# The best actor ever. **URL:** \ **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:** 4
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/61 "2010-01-31T06:17:30Z")
I bow to no one in my slavish devotion to Betty Hutton–she’s on the short list of personal divas. But I would never call her a great actor. One of the [greatest](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZYYqQInrDg&feature=related) _[entertainers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv4YmL4CWmI)_ [of all](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZYYqQInrDg&feature=related) [time](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv4YmL4CWmI), but you watch her movies for the musical numbers, not the filler in between. Sole exception: The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek. But the acting in a Sturges farce is as stylized as in a Mamet thriller. But of course, YMMV. Still, great to see her mentioned at all! [Bjork likes her too.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZYYqQInrDg&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/62 "2010-01-31T06:31:24Z")
lissener: I included her because of the same reasons you don’t. She was a huge “if only.” Maybe Julie Holliday would have been a better choice. Or Jean Simmons or Donna Reed. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/63 "2010-01-31T07:33:04Z")
Another vote for Gary Oldman. A teeny tiny sample: [Drexl](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w94dZtKXaaE) [Stansfield](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyfbRz4ObFY&feature=related) [Zorg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krcNIWPkNzA) ---
**Author:** ![Lunchy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Lunchy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunchy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/64 "2010-01-31T07:55:15Z")
Paul Giomatti. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/65 "2010-01-31T08:34:24Z")
One more for Gary Oldman, an actor who really disappears into his parts. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/66 "2010-01-31T08:44:54Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > You’ll notice I said _nothing_ about “beauty” in my OP. Many popular actors are anything but beautiful, especially the contest version of beauty. I meant “beauty contest” metaphorically. Sorry if that didn’t come across. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/67 "2010-01-31T09:54:05Z")
Al Pacino or Adolphe Menjou. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/68 "2010-01-31T15:06:57Z")
It’s been said a dozen times but I simply can’t deny reality: Gary Oldman’s the best I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/69 "2010-01-31T15:17:47Z")
> [@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. John Wayne wasn’t exactly a slouch in the acting department though. Let’s not forget that he won the Best Actor Oscar for \*True Grit \*and was also nominated for _Sands of Iwo Jima_. I’m not saying he’s one of the “best ever” but I do think he often doesn’t get the respect as an actor he deserves. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/70 "2010-01-31T18:00:56Z")
I can’t decide. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is great, as is Alec Guiness and Gary Oldman. John Gieguld for the stage portion of this. I feel like there is a name I’m trying to come up with and I just can’t re film actor. It’ll probably come to me in the middle of the night… ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/71 "2010-01-31T18:05:02Z")
Tom Hanks ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/72 "2010-01-31T18:20:24Z")
> [@HelloNinja](#): > > John Wayne wasn’t exactly a slouch in the acting department though. Let’s not forget that he won the Best Actor Oscar for \*True Grit \*and was also nominated for _Sands of Iwo Jima_. I’m not saying he’s one of the “best ever” but I do think he often doesn’t get the respect as an actor he deserves. John Wayne played John Wayne. He just demonstrated his persona on screen. He was the same character in every movie. Catherine Hepburn was pretty good though. ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/73 "2010-01-31T19:04:25Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > You folks are dissing Gary Colmen, the greatest black midget actor of all time! Actually there is no such person as Gary Coleman (or “Colmen”). He is merely Gary Oldman acting under a pseudonym. Yes, he’s\* that \*good. Seriously, Johnny Depp has all the range and versitality of anyone named here. He has frequently unrecognizable (or used to be, before he was so well-known), has acted in virtually every genre, and for a long time one could depend on his movies to be inventive and interesting–less so in recent years. In the first “Pirates…” he single-handedly turned an average movie into an unforgettable one. I hate to claim any actor is the best of all time–Hoffman and Streep and DeNiro and Nicholson and Eastwood all bring something special that no one else really can. But Depp deserves a mention. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/74 "2010-01-31T19:14:30Z")
I just watched “The Little Princess” last weekend, and while I thought Shirley Temple was wonderful, it was partly in the context of her age (“wow, how is that little girl such a great actress!”). I never saw any of her older roles…is she really that good? I love watching Gary Oldman, but that experience is diluted by the huge number of B movies. And outside the streak of movies he made around 1990 to 1995, I’m not sure anything’s sticking out for me. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/75 "2010-01-31T20:38:28Z")
> [@oliversarmy](#): > > Robert Duvall, Myrna Loy, M. Emmet Walsh, Betty Hutton, Gary Oldman, Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Cary Grant, Michael Caine . How can you decide? You don’t have to. Honest. But, if you don’t… ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/76 "2010-01-31T21:34:46Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Tom Hanks Really? Wow. I don’t think he’s bad, but best ever? I like it when actors prepare for a role, like when Hanks lost weight for Castaway. I admire it. Still don’t know about the ‘best’. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/77 "2010-01-31T22:01:19Z")
What ,no love for Laurence Olivier or Steve McQueen? ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/78 "2010-01-31T22:20:30Z")
David Garrick ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/79 "2010-01-31T23:51:40Z")
I can’t make up my mind. Dustin Hoffman: The Graduate Midnight Cowboy Rain Man Kung Fu Panda Anthony Hopkins: Hamlet Titus Meet Joe Black Dracula Gary Oldman: Sid and Nancy Lost in Space They have all done Great Works of Art, and they have all done lightweight-but-really-cool movies, and they have all been the one redeeming feature in a bad movie. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038/80 "2010-02-01T00:01:25Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > I can’t make up my mind. > Gary Oldman: > Sid and Nancy. That was Gary Oldman! I’ve _got_ to watch that jewel again. When I’m _not_ stoned. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-actor-ever/527038.md?page=5)