- Robert De Niro
- James Stewart
- Marlon Brando
- Humphrey Bogart
- Jack Nicholson
- Al Pacino
- Daniel Day-Lewis
- Toshiro Mifune
- Charlie Chaplin
- Cary Grant
- Marcello Mastroianni
- John Wayne
- Henry Fonda
- Paul Newman
- William Holden
- Klaus Kinski
- Dustin Hoffman
- Gene Hackman
- Clint Eastwood
- Leonardo DiCaprio
- Max von Sydow
- Robert Mitchum
- Brad Pitt
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Burt Lancaster
- Jean-Paul Belmondo
- Buster Keaton
- Montgomery Clift
- Tony Leung
- Tom Cruise
- Jean Gabin
- James Cagney
- Kirk Douglas
- Bill Murray
- Sean Connery
- Tom Hanks
- Denzel Washington
- Clark Gable
- Sean Penn
- Joseph Cotton
- Jean-Louis Trintignant
- Edward Norton
- Harrison Ford
- Takashi Shimura
- Joe Pesci
- Laurence Olivier
- Emil Jannings
- Harvey Keitel
- Joaquin Phoenix
- Christian Bale
- Paul Muni
- Ryan Gosling
- Ralph Fiennes
- Chisu Ryu
- Peter O’Toole
- Heath Ledger
- Morgan Freeman
- Orson Welles
- Jeff Bridges
- Michael Caine
- James Dean
- Alain Delon
- Steve McQueen
- Martin Sheen
- Warren Beaty
- Anthony Hopkins
- Robert Duvall
- Johnny Depp
- Frank Sinatra
- Jack Lemmon
- Gary Cooper
- Peter Lorre
- Edward G. Robinson
- Bruce Willis
- Samuel L. Jackson
- Rod Steiger
- Matt Damon
- George C. Scott
- George Clooney
- John Cazale
- Christopher Walken
- Peter Sellers
- Gunnar Bjornstrand
- Robert Redford
- Alec Guinness
- John Hurt
- Jean- Pierre Leaud
- Robert Shaw
- Richard Burton
- John Goodman
- Casey Affleck
- Donald Sutherland
- Russell Crowe
- Roy Schieder
- Maurice Chevalier
- Ray Liotta
- Kevin Spacey
- Thomas Mitchell
- Anthony Quinn
- Willem Dafoe
Gary Oldman is around my top 25
Hi Leo,
I love Gary Oldman. Definitely one I thought hard about and lamented having to leave off. Again, the the list is more about accomplishments than acting talent or range- both of which i think Oldman has in abundance. Is there one here on the top 100 that you would point to as who you would leave off in exchange for Oldman?
Yes I agree, I think maybe it’s because he doesn’t star in too many GREAT movies that he doesn’t deserve a very high spot that would match his pure talent. I would maybe switch out Willam Dafoe though I obviously love him too. This is a great list though I agree with most of it, especially the top 10, also maybe i would’ve very hesitantly switched out Mastroianni for Grant or Chaplin.
Hey man! No Charles Laughton? 😝😝
Hey Adam– it was tough to leave Laughton off– I have no beef if he’s on your list– similar to my comment here to Leo on Gary Oldman- I just don’t have Laughton in that many great films. Island of Lost Souls, Mutiny on the Bounty, Spartacus– I have 16 archiveable films for Laughton here below–
who would you take off to put Laughton on?
1932- If I Had a Million
1932- Island Of Lost Souls
1932- The Old Dark Horse
1933- The Private Life of Henry the VIII
1935- Les Miserable
1935- Mutiny On the Bounty
1935- Ruggles of Red Cap
1936- Rembrandt
1938- Sidewalks of London
1939- Jamacia Inn
1939- The Hunchback of Notre Dame
1948- The Big Clock
1954- Hobson’s Choice
1957- Witness For the Prosecution
1960- Spartacus
1962-Advise and Consent
Yes no Laughton no depardieu who should be no1
Hello Jean,
thanks for the comment– I’m fine if you think Gérard Depardieu should be on the list… but #1?!?!? haha wow. I’m sorry but that’s ridiculous. He’s a fine actor but his resume does not warrant top 50 consideration.
