Here I am again, with another top list! But that’s not an ordinary one. Three years ago, I presented you a top 100 of my most favourite actors and, today, I’ve decided to do the same exercise because, obviously, in three years, tastes change. I discovered new actors. When I completed my new list, I was under the impression that it hadn’t changed a lot since the last time but, when I compared both lists, I realized it had. Some actors rank higher now and some rank lower. Some aren’t on the list anymore, and we can observe new additions. You might think that it is difficult to do such a list. Yes, it is. I initinally just made a list of actors that I liked and the final number was 164 (and I’m sure I forgot some). I other words, I had to sacrifice 64 actors in order to reduce the countdown to 100. Some heartbreaking decisions had to be made. Among the constraints I gave myself for this list, there was the following ones:
- I must have seen the actor in AT LEAST three films. It was two for the first list but making it to three for this one would make the elimination easier. But, I agree with you that, sometimes, you just need to see the actor in one film for him to become a favourite. I’ve decided not to include films where the said actor is uncredited. However, I’ve included TV shows.
- I also gave myself the duty to list actors that I like and not to try to please the crowd by saying to myself. “Hum, maybe I should include this actor, everybody likes him.” Therefore, you might see some unusual choices and not only A-list actors.
- And you’ve guessed it, this list is very subjective. Here I chose actors I personally love but I’m not claiming these are the best actors, just that I love him. So, I ask you to respect my choices.
- If your favourite actor isn’t on the list, there are a few possible reasons why: maybe he was among the 64 ones I had to eliminate, maybe I don’t like him (that’s possible!) or maybe I haven’t seen enough of his movies for him to be on the list. But, I respect everyone’s tastes of course.
Well, I think that’s enough for now. I know you’re impatient to see the list! This time, I’ve decided to present it in decreasing order. I think it makes the whole thing more… suspenseful!
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100-Gig Young (favourite performance: Teacher’s Pet)
99- Yul Brynner (favourite performance: The King and I)
98- Hume Cronyn (favourite performance: Lifeboat)
97- Brad Pitt (favourite peformance: Se7en)
96- Tom Hanks (favourite peformance: Forrest Gump)
95- Alan Arkin (favourite performance: Little Miss Sunshine)
94- Dennis Hopper (favourite peformance: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral)
93- John Garfield (favourite performance: Air Force)
92- Eddie Albert (favourite peformance: You Gotta Stay Happy)
91- Daniel Day-Lewis (favourite performance : In the Name of the Father)
90- Johnny Depp (favourite performance: Ed Wood)
89- Jean Gabin (favourite peformance: La grande illusion)
88- Richard Widmark (favourite performance: Pickup On South Street)
87- Russ Tamblyn (favourite performance: Peyton Place)
86- Glenn Ford (favourite performance: Blackboard Jungle)
85- Michel Côté (favourite peformance: C.R.A.Z.Y – PS: I saw him at the movie theatre were I work the other day. OMG!)
84- Roddy McDowall (favourite performance: The Poseidon Adventure)
83- Frank Gorshin (favourite peformance: Where the Boy Are. But I could also mention his top-notch impressions of Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas)
82- Gene Hackman (favourite performance: The Poseidon Adventure)
81- Charles Coburn (favourite performance: Heaven Can Wait)
80- Robin Williams (favourite performance: Dead Poets Society)
79- Richard Conte (favourite peformance: The Big Combo)
78- Don Taylor (favourite performance: The Naked City)
77- Thomas Mitchell (favourite peformance: Stagecoach)
76- Edmond O’Brien (favourite performance: White Heat)
75- Walter Matthau (favourite peformance: Cactus Flower)
74- Louis Calhern (favourtie peformance: High Society. Sadly, this was his last performance before his death in 1956, the same year the film was released).
73- George Raft (favourite performance: They Drive by Night)
72 – Morgan Freeman (favourite performance: The Shawshank Redemption)
71- George Sanders (favourite peformance: Foreign Correspondent)
70- Eli Wallach (favourite performance: The Misfits)
69- Bill Murray (favourite performance: Rushmore)
68- Alan Mowbray (favourite performance: Merrily We Live)
67- Kirk Douglas (favourite performance: Seven Days in May)
66- Basil Radford (favourite peformance: The Lady Vanishes)
65- Michael Rennie (favourite performance: The Day the Earth Stood Still)
64- Paul Newman (favourite performance: Cool Hand Luke)
63- Charles Laughton (favourite peformance: Witness for the Prosecution)
62- Naunton Wayne (favourite performance: The Lady Vanishes)
61- Henry Fonda (favourite performance: 12 Angry Men)
60- Tony Curtis (favourite performance: The Defiant Ones)
59- Robert Young (favourite performance: Father Knows Best – TV Show)
58- Robert Ryan (favourite performance: Born to Be Bad)
57- Joel McCrea (favourite performance: Foreign Correspondent)
56- Edward Norton (favourite performance: Moonrise Kingdom)
55- Lionel Barrymore (favourite performance: Lady Be Good)
54- Richard Basehart (favourite performance: 14 Hours)
53- Leonardo DiCaprio (favourite performance: What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?)
