The ten best actors of all time - replace one

4,799 Views | 97 Replies | Last: 11 yr ago by Kashchei
Elmo Lincoln
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I'll nix Samuel L. Jackson in favor of Ben Kingsley.
Froppe
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Mack Brown is better than any of those guys.
Mr.Ackar07
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I'd replace Pacino with Mathieu Amalric
Hobo Zombie
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quote:
I'll nix Samuel L. Jackson in favor of Ben Kingsley.


Samuel L. Jackson isn't currently on the list
Simplebay
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Current List:

Marlon Brando
Robert DeNiro
Dustin Hoffman
Daniel Day Lewis
Jack Nicholson
Henry Fonda
Mathieu Amalric
Sidney Poitier
Gregory Peck
Jimmy Stewart
Elmo Lincoln
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Ok then, I'll replace Mathieu Amalric with Ben Kingsley.
coupland boy
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replaced Kingsley with Gene Hackman.

Current List:

Marlon Brando
Robert DeNiro
Dustin Hoffman
Daniel Day Lewis
Jack Nicholson
Henry Fonda
Gene Hackman
Sidney Poitier
Gregory Peck
Jimmy Stewart

biobioprof
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Replace DDL WITH Humphrey Bogart.

Casablanca for iconic. Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Caine Mutiny.

Edit to add updated list

Current List:

Marlon Brando
Robert DeNiro
Dustin Hoffman
Humphrey Bogart
Jack Nicholson
Henry Fonda
Gene Hackman
Sidney Poitier
Gregory Peck
Jimmy Stewart

Edit again to add: and African Queen, Maltese Falcon, the original Sabrina, We're no Angels.

[This message has been edited by biobioprof (edited 3/26/2012 11:39p).]
RossG_2
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Bold move, bioprof. DDL is gone for good now.
TexAgBolter
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Wow. Some DDL non believers. If he wasn't the best on the list, he was solidly in the top half. IMHO
G Martin 87
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Gene Hackman? Come on now. Don't make me replace him with Gary Busey.
AGnBCS
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Dustin Hoffman with Peter O Toole.

I'll take the Lion in Winter over Outbreak for 1 million Alex.

side note we should start another one of these for the ladies.

Also notables not to make an appearance, yet each of these guys is a least a 10a.

George C Scott
Orson Welles
Carey Grant
Sean Connery
Peter Sellars
Buster Keaton
Gene Kelley
Jack Lemon
Chaplin


Watch some old movies guys before special fx actors had to entertain.


[This message has been edited by AGnBCS (edited 3/27/2012 8:32a).]
Buck Compton
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I was actually about to add Sean Connery. I don't know what it is, but I always liked his acting.
jkag89
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quote:
side note we should start another one of these for the ladies.

Figure that would follow after this thread played out.

Chaplin started out on the list. Jack Lemon definitely should at least be in the discussion as should Sellers and Grant but most of their work is more lighthearted fare which tends to be overlooked.

[This message has been edited by jkag89 (edited 3/27/2012 3:50p).]
Elmo Lincoln
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Pretty sure Shia LaBeouf should knock out Marlon Brando. Loved that guy in Eagle Eye.
biobioprof
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Was wondering where this thread went after I posted...
quote:
Bold move, bioprof. DDL is gone for good now.

and
quote:
Wow. Some DDL non believers. If he wasn't the best on the list, he was solidly in the top half. IMHO

It wasn't so much anti-DDL as not wanting to bump anyone else. It's a pretty elite list, after all. After revisiting this thread, I looked at DDL on IMDB, and he's got an impressive resume. But so do the others. I'm curious about who you'd put him above.

I admit to a bias toward the older guys because a) I'm old myself and b) I figure they've stood the test of time against wave after wave of quality actors. The newer ones might or might not. I thought about many of the names on AGnBCS's list as well as Bogart, plus others like: Lionel Barrymore or Alec Guinness.

