# It was the best of roles; it was the worst of roles

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-the-best-of-roles-it-was-the-worst-of-roles/185014>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 28, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-the-best-of-roles-it-was-the-worst-of-roles/185014 "2003-06-28T20:00:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-the-best-of-roles-it-was-the-worst-of-roles/185014/1 "2003-06-28T20:00:03Z")

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Pick an actor.  
Identify your choice for his/her best role.  
Same for worst role.  
Give that actor an overall rating from 1-5 (5 high) for where you have that person ranked in your list of actors.

Brando  
Stanley Kowalski in _A Streetcar Named Desire_  
whatever it was in _Missouri Breaks_  
4

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**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-the-best-of-roles-it-was-the-worst-of-roles/185014/2 "2003-06-28T21:19:55Z")

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**Jean Harlow  
Best**: zany film star Lola Burns in _Bombshell_  
**Worst** : weepy WWI wife in _Suzy_  
**Rating** : 4 (does “rating” stand for how much we like them or how brilliant we thing they were?)

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**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-the-best-of-roles-it-was-the-worst-of-roles/185014/3 "2003-06-28T21:57:09Z")

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Kevin Costner  
Best: _The Big Chill_ in the role of the corpse  
Worst: Too hard to narrow down  
Rating: not on my list

Okay. I’ll try another: Fred Dalton Thompson  
Best: his current role as the DA on _Law and Order_  
Worst: _Marie_ in the role of Fred Dalton Thompson  
Rating: Not on my list

One more time and I will get the hang of this.  
Paul Newman  
Best: Worst:_The Silver Chalice_  
Best: _Cool Hand Luke_  
Rating: He’s second on my list of favorite actors

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**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-the-best-of-roles-it-was-the-worst-of-roles/185014/4 "2003-06-28T23:27:47Z")

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Yes, Eve, the rating is for how you would rate that actor on a scale of 1-5 for her/his overall quality in your own personal rating system. Not that there would be only five on your list, but in the same way you might use a 5-star rating for the best (among equals in the same category). I just used 5 instead of the traditional 4 so 3 would be “right in the middle” and would allow for a little more shading than is usual.

A rank of 1 would say “this actor might as well be a chicken farmer for all I care” while 5 would say “among the very best.”

Just a shorthand for overall value as an actor was all I was after.

Somehow I feel even this isn’t clear, but the bottom line is it’s no big deal.