I’m slow in the uptake, then. I’ve spent over a minute, and I still can’t figure it out.
“Past actor” – Nahhh.
“Best Actor” – No, it can’t be that bad a typo.
What is it?
What? Nobody here remembers Sidney Greenstreet?
Bruce Dern’s contributions to the world of Evil Cinema deserve more than a passing mention as well. I thought he was superb in Black Sunday.
Why the confusion? The OP is asking us to post the names of actors who play good villains.
Oh, it’s a verb…
Oy.
Personally, I think Jason Isaacs would’ve been a great James Bond, and I nominate Rutger Hauer as a cool villain.
I should have added “amongst others”
THAT’S why.
I probably should have further noted that after spending the minute I figured it out.
Malcolm McDowell can be pretty creepy.
If we’re going back that far, let us bow to Peter Lorre.
Sean Bean!
(He makes a pretty good hero, too. In fact, you can just cast him in every role, it’s okay…)
Rufus Sewell’s not half bad, either. 
He was pretty awesome in The Contender, and in Murder in the First. Great villains, both.
Mike Starr is a great villain for comedies.
Brad Dourif usually plays the role.
But by far the best is Ricardo Montalban. Buried alive, buried alive…
Gallows wins it in one. (Took my post, too.)
What, no female villains?
Eleanor Audley - Voice of Cinderella’s Stepmother and Malificent (possibly the most evil Disney villains ever)
Glenn Close - "Fatal Attraction, "“Dangerous Liasions”
Barbara Stanwyck - For “Double Indemnity” alone
Anjelica Huston - “The Witches,” “The Grifters,” “Ever After”…I had no idea until I checked the imdb page that she was also the baddie in “Captain EO” (Ha!)
Kathleen Turner - “Body Heat”, “Serial Mom”
Sharon Stone is kind of a movie-villain come to life, does that count?
I always thought Henry Silva played nothing but villian/bad guy roles. But looking at IMDB, surely one of his 135 roles must be a ‘nice’ guy.
The newest addition to the classic villian list…
Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men. He’s wonderful in everything though.
Well, he only took that job for a quick buck.
Zeljko Ivanek. He was gonna hook Billy Crudup up to electricity in The Pillowman! Creepy!
He was so sweet in North Country, now I find it hard to hate him as a villian. And Timothy Oliphant(astic) in Die Hard? Pfft, he’s a pretty-boy romantic lead (yum).
Kurtwood Smith should get a nod based solely on his performance in Robocop.