# Top 3 favorite actors **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2000, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585 "2000-08-24T14:29:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Outrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9d8465/32.png) [@Outrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Outrider)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/1 "2000-08-24T14:29:00Z")
Mine are: 1. Kevin Spacey 2. Edward Norton 3. Morgan Freeman How about you guys? ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/2 "2000-08-24T14:36:10Z")
Today it would be: Cary Grant Catherine Deneuve and of thsoe currently act-ive: Kevin Spacey ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/3 "2000-08-24T14:41:37Z")
Hmmm, do actresses count? And are we talking “favorite” or “most talented?” Current, or all-time? ---
**Author:** ![Outrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9d8465/32.png) [@Outrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Outrider)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/4 "2000-08-24T15:04:15Z")
Yes, actresses do count. It’s definitely “favorite,” not “talented,” although sometimes the two go together. Example: Harrison Ford is one of my favorite actors, but I don’t think he has much talent (his idea of acting is the “finger of doom”) OTOH, Laurence Olivier is very talented, but cetainly not one of my favorite actors. ---
**Author:** ![JoeyHemlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ba0ec/32.png) [@JoeyHemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeyHemlock)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/5 "2000-08-24T15:07:48Z")
Good Choices, Outrider! I’ll choose: 1. Kevin Spacey 2. Morgan Freeman 3. Emily Watson (those piercing blue eyes) I’ll also add Bill Murray if he’s not in a leading role. ---
**Author:** ![zwaldd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a9adbd/32.png) [@zwaldd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zwaldd)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/6 "2000-08-24T15:41:41Z")
best guts and range: sean penn tom hanks gary oldman(one of many ties for third) best same character in every movie: robert deniro jack nicholson clint eastwood (again, many ties) worst same character in every movie (these days): al pacino best for comic timing (all in the past unfortunately): jackie gleason (honeymooners days) alan alda (mash days) carrol o’connor (all in the family days) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/7 "2000-08-24T15:44:41Z")
OK, I still wanna break it up into actors and actresses: ACTRESSES • Lillian Gish • Marlene Dietrich • Bette Midler (and I think her TV show is a HUGE mistake) ACTORS • Max Linder • Ramon Novarro • Hmmm . . . Can’t think of a third one right now. ---
**Author:** ![Outrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9d8465/32.png) [@Outrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Outrider)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/8 "2000-08-24T17:28:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*ACTRESSES > • Lillian Gish > • Marlene Dietrich > • Bette Midler (and I think her TV show is a HUGE mistake) > \*\* Bette Midler sets my teeth on edge. If could get rid of two actresses in the world, it would be Bette and Goldie Hawn. Don’t ask me why, they just drive me crazy (in a bad way) 🙂 ---
**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:** [August 24, 2000, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/9 "2000-08-24T18:32:59Z")
I hope this thread doesn’t spiral into a series of posts explaining why the previous poster was wrong. Some of the names mentioned are not on my list, but I don’t think this thread is the right place to protest their, um, “nomination.” (The popularity of one perennial favorite utterly baffles me, but I won’t argue with his mention here.) That said, I can see why zwaldd would describe Robert DeNiro as an actor who’s the “same character in every movie” based solely on his work with Scorsese and the characters he so often plays that seem to be escapees from Scorsese films. But if you’ve seen his work in _This Boy’s Life, Mad Dog and Glory_, and\* Mistress\*–not to mention _Brazil_–just to name a few (uneven) movies, you’d see that the range is there, just underutilized. My nominations are: **Best Actresses:** Emily Watson Crissy Rock Sissy Spacek **Favorite Actresses:** Helen Mirren Holly Hunter Sharon Stone Joan Cusack (yes, I know it’s four, but I already cut Sigourney Weaver and couldn’t cut another one) **Best Actors:** Sean Penn William H. Macy Anthony Hopkins **Favorite Actors:** Sean Penn Tim Robbins John Cusack ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/10 "2000-08-24T18:36:57Z")
Actors Cary Grant (screwball comedies, romantic leading man, western, murderous husband - and with more style and sophistication than anyone should have. Too bad about the rumors involving him and Randolph Scott.) Humphrey Bogart (Casablanca, Maltese Falcon, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Wagons Roll By Night, Caine Mutiny, African Queen, The Big Sleep, Key Largo, The Petrified Forest- all of this from one man. Plus, he got to marry Lauren Bacall.) Jack Nicholson (he didn’t always play Jack Nicholson - he used to have a pretty wide range). Actresses Katherine Hepburn Annette Benning (The Grifters is a movie that is way, way under-rated.) Margaret Dumont (even though she apparently was never acting - she really was ay a complete loss as to what the Marx Brothers were doing). ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/11 "2000-08-24T19:17:54Z")
Actors: [ul] [li]William Powell[/li][li]Peter Riegert[/li][li]Burt Lancaster[/li][/ul] Actresses: [ul] [li]Myrna Loy[/li][li]Veronica Lake[/li][li]Lauren Bacall[/li][/ul] I can’t explain why Veronica Lake is on my list. Mainly _Sullivan’s Travels_, I suppose. Physically, none of the actresses (especially Lake) are my usual “type” (dark-eyed brunettes like my wife). Of course, I’d probably come up with completely different lists if you asked me tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/12 "2000-08-24T19:24:14Z")
