1FF's top 100 actors/actresses

[Oaf]

In joint 64th we have two people who managed to get 15 points by getting onto 2 lists. It shows how wide a variety of names were nominated for this thing when these are only the 2nd and 3rd people to have made it onto more than one list so far...

Zachary Quinto

Anna Kendrick

 

[MagpieBee]

In joint 64th we have two people who managed to get 15 points by getting onto 2 lists. It shows how wide a variety of names were nominated for this thing when these are only the 2nd and 3rd people to have made it onto more than one list so far...

Zachary Quinto

Anna Kendrick

I would have had Anna Kendrick on my list, and pretty high up. She is awesome.

 

[Oaf]

Joint 61st has 3 people, all getting 16 points from a single list:

Clint Eastwood

Robert Mitchum

Ryan Gosling

 

[Oaf]

And then in 60th, also getting 16 points but via 2 lists is the Dude:

Jeff Bridges

 

[SALTIRE]

Clint, Mitchum and Bridges are fantastic. Legends the lot of them.

 

[mistermagic]

Isn't Bridges a one-movie guy though? He'll be more than fondly remembered for his great part in TBL but really what has he done apart from that which is comparable?

 

[last request]

 

[Craig]

Clint Eastwood

Mine. Quite surprised I was the only one voted for him. Icon of cinema and no doubt about it, a real man, as my late nannan would say. Immortalised through his roles in spaghetti and other westerns and portrayal of Dirty Harry and will be rightly primarily remembered for this. But also great in other roles such as the copper on Costner's trail in the massively underrated A Perfect World and in White Hunter Black Heart playing a film director on location in Africa more interested in hunting than filming, both of which he directed himself in, as he also did in my favourite of his Unforgiven.

He wasn't/isn't the greatest method actor in the world, but a list like this without him on it would be all the poorer for it.

Spoiler

Scene.

William Munny is a widowed father of two in the wild west with a dark past. A hard drinking, cold blooded killer in his youth he had hoped he'd put those days behind him. When a young wannabe turns up on this doorstep with the offer of a shared bounty the struggling Munny reluctantly agrees to accompany him. Along the way he recruits an old friend, once the deed is done said friend is captured by the tyrannical local sheriff and dies in custody after which Munny is unable to prevent his past demons from coming to the fold.

 

[Gladders]

Isn't Bridges a one-movie guy though? He'll be more than fondly remembered for his great part in TBL but really what has he done apart from that which is comparable?

Tron and Starman?

 

[Craig]

Remake of True Grit, Seabiscuit, The Fisher King, Crazy Heart, Thunderbolt & Lightfoot, etc, etc, etc...

 

[SALTIRE]

Mine. Quite surprised I was the only one voted for him. Icon of cinema and no doubt about it, a real man, as my late nannan would say. Immortalised through his roles in spaghetti and other westerns and portrayal of Dirty Harry and will be rightly primarily remembered for this. But also great in other roles such as the copper on Costner's trail in the massively underrated A Perfect World and in White Hunter Black Heart playing a film director on location in Africa more interested in hunting than filming, both of which he directed himself in, as he also did in my favourite of his Unforgiven.

He wasn't/isn't the greatest method actor in the world, but a list like this without him on it would be all the poorer for it.

Spoiler

Scene.

William Munny is a widowed father of two in the wild west with a dark past. A hard drinking, cold blooded killer in his youth he had hoped he'd put those days behind him. When a young wannabe turns up on this doorstep with the offer of a shared bounty the struggling Munny reluctantly agrees to accompany him. Along the way he recruits an old friend, once the deed is done said friend is captured by the tyrannical local sheriff and dies in custody after which Munny is unable to prevent his past demons from coming to the fold.

Most Clint films are worth a watch, even the duller ones. He's an exceptional director too and is probably in the top ten of most influential stars Hollywood has ever produced.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Robert Mitchum

Mine. Counter-culture hero before they'd really been invented. Sleepy eyed, laconic, perma-stoned demeanour, cig always hanging out of the corner of his gob. Made it look like he wasn't trying, and cultivated that image with a nice line in self-deprecating interviews, but he was trying, and he was very good. One of the real stars of classic era noir, where he played both baddie and mark with equal aplomb, but had a long career after that too, and did some great stuff though the 70s, 80s & 90s.

 

[SALTIRE]

His performance in Cape Fear was extremely scary, and quite racy for its day; its a slightly better film than the remake too imo. Also excellent in The Night Of The Hunter. Reminds me of Michael Gambon a bit, never took himself seriously, but his performances mark him out as a fine actor (great actor in the case of Gambon).

 

[mistermagic]

Tron and Starman?

Never heard of them flicks.

 

[Oaf]

Sorry for the slow progress of this in the last couple of days, been very busy for me. So here's a random late night update to keep you all going.

With 17 points each, finishing on a single list each in an impressive 4th place on each list, are our joint 53rd placed people.

Sir Ian Mckellen

Patrick Wilson

Chishû Ryû

Michael Cera

Jennifer Aniston

Marion Cotillard

Matt Damon

 

[SALTIRE]

Chishû Ryû was mine, one of the greatest and most versatile character actors I've ever seen. I'd write more about him but the baseball is going on and I'm running out of time!