Nice ranking , and great website , thank you for all the great content your provide, however i think the best Actor of all time is Daniel Day Lewis with all due respect to Robert De niro
DDL is a fine choice. I still owe “Phantom Thread” another rewatch soon. What criteria are you using?
Ummmm… no johnny depp?
@ Quenton– Depp is #68
How the hell is Olivier not in top 10?
Hey Chipper- who would you move down in order to make room for Olivier? I love Olivier and admire his skill but also keep in mind i’m not considering, at all, his famous reputation as one of the best stage actors of the 20th century– i go on a little about it on his page but he didn’t make a lot of great films (relative to the others ahead of him on this list) and the auteur/director he worked with most often was…. himself— not a crazy-great artist behind the camera
“best film: It’s either Rebecca or Spartacus and this is Olivier’s problem. These films are with Kubrick and Hitchcock—the best two directors of all-time. But—and it’s a big but—I have these two films as Kubrick’s 10th best and Hitchcock’s 12th best film. Basically what I’m saying is if you were watching the greatest works of film art in order of greatness you’re going to go a very long time before you get to a Laurence Olivier movie sadly. I do not believe that’s totally coincidental despite Olivier’s obvious greatness as an actor”
It might not be entirely coincidental. Still, I think you are putting too much emphasis on participation in the absolute greatest films. Also, do bad films factor in at all? I was thinking about De Niro, but I guess almost every great actor has made a lot of bad films for long periods of time. Why is this list so heavily American by the way? I find that a little strange when comparing it to your list of directors.
Hey RK- Thanks for the comments. Many agree with you that I put too much emphasis on the greatest films. It’s impossible to calculate how many solid performances by Spencer Tracy, Gregory Peck or Charles Laughton (three guys not on the list) Ray Liotta’s performance in “Goodfellas” is worth. I’m up for the debate but I’m comfortable with my position.
I don’t really factor in bad films– that’s an interesting thought. De Niro obviously has a much lower “per film quality” average than Daniel Day-Lewis and many others. De Niro has been mostly awful since 1997 or 1998 if you want to count back from Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown” or Cuaron’s “Great Expectations” save a few David O. Russell films/performances. I think it’s like Michael Jordan in Washington or any great athlete who stays too long– i just think back to their glory days and better films. If you wanted to go strictly but “per film average” i think it would skew things too far the other way and you’d have like John Cazale and James Dean ahead of Brando
I don’t think it’s overly american– who do you want to move up, down or out? That’s too broad of a criticism for me to defend.
This is the first solid list I have come across. And the response of the author makes it even better. I do believe Tom Hanks should have been ranked higher. And Tom Cruise shouldn’t be as high. Is Tom Cruise really better than Peter O’toole, Clark Gable and a host of others.
HI Alexis- Thanks for the comment and your take here. I love O’Toole, Hanks and Gable. I think for O’Toole and Gable the depth of their career isn’t as strong as their best work (between the two of them this would be Lawrence of Arabia, Gone With the Wind and It Happened One Night). Cruise frankly has more depth there. I also admire so much what Cruise accomplished in 1999 with both Kubrick and P.T. Anderson– it’s just such a massive year. Hanks I like– but who would you move him above? Cruise? Most would say Brad Pitt but give me the work Pitt did with David Fincher over the work Hanks did with either Spielberg or Zemeckis.
I would have William Hurt in there. He had an impressive run in the 80s that included an Academy Award for Best Actor (Kiss of the Spiderwoman) and 2 other Best Actor nominations (Children of a Lesser God and Broadcast News). He was also the lead Actor in the Accidental Tourist which was nominated for Best Picture. Other films that he did during that span were Body Heat, The Big Chill, and The Doctor. Over the last 20 years he’s been mostly a supporting actor and received another Academy Award nomination in 2005. That’s a strong body of work and an impressive resume imo.
