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him in those eight years.

SPENCER TRACY Famous for his advice to actors, "Know your lines, and don't bump into the furniture," Spencer Tracy was an actor's actor. He had an innate sense when it came to acting, which is why he just made everything look so easy. I just saw "Judgment at Nuremberg" again, one of Tracy's last film appearances, and his work was just so effortless. He knew which points to hit and when to back off. He must have been an absolute joy to work with.

ROBERT DE NIRO Check out the scene in "Goodfellas" in which De Niro is standing at the bar alone; he and more than a dozen other co-conspirators had just recently executed the largest cash robbery in history, taking $5 million in cash plus more in jewelry at the JFK Airport. His problem is that he's surrounded by these dozen or so knuckle-heads who will probably rat him out the next time they get a parking ticket. But he has an advantage; he is in possession of the loot. That's when De Niro's character decides to go on a murder spree, killing nearly all of his partners in the airport heist. Director Martin Scorsese only gives De Niro three seconds of celluloid time to devise his plan and decide upon it. More, De Niro has no dialogue. Watch that quick scene; that's what great actors do.

CHARLES LAUGHTON An exceptionally talented actor, Charles Laughton, due to his large size and penchant for serious drama, was really never destined for major movie stardom. That said, a talent of his magnitude cannot be completely held down, and he did win the Oscar for best actor in 1933 for "The Private Life of Henry VIII." I would recommend getting the DVD for a little more modern movie called "Witness for the Prosecution" from 1958.

JACKIE GLEASON Speaking of large men, Jackie Gleason had the advantage over Laughton of being more of a comic genius. It's easy to overlook it, but Gleason's acting in his sit-com "The Honeymooners" is brilliant. And when you see him in a movie like the 1961 film "The Hustler," well, . . . you know you're watching greatness.

MONTGOMERY CLIFT Was he doomed by his "pretty boy good looks?" What a lot of people miss about Montgomery Clift is that he was not just a "pretty boy," he was a major acting talent. Personally, I have never seen any other actor able to add the kind of nuance to everything he did better than Clift. In every character he portrayed, there were a thousand emotions at work.

ROBERT DOWNEY, JR. What actor in his right mind would ever attempt the role of Charlie Chaplin? Well, only a great actor like Robert Downey, Jr. His performance in the 1992 bio-pic "Chaplin" is simply intimidating in its brilliance. Unfortunately, Mr. Downey may never get another significant role again because he's been black-balled by the bonding companies that insure major motion pictures. Downey's personal addiction to narcotics has been played out in the media, but the "tough-love" approach of America's judicial system that punishes the ill instead of healing them has all but assured that Downey will never work again on a major film project.

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