Yeah, and the OP’s examples were rather poor. As artists, there’s really no objective criteria to base a judgement on, and I’m sure there are lots of people who would dispute the OP’s choices (IIRC Gary Oldman was “voted” best in a poll here a while back). With most athletes, you have statistics to compare one against others. I don’t think it can be disputed that, for a time, Tiger Woods was the best golfer, for example.
I was curious on the time and the context where Les Miserables takes place and found a cite that mentioned a bit that is relevant here, regarding Victor Hugo:
And one of the greatest actors who realize their greatness - Daniel Day-Lewis portrayed one the the greatest Presidents who realized their greatness - Abraham Lincoln.
The scene where Lincoln asks two young men “Do you think we choose the times into which we are born? Or do we fit the times we are born into?” comes to mind. After they answer his inimitable question, Lincoln walks out of the room and one of them stands up from his chair and looks at Lincoln leaving the room as though realizing that he had just spoken with Greatness.
He was also Jewish. Yes, he was a Jewish neo-Nazi anti-semite.
Truly a nut case.