 

[Craig]

I'm not liking that until you elaborate.

 

[Oaf]

Next up we have two people who finish joint 51s, they are 17 pointers who both made it onto two lists:

James Gandolfini

THE GOLDBLUM

If this were a list for the best television actors only, I get the feeling that Gandolfini would entered a lot more minds and been a real contender to win the fuckin' thing outright, he was superb as Tony Soprano.

And we also have THE GOLDBLUM.

 

[Oaf]

The following 5 people each managed a very impressive 3rd place finish on a single list. They are the first to break into our top 50, and share joint 46th.

Christian Bale

Tim Roth

Buster Keaton

Woody Harrelson

Katherine Hepburn

 

[Oaf]

Number 45 on our list is taken by just one man, who managed 18 points from 2 lists.

45th:

Tom Cruise

 

[Oaf]

And I'm not just doing one fucking guy, so here's another one.

With 19 points, interestingly, is the only person to finish 2nd on a list and then appear on no more lists. He is:

44th:

John Wayne

 

[Oaf]

And then, because fuck coming on here to just do two spots, next up is a guy who managed to get 19 points from two lists. He is:

43rd:

Mike Myers

 

[Craig]

MOAR

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Buster Keaton

Mine. Chaplin probably had more arrows in his quiver as an all around artist, but as a pure performer and silent clown I think Keaton was funnier and greater. Known (somewhat erroneously) as the Great Stone Face but possessed of an unmatched bodily expressiveness, his talent was more like some sort of strange avant garde ballet than acting. Could be dressed up in a variety of guises, tho it was mostly variations on the same role - a sort of stubborn idiot, heedless in the pursuit of some goal or other, getting up from a million pratfalls, usually of his own making. Like a lot of silent comedy his performances spoke to a sort of bewilderment in the face of modernity and all that, but in Keaton's hands there was an undercurrent of can-do, dust yourself off and get on with it spirit, and he always got there in the end. Also a lunatic of a stuntman in an era when health and safety forms in triplicate hadn't yet been invented - broke his neck in one picture and came pretty close in a few others.

A melancholy figure off screen (which shapes my watching of him at times, I think)... big booze problem, and the coming of sound and the studio system wasn't kind to his career. Carried on working thru to the 60s, with some decent stuff here and there, but it was never quite the same, and he knew it. Last great hurrah was courtesy of Chaplin (and alongside him) in Lime Light.

 

[Oaf]

Six actors managed to each top a list, but fail to make another list at all. They all began and ended this this on 20 points and they share joint 37th.

This is the annoying part for the people that voted them. Six people consider these six to be the best of the best, but it seems that nobody else shares their love of them.

They are.

David Jason*

Barbara Stanwyck*

Johnny Depp*

Alec Guinness*

Christian Slater*

Jack Nicholson*

 

[Craig]

Jack Nicholson

My number one.

My list from here on in is mostly well known and universally acclaimed actors. I am surprised I was the only person to vote for Nicholson though. Oscar nominated in every decade since the 60's, notorious bad boy off the screen, had success in just about every genre of film. To be honest I do kind of regret putting him at the head of my list though, his roles in a couple of my all time favourite films in The Shining and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest elevated his position somewhat I reckon. Still, he was always going to make my list and has appeared in plenty more enjoyable and critically acclaimed flicks blowing pretty much all his co-stars off the screen throughout.

Spoiler

Scenes from my fave of his.

Charged with looking after the remote Overlook Hotel in the winter off season Jack Torrance takes his wife and young son along with him. When his son Danny shows up with bruises on his arm his wife Wendy assumes it is the work of her husband, who has raised his hands to their son in the past. His descent into madness goes into full swing.

His descent into madness completed during this scene where his wife Wendy also has her suspicions of his losing the plot confirmed.

 

[Oaf]

In 36th is a man who also managed to get 20 points, but did so by appearing on a very impressive 3 lists, which is a record up until this point. Baring in mind that nobody appeared on more than 5 lists, that's a very good achievement for this man.

He is.

Peter Dinklage

With this man, there always seems to be a lot of "is he a great actor, or does he just play a great part?" questions. While, yeah, Tyrion Lannister is a fucking brilliant character, I do think that Dinklage more than does him justice. Although, to be honest, if I think of other things I've seen him in... he was forgettable in Xmen and people hated his voice over role in Destiny so much that he actually ended up being recast in a later patch.

Still still. Tyrion for da iron throne, and all that.

 

[Craig]

He was great in The Station Agent and Elf tho.

 

[Oaf]

35th

We're now at those people who are great enough to absolutely need to have been on more than one list to have made it this far up. So only expect awesome people from here on out. And what a great way to start with this, as there are few people more awesome than this guy, who made 21 points from 2 lists:

Christopher Lee

A fuckin' boss of a man who managed to make it into both major Nerd franchises, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. I mean, who the fuck does that? Also, he did a lot of dracula stuff, plus was one of the better Bond Villains in the man with a golden gun.

Basically, if you have a list of awesome things you've done in your life, Christopher Lees is better than yours.

 

[Craig]

One of mine, I've just realised I left out Vincent Price, so I'm too upset with myself to post a Lee tribute just yet.