# Who's your favorite old-time actor/actress? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2002, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706 "2002-10-03T16:48:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/1 "2002-10-03T16:48:02Z")
Man, I dig them old-time classics. Black and white. Film noir. Comedy. War. So last night I was watching the black comedy **Beat the Devil** (1954), with Humphrey Bogart, and I got to wondering about old-time actors. You know, old school. From back when movies was movies, not videos or DVDs. So who are your favorites from yesteryear? And “yesteryear” can be a relative term - you want to pick pre-1980? pre-1960? pre-1950? Go for it. Here’s some from me: 1. **Bogie**. I’ve seen nearly 20 of his movies, from **Angels with Dirty Faces** through **The Left Hand of God**. I’ll watch anything he does. 2. **Peter Lorre**. From **M** through **Beat the Devil**. His rounded face never ceased to be expressive and not a little creepy. 3. **Gregory Peck**. **To Kill a Mockingbird** , **Cape Fear** , **Twelve o’Clock High** , and even **Other People’s Money** , from 1991 (with Danny DeVito, no less!). How’s bout you guys? ---
**Author:** ![Magickly\_Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magickly\_Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magickly_Delicious)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/2 "2002-10-03T16:51:13Z")
**Barbara Stanwyck** ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/3 "2002-10-03T17:18:35Z")
Marilyn Monroe and Jimmy Stewart ---
**Author:** ![Jaystercom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@Jaystercom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaystercom)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/4 "2002-10-03T17:19:08Z")
BETTY DAVIS AND EDWARD G. ROBINSON … ABSOLUTELY ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/5 "2002-10-03T17:28:52Z")
Cary Grant. Even in a really drecky movie like _Houseboat_ he’s so natural and funny. I also love the scene in _To Catch a Thief_ when he drops his gambling marker down the woman’s ample cleavage. Smooooooth, baby! Also a big Marx Brothers fan, and for some reason my brother and I really loved _Go West_ which was late in their career and fairly tired, but had such great quotable lines. (“It’s a funny thing; I’m not drunk, but what’s the ceiling doing on the floor?”) ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/6 "2002-10-03T17:30:45Z")
Oh, here’s another one: the great **Veronica Lake**. Didn’t make a lot of movies, but what she made was memorable, especially Sullivan’s Travels and The Glass Key. ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/7 "2002-10-03T18:13:57Z")
**Gene Kelly** and **Olivia de Haviland** ---
**Author:** ![evilskippy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@evilskippy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilskippy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/8 "2002-10-03T18:48:01Z")
**Vincent Price** , **Chritopher Lee** and **Peter Cushing**. I like old, bad horror movies. Besides, how can you not love the man responsible for building and using the Death Star. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/9 "2002-10-03T18:58:24Z")
How to choose, how to choose? **Actresses**. I have to go, too, with **Barbara Stanwyck** and **Joan Crawford** (underrated—she really could act!). **Lillian Gish** was probably the most talented all-round. **Lyda Roberti** was a great, now-forgotten comedy actress—and you can’t beat **Claudette Colbert** , either. **Actors**. For comedy, **Buster Keaton** and **Harold Lloyd** ; **Ramon Novarro** and **Valentino** for silent drama, **Jimmy Cagney** in the talkies. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/10 "2002-10-03T19:03:52Z")
Damn—how could I forget **Marlene Dietrich**? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/11 "2002-10-03T19:05:27Z")
I was wondering when Eve would drop in. Great choices, **evilskippy**. Those old Corman quickies were wonderful - and let’s not forget Lionel Atwill or John Carradine! (Okay, maybe not Carradine, who was in more bad films than just about anyone.) “Rudolph Valentino looks very much alive/And he looks up ladies’ dresses as they sadly pass him by…” - The Kinks, “Celluloid Heroes” And Greta Garbo, Eve! ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/12 "2002-10-03T19:12:07Z")
**Charlie Chaplin** , **Cary Grant** , **William Powell** , **Myrna Loy** … ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/13 "2002-10-03T19:24:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > **I was wondering when Eve would drop in.** First thing I thought when I saw the thread was to wonder when Eve would show up. More correctly, it was “Lord, I wonder what obscure folks Eve is going to pull out of thin air to shame the rest of us?” So let’s see, I’d have to go with, for actresses: Bette Davis, Myrna Loy, Thelma Ritter, Mercedes McCambridge, Theda Bara and probably about a dozen others who will come to me as soon as I hit “post.” For actors: I’ll second Bogart (based on some of the lesser-known parts rather than the biggies like Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon), William Powell and I’m sure there are others whose names escape me. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/14 "2002-10-03T19:25:50Z")
I love **Barbara Stanwyk** and **Gregory Peck**. Not yet mentioned personal favorites: **Greer Garson** , **Dorothy McGuire** , **Robert Donat**. ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/15 "2002-10-03T19:27:25Z")
Gods but I miss those films. You Hardly ever see them anymore and nothing even remotely entertaining has been released in the past 20 years. Put me down for a six pack of **Kathryn Hepburn** , a side of **Fred Astaire** , a double scoop of **Bogey** and a heapin’ helpin’ of **Jimmy Stewart**. Runners up would be: **James Cagney The Marx Brothers Henry Fonda Judy Holiday Ingrid Bergman William Powell Myrna Loy Bing Crosby Walter Brennan Edward Everett Horton Spencer Tracy Marjorie Main Rosalind Russell** and many, many other too numerous to mention. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/16 "2002-10-03T19:39:54Z")
**Jane Russell** –“Ain’t There Anyone Here for Love” is the funniest, sexiest musical number ever put on film (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes). ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/17 "2002-10-03T19:46:27Z")
**Sydney Poitier, Jimmy Stewart, Gene Tierney** ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/18 "2002-10-03T19:50:44Z")
In the sub-catagory of Film Noir Tough Guys: Robert Ryan, equal if not better an actor than Burt Landcaster, Kirk Douglas or Robert Mitchum, but underappreciated because he didn’t have their level of sex appeal. Lawrence Tierney, because he explored a new dimension in the type: “Tough Guy as Moron.” I give him extra credit because he carried this into his personal life (He and Frances Farmer would have made a cute couple). Can I make a foreign entry? Jean Gabin, who created the orginal character type later Americanized by Steve McQueen (or at least that’s what I think when I watch Papillon). Even with Bogart on our side, the French always beat us at looking good with a cigarette stuck in their mouths. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/19 "2002-10-03T19:58:37Z")
Both Hepburn ladies, Audrey and Kathrine. Greer Garson. Claudette Colbert. Cary Grant, Gary Cooper (yum!), Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. StG ---
**Author:** ![Breezy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@Breezy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breezy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706/20 "2002-10-03T21:01:21Z")
Ava Gardner all the way, baby. hahaha I am a HUGE Ava fan. She’s so beautiful, and such a spit fire! Also LOVE Frank Sinatra!!! 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-old-time-actor-actress/130706.md?page=2)