To me, to make this list an actor has to be both a great actor and culturally iconic. Bogart is so iconic that
- he's a verb (Don't Bogart that joint my friend)
- you see scripts where characters riff on characters he played. Play it Again Sam is all about Woody Allen's character's relationship with an imaginary Bogart. Brando falls into that group too. Diane Keaton doing Stanley Kowalski in Sleeper is, IMO, a particularly funny example.

John Wayne qualifies on the iconic scale, but isn't in the same league for acting. DDL is a great actor, but not as much of an icon (yet).

Regarding Peter O'Toole
quote:
I'll take the Lion in Winter over Outbreak for 1 million Alex.

Not to mention Lawrence of Arabia
kyleag02
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Replacing Hackman with Freeman

Marlon Brando
Robert DeNiro
Dustin Hoffman
Humphrey Bogart
Jack Nicholson
Henry Fonda
Morgan Freeman
Sidney Poitier
Gregory Peck
Jimmy Stewar
RossG_2
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I can definitely respect your case for Bogart, bioprof. But technically, this list is simply "best actors" and not the combination of stardom and acting you mentioned. And to answer your question, Hackman most definitely would have been my first guy booted off the list.
captainsubtext
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Are we talking box office appeal (otherwise known as the honorable Tom Hanks category) then I'd say Cary Grant. If we are talking best acting then I go with Alec Guiness for Gregory Peck. I like Peck, but somebody's gotta move. And acresses should be eligible. Category is best actors which includes males and females. And there are several who would make this list including Meryl Streep and Bette Davis.

Marlon Brando
Robert DeNiro
Dustin Hoffman
Humphrey Bogart
Jack Nicholson
Henry Fonda
Morgan Freeman
Sidney Poitier
Alec Guinness
Jimmy Stewart
c-jags
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quote:

Al Pacino hasn't done anything notable since the 1980's.


i'd like you to watch the movie heat.
jkag89
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quote:
Al Pacino hasn't done anything notable since the 1980's.

Donnie Brasco
Scent of a Women
Tibbers
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Replacing Guiness with Neill

Marlon Brando
Robert DeNiro
Dustin Hoffman
Humphrey Bogart
Jack Nicholson
Henry Fonda
Morgan Freeman
Sidney Poitier
Sam Neill
Jimmy Stewart
ATM9000
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My problem with the list as of now is 3 of the people in it (Freeman, Neil, and Hoffman)... all great actors, all have nice resumes, but none of those 3 have constantly or consistently carried movies on their own.

To me, that factor should matter a lot in the list as well as their box office appeal, did they span across various periods with major relevance, and the list should be weighted towards actors from past eras simply because the movies of that time were driven more by the actors on screen and not so much on the visual appeal of the movie itself.
G Martin 87
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Replacing Sam Neill with Carrottop. Good grief.
Simplebay
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so according to this, the list we ended up with was:

Marlon Brando
Robert DeNiro
Dustin Hoffman
Humphrey Bogart
Jack Nicholson
Henry Fonda
Morgan Freeman
Sidney Poitier
Sam Neill
Jimmy Stewart
Cromagnum
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Replace Sidney Poitier with Michael Caine.

Marlon Brando
Robert DeNiro
Dustin Hoffman
Humphrey Bogart
Jack Nicholson
Henry Fonda
Morgan Freeman
Michael Caine
Sam Neill
Jimmy Stewart


[This message has been edited by Cromagnum (edited 4/18/2012 3:06p).]
Kashchei
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Any Top 10 without Paul Newman is not a valid list
aCosmicBandito
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No Daniel Day Lewis invalidates this list. I love Paul Newman. One of my favorites. Doesn't necessarily make him a top ten actor though.

[This message has been edited by Acosmicbandito (edited 4/18/2012 6:09p).]
Kashchei
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I obviously beg to disagree. Again it is all about parameters, but for me a top 10 actor not only has to be extremely talented, but has to almost transcend the medium; becoming larger than life; almost embodying the art of film itself.

Newman's resume is obviously out of this world, but he became a part of the fabric of American cinema. When you think of American film you have to think of Newman. I would also include actors like Bogart, Stewart, Heston, and Brando.

Some of these names replacing Newman: Neill, Freeman, Caine; all great actors, but please... not even close to Newman.
 
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