Jack sparrow for instance), but can do great acting as proved by Edward Scissorhands. But not seen it since, just look at his accent in From Hell. Sir John Geilgud for one should be above him, and Anthony Hopkins (who can also turn in a good 'show' performance; Hannibal Lecter). Great actors can become any role, one of my faves which woiuld be a controversial ommision I imagine is Robin Williams (I would cite Seize the day as an example of his ability, a more well known one would be Awakenings).