# Top 10 actors in great roles.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 25, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981 "2003-07-25T22:40:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@towel2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/towel2)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/1 "2003-07-25T22:40:53Z")
Here are my favorite.
**1.EDWARD NORTON ,DEREK VINYARD ,AMERICAN HISTORY X**
**2.GEOFFERY RUSH ,THE MARQUIS DE SADE ,QUILLS**
**3.LIAM NEESON ,OSCAR SCHINDLER ,SCHINDLERS LIST**
**4.DANIEL DAY LEWIS, WILLIAM CUTTINGS AKA BILL THE BUTCHER, GANGS OF NEW YORK**
**5.JOE PESCI, TOMMY DEVITO, GOODFELLAS**
**6. BRAD PITT, TYLER DERGAN, FIGHT CLUB**
**7. ROBERT DENIRO, TRAVIS BICKLE, TAXI DRIVER**
**8 KEVIN SPACEY, ROGER ‘VERBAL’ KINT, THE USUAL SUSPECTS**
**9.JOHN LITHGOW, FDR, THEN THERE WERE LIONS**
**10. HARVEY KIETEL, AGUSTUS WREN, SMOKE**
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/2 "2003-07-25T23:06:38Z")
Rudolph Valentino in _Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse_
Lon Chaney in _The Phantom of the Opera_
John Barrymore in _Counsellor-at-Law_
Paul Muni in _I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang_
James Cagney in _White Heat_
John Gilbert in _Downstairs_
W.C. Fields in _David Copperfield_
Eic von Stroheim in _Grand Illusion_
Bert Lahr in _The Wizard of Oz_
James Stewart in _It’s a Wonderful Life_
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### Author:  [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/3 "2003-07-25T23:42:37Z")
Lon Chaney Sr. in Phantom of the Opera
Conrad Veidt in The Man Who Laughs
William Holden in Sunset Boulevard
Paul Muni in Scarface
Harvey Fierstein in Torch Song Trilogy
Kevin Spacey in both The Usual Suspects as well as American Beauty
Zero Mostel in The Producers as well as The Front
Harvey Korman in Blazing Saddles
Boris Karloff the Mummy and the Raven not to mention Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein
Jack Lemmon for all his Billy Wilder roles as well as Glengary Glen Ross and so many other roles
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### Author:  [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/4 "2003-07-25T23:48:03Z")
Lon Chaney Sr. in Phantom of the Opera
Conrad Veidt in The Man Who Laughs
William Holden in Sunset Boulevard
Paul Muni in Scarface
Harvey Fierstein in Torch Song Trilogy
Kevin Spacey in both The Usual Suspects as well as American Beauty
Zero Mostel in The Producers as well as The Front
Harvey Korman in Blazing Saddles
Boris Karloff the Mummy and the Raven not to mention Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein
Jack Lemmon for all his Billy Wilder roles as well as Glengary Glen Ross and so many other roles
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/5 "2003-07-26T00:37:23Z")
Hey! That’s _twenty!_
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### Author:  [@Bugnorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bugnorton)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/6 "2003-07-26T00:57:22Z")
Sidney Poitier in **Lilies of the Field**
Laurence Olivier in **Wuthering Heights**
Kenneth Branaugh in **Henry V**
Vivien Leigh in **A Streetcar Named Desire**
John Hurt in **The Elephant Man**
Liza Minnelli in **Cabaret**
F. Murray Abraham in **Amadeus**
Humphrey Bogart in **Casablanca**
Anthony Perkins in **Psycho**
Kathleen Turner in **Crimes of Passion**
_whining…only 10?.._
---
### Author:  [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/7 "2003-07-26T00:58:52Z")
I’m doing it as favorite single roles
Redford in The Natural
Hackman in Hoosiers
Mifune in The Seven Samurai
Ford in Star Wars
Sheen in Apocolypse now
Deniro in Deer Hunter(actually I had a hard time deciding him or Walken)
Prochnow in Das Boot(not technically a movie but oh well)
Pryce in Brazil
Mckellan in LOTR
Harris in Enemy at the Gate
(Hmm interesting, I have two Nazis in my top ten, But a Nazi is a hard role to play well, but can be very memorable if done well)
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/8 "2003-07-26T01:31:34Z")
**Bugnorton** , I think this is just for actors–we’ll have to start another thread for actresses (which will make it easier to narrow down to ten!).
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### Author:  [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/9 "2003-07-26T01:36:28Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eve \*
> \*\*Hey! That’s _twenty!_ \*\*
Roles so nice ya gotta say it twice.
😃
Actually just a weird double post. Go fig.
