# Coolest dude in movies
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 23, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166 "2008-11-23T23:39:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/1 "2008-11-23T23:39:53Z")
1. Jean Peal Belmondo
2. Robert Mitchum
3. Steve McQueen
4. Lee Marvin
5. Randolph Scott
6. Warren Oates
7. Humphrey Bogart
8. Charles Bronson
9. Jack Palance
10. Joel McCrea
. . .
Who’d I forget? Paul Newman, Frank Sinatra, and John Wayne belong on a longer list, but I can’t rank them above these guys, personally.
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### Author:  [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/2 "2008-11-23T23:55:20Z")
My list of cool movie dudes consists of Steve McQueen and Johnny Depp.
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/3 "2008-11-24T00:06:45Z")
Just me but Steve McQueen is 1st and I would drop Randolph Scott for Clint Eastwood.
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### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/4 "2008-11-24T00:10:42Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> Just me but Steve McQueen is 1st and I would drop Randolph Scott for Clint Eastwood.
Yeah, Eastwood should be on a longer list. But what inspired this thread was the glorious experience I’ve been having working my way (though “work” is hardly the word") through 5 of Randolph Scott’s movies made with director Budd Boetticher, masterpieces every single one. Find a way to see _Ride Lonesome_ please.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/5 "2008-11-24T00:22:30Z")
Not trying to be contrary, but I’d leave off the dudes who **tried** to be cool, the ones with the studied coolness. To be truly cool, you shouldn’t know that you’re cool.
So I’d take McQueen, Bronson, Palance, and Bogart off the list. I’d leave Mitchum on though – he knew he was cool but he didn’t care.
Warren Oates and Joel McCrea – nice!
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/6 "2008-11-24T00:24:46Z")
Coolest dude in the movies? There’s Steve McQueen, and then there’s everybody else.
[Nice collection of clips set to “(I Just Wanna Be) Your Steve McQueen”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIEyUqLbbJI)
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### Author:  [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/7 "2008-11-24T00:28:25Z")
> [@blondebear](#):
>
> Coolest dude in the movies? There’s Steve McQueen, and then there’s everybody else.
Nuh-uh! There’s Chow-Yun Fat, and then there’s Steve McQueen and _then_ there’s everybody else.
In that order.
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### Author:  [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/8 "2008-11-24T00:29:52Z")
Wow. I don’t know Anyone on that list… Well, except for Steve McQueen but I’ve never seen anything really by him. I just know OF him…
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### Author:  [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/9 "2008-11-24T00:30:09Z")
I don’t know who was most consistently cool throughout a career, but…
John Travolta as Chili Palmer in _Get Shorty_ was charmingly cool. He was equal to any situation without being above it all. Some cool guys operate in another plane, Chili is always emotionally involved in what’s going on around him, and handles gangsters, hitmen, starlets, and movie producers with equal aplomb.
(although Danny DeVito did leave him with some egg (whites) on his face.)
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/10 "2008-11-24T00:33:58Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#):
>
> So I’d take McQueen, Bronson, Palance, and Bogart off the list. I’d leave Mitchum on though – he knew he was cool but he didn’t care.
This makes no sense at all. McQueen defines cool. Bogart just was a cool customer. Brando would be more what you were talking about.
BTW: Any love for Connery?
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### Author:  [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/11 "2008-11-24T00:41:39Z")
Brad Pitt as seen in _Ocean’s Eleven thru Whatever_ , _Snatch_ , _Fight Club_ , _Se7en_
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### Author:  [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/12 "2008-11-24T00:57:40Z")
In no particular order and the ability to portray a character with a cool temperament who I also think is cool in an in-the-know and a lot of fun way:
In no particular order:
Robert Mitchum
Steve McQueen
Warren Oates
Humphrey Bogart
Clint Eastwood
John Wayne
Daniel Craig
Johnny Depp
Kevin Costner (Bull Durham, Tin Cup, Mr. Brooks and some others, but not all)
Sean Connery
Gene Hackman
Denzel Washington
Ewan McGregor
Harrison Ford
Al Pacino
James Caan
James Garner
Jack Nicholsen
Alec Baldwin
Some of the ladies:
Susan Sarandon
Bette Davis
Cameron Diaz
Ingrid Bergman
Michelle Pfeiffer
Grace Kelly
Carrie Fisher (space bitch is hella cool!)
Natalie Portman
Shirley McClain
Mae West
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### Author:  [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/13 "2008-11-24T00:59:25Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#):
>
> Not trying to be contrary, but I’d leave off the dudes who **tried** to be cool, the ones with the studied coolness. To be truly cool, you shouldn’t know that you’re cool.
>
> So I’d take McQueen, Bronson, Palance, and Bogart off the list. I’d leave Mitchum on though – he knew he was cool but he didn’t care.
>
> Warren Oates and Joel McCrea – nice!
Bogart is the Platonic form of cool. Mitchum and McQueen rolled into one if they could manage not to get giddy in his presence.
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### Author:  [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/14 "2008-11-24T01:19:05Z")
Cary Grant - all kinds of cool to me.
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### Author:  [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/15 "2008-11-24T01:36:58Z")
Cagney.
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### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/16 "2008-11-24T01:58:59Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#):
>
> Cagney.
Hmmm. While I bow to know one in my appreciation of James Cagney, the reason I didn’t include him on my list is that I was distinguishing between _cool_, and _tough_.
Cagney belongs near the top of any list of \*tough \*guys, but his tough guys were all a little unhinged; the opposite of _cool_.
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### Author:  [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/17 "2008-11-24T03:07:01Z")
James Dean.
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### Author:  [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/18 "2008-11-24T03:17:48Z")
Watch The \*\*Good, the Bad, and the Ugly \*\*and then explain to me why Clint Eastwood is not on your list.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXldafIl5DQ)
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### Author:  [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/19 "2008-11-24T03:49:48Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#):
>
> Cagney.
Cagney is smoking hot. Explosive. Great actor, but not “cool”.
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### Author:  [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2008, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-dude-in-movies/474166/20 "2008-11-24T04:00:29Z")
For actors working today, I’d nominate Laurence Fishburne. He does some serious cool.
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