Actors I like
Submitted by 1922 on Wed, 11/16/2005 - 03:49
Tags:
From Films
- Christopher Lee (Horror of Dracula)
- Humphrey Bogart (Casablanca)
- Jack Nicholson (As Good As It Gets, The Shining)
- Al Pacino (The Godfather, Part II, Scent of a Woman)
- Robert Mitchum (The Night of the Hunter)
- Alec Guinness (Lawrence of Arabia)
- Gene Hackman (Mississippi Burning)
- Henry Fonda (12 Angry Men, Once Upon a Time in the West)
- Morgan Freeman (Seven)
- Toshiro Mifune (The Seven Samurai)
- Adrien Brody (The Pianist)
- James Stewart (It's a Wonderful Life)
- James Dean (East of Eden)
- Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects, American Beauty)
- Philippe Noiret (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso)
- Paul Newman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)
- Buster Keaton (The General)
- Gary Cooper (High Noon)
- Louis de Funès (Fantômas)
- Sal Mineo (Rebel without a Cause)
- Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda)
- Lee Van Cleef (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly)
- Cary Grant (North by Northwest)
- Sean Connery (The Untouchables)
- John Cleese (A Fish Called Wanda)
- Joseph Cotten (Citizen Kane)
- Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry)
- Peter Sellers (Murder by Death, The Pink Panther)
- Robert Duvall (The Godfather)
- Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull)
- Michael Caine (Sleuth)
- Laurence Olivier (Marathon Man)
- Colin Farrell (Tigerland)
- Bill Murray (Broken Flowers)
- Ian McKellen (Richard III, The Fellowship of the Ring)
- Daniel Day-Lewis (The Age of Innocence, Gangs of New York)
- Dustin Hoffman (Marathon Man, Midnight Cowboy)
- Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean, Ed Wood)
- Richard Dreyfuss (Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
- Gregory Peck (To Kill a Mockingbird)
- Harvey Keitel (Mean Streets)
- Philippe Noiret (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso)
- Roberto Benigni (La vita è bella)
- Jason Robards (C'era una volta il west)
From TV Series
- Richard Mulligan (Empty Nest)
- Tony Shalhoub (Monk)
- Tim Allen (Home Improvement)
- Benny Hill (The Benny Hill Show)
- Ted Levine (Monk)
- Sam Waterston (Law & Order)
Author Comments:
No order (after the first one)
(My favourite roles for them)
Ah ah, I haven't taken the time to thoroughly browse your list but one name grabbed my attention right away... He is definitely not people's first choice when it comes to TV's greatest actors but I agree with you that sir Benny Hill was a massive force, both in the writing and the acting department as a matter of fact... My view might be twisted because he was on TV all the time when I was a kid and when I see reruns of his shows today I still see them with the eyes of the child I was then but he did create some undying staples of TV comedy and his mark on british humour is unvaluable... I guess Ronnie Barker might come a close second, and yes the Pythons left a huge legacy as well but in my humble opinion, no-one will ever reach the perfect balance of popular silliness, cleverness and scantily-clad dancers that sir Benny Hill managed to implant in the collective conscience over the years... and he made Yakety Sax one of the all-time most recognizable music on TV... and the fact that some people just can't stand him makes him all the more likeable because I believe being praised by some people and hated by others at the same time is one of the signs of true greatness.
Great words. Thanks. Sir Benny Hill is indeed pretty underrated. He is also one of my childhood favourites.
Yes, Tony Shaloub will always be most famous for his portrayal of Monk but let's not forget he also was the alien in the pawn shop with the exploding head that grew back...
Oh yes, Men In Black... But I really became aware of him (and of his great acting skills) in Monk.
Park Overall had a string of B-movies in the late 80's and early 90's, her name always sounded so funny... I guess her parents were hardcore hippies...
In fact, I only know Park Overall from Empty Nest. Great show. She was hilarious. Along with Richard Mulligan, Dinah Manoff, David Leisure and Kristy McNichol of course.
I'm surprised not to see Kate Winslet in your list ? Don't you like her?
She is a good actress, but I wouldn't think of her as one of my favourites.
And I see you've included Louis de Funès... Don't you like Bourvil also ? He was a better actor on many levels...
Bourvil...hmmm...in fact, I have never been a fan of him. Nor of Gabin or Belmondo.
By the way, this is a very nice list but I've come to expect that from you...
Oh, can't you find a place on this list for Patrick Stewart... from The Royal Shakespeare Company to american TV where he'll always be Captain Jean-Luc Picard to giving flesh and intensity to Professor Charles Xavier not forgetting early memorable roles such as Uther's friend and Arthur's "bodyguard" in John Boorman's Excalibur, Patrick Stewart has earned the knighthood that her Majesty the Queen is bound to give him someday...
Ah, Patrick Stewart? He may not be a bad actor, but as I have never been a fan of Star Trek (I haven't seen one single movie or TV episode!) I can hardly judge about him.
My personal favourite Patrick Stewart role was in Safe House , a film not many seem to have heard of, but in which he was truly excellent. I love this man, even when he's doing ads for his old uni.
You're right, I've never heard about Safe House...
Well, if you get the opportunity, check it out. He plays an ex-intelligence agent who is convinced there is a plot against him. It's ambiguous whether there really is a plot, at least for most of the film, but what is really fascinating to watch is his undeniable slide into Alzheimer's. Powerful stuff.
What is really fascinating to watch is his amazingly unfortunate mid 80s string of movie failures that forced an actor from the Royal Shakespeare Company to take a role on a syndicated American television SF program. Very powerful stuff.
Ack. I haven't seen any of said failures, but if they forced him to become Picard, then thank heavens. Arguably the best of the lot, and one seriously sexy character. That it put him as the object of some strange cult worship is a mixed blessing, but I love him, nerdy SF icon or no.
I've seen Stewart tell the story (probably on David Letterman's show) about an early ST:TNG episode where a black tar pit of an alien had killed one of his crew. (Assumedly in a red shirt.) He said something along the lines of "I looked up at the other actors and said, 'Twenty years at the Royal Shakespeare Company and now I'm on my knees emoting to an oil slick.'"
Personally I like Kate Mulgrew best. For her acting, for her character, for the way that she carried other cast members and for the way that she performed an impossible task. Having said that, Stewart also did the impossible. He, ably assisted by Brent Spiner, made the Star Trek mega-verse possible. Without him ST:TNG probably would have been off the air within three seasons and we never would have had Neelix to horrify us.
Yes. The bald is so sexy. And that voice.
Speaking of sexy: I have meant to compliment you on your choice of #2. Someday everyone will realize that "a classic Bogart role" means that he made all of those roles uniquely his own.
I thought Kate Mulgrew was good, but I've always been drawn to Stewart's commanding presence. "Come." Yes, sir.
The crew member who was killed by the oilslick was actually a very major character, who decided to leave so as not to be type-cast. That she came back a few more times in a few different incarnations perhaps indicates that she didn't do quite as well as she thought she would.
I did feel bad for Stewart sometimes, as he was so plainly a proper actor, and some of his dialogue on the show was a bit... I won't say beneath him, but I'm floundering for another term. I loved how Alan Rickman's character in Galaxy Quest mirrored Stewart's career. Anyway, I'm guessing someone from the Royal Shakespeare Company would be better able to emote convicingly to an oilslick than, say someone like William Shatner, who is now flogging bran cereal in the UK.