selected by actors.....
50. James Dean
49. Dennis Hopper
48. Burt Lancaster
47. Sidney Poitier
46. Vivien Leigh
45. Orson Welles
44. Greta Garbo
43. Steve McQueen
42. Alison Steadman
41. Helena Bonham-Carter
40. Denzel Washington
39. Tom Hanks
38. Charlie Chaplin
37. Charles Laughton
36. Gary Oldman
35. Frank Sinatra
34. Rod Steiger
33. John Mills
32. Gena Rowlands
31. Gene Hackman
30. Brad Pitt
29. Kate Winslet
28. Judy Garland
27. Humphrey Bogart
26. Meryl Streep
25. John Gielgud
24. Peter Sellers
23. Cary Grant
22. Albert Finney
21. Dustin Hoffman
20. Maggie Smith
19. Sean Penn
18. Edward Norton
17. Bette Davis
16. Montgomery Clift
15. Daniel Day-Lewis
14. Christoper Walken
13. James Stewart
12. Richard Burton
11. Alec Guinness
10. Spencer Tracy
9. Katharine Hepburn
8. Judi Dench
7. Jack Nicholson
6. Robert De Niro
5. Al Pacino
4. Laurence Olivier
3. Anthony Hopkins
2. Johnny Depp
1. Marlon Brando
I think some of the old timers (Poitier, Lancaster, McQueen, etc..) should be further up on the list. I have always thought Brando was way over rated, the guy didn't even like acting and in later years didn't even bother learning his lines (they had to use cue cards).
Here's where the site (http://www.channel4.tv/film/newsfeatures/microsites/W/worlds_greatest_actor/index.html) the list came from.
At least Tom Cruise isn't on the list.
Sidney Poitier - 47?!? WTF?!? He should rank much higher. (And not because he's black either.)But I am extremely surprised people like John Mills and Maggie Smith even got on the list. Not because they aren't extraordinary actors, but because in the States they are only partly known.
Another s**t list...where the **** is Clint Eastwood? Ok, many of his movies were pure entertainment but can you say he shouldn't be on that list for as long as he's been around and as many movies as he's made? The man can act when he has a role that calls for it.
These actors are not on the list, but should be (in no particular order):
* Paul Newman (who should be WAY up in the top 10)
* James Cagney
* Kim Novak
* George C. Scott
* Gregory Peck
* Jack Lemmon (you may scoff, but check him out in movies like THE DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES, SAVE THE TIGER, THE APARTMENT, and SOME LIKE IT HOT if you don't believe me)
* Lee J. Cobb
* Susan Hayward
* Frederick March
* Grace Kelly (although, she did have a very brief career before she ran off and married the Prince of Monaco)
These people should be higher on the list:
* Dustin Hoffman
* Gene Hackman
* Charles Laughton
* Sidney Poitier
* Meryl Streep
These people should be lower on the list:
* Johnny Depp (he's excellent, but he hasn't quite reached DeNiro, Pacino, Nicholson, etc., status yet)
* Richard Burton (he had a lot of strong performances, but he was a hack during the last 10 years of his career - - sort of like Ray Milland)
* Judy Garland (I don't think she turned in enough top-notch performances to even be in the top 75 let alone the top 50)
Also Harrison Ford and Peter O'Toole should be there
<<* Jack Lemmon (you may scoff, but check him out in movies like THE DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES, SAVE THE TIGER, THE APARTMENT, and SOME LIKE IT HOT if you don't believe me) >>
It's really funny that you mention Lemmon, because in a conversation I had with my dad some years ago, he said that he considered him to be a comedic actor, and then I said that I considered him to be more of a dramatic actor that had done comedy. Turns out my dad had only seen Lemmon's (older) comedies.