# Best Male Actor Of Our Time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 25, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380 "2012-07-25T21:35:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/21 "2012-07-25T23:08:42Z")
Just a few more actors I think deserve to be in company on that list: Ben Kingsley Robert Duvall Sam Rockwell Mickey Rourke ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/22 "2012-07-25T23:26:30Z")
Kingsley didn’t really do all that much, though; there was _Gandhi_, and then 10 years of TV movies, then _Bugsy_, then 10 more years of not much, then _Sexy Beast_. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/23 "2012-07-25T23:27:45Z")
Just wanted to proffer another apology to those who feel I left someone off! I really did try to search around for many lists of “best” “favorite” and “most awarded” actors and come up with people on those lists who I thought had a decent chance of being “best”. Though it is refreshing to see one of these “best” polls where “other” isn’t winning, so I guess I didn’t do too bad a job. I’m just really glad I didn’t leave off Gary Oldman! I had no idea he’d be the favorite. I’m also a little shocked not to see Jack Nicholson with a single vote (although I didn’t vote for him either). ETA: Robert Williams is supposed to be Robin Williams. Doh. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/24 "2012-07-25T23:29:49Z")
Who is Robert Williiams? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/25 "2012-07-25T23:32:39Z")
I’m guessing he meant Robin. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/26 "2012-07-25T23:33:22Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I voted for Morgan Freeman, then got all angry when Michael Caine wasn’t on the list. Then I noticed he was there, just under “sir”. Silly OP. I would have voted for Oldman too, but I didn’t think of him. Michael Caine is his stage name. He was knighted under his birth name as Sir Maurice Micklewhite. I don’t think he can officially be called Sir Michael Caine. I voted for Gary Oldman like most everyone else. I also voted for Christian Bale and Brad Pitt. I forgot to vote for Tom Hanks and Hugh Laurie. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/27 "2012-07-25T23:36:17Z")
> [@Invisible\_Chimp](#): > > Michael Caine is his stage name. He was knighted under his birth name as Sir Maurice Micklewhite. I don’t think he can officially be called Sir Michael Caine. > > I voted for Gary Oldman like most everyone else. I also voted for Christian Bale and Brad Pitt. I forgot to vote for Tom Hanks and Hugh Laurie. I went by what Wikipedia called him. Check his article, it refers to him as Sir Michael Caine. I looked him up SPECIFICALLY because I wasn’t sure if he was Sir Michael Caine, or not… Blame wikipedia (or me for relying on it)! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/28 "2012-07-25T23:36:55Z")
> [@Invisible\_Chimp](#): > > Michael Caine is his stage name. He was knighted under his birth name as Sir Maurice Micklewhite. I don’t think he can officially be called Sir Michael Caine. [He seems to think he can](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1026056.stm): > [@](#): > > The 67-year-old actor used his real name during the ceremony with the Queen, but will be known professionally as Sir Michael Caine. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/29 "2012-07-25T23:39:34Z")
Really Not All That Bright, That’s two for two for addressing another poster’s comment/point a moment after I did 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/30 "2012-07-25T23:54:29Z")
I’m going with Dustin Hoffman: his Oscar-nominated role in THE GRADUATE was the opposite of his Oscar-nominated role in MIDNIGHT COWBOY, his Oscar-nominated role in TOOTSIE was nothing like either of 'em, and his Oscar-winning role in RAIN MAN was nothing like his Oscar-winning role in KRAMER VERSUS KRAMER. I can imagine other actors on the list doing some of that stuff, but I can’t readily imagine any of 'em doing all of it. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/31 "2012-07-25T23:58:51Z")
Other: Robert Duvall ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/33 "2012-07-26T00:22:37Z")
If you watch Breaking Bad, you know that **Bryan Cranston** is in your top 3 of all time. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/34 "2012-07-26T00:38:05Z")
Alec Guinness. Why did you leave him out?? ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/35 "2012-07-26T00:39:10Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Alec Guinness. Why did you leave him out?? Didn’t come up in any of my research. Sorry! A thousand million times sorry! Also, he died in 2000. Doesn’t meet the criteria. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/36 "2012-07-26T00:44:57Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Also, he died in 2000. Doesn’t meet the criteria. Sorry, I didn’t scrutinize your criteria. My bad. Wasn’t 2000 just, like, last week sometime? Is it no longer part of Our Time? _\_ I loved it when Hardison on \*Leverage \*slipped past the bad guys by waving his hand in their faces and saying, “These aren’t the 'droids you’re looking for.” Guinness was a great man and VERY attractive, even as an Old Fart. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/37 "2012-07-26T01:00:24Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Woosh? > > You’re lucky I even alphabetized what I had 😃 Seriously, sorry about that though. I didn’t see Bogart. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/38 "2012-07-26T01:24:04Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I didn’t see Bogart. Why would you? The guy died over 60 years ago. Did you even read the thread? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/39 "2012-07-26T01:26:39Z")
Didn’t read the OP closely enough. No Heath Ledger due to his being all dead and stuff. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![kjckjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@kjckjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjckjc)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/40 "2012-07-26T01:29:05Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I didn’t see Bogart. [QUOTE=drewtwo99 in the OP] (They have to be living at the time of this post and done something in the last 20 years) [/QUOTE] As Coroner I must aver, I thoroughly examined him, and he’s not only merely dead, he’s really most sincerely dead. And he hasn’t done anything (film or, really, anything) in [DEL]20[/DEL] [DEL]30[/DEL] [DEL]40[/DEL] [DEL]50[/DEL] 55 years. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/41 "2012-07-26T01:29:10Z")
I voted for Gary Oldman but yeah, it should totally be Robert Duvall on the list and the top. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380.md?page=3)