52- Montgomery Clift (favourite performance: From Here to Eternity)
51- George Kennedy (favourite performance: Cool Hand Luke)
50- John Williams (favourite performance: To Catch A Thief)
49- Paul Douglas (favourite performance: 14 Hours)
48- John Gielgud (favourite performance: Julius Caesar)
47- Sterling Hayden (favourite performance: Dr. Strangelove)
46- Dustin Hoffman (favourite performance: The Graduate)
45- Robert Mitchum (favourite performance: The Night of the Hunter)
44- S.Z. Sakall (favourite performance: Romance on the High Seas)
43- Karl Malden (favourite performance: A Streetcar Named Desire)
42- Dana Andrews (favourite performance: The Best Years of Our Lives)
41- Anthony Hopkins (favourite performance: The Elephant Man)
40- John Mills (favourite performance: Great Expectations)
39- Paul Henreid (favourite performance: Night Train to Munich)
38- Lee J. Cobb (favourite performance: 12 Angry Men)
37- Herbert Marshall (favourite performance: Murder!)
36- Paul Dupuis (favourite performance: Sleeping Car to Trieste)
35- Lew Ayres (favourite performance: All Quiet On the Western Front)
34- Earl Holliman (favourite performance: The Rainmaker)
33- Walter Pidgeon (favourite performance: Mrs. Miniver)
32- Cliff Robertson (favourite performance: Obsession)
31- Brian Aherne (favourite performance: The Swan)
30- Eric Blore (favourite performance: Music In My Heart)
29- Peter Lorre (favourite performance: Secret Agent)
28- Robert De Niro (favourite performance: Taxi Driver)
27- Spencer Tracy (favourite performance: San Francisco)
26- Laurence Olivier (favourite performance: Rebecca)
25- Humphrey Bogart (favourite performance: The Big Sleep)
24- Jack Carson (favourite performance: Romance On the High Seas)
23- Claude Rains (favourite performance: Casablanca)
22- Frank Sinatra (favourite performance: The Man With the Golden Arm)
21- Clark Gable (favourite performance: Gone With the Wind)
20- James Mason (favourite performance: Caught)
19- Charlie Chaplin (favourite performance: Modern Times)
18- Michael Redgrave (favourite performance: The Lady Vanishes)
17- Jack Nicholson (favourite performance: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
16- Jack Lemmon (favourite performance: Some Like It Hot)
15- Peter O’Toole (favourite performance: Lawrence Of Arabia)
14- Marlon Brando (favourite performance: On the Waterfront)
13- Buster Keaton (favourite performance: Blacksmith)
12- James Cagney (favourite performance: White Heat)
11- Gary Cooper (favourite performance: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town)
10- Gregory Peck (favourite performance: To Kill A Mockingbird)
9- Ray Milland (favourite performance: Ministry of Fear)
8- Sidney Poitier (favourite performance: Lilies of the Fields)
7- Fredric March (favourite performance: The Best Years of Our Lives. Fun fact: This is also my favourite Oscar-winning performance by an actor.)
6- Joseph Cotten (favourite performance: Shadow of A Doubt)
5- Burt Lancaster (favourite performance: From Here to Eternity )
4- Cary Grant (favourite performance: Bringing Up Baby)
3- Arthur Kennedy (favourite performance: Bright Victory)
2- William Holden (favourite performance: Sunset Boulevard)
and
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1- James Stewart (favourite performance: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington)
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Well, that’s it! Even if it’s a very subjective list as I’ve said earlier, I hope you enjoyed discovering which actors were part of it! Of course, don’t hesitate to share your favourite actors in the comments!
In case you want to check the first list and compare it with this one, here it is.
See you!
The Wonderful World of Cinema 
Wow! Well done! What an awesome list! If I ever got a chance to make a list like this, my number one wouldn’t be a surprise at all. It’s gonna be just like you and from the same film as well. I really enjoyed reading this.