I don’t think plnnr has ever annoyed me before, I must be in a bad mood today. • Whaddaya mean, “too bad about the rumors about him and Randolph Scott?” You don’t like Cary Grant anymore if it turns out he was bisexual? • KathArine, not KathErine, Hepburn. OK, I really am being a nitpicker on that one. • I, too, love Margaret Dumont and I am thrilled that you mentioned her (she’s one of my role models; I want to be a Society Dowager when I grow up). But I have to come to her defense: I did some research on her for a possible article, and she knew EXACTLY what she was doing. Gave great interviews about comic timing, reactions, etc. That SOB Groucho always said she was an idiot because, well, Groucho was an SOB. OK, I’m done now. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2000, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/13 "2000-08-24T19:39:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > **• Whaddaya mean, “too bad about the rumors about him and Randolph Scott?” You don’t like Cary Grant anymore if it turns out he was bisexual?** As a gay man, I took no offense to this. I assumed she meant about the same thing as “Too bad he’s married.” IOW, I don’t think she was saying she liked him less, only (and obviously with a sense of irony) suggesting that she was out of the running for his amorous affections (death aside, of course). This of course is predicated that he was _gay_ and not _“bisexual.”_ The pressures for gay actors to put on a straight front were/are so great that I’ll cynically assume that his marriages were more for show than because he buttered both sides of his bread. Though I don’t mean to put words in plnnr’s mouth . . . ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/14 "2000-08-24T20:25:03Z")
Eve: Couldn’t care less about Cary’s sexuality. My point was that a mention of him and Randolph Scott (remember those photos of them having breakfast, playing by the pool, feeding the dog, etc.) always comes up when he’s discussed. Its just a distracting sidenote. Sorry about the K. Hepburn flub. I watched Philadelphia Story for the millioneth time last night so I’ve had her, Cary, and Jimmy Stewart on the brain. As far as Margaret Dumont goes, I do recall that Groucho thanked her during his acceptance speech for his lifetime achievment Academy Award in 1972. That showed some class from someone who, by all accounts, was a real son of a bitch. Now, for a bit of help, Eve: The name of the movie starring Veronica Lake that is shot from the point of view of a character in the film. You never see him, just what he sees (if that makes any sense), and you hear his voice. Also, didn’t she play a ghost in a film? Canterville Ghost maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/15 "2000-08-24T20:42:25Z")
DARK PASSAGE uses that gimmick, but that was Bogart and Bacall. Also LADY IN THE LAKE with Robert Montgomery, but Veronica Lake’s not IN that…you mixing the title up with the actress? Lake did play a witch, in I MARRIED A WITCH. Great film. My favorite actors: 1. Walter Huston 2. Charles Laughton 3. Sir Ralph Richardson ---
**Author:** ![magdalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@magdalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magdalene)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/16 "2000-08-24T20:51:14Z")
Actors\*: adrien brody kevin spacey robert deniro - I just watched North by Northwest and Philadelphia Story, so Cary Grant is also on the brain. ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/17 "2000-08-24T21:00:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > \*\*Lake did play a witch, in I MARRIED A WITCH. Great film. > \*\* I nearly included Robert Benchley on my favorite actors list, strictly on the basis of _I Married a Witch_ and the short subjects he did. Lake’s witch character in IMAW could easily be confused with or assumed to be a ghost – she and her father had been burned as witches in 17th century, returning to life in the 1940s to torment the descendant of the puritan leader responsible for their demise. ---
**Author:** ![SoMoMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@SoMoMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoMoMom)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/18 "2000-08-24T21:30:31Z")
I like Tommy Lee Jones, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, and Audrey Hepburn. Obviously, I don’t watch the same movies as you all. 🙂 Also, I like Sting. I really do. Quit booing. I’m not talking “Dune”. In “Grave Indiscretions”, I really hated his character and considering how much I like Sting, he must have been a pretty good actor, I think. My dreams are all messed up ever since I watched that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Spider\_Woman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Spider\_Woman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spider_Woman)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/19 "2000-08-24T21:44:14Z")
Actresses: ``` Gene Tierney Michelle Pfeiffer Olivia de Havilland ``` Actors: ``` Anthony Hopkins Robin Williams Tom Hanks ``` This is all subject to change, depending on what old and new movies I happened to have seen recently. There are so many movies, actors and actresses that I like. Just read SoMomom’s post, and I like most of those also. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen Sting in anything. ---
**Author:** ![lucie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585/20 "2000-08-24T22:20:58Z")
Another way to break up the category in order to get more names in (note - am defining favorite as actors I would watch in anything, no matter how bad the film sucks): Favorite Actors - Living Johnny Depp Jonathan Pryce Ian McKellen Favorite Actors - Formerly Among the Living Peter Lorre James Cagney Fred Astaire Favorite Actresses - Living Minnie Driver Joan Cusack Holly Hunter Favorite Actresses - Formerly Among the Living Rosalind Russell Maureen O’Hara Madeline Kahn [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-3-favorite-actors/30585.md?page=2)