Hollywood has produced some of the best silver screen actors of all time. That is not surprising since Hollywood also dominates the film industry. Some of the best are still alive today. Actually, I am not qualified to include some of the earlier stars. My era starts with Marlon Brando and Dustin Hoffman, both of my list of the greatest film actors of all time.

Marlon Brando is probably best known for his performance as Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now as a nut during the Vietnam war. He has extensive body of work, including A Street Car Named Desire. Brando did a gripping Vito Corleone character in the Godfather.

Jack Nicholson has won the Academy and other awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. He starred in Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Departed, Batman, The Shining, and About Schmidt. I really became impressed with him in The Shining. He became mad and the persona of mad.

Dustin Hoffman is a great character actor. His film credits include Rain Man, Midnight Cowboy, Kramer vs. Kramer, Tootsie and a host of other films. Hoffman has two best actor awards from the Academy.

Denzel Washington has two Academy awards for Glory as Private Trip and as Detective Alonzo Harris in Training Day. He was also the lead man in the title as John Q. and The Hurricane as Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. Washington brings great on screen performances.

Jack Lemmon is another academy winning actor. He also has extensive body of work and is critically acclaimed actor. Lemmon played against Walter Mathieu in The Odd Couple and The Odd Couple 2. The two also starred in Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men. Lemmon died in 2001.

Morgan Freeman is one of my favorite actors of all time. He is a solid actor. I loved his role in Glory, Driving Miss Daisy, and The Shawshank Redemption. He won an Oscar for his role as Eddie "Scrap Iron" Dupris in Million Dollar Baby as the best supporting actor. He is one of the most consistent and underrated actors of our time.

Russell Crowe was great in his role in The Gladiator, for which he won an Oscar. He also starred in The Beautiful Mind and Master and Commander: The Far Side of The World.

Robert De Niro is one of those actors that consistently do well in acting. De Niro played Vito Coreleone in The Godfather 2 and as Michael Vronsky in The Deer Hunter. De Niro is much awarded and critically acclaimed actor.

Meryl Streep is the most nominated actor in Academy Awards history. She also has many awards from other award giving institutions, so her winning ways are not just her good looks. Streep has been in such films as The Hour, Kramer vs. Kramer, and Sophie's Choice.

Julia Roberts of Hollywood fame. She played as Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman, and as Darby Shaw in The Pelican Brief, and in the title role of Erin Brockovitch. Roberts is a natural for the camera.

Judi Dench or more properly Dame Judi Dench Shakespeare in Love, Notes on a Scandal, and Mrs. Brown. Dench is another much decorated actor in both leading and supporting role. Her role in Notes on a Scandal did not get an Academy since she played a creepy role but it was truly laudable.

Julianne Moore of the Hannibal, The Hour, and The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. Moore has never won an academy or any other awards so she is clearly under rated. Never the less, Moore is a great actor, who takes on difficult roles.

Nicole Kiddman of Australia. She played as the writer Virginia Wolfe in The Hours, as Santine in Moulin Rouge!, and as Ada Munroe in the Cold Mountain.

Those are some of my favorite actors and the best in film.

Learn more about this author, Jobie Weetaluktuk.
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