# Two greatest actors of the 20th century
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 8, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714 "2010-05-08T02:32:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/1 "2010-05-08T02:32:19Z")
1. Harvey Keitel
2. Klaus Kinski
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### Author:  [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/2 "2010-05-08T02:48:02Z")
Hard to pick two. The first two who came to mind were Gary Oldman and Claude Raines.
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### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/3 "2010-05-08T03:59:26Z")
How do you define “greatest?”
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/4 "2010-05-08T04:53:45Z")
Marlon Brando
Dustin Hoffman
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### Author:  [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/5 "2010-05-08T05:13:00Z")
Humphrey Bogart
Clint Eastwood
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### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/6 "2010-05-08T05:16:08Z")
Bette Davis
Henry Fonda
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2010, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/7 "2010-05-08T05:37:03Z")
Bette Davis
Spencer Tracy
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2010, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/8 "2010-05-08T13:02:34Z")
Men:
Paul Newman
James Cagney
Women:
Meryl Streep
Katherine Hepburn
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### Author:  [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/9 "2010-05-08T13:24:51Z")
Humprey Bogart
James Cagney
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### Author:  [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/10 "2010-05-08T14:07:04Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> Women:
> Meryl Streep
> Katherine Hepburn
Curiously, Meryl Streep was infamously derided by Katherine Hepburn for being too mechanical in her performances (about which I agree with her).
I’m curious about the criteria for “greatest”; several people have already cited Humphrey Bogart, who by his own admission was more of a personality than a great actor. Few of his roles demonstrated great range (the exceptions being the somewhat overacted _The Treasure of Sierra Madre_ and the underrated _The Caine Mutiny_). Eastwood, similarly, is a memorable presence but has the range of Red Ryder.
My criteria is the ability to inhabit a character and completely disappear, and I’m afraid that my selections will be unfortunately obvious.
For male actors, I’d pick Alec Guinness and Robert DeNiro. Also rans are Al Pacino (in his pre-_Scent of a Woman_ days), Peter O’Toole, Toshirō Mifune, Michael Lonsdale, John Cazale, and John Turturro.
For actresses, I’d select Kate Winslet and Jeanne Moreau. Also rans are Helen Mirren, Bette Davis, Emma Thompson, Samantha Morton, Claudette Colbert, Sissy Spacek, Ellen Burstyn, Mercedes Ruehl, Juliette Binoche, and Marcia Gay-Harden.
Stranger
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/11 "2010-05-08T15:08:14Z")
[How quickly they forget.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000059/)
For my money, the second name on the list is Jack Lemmon.
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### Author:  [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/12 "2010-05-08T15:12:28Z")
Bill Simmons, the ESPN Sports Guy and pop culture lover, was doing a podcast when this question came up. He is a big movie fan and decided to come up with a formula to actually decide this. I don’t have the numbers or anything for it, and unless someone can do internet searches way better than I we might not ever have them, but it was points for movies acted in, starring roles, SAG and Oscar awards. The far and away winner was Meryl Streep. Just food for thought.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/13 "2010-05-08T15:18:23Z")
Harry Dean Stanton
Billy Bob Thornton
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/14 "2010-05-08T16:02:18Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#):
>
> For actresses, I’d select Kate Winslet and Jeanne Moreau.
Bearing in mind that the OP asked for the greatest actors **of the twentieth century** , Kate Winslet is a highly questionable choice. Her career started in the 90s and she did some fine work but her best work has been since 2000. She was terrific in the 90s; she’s been knocking it out of the park since the turn of the century.
When all is said and done Kate Winslet may end up being the greatest actress who ever lived but most of her career will have been in the 21st century.
Also, she’s single again. Rowr.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/15 "2010-05-09T20:22:41Z")
Toshiro Mifune, Gary Oldman.
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### Author:  [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/16 "2010-05-09T20:37:56Z")
Gary Oldman for certain. If he’s not the greatest, he’s at least the second greatest.
Picking a second is much more difficult; with my definition of “greatest actor” being “most effective in various roles” as opposed to “most movie awards” or “most starring roles,” I’d have to make a short list including Boris Karloff and Jodi Foster, among several others.
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### Author:  [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/17 "2010-05-10T02:12:20Z")
June Foray and Lon Chaney Sr.
(Believe it or not, this is my stock, pre-prepared answered for just this kind of situation. [Yes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrazyPrepared).)
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/18 "2010-05-10T02:45:21Z")
First half of the 20th Century: Paul Muni
Second half of the 20th Century: Marlon Brando.
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### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/19 "2010-05-10T02:53:30Z")
Meryl Streep is definitely one of them. There are too many others in contention to list a second, but I’d like to give an honorable mention to someone who hasn’t come up yet: Richard Dreyfuss.
When studying acting, the techniques and advice of Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, and Michael Caine have impressed me.
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### Author:  [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-greatest-actors-of-the-20th-century/538714/20 "2010-05-10T08:47:48Z")
Klaus Kinski and Oliver Reed.
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