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Who do you think is the greatest film actor/actress of all time?

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WI_DEM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 06:53 PM
Original message
Who do you think is the greatest film actor/actress of all time?
Edited on Thu Jan-25-07 06:54 PM by WI_DEM
actor: Cary Grant
actress: Bette Davis

oops I did it again, put this in the wrong forum.
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msongs Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 06:55 PM
Response to Original message
1. me? nt
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ayeshahaqqiqa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 06:55 PM
Response to Original message
2. Sam Waterston is my favorite actor
and one of my favorite people. He's very kind and generous with his time and also appreciative of his fans.

Favorite actress? I've no idea.
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CrispyQ Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 06:56 PM
Response to Original message
3. ...
actor: Christopher Walken
actress: Ann Bancroft & Juliette Lewis
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cynatnite Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 06:57 PM
Response to Original message
4. Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart n/t
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peacebird Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 06:58 PM
Response to Original message
5. Katherine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart
Modern times:
Judy Dench or Emma Thompson or Jamie Curtis
Will Smith or Kevin Kline

Up & Coming:
Jake Gyllenhall
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applegrove Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:07 PM
Response to Reply #5
8. Kate Hepburn, Robert Deniro.
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Bridget Burke Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-26-07 08:57 AM
Response to Reply #5
53. "Philadelphia Story" has Hepburn, Stewart--& Cary Grant as a bonus!
For modern actors, I'd say that Johnny Depp has shown the greatest range. He can do obscure, arty stuff--then turn a film based on a Disneyland ride into a blockbuster trilogy.

I'll get back to you on the best modern actress.


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Caoimhe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:00 PM
Response to Original message
6. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman
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Staph Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:05 PM
Response to Original message
7. I like the oldies but goodies.
Greta Garbo (the final scene of Queen Christina, with Garbo's thousand yard stare, is amazing)

Spencer Tracy (you never catch him "acting". He simply "is".)
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The Blue Flower Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:08 PM
Response to Original message
9. Kate Blanchett
Trying to think of an actor.
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aint_no_life_nowhere Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 08:09 PM
Response to Reply #9
35. Agree - She's the greatest in film today
No question.
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brucefan Donating Member (421 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:10 PM
Response to Original message
10. Jack Lemmon,Meryl Streep
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WiseButAngrySara Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:16 PM
Response to Reply #10
13. That's a good pair.. Second it .
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piedmont Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:11 PM
Response to Original message
11. Jimmy Stewart/Kate Hepburn nt
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enid602 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:13 PM
Response to Original message
12. actors
Tony Snow and Condoleeza Rice.


Oh, those kind of actors. . .
Cantinflas, Gena Rollins, Faye Dunnaway
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Missy M Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:17 PM
Response to Original message
14. Two for actress...
Actress: Meryl Streep - Cate Blanchett
Actor: Russell Crowe
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kerry-is-my-prez Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:20 PM
Response to Original message
15. Meryl Streep
n/t
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idgiehkt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:12 PM
Response to Reply #15
45. yep, Streep for female, Viggo Mortenson for male n/t
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soleft Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-26-07 09:58 AM
Response to Reply #15
55. Meryl Streep exists on her own plain
At a very close level you'll find Helen Mirren, Cate Blanchete and Toni Collette.
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Sequoia Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:31 PM
Response to Original message
16. Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman
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BuyingThyme Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:33 PM
Response to Original message
17. Billy Murray, Amy Sedaris
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alfredo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:34 PM
Response to Original message
18. Di Niro and Streep.
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Duer 157099 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-26-07 12:35 AM
Response to Reply #18
49. Exactly my two choices!
:toast:
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Rowdyboy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:37 PM
Response to Original message
19. Henry Fonda and Kate Hepburn
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sendero Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:39 PM
Response to Reply #19
20. That ..
.. is what I was about to type.
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Rowdyboy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 09:16 PM
Response to Reply #20
38. Its a tough question, with Jimmy Stewart, Richard Burton, Bette Davis and Liz Taylor....
still out there. But I think we chose the absolute best of the best.
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lonestarnot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:42 PM
Response to Original message
21. Susan Seranden, Kate Hepburn, Susan Hayward (sp?) not
necessarily in that order.
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Ian David Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:45 PM
Response to Original message
22. Paul Ruben and Yahoo Serious. n/t
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slackmaster Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:45 PM
Response to Original message
23. Marlon Brando, maybe Katherine Hepburn
:nuke:
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doc03 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:50 PM
Response to Original message
24. Keanu Reeves and Paris Hilton
:hide:
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karlrschneider Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:51 PM
Response to Reply #24
25. And wouldn't you know, the nuclear blocking function is gone.
:evilgrin:
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cynatnite Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:51 PM
Response to Reply #24
26. Paris Hilton is an actress?
Hmmm...learn something new every day.
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doc03 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 08:39 PM
Response to Reply #26
37. Co-stared in "A Night in Paris"
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jobycom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:10 PM
Response to Reply #37
44. Perhaps the most appropriate typo in all of DU history.
Co-stared.
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Swamp Rat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 07:54 PM
Response to Original message
27. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy
Those are my favs.

I do LOVE Hepburn and Bogart in "The African Queen."

