Who is the Best Actor of all time?

[JesseMartin]

Watching some older stuff this weekend, have to throw in Danny Kaye and Dick van Dyke as well. Well-versed entertainers and actors that transcend generational preferences and time are few and far between.

[North Texas Shep]

Phillip Seymour Hoffman or Gary Oldman.

[SilverEagle]

Gezzz, all time? Depends on the generation, the genre, etc.

Overall, my wife and I would nominate Henry Fonda. He's played heros, every day guys,comedy,and really bad guys equally well. Spencer Tracey is another candidate. Jimmy Stewart was basically Jimmy Stewart. He did reasonably well as a semi-hero-every-day-guy, and he did well in comedy (Harvey was his best performance), but he never did a bad guy. John Wayne........ his best stuff was "Red River and "The Searchers", but that doesn't make him one of the best.

One of the most versatile actors of all time was Jimmy Cagney. He played good guys, bad guys, comedy, and he could dance with the best of them....and he was fluent in Yiddish.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

The scenes is older films were rather long and actors had to memorizes long passages... now each scene is broken up into a few seconds... explains a big difference in quality. Even conversions jump back and forth now and they did not so much then. Hard to compare across the ages...Editing is a bit deal today..

Edited May 26, 2013 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[CMJ]

Gezzz, all time? Depends on the generation, the genre, etc.

Overall, my wife and I would nominate Henry Fonda. He's played heros, every day guys,comedy,and really bad guys equally well. Spencer Tracey is another candidate. Jimmy Stewart was basically Jimmy Stewart. He did reasonably well as a semi-hero-every-day-guy, and he did well in comedy (Harvey was his best performance), but he never did a bad guy. John Wayne........ his best stuff was "Red River and "The Searchers", but that doesn't make him one of the best.

One of the most versatile actors of all time was Jimmy Cagney. He played good guys, bad guys, comedy, and he could dance with the best of them....and he was fluent in Yiddish.

Jimmy Stewart had very underrated range? He is much different in something like Vertigo (he's a true anti-hero there) than he was in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (the more stereotypical Stewart good guy role). He had a persona where people always assumed he'd be good, but he's fairly amoral in quite a few films.

[CMJ]

The scenes is older films were rather long and actors had to memorizes long passages... now each scene is broken up into a few seconds... explains a big difference in quality. Even conversions jump back and forth now and they did not so much then. Hard to compare across the ages...Editing is a bit deal today..

You know they shoot the scenes in long takes from many different angles right? It's not that they don't ever play the whole scene out in long takes on set....it's just usually edited to get reaction shots and the like.

[Censored by Laurie]

Jimmy Stewart had very underrated range? He is much different in something like Vertigo (he's a true anti-hero there) than he was in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (the more stereotypical Stewart good guy role). He had a persona where people always assumed he'd be good, but he's fairly amoral in quite a few films.

Harvey...for the win.

[UNT Five&Dime]

Harvey...for the win.

Never seen it...

[Censored by Laurie]

Never seen it...

Gold

[CMJ]

Harvey...for the win.

I actually think his best perfomance is in It's a Wonderful Life. Yeah, he generally thought of as the nice everyman there, but goes in some dark areas (his explosions at his family, etc)...and that non verbalized anger he has throughout the film. A lot of great eye acting going on, you can feel his frustration so often.

[SilverEagle]

Gold

Some of the dialogue is a bit dated (mainly the stuff between the Dr. and the Nurse), but you're right, it's gold. One of my favorite quotes-lines....

Elwood Dowd (Jimmy Stewart): Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, "In this world, Elwood, you must be" - she always called me Elwood - "In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant." Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.

[UNTLifer]

Add a few more names to the mix for discussion:

Kevin Spacey

Ed Harris

Dustin Hoffman

[TheFranchise]

Add a few more names to the mix for discussion:

Kevin Spacey

Ed Harris

Dustin Hoffman

Was watching "Rain Man" the other night and thought of this thread! Hoffman was amazing in that!

-- Franchise

[JesseMartin]

Hoffman is usually pretty awesome, but yeah, anything with Ed Harris or Kevin Spacey, I'm going to watch it. Didn't like Shrink, though (Spacey). It just seemed kind of redundant.

[LongJim]

I also really like Philip Seymour Hoffman. Nobody plays a pretentious, condescending a-hole like that dude. He's fantastic. In fact, unless I missed it I'm really surprised nobody's brought his name up yet.

-- Franchise

Definitely one of my favorite current actors.

[FirefightnRick]

Just heard James Gandolfini...aka Tony Soprano has died, had the big one apparently?

Rick

[FirefightnRick]

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3468861

Rick

[CMJ]

What's really nuts, is there was a short lived hoax yesterday that he had died. Now he dies for real. WTF.

[UNTflyer]

I am convinced Gary Oldman can play anything. In fact, I am trying to think of two roles he has done that were all that similar. I am sure there were, but the guy is just amazing. His character in True Romance was great.

Gandolfini was in True Romance as well.

Edited June 20, 2013 by UNTflyer

[Green P1]

Uncle Junior outlived Tony Soprano?

[UNT90]

James Gandolfini died in protest of this thread...

Maybe?

[UNT Five&Dime]

Keep an eye on Michael B Jordan. He was absolutely brilliant in Fruitvale Station.

[gksmith]

Bruce Campbell

[Varsity]

Michael Parks in Then Came Bronson

Edited August 1, 2013 by Varsity

[oldguystudent]

The winner who had everybody suspending disbelief.