the top 20 acting performances of all time
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
| Michael Corleone | Al Pacino | The Godfather, Part II (1974) | A holl0w-eyed, evil, and dark successor to the role of gangster Don. | |
| Frank Galvin | Paul Newman | The Verdict (1982) | A world-weary alcoholic, ambulance-chasing lawyer who redeems himself by exposing the truth in a medical malpractice suit. | |
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Bess McNeill |
Emily Watson | Breaking the Waves (1996) | An expressive, beguiling, wide-eyed, simple-minded woman who believes that her sexual degradation will save her paralyzed husband's life. | |
| Malcolm X | Denzel Washington | Malcolm X (1992) | A multi-faceted role: a smooth and ruthless Harlem hustler, a firebrand black nationalist and leading minister in the Nation of Islam, and a contemplative, controlled and convincing leader. | |
| T.R. Devlin | Cary Grant | Notorious (1946) | A cruel and pained government agent who subtly assaults the character of a socialite (Ingrid Bergman) that he eventually rescues. | |
| Josh Baskin | Tom Hanks | Big (1988) | A young teenage-boy whose dream comes true to be 'big' when he is morphed into the body of a toy-company executive. | |
| Mac Sledge | Robert Duvall | Tender Mercies (