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### Author:  [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/10 "2003-07-26T01:42:12Z")
Peter O’Toole in _Lawrence of Arabia_
Meryl Streep in _Sophie’s Choice_
Tommy Lee Jones in _The Fugitive_
Rod Steiger in _Doctor Zhivago_
Sir Anthony Hopkins in _The Silence of the Lambs_
Sir Lawrence Olivier in _Wuthering Heights_
Olivia Hussey in _Romeo and Juliet_
Liza Manelli in _Cabaret_
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward in _The Long Hot Summer_
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/11 "2003-07-26T02:34:18Z")
Umm, OK, if we’re now doing actors _and_ actresses, I gotta completely redo my choices . . . Can some Mod delete my original list?
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### Author:  [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/12 "2003-07-26T05:56:36Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eve \*
> \*\*Umm, OK, if we’re now doing actors _and_ actresses, I gotta completely redo my choices . . . Can some Mod delete my original list? \*\*
I think it’s because you and I are the only ones in this thread that read the OP and the rest just burble because they were the ones in school that got whupped for not following directions.
This proves that pain is not an effective teaching tool.
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/13 "2003-07-26T07:37:12Z")
Marlon Brando, _A Streetcar Named Desire_
Al Pacino, _Dog Day Afternoon_
Robert De Niro, _Taxi Driver_
Charles Laughton, _Ruggles of Red Gap_
Willem Dafoe, _The Last Temptation of Christ_
Peter Sellers, _Dr. Strangelove_
Emil Jannings, _The Last Laugh_
Rex Harrison, _My Fair Lady_
Jack Nicholson, _One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest_
Laurence Olivier, _The Entertainer_
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### Author:  [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/14 "2003-07-26T08:15:39Z")
[quote]
I think it’s because you and I are the only ones in this thread that read the OP and the rest just burble because they were the ones in school that got whupped for not following directions.
[quote}
This proves that pain is not an effective teaching tool.[quote]
Hey I tried to follow the rules as much as I could with only the sword+marble bag weilding types in my list so it’s not only you two. I just had to put single roles in 'cause if I tried to figure the general actorship\* proficiency in roles equation I would have been debating for the next three weeks. (PS. I wanted to put Lon Chaney in my list as soon as I saw the title line(cause I think he is the most underrated actor of all time(Especialy in _Tell it to the Marines_(which in my opinion is the best all time silent film performance) , but you both beat me to it so I didn’t want to look like a follower so I couldn’t claim him)))
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### Author:  [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/15 "2003-07-26T08:25:47Z")
Damn, all my attemped drunken cleverness is rendered moot but my drunken inability to code correctly. I really should stop playing the ‘who can look more pretensious while wasted’ game with my other friends cause it doesn’t transfer to a message board when I come back and start posting, but it is damn fun so 😛 phphpphpphph
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/16 "2003-07-26T13:46:28Z")
James Dean — in _Rebel Without A Cause_
Marlon Brando — in _A Streetcar Named Desire_
Paul Newman — in _Cool Hand Luke_
Steve McQueen — in _Bullitt_
Gene Hackman — in _The French Connection_
Robert DeNiro — in _Taxi Driver_
Clint Eastwood — in _Unforgiven_
Kevin Spacey — in _The Usual Suspects_
Samuel L. Jackson — in _Pulp Fiction_
Robert Mitchum — in _The Yakuza_
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### Author:  [@Bugnorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bugnorton)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/17 "2003-07-26T16:19:46Z")
Eve, sorry, I was unaware there was a distinction. I thought we were beyond all _that_. After all, the OP did not qualify male actors only as opposed to male and female actors.
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### Author:  [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/18 "2003-07-26T17:07:53Z")
Gene Hackman \* The Conversation\*
Peter O’Toole \* Lawrence of Arabia\*
Robert De Niro _Taxi Driver_
Ben Kingsley \* Sexy Beast\*
Forest Whitaker \* Ghost Dog\*
Peter Sellers\* Being There\*
Humphrey Bogart \* The Maltese Falcon\*
Alec Guinness \* Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy/ Smiley’s People\*
Jack Nicholson \* Chinatown\*
William Holden \* Sunset Blvd\*
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### Author:  [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/19 "2003-07-26T17:38:42Z")
River Phoenix - Running on Empty
Jack Nicholson - One Flew over the Cuckoo’s nest
James Woods - Once Upon a time in America
Frank Sinatra - Man with a Golden Arm
Donald Sutherland- Don’t Look Now
Jeff Bridges - Fearless
Gary Oldman - Prick up your ears
Johnny Depp - What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?
Henry Fonda - 12 Angry Men
John Cusack - The Grifters
\*Can’t wait for the actresses \*
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### Author:  [@Spudo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spudo)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-actors-in-great-roles/190981/20 "2003-07-26T17:44:38Z")
In no particular order…
Kevin Spacey - American Beauty
Peter Sellers - All 3 of his roles in Dr. Strangelove
Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean
Leonardo DiCaprio - What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
Brad Pitt - Kalifornia/Fight Club
Edward Norton - Fight Club
Harrison Ford - Indiana Jones series
Ian McKellen - Lord Of the Rings
Nicolas Cage - Adaptation
John Cusack - Grosse Pointe Blank
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