# what actor/actress has the "best" filmography? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 8, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579 "2008-05-08T17:37:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/1 "2008-05-08T17:37:33Z")
What actor or actress has, in your opinion, the most solid filmography? With “solid” I mean the one who has the best ratio of quality movies in relation to the amount of movies the person is starring in. This is highly subjective of course. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/2 "2008-05-08T18:05:23Z")
I’d say [Harold Russell](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0751174/) has to be near the top of the list. Four films with two Oscar wins (for the same role) and a Golden Globe. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/3 "2008-05-08T18:07:50Z")
[John Cazale](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001030/) is clearly the winner here. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/4 "2008-05-08T18:10:09Z")
If we’re talking movies only, not TV, I think [James Dean](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000015/) deserves a mention. But just on a technicality, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/5 "2008-05-08T20:46:40Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] [John Cazale](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001030/) is clearly the winner here. [/QUOTE] ☹ So true. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/6 "2008-05-08T22:30:28Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] [John Cazale](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001030/) is clearly the winner here. [/QUOTE] That’s who I was gonna say. ---
**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:** [May 8, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/7 "2008-05-08T22:41:21Z")
Johnny Depp chooses his roles pretty carefully. (Compare him to Oscar winners Nicholas Cage and Michael Cain, frinstance.) Ditto Christian Bale and Chloe Sevigny. That’s all I got for now, but others may occur to me. (Again on a technicality, the single definitive answer to this question is probably Maria Falconetti.) ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/8 "2008-05-08T23:43:43Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Chloe Sevigny [/QUOTE] Chloe “The Brown Bunny” Sevigny? Really? I guess, but that never would have popped into my mind. ---
**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:** [May 8, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/9 "2008-05-08T23:48:30Z")
[QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] Chloe “The Brown Bunny” Sevigny? Really? I guess, but that never would have popped into my mind. [/QUOTE] Even if you agree that it’s a bad movie (have you actually seen it?), that’s _one_. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/10 "2008-05-09T01:01:19Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] [John Cazale](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001030/) is clearly the winner here. [/QUOTE] Now there’s a man who knew to get out while he was on top. No _We’re No Angles_ or _The Devil’s Advocate_ for him. As a tangent, I’ve had this idea for a comedy sketch in which Gene Hackman, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman stand around in a bar and boast about the progressively shittier films they’ve saved just by appearing in them: “Remember _Runaway Jury_? Without me, John Cusack would have been cashing his last paycheck.” “Yeah, we’ll that’s nothing. I prevented Keanu Reeves from ending up living in an underpass after _Chain Reaction_.” “Big fucking deal; I kept Jim Belushi from falling on his face in _Mr. Destiny_.” “Wow, that’s…wait, weren’t you in that film directed by Steven Seagal?” “Shut your bloody mouth, Hack-Man! I bought a small South Pacific nation with my salary from that.” “Hey, look, it’s Christopher Walken!” “Hey, guys. I just…personally…saved the careers…of every cast member…on _Saturday Night Live_…by making cameos…in their ill-advised…and poorly written…feature film vehicles. Can I have…a Chivas…on the rocks?” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/11 "2008-05-09T01:11:21Z")
[Russell Crowe](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000128/) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/12 "2008-05-09T01:37:47Z")
[QUOTE=Stranger On A Train] Now there’s a man who knew to get out while he was on top. No _We’re No Angles_ or _The Devil’s Advocate_ for him. [/QUOTE] Hey, the Devil’s Advocate is a great movie! It’s my favorite Pacino movie ever. ---
**Author:** ![Myrnalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Myrnalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrnalene)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/13 "2008-05-09T01:42:38Z")
Alec Guinness. I don’t see one notable stinker on his IMDB filmography, in contrast to his great contemporaries like Burton, O’Toole, Olivier, etc who at some point all gave crappy performances in crappy films. I’ll even be charitable and overlook _Star Wars_. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/14 "2008-05-09T01:54:43Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] Hey, the Devil’s Advocate is a great movie! It’s my favorite Pacino movie ever. [/QUOTE] Nah, he does better scenery chewing in _Heat_: “I’m angry. I’m very angry, Ralph. You know, you can ball my wife if she wants you to. You can lounge around here on her sofa, in her ex-husband’s dead-tech, post-modernistic bullshit house if you want to. But you do not…get to watch…my…fucking television set!” Pacino has whored himself out for some real crap, though. But hey, once you’ve been in half a dozen or so of some of the best films ever made (and taking a pittance for them), you can be excused for wanting to insulate your house with stacks of $100 bills. Jack Nicholson, though…that’s a real shame, there. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/15 "2008-05-09T02:18:46Z")
Stranger On A Train writes: \> . . . We’re No Angles . . . Now there’s a film I’d like to see. A bunch of guys sitting around saying, “You know, we’re never right. We’re never acute either. We’re not obtuse though. I guess that means we’re no angles.” ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/16 "2008-05-09T02:26:26Z")
[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner] Stranger On A Train writes: \> . . . We’re No Angles . . . Now there’s a film I’d like to see. A bunch of guys sitting around saying, “You know, we’re never right. We’re never acute either. We’re not obtuse though. I guess that means we’re no angles.” [/QUOTE] Haha, me too, actually. Maybe I’m a total dork (maybe?!) but this made me laugh out loud. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/17 "2008-05-09T02:31:36Z")
[Morgan Freeman](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000151/') has a pretty impressive list: Brubaker Glory An Unfinished Life Batman Begins The Unforgiven Gone Baby Gone Million Dollar Baby The Shawshank Redemption Amistad Se7en Driving Miss Daisy Deep Impact …among others. Even his clunkers are decent movies. (_Evan Almighty_ excepted.) He does a really good job of selecting scripts, I think. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/18 "2008-05-09T02:36:37Z")
[QUOTE=Stranger On A Train] Jack Nicholson, though…that’s a real shame, there. [/QUOTE] In his defense, I think he has had a decent direction of his line of work the past ten years or so. Okay, Something’s Gotta Give is not the best movie ever, but Jack practically outperforms everybody else in it so at least he’s not to blame. But more importantly, As Good as it Gets and About Schmidt are both understated and fit him well. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/19 "2008-05-09T13:46:33Z")
Stipulating that nobody will come close to John Cazale, I would nominate Brad Pitt. His signal to noise ratio is at or approaching Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp. Two other names for consideration for similar reasons to each other, and just because I like categorizing them together in a single sentence, are Daniel Day-Lewis and Chris Tucker. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579/20 "2008-05-09T14:47:10Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] [John Cazale](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001030/) is clearly the winner here. [/QUOTE] Wow. That’s a hard lineup to beat, unless someone else can get him on volume. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-actress-has-the-best-filmography/448579.md?page=2)