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Thank you Miedy! You know I was looking at a video on YouTube literally just after I publish that and the lady mentioned Gael Garcia Bernal who is an actor I love but I had completely forgotten he existed when I did my list. So now I hesitate to kick off Gig Young and include him instead. I hate when things like that happen!
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Oh I totally get that, but you know, it happened and you can always update your list in a few months, because there are still so many great films/ performances that I bet you’ll discover down the road.
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Gig Young brings up a conflict I have. Can I set aside my feelings for the artist as a person who might have done horrific things, like Gig Young, and just appreciate their work? It’s hard sometimes. I’m not sure I should. I guess it depends on how much I like the work. For example, I really like Jerry Lee Lewis’s songs. Not that I’m comparing him to Young, who committed uxoricide. I would never suggest *ahem*in public*ahem* that Jerry Lee Lewis committed uxoricide.
Not a fan of Yul Brynner’s work unless that includes his nude modeling days. Then, yesssssss….
When we were painting my room the summer before I started college, my mom and I propped up on the window sill the Rolling Stone magazine with Brad Pitt shirtless on the cover. You know, for inspiration.
If you like Alan Arkin, you should see 13 Conversations about One Thing if you haven’t already. It’s the performance of a lifetime.
I consider Day-Lewis the greatest living actor. And, yet, he doesn’t enjoy it. Imagine being the best in the world at something that millions of people want to do and not being able to feel satisfaction from it. Meanwhile, apropos of nothing, his father did an outstanding translation of The Aeneid.
I really liked Edmond O’Brien in Hunchback of Notre Dame. I was familiar with him as a stocky older fellow. I didn’t expect him to be so spry and attractive.
My favorite Eli Wallach performance is Baby Doll. For me, he walks away with that movie.
Paul Douglas is an unfortunately overlooked actor. I tell people I love his performance in A Letter to Three Wives, and they try to correct me by saying “You mean Kirk Douglas.” I reply, “No, I really don’t.” Even classic film fans often aren’t familiar with Paul.
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen International Velvet, but it was the first movie I saw Anthony Hopkins in. Even when I was a kid, I had a sense that there was something special about him as an actor.
Now that I’ve scrolled down to the 30s, I’ve found some actors I really don’t like—Lee J. Cobb, Walter Pidgeon, and Herbert Marshall. Those are the first on your list whose artistry I really don’t like. There were others whom I don’t like as people—Young, Hoffman, Kirk Douglas, etc.—but have enjoyed their performances. But Cobb, Pidgeon, and Marshall I really dislike as actors even though they might have been great guys.
Love Lew Ayres, as a person and an actor.
Ha, I’m just writing a blog entry now that includes my opinion of Brian Aherne’s deficiencies. He was tall, though. Can’t argue with that. I like that your list is so personal and doesn’t necessarily contain the usual suspects.
I like that Arthur Kennedy is so high. He would be on my list, although not so high—maybe in the top 25. I owe you a blog entry on him. Maybe I’ll get it done in time for next year’s blogathon.
Ah, Fredric. He would top my list. I have a different favorite performance, though. For me it’s A Star Is Born.
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Thanks for the insightful comment Robin. Yeah, I suspect Gig Young could cause controversy for obvious reasons but yeah, I’ve decided to concentrate only on acting. Curiously, I’m surprise you’re the first one to bring that to my attention. But as a matter of fact, as I’ve said to Miedy in a previous comment, I realise that I had completely forgotten to put Gael Garcia Bernal on the list and I really like him. So I might kick off Gig Young.
Thanks for the Arkin recommendation, I haven’t seen that one!
I love Elli Wallach in Baby Doll too. I almost chose it for my favourite performance of his.
Yeah, Paul Douglas is awfully underrated. He deserves more attention.
I can kind of see why someone wouldn’t like Lee J. Cobb’s acting. I think it’s that kind of actor you like or don’t like.
I remembered Fredric March was your favourite actor! He was truly fantastic. I think his acting was very ahead of its time.
Thanks for reading my list and for your comment Robin!
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I don’t want you to think I’m criticizing you for including Young. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about as I listen to “Whole Lotta Shakin’.” And you know the whole thing with R. Kelly going on in the news. (That’s not a problem for me because I dislike his music.)
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What a GREAT list! I like that your list includes actors old and new. Some great ones for sure!!
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Thank you! 😀
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Once again, I will never attempt this even remotely, so props to you! Awesome list! And can I just point out how handsome Laurence Olivier looks in that photo!