Audrey Hepburn was a great actress and humanitarian too.
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Cameron27 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 08:02 PM
Response to Reply #27
28. Love, love, love, that duo!!
Ok, I'll pick Myrna Loy for the Thin Man series, and Cary Grant for the best physical comedy ever.
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WI_DEM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 08:05 PM
Response to Reply #28
30. oh yeah, Myrna Loy and William Powell were a great screen couple!
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cynatnite Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 08:08 PM
Response to Reply #27
33. Talked to some RW nutjob women at the VA about her...
because they saw me reading her book. I knew they were RW nutjobs from their comments about Ron Howard directing Da Vinci Code and a few other remarks. I almost told them about her donations to Planned Parenthood and how much she loathed Raygun. :evilgrin:
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cmkramer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 08:05 PM
Response to Original message
29. Lon Chaney and Greta Garbo
for the "olden days".

Robert DeNiro and Meryl Streep for today.

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leeroysphitz Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 08:07 PM
Response to Original message
31. Lol. I'll tell you in the lounge!
:evilgrin:
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aint_no_life_nowhere Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 08:07 PM
Response to Original message
32. Orson Welles called the French character actor Raimu THE greatest of all time
If anyone has ever seen the films of Raimu, which have among the greatest performances of any actor during the 1930s and 1940s, they know what Orson Welles meant. Raimu was a tower of greatness.

I would add French actor Louis Jouvet to that number, too, who was primarily a stage actor but who gave magnificant screen performances. He could play gangsters, aristocrats, homeless bums, aging and world weary detectives, scamming doctors, you name it. He's probably my favorite actor to watch for the sheer skill of his acting ability.

Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, and Erich Von Stroheim are also ones I would rank at the very top of the profession. Bogart was more than just a great actor, whether it's The Big Sleep, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, or The Caine Mutiny, he was and will always be the legend of legends on the screen.

In more modern times, I would say Gene Hackman and Robert Duval deserve mention.

Among the actors in film today, Academy Award winning, Golden Globe winning (and almost every other major acting award winning) Cate Blanchett is the only one who comes to mind when I think of these other great actors in history and when the word "greatness" is spoken. There are many fine actors today, but she's the only one who I feel can be mentioned in the same breath with "greatness", the best person acting on film today in my opinion (and I'm not talking about Lord Of The Rings, either).
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Tierra_y_Libertad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 08:08 PM
Response to Original message
34. Marcello Mastroianni and Vanessa Redgrave.
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mnhtnbb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 08:21 PM
Response to Original message
36. Toss-up between Paul Newman and Jack Nicholson for male;
Katharine Hepburn and Meryl Streep for female.
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cmkramer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 10:52 PM
Response to Reply #36
41. I love Jack Nicholson
He's my favorite movie star. But I still think DeNiro is the better actor.
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GenDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 09:39 PM
Response to Original message
39. Hate to be redundent but Katharine Hepburn & Gregory Peck
Modern day -
-Frances McDormand
-Morgan Freeman

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momophile Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 10:29 PM
Response to Original message
40. recently, Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson
of old, Gregory Peck and I don't know.
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Penndems Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 10:52 PM
Response to Original message
42. Actors: Marlon Brando and Hal Holbrook
Actresses: Meryl Streep and Bette Davis
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johnnie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 10:56 PM
Response to Original message
43. I like James Dean
He was pretty friggin' good in his 3 movies.

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jobycom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:17 PM
Response to Original message
46. Meryl Streep, and I can't decide between DeNiro or Geoffrey Rush.
Rush doesn't have the body of work of DeNiro, but he's turned in a few spectacular performances that combine the intense emotional appeal of a Tom Hanks style actor with the technical brilliance of a Burton or Olivier. He has greater range than DeNiro. DeNiro has a better overall portfolio, though. So, DeNiro for achievement, Rush for pure ability.

My opinion may change at any moment.
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begin_within Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:19 PM
Response to Original message
47. Actor: James Dean ... Actress: Ingrid Bergman
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Connonym Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-26-07 12:16 AM
Response to Original message
48. Paul Newman
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Seabiscuit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-26-07 06:21 AM
Response to Original message
50. Anthony Hopkins/Robert Deniro + Kate Blanchett
Edited on Fri Jan-26-07 06:25 AM by Seabiscuit
Honorable mention to: Paul Newman and Kate Winslett.
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Beausoleil Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-26-07 08:21 AM
Response to Original message
51. Don't know about greatest
but my favorite current actors are Kevin Spacey and Susan Sarandon.

All time favorites: Peter O'Toole and Kate Hepburn

Shirley Maclaine is right up there.
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BOSSHOG Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-26-07 08:22 AM
Response to Original message
52. Paul Newman and Geena Davis
Cool Hand Luke and Thelma
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LostinVA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-26-07 09:42 AM
Response to Original message
54. Kate Winslet
And NO, it's not just because I lust after her.
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sweetheart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-26-07 10:18 AM
Response to Original message
56. Peter Sellers / meryl streep
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NYCGirl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-26-07 10:23 AM
Response to Original message
57. I agree with David Thomson, who write "The Biographical Dictionary of Film"
(a great reference source). He says the two greatest film actors are Cary Grant and Robert Mitchum. Mitch is my favorite.


http://www.amazon.com/New-Biographical-Dictionary-Film-Expanded/dp/0375709401/sr=8-2/qid=1169824897/ref=sr_1_2/002-4763989-5681634?ie=UTF8&s=books
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