9 of 58

Write now Article Tools

Attempting to select the best actors from last decade is a daunting task; selecting the best of all time is nearly impossible. That is, unless one imposes some very clear restrictions on the selection process. I have chosen to limit my choices to English-speaking male actors who have worked in the cinema since WWII. So, sorry Edwin Booth, who may have been the greatest American actor ever; you lived in era that didn't have the modern motion picture, so, in the end, we'll never really know how great you were.

I have come up with a list of 10, all deserving of special note and all who can be seen today on DVD.

ROD STEIGER Probably more than anybody, Rod Steiger personifies the acting philosophy of the Actors Studio. He was never a movie star in the Hollywood sense of the word, and he certainly made a lot of mistakes in the management of his career, but few people in this world have been as true to himself as Steiger was as an actor. My favorite Steiger performance was his playing the role of Napoleon in the 1970 film "Waterloo."

HUMPHREY BOGART He didn't create cool, but Humphrey Bogart certainly personified cool. And of course, I'm not talking about cool from the perspective of teenagers. Men want to be Bogart and women just want him. Not too shabby for a short, middle-aged man with a receding hair line. Of course, Bogart was more than cool, he was simply a great actor. The 1942 film "Casablanca" will never be re-made because no actor in his right mind would ever attempt to follow Bogart's portrayal of Rick. On paper, "Casablanca" is a pretty silly movie, which is why it's a testament to the greatness of the actors involved that they were able to make a truly great film out of it.

RICHARD BURTON Perhaps the most natively talented actor there ever was, Richard Burton, that shy young man from Wales who gained his voice by reciting Shakespeare, would go on to live his own real-life Shakespearean tragedy. Dogged by personal demons and questionable career moves, it has been argued that no other actor has squandered more of his talent than Burton. Which is not to say that he did not have many successes, some commercial, some artistic. To get an idea of Burton's greatness and the quick arc of his career, check out the 1958 film "Look Back In Anger," which launched his film career and then see how much he had aged by the time he did "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" a mere eight years later. Both seminal performances, but you can feel that an awful lot had happened to

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Best actors of all time?
We want to hear your view. Write now!