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Ikr!! He could totally fit in today’s standards. Thanks for reading! I already want to make some changes on the list 😂
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Haha that’s how I feel every time I make a list!
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Where we could agree on the actor, but maybe not the movie:
99- Yul Brynner (favourite performance: The King and I) – I would go with “Westworld” but whatever…
96- Tom Hanks (favourite peformance: Forrest Gump) Hate that movie; I’d replace it with A League of Their Own
95- Alan Arkin (favourite performance: Little Miss Sunshine) I’d go Catch-22 here
92- Eddie Albert (favourite peformance: You Gotta Stay Happy) I just wrote about him in The Longest Yard
82- Gene Hackman (favourite performance: The Poseidon Adventure) A solid choioce, but I can’t not pick The Unforgiven or Mississippi Burning
76- Edmond O’Brien (favourite performance: White Heat) Writing about him for Maddy’s World War II blog-a-thon
75- Walter Matthau (favourite peformance: Cactus Flower) Again, can’t not pick The Bad News Bears
67- Kirk Douglas (favourite performance: Seven Days in May) Great flick, but I gotta go with Paths of Glory
63- Charles Laughton (favourite peformance: Witness for the Prosecution) Two words: Captain Bligh.
61- Henry Fonda (favourite performance: 12 Angry Men) Two more words: Mister Roberts
52- Montgomery Clift (favourite performance: From Here to Eternity) Sticking with the two word theme: Red River
46- Dustin Hoffman (favourite performance: The Graduate) Going to three words: Little Big Man
43- Karl Malden (favourite performance: A Streetcar Named Desire) Check #12 on my list https://dubsism.com/2018/04/08/my-favorite-actors-and-their-sporting-equivalents/
25- Humphrey Bogart (favourite performance: The Big Sleep) I get your choice, but I have to go Treasure of the Sierra Madre
20- James Mason (favourite performance: Caught) Another three-worder – Odd Man Out
16- Jack Lemmon (favourite performance: Some Like It Hot) See Henry Fonda.
10- Gregory Peck (favourite performance: To Kill A Mockingbird) Twelve O’Clock High doesn’t get enough love
4- Cary Grant (favourite performance: Bringing Up Baby) I went with Father Goose because I’m a sucker for actors playing against type
2- William Holden (favourite performance: Sunset Boulevard) My first post for a blog-a-thon was for your Holden event…I’m all about Stalag 17
Where were we could agree on both the actor and the movie:
88- Richard Widmark (favourite performance: Pickup On South Street)
86- Glenn Ford (favourite performance: Blackboard Jungle)
83- Frank Gorshin (but only for the impressions)
72 – Morgan Freeman (favourite performance: The Shawshank Redemption) Morgan Freeman was on a 70’s kids show in America called The Electric Company. He taught me how to read.
69- Bill Murray (favourite performance: Rushmore) Agree, but I feel like I need to mention Caddyshack…
64- Paul Newman (favourite performance: Cool Hand Luke) with an honorable mention for The Verdict
57- Joel McCrea (favourite performance: Foreign Correspondent) yes…Yes…YES!!!
51- George Kennedy (favourite performance: Cool Hand Luke) Great in everything he did
47- Sterling Hayden (favourite performance: Dr. Strangelove)
38- Lee J. Cobb (favourite performance: 12 Angry Men)
8- Robert De Niro (favourite performance: Taxi Driver) See episode #2 on Dubsism “Movies My Wife Hates: Raging Bull”
17- Jack Nicholson (favourite performance: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) “Who wants to watch the World Series?”
Guys Who I Need To Mention:
34- Earl Holliman (favourite performance: The Rainmaker) Worth looking up a 1971 movie “Tribes” in which he co-stars with Darrin McGavin as Marine Corps Drill Instructors. I really hopw somebody does this movie for the yet-to-be-announced blog-a-thon ReelWeegie and I are doing later this year
33- Walter Pidgeon (favourite performance: Mrs. Miniver) Will be getting a mention in my contribution to a Clark Gable blog-a-thon coming later this week – Also covers #21 on your list as I’m doing 1948’s Command Decision
32- Cliff Robertson (favourite performance: Obsession) See episode #1 on Dubsism “Movies My Wife Hates: Picnic”
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Thanks for sharing your personal choices!
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Nice list! And nice pictures too! 100 is a big number, and I find interesting that only “classic” actors made it to the top 10. Despite your number one, I think that I will always take Gregory Peck for James Stewart and vice versa!
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Thanks for sharing Ginny. Agree with many including Brando, Fonda and Newman,
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