Thanks for the William Hurt nomination here. I have 13 archiveable films with Hurt in it– and half of them really solid lead performances during that impressive run in the 80’s you mention here. When i did the best 5 or so performance of each year one by one I only came up with one Hurt performance though- his work in Body Heat from 81′– that just wasn’t enough with 100+ years of cinema.
Hey, so, I am really not very familiar with actors, since I have been studying actresses more thoroughly, recently. However, I cannot help but point out that Bruno Ganz is missing from the list. He is a personal favourite of mine, and a really talented and underrated actor. He has been in “Downfall” (outstanding performance, probably worth of an Oscar) and in “Wings of Desire”, both of which would be easily in the ” top 5 films of the year” list, for me. Then again, I am also very fond of his occasional work with Theo Angelopoulos (“Eternity and a Day”, “The Dust of Time”). Before ” Downfall” he seemed to me like an actor with distinct melancholic and cerebral qaulities, if you will, but when I came around to “Downfall” I was stunned by how utterly different Hitler was from any other role he played and how well he brought this notorious figure (putting it mildly) to life. So he would easily be a top 80 for me, maybe even a top 50, but I really ought to do an all-around better study of male actors.
@G – thanks for the comment– Bruno Ganz is an excellent choice. On top of the films you mention here he’s very good in Wenders 1977 film “The American Friend”
Thank you for the recommendation, I will definitely check it out!
I found your website recently, and I am loving the content over here. This list is great, I think Hoffman should be closer to the Top 10, Caine and Freeman are a bit too low for my taste. Seeing this list confirms to me that Heath Ledger is one of the great what ifs in recent cinematic history.
Two requests: A list of films with the Best starpower (Actor + Director+ Screen writer+ Musicians involved. Godfather would probably be the run away winner, but a list would be much appreciated.
Second, a list on the Greatest Acting performances. You mention it in your descriptions, but a standalone list would be great.
Hi AP-
Thanks for the note- Hoffman, Caine and Freeman are hard to argue with- I love all three. Anyone ahead of them specifically you’d move down to make room for them?
Yeah- Heath Ledger–so sad– would’ve been one of the all-time greats.
hmm- best star power—- I think this was a topic when “Dark Knight Rises” came out in 2012 or around then but it’s usually only concerning actors — you’re changing it up by combining director/writer/music director…. if we were just doing actors it may be like “a bridge too far” or “how the west was won” as those ensemble films seem to be like a murders’ row of acting talent…. maybe “the player” from altman? lots of cameos there though. I’m probably not the guy to ask on music or writing but “vertigo” has my #1 director of all-time, my #2 actor of all-time, and Bernard Herrmann has to be one of the best 5 on the music side of all-time.
thanks for the suggestion on best performances, too. i could tackle this one. If you go into my “archives by year” i always pick out the performance of the year and runners up on the male and female side. I could pull those apart and rank them.
Samuel Jackson deserves to be on this list!
He is E. he’s #75 and there’s a big fat picture of him. Samuel L. is a great actor
liam neeson and nicolas cage are both terrific, top at least 50-75 actors of all time. i know cage can be eccentric but he is a great actor and more importantly very passionate. adrien brody maybe 100 and id be okay putting ben kingsley or gregory peck (or even robin williams) as in the top 15. rutger hauer? IAN MCKELLEN Patrick Stewart? IAN MCKELLEN? now i know you dont include plays but if you did McKellen may be the #1 actor ever. i love bruce willis and samuel l jackson but i dont see them above any of the above mentioned actors except maybe cage.
one of the great performances in my opinion is neeson in Spielbergs Schindlers List.
also for actresses, where is sean young who in blade runner i believe gave an all time great performance.
also, id include woody allen for his all time great comedy performance in annie hall masterpiece.
Hi M– good stuff here- thanks for the comments. I like all the actors you mention but have various reasons for thinking they’re not superior to Samuel L and Willis. Good feedback though. thanks
liam neeson? id put him top 25
HI Michael– Neeson in the top 25 huh? What’s his second best performance after Schindler’s List? That’s where you lose me. And who in the top 25 are you moving out to put in Neeson?
ok maybe not 25 but i think that he is top 100. even in films that arent the best, like phantom menace or the cheesy action flick taken he is still great i think. taken is a funny one, because that film is not very good, and without neesons acting and facial expressions and delivery it would be unwatchable. also, i think you should do a top performances thing, top 100 all time acting performances. neeson in Schindlers list would be top 40 or so for me. thank you
@michael- thanks again for the comment. I think i agree with you on Neeson in Schindler’s list– if it’s not top 40 it’s close. and i don’t really factor in how good actors are in bad or even mediocre movies. If they’re slaying it in a bad movie, doing theater in the park or on a stage— it doesn’t factor in. To use a sports analogy it’s like scoring a lot of points in an exhibition or preseason game. It doesn’t do much for me except wish they had done it for real in an a good, great or masterpiece-level movie
1.Jack Nicholson should be number #1
2.leonardo DiCaprio
3.robert de niro
4.morgan Freeman
5.denzel Washington
I don’t see Liam neeson, Jim Carrey,tom hardy🤔??
solid top 5 but where’s everybody before Jack? 100+ years of cinema and the 5 best are all from the last 50? Liam Neeson is great in Schindler’s List but missing a strong #2 film where he gives one of the year’s best performances — even someone like Ray Liotta has that with “Something Wild”. I love Tom Hardy but i’m ready for him to give the best performance in a really good movie. His best movies “inception”, “mad max” “the revenant” someone else is giving the best performance in those films– and the movies where he’s giving the best performance are “warrior”, “bronson” “locke” are all about the 29th best film of their respective years…. Jim Carrey wouldn’t make my top 250. Needs a lot more work like “Eternal Sunshine” or “Truman Show”
Sorry but when you are making a list of actors who you would state are the greatest of all time to not have such giant figures as Tracy, Laughton or Peck I find really hard to take, not to mention amazing actors such as Fredric March.
What’s the methodology you are using? Don’t get me wrong I love parts of your list and the sheer work you have put in j to each entry is amazing, I just read the Mitchum entry and am full of admiration.
Just curious to know how you came up with it?
@ Dean day — thanks for the comment — Tracy, Laughton and Peck are great actors– but i’d argue so are all of the actors I have on the list above. What separates them is probably the quality of the films they are in. These three are in a lot of very good films, but i’m pretty confident they are in a combined total of 0 of the top 500 films of all-time. What’s missing from all three is the continued pairing with a great auteur.
My criteria for this list was going year by year and selecting the best 3-8 or so performances (depending on merit) on both the male and female side and then awarding points to them and then adding them all up (De Niro in Raging Bull worth more than Bob Hoskins in The Long Good Friday or John Hurt in The Elephant Man if we’re looking at 1980 say). But even to get mentioned as one of the 3-8 you couldn’t be very good in the 17th best films of the year which was often the case with say Spencer Tracy.
I understand your system I think, but would it give a wider more balanced result if you put more performances in the mix? Remember an actors performance is not only considered great just because of the overall film, in fact their are many examples of the opposite, that an actor has given an unremarkable performance in a great movie. Remember Tracy for example was widely considered by his own peers as the outstanding movie actor of his generation.
His performance in say the seventh cross was considered stunning although the movie itself was not a classic. Tyrone Powers best performance by far is now commonly agreed to be Nightmare Alley.
West Side Story is considered one of the best movies of 61 but does that mean Richard Breymer gave a great performance?
Would you be interested if I came up with another points system? Again your work here is stunning, it’s just a subject I am quite passionate about.
@ Dean day. Really good stuff here- thanks again for sharing and commenting. I think my points system is the best (which is why i picked it). Doing great work in bad or mediocre movies is common and frankly not of much interest to me. i mostly just feel regret they didn’t do it in better movie– sort of a waste. It’s like scoring a lot of points in a preseason or exhibition game in sports… meh
… Needless to say what Ray Liotta does in “Goodfellas” is worth 5 or 10 solid Spencer Tracy performances in the 24th best movie of their respective year
…. as for West Side Story and 1961 i didn’t award any points to Beymer. I don’t just select the lead actor of great films. The actor has to be great- that goes without saying. Beymer is fine and does some good work but the 4 actors/performances i singled out from 1961 are Paul Newman (The Hustler), Mastroianni (La Notte), Mifune (Yojimbo) and Franco Citti (Accatone)
Aamir Khan is a top 100 actor.
nah
A great site. No Omar Sheriff in top list?
@Uday — appreciate the comment– here are the archiveable films for Sharif — a great actor and a really solid run there in the 60’s but a little light for the top 100 and i don’t think any one of the single performances here are overwhelmingly brilliant.
1962- Lawrence of Arabia
1965- Doctor Zhivago
1968- Funny Girl
1974- Juggernaut
Denzel Washington should be top 3. Keanu Reeves should be on the list.
@Cheryl — thanks for the comments. Denzel hasn’t been in enough great films– or worked with enough great auteurs -to be top 3. That’s interesting about Keanu. I think there are points in his career would i would just outwardly call him a bad actor and laugh at the suggestion here but i’m not laughing anymore. I would still need a few times during his career where i say “wow he gave one of the best performances of the year” and i just don’t have that with Keanu.
I think the list is pretty solid but Sam Jackson should definitely be higher up as well as Jeff Bridges and Robert Redford. James Franco should be somewhere on the list too.
@Sage— thanks for the comment. moving up 4 guys here— which 4 are you moving down? James Franco, huh? I haven’t heard that one. “127 Hours”, “Milk”– great in those– “Spring Breakers” is an interesting film. i just don’t quite think the resume is there yet.
Tom hanks on 36 lol ?! R u serious rn ?!
@ayman– appreciate the comment. Very serious. Are you lol’ing because you think I’m underrating him or overrating him? i can’t tell
Hanks is overrated. A top 10-15 in people’s mind. 36# is a good spot.
Denzel way to Low.. I’m out.
@Tirrellx– thanks for the comment. I get that one a lot on Denzel. I just wish he had worked with more auteurs and great directors. A really nice run with Spike but not much beyond that. Denzel has been in a shockingly low # of really great films.
Is this list serious or satire? I can’t tell. It’s almost like a lot of legit actors were put in here, and then some “funny funny, haha” choices are thrown in for comic relief. Tom Cruise?? Dude is the same guy in. Every. F’ing. Movie. What’s your barometer for measuring this? Blockbuster movies? You forgot Nick Cage. Maybe Hayden Christensen too? Jason Stratham? The Rock?
You also include Casey Affleck, Ray Liotta, Bruce Willis and you leave off legends like Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, Gary Oldman, just to name a few.
I’m seriously asking. It’s like you were serious through #29 then just decided to make a joke out of the rest.
@JediMasterEkim69 .. thanks for the comment– even if its a little unnecessarily mean-spirited. I like how you gave me three you’d take off (Willis, Casey Affleck, Liotta) and then gave me three you’d add (Ed Harris, Viggo, Gary Oldman)– totally fair. I don’t want to go into all 6 actors here and their case individually but could if you have one you’d like me to explain further. All three you added here are great actors and would be somewhere between 101-150 for me so i don’t have a big problem with you making the switch.
Your Tom Cruise take needs correcting though. If you don’t think he should be #30- that’s fine. But you’re making mistakes here that need to be cleaned up. 1. I don’t agree with the idea that he plays the same person in every movie. His roles in “Magnolia”, “Collateral”, “Eyes Wide Shut”, “Born on the 4th of July”–different. 2. Even if he is the same guy in every movie your idea that “acting range” is somehow synonymous with “great actor” is just plainly false. It is a factor. But so is screen presence and resume. Paul Muni, Laurence Olivier Willem Dafoe, Alec Guinness and John Hurt all have greater range than Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin, Toshiro Mifune, Humphrey Bogart and yes… Tom Cruise. I love all ten actors but you can’t make range the only criteria or that slippery slope would push off some of the greatest actors of all-time.
I don’t know much about technology and such, but there should be a way in which I can click on the actor’s name and it takes me to the page where you discuss the select artist in detail. Would be much appreciated if you can do it.
I expect The Irishman and The Joker to make a difference for Pesci and Phoenix. Think they can both creep into the Top 40 if their respective films deliver. On second thought, it could also make a difference for Pacino as well. Let’s see.
@AP – haha yeah- i can’t tell if you’re making fun of the website or not but yeah I can, and should, be able to hyperlink the connected films and actors on a page. It’ll happen eventually i’m just not sure when i’ll have the time. For now if you want to find the individual pages you’ll have to search for them.
I hope you’re right about “The Irishman” and “The Joker”. Though Todd Phillips (The Joker) is no Scorsese– I have more faith in Phoenix at this point. i hope i’m wrong but it’s been a long time since Pacino, Pesci and De Niro have been at the top of their game. Hopefully they can really bring it here– one last time. It would be awesome.
Of all the actors on this list, where is the great John Garfield??? Why is is forgoton? Whys is Joe Pesci on here…he couldnt shine Garfields shoes on his best day! And that goes for many others!! And Dinero is not # 1!
@Dennis George – thank you very much for visiting the site and the comment. Hmm- John Garfield. I think John Garfield is a fantastic actor and certainly is in my top 150 (so just missing the list). He has range, certainly has power– a screen presence for sure. The knock against him is he’s in 12 archiveable films (below) and none of them are in the top 500 of all-time. Zero. He’s in some very good films– and he’s great in them. But Pesci is simply magnificent in both “Raging Bull” and especially “Goodfellas” and they have to be in the top 50 of all-time for anyone who truly appreciates cinema…. and i haven’t even mentioned his work in “JFK” or “Casino”. So, sadly when comparing Pesci and John Garfield we have Pesci “winning” quite easily.
1933- Footlight Parade
1938- Four Daughters
1939- Juarez
1939- They Made Me a Criminal
1941- The Sea Wolf
1943- Air Force
1946- The Postman Always Rings Twice
1947- Body and Soul
1947- Gentlemen’s Agreement
1948- Force of Evil
1949- We Were Strangers
1950- The Breaking Point
I would like to see Gérard Depardieu. En France,it’s a monstre sacré. Maybe,i can recommande you movies :
Les Valseuses (1974) – Bertrand Blier
1900 (1976) – Bernardo Bertolucci
Buffet Froid (1979) – Bertrand Blier
Mon oncle d’Amérique (1980) – Alain Resnais
Loulou (1980) – Maurice Pialat
Le Dernier Métro (1980) – François Truffaut
Tenue de soirée (1986) – Bertrand Blier
Jean de Florette (1986) – Claude Berri
Sous le soleil de Satan (1987) – Maurice Pialat
Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) – Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Germinal (1993) – Claude Berri
Mammuth (2010) – Gustave Kervern & Benoit Delepine
12 movies & i stopped myself. His pairing with Pialat (4) & Blier (8) are essential.
@ KidCharlemagne — Thanks again for the comment. In the archives year-by-year i note the archiveable debut of Depardieu in my summary of 1976 and the great year for him in 1980 with both the Last Metro and Mon Oncle d’Amérique but i don’t have a single year where i think he gives one of the best 4-5 performances of the year. Do you? These are the 10 movies I have with him in it in my archives and it’s a strong resume- but without a year where he gives a top 5 performance it’s sort of a non-starter for me to make this list. I’m sure i have work to do and will continue to update my list as I watch, and rewatch, more Depardieu. I’ll also make an effort to study Pialat and Blier- I’ve seen a few films here and there but not enough to have much to say on them yet. Thanks again for the recommendations
1976- 1900
1980- Mon Oncle d’Amérique
1980- The Last Metro
1981- The Woman Next Door
1983- Danton
1986- Jean de Florette
1990- Cyrano de Bergenac
1996- Hamlet
2007- La Vie en Rose
2012- Life of Pi
Hi ! Thanks for the reply.
I think he gives a top 5 performances in :
1980 maybe. (5-6#)
1983 sure with Danton,great performance.
1986 maybe. (4-5#).
1990 sure. His greatest performance,academy award nomination (dosnt win because of a rape scandal).
@KidCharlemagne — thanks again— i look forward to revisiting some of Depardieu’s work to see if I lean more towards your thinking on him