# The best actor ever.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 30, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038 "2010-01-30T18:09:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/1 "2010-01-30T18:09:05Z")
Not “one of the”, but the best. In all respects, combined, including popularity, talent, appeal, etc. Especially popularity, I think.
I think Shirly Temple. _Everybody_ loved her movies, even into the '50s when I was a kid. I remember watching old movies with my stoned hippie friends and talking about how cool she, and her movies, were.
This is not a poll, I think, because you have to pick just one to answer.
Yes, I’ve watched “Shirley Temple: America’s Little Darling” on PBS. It’s coming around on 2/01/10, Good television.
Peace,
mangeorge
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### Author:  [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/2 "2010-01-30T18:56:31Z")
None of the below.
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### Author:  [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/3 "2010-01-30T19:00:33Z")
There’s a huge difference between acting talent and popularity. There are actors and there are movie stars. Sometimes someone is both, but not always. John Wayne was a movie star and one of the most popular actors ever, but probably not likely to be voted Best Actor ever.
I’d vote for Meryl Streep.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/4 "2010-01-30T19:04:50Z")
I think Gary Oldman is a great actor. I hardly recognize him in some roles.
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### Author:  [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/5 "2010-01-30T19:10:44Z")
God damn it! Three replies in and Gary Oldman was already mentioned!
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### Author:  [@koufax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koufax)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/6 "2010-01-30T19:12:00Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> I think Gary Oldman is a great actor. I hardly recognize him in some roles.
You beat me to it. Gary Oldman, IMHO, is the BEST actor I have ever seen. And yes, he is so good, sometimes you don’t know it is him in the role.
And he has never even been NOMINATED for an Oscar.
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### Author:  [@koufax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koufax)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/7 "2010-01-30T19:13:41Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#):
>
> God damn it! Three replies in and Gary Oldman was already mentioned!
You TOO beat me to it.
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### Author:  [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/8 "2010-01-30T19:16:11Z")
I agree with Meryl Streep. She’s fantastic in everything she’s been in, can be a complete chameleon language-wise and is, I believe, pretty popular.
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### Author:  [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/9 "2010-01-30T19:16:55Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#):
>
> There’s a huge difference between acting talent and popularity. There are actors and there are movie stars. Sometimes someone is both, but not always. John Wayne was a movie star and one of the most popular actors ever, but probably not likely to be voted Best Actor ever.
>
> I’d vote for Meryl Streep.
For me, movies are entertainment. Pure and simple. I leave it to The Critics to point out and discuss the finer points of movies, and limit my own opinions to how well actors please the masses. That’s why I asked for the “best” and not the “most skillful”.
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### Author:  [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/10 "2010-01-30T19:22:31Z")
Marlon Brando.
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### Author:  [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/11 "2010-01-30T19:26:18Z")
Jeff Bridges.
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### Author:  [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/12 "2010-01-30T19:33:53Z")
Lets just end this thread with Robert Duvall shall we.
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### Author:  [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/13 "2010-01-30T19:43:10Z")
> [@Wakinyan](#):
>
> Marlon Brando.
A close second to Temple. He truely was a [contender](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0waNRaz6wU) imo. How many acting students have taken a shot at that line?
Oldman is great too, but for some reason he just doesn’t have such a wide appeal.
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### Author:  [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/14 "2010-01-30T19:48:21Z")
Enough with the “Starving Artists”, okay? I included popularity as criteria for a reason. 😛
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### Author:  [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_In_Black)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/15 "2010-01-30T20:10:51Z")
> [@koufax](#):
>
> You TOO beat me to it.
As soon as I saw the title I was coming to say Gary Oldman as well. He really is the best.
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/16 "2010-01-30T20:16:49Z")
> [@mangeorge](#):
>
> Enough with the “Starving Artists”, okay? I included popularity as criteria for a reason. 😛
Brad Pitt is probably the modern Marlon Brando, so if MB qualifies as a contender, Pitt does.
Ignoring popularity, I’d vote for Edward Norton though.
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### Author:  [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/17 "2010-01-30T20:22:58Z")
> [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](#):
>
> As soon as I saw the title I was coming to say Gary Oldman as well. He really is the best.
Looks like Oldman’s a lot more popular than I thought!
BTW, **The Man In Black** , a [relative](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfI9B8e9tW4) of yours?
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/18 "2010-01-30T20:32:33Z")
> [@mangeorge](#):
>
> For me, movies are entertainment. Pure and simple. I leave it to The Critics to point out and discuss the finer points of movies, and limit my own opinions to how well actors please the masses. That’s why I asked for the “best” and not the “most skillful”.
If that’s what you’re looking for, fine. But don’t use the word “best.”
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### Author:  [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/19 "2010-01-30T20:34:19Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#):
>
> Brad Pitt is probably the modern Marlon Brando, so if MB qualifies as a contender, Pitt does.
True. So does Sean Penn. There are many contenders. I found myself trying to decide on #1, and Shirley Temple came out on top.
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### Author:  [@Mister\_Owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Owl)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/20 "2010-01-30T20:34:33Z")
Toss up between Gary Oldman and Spencer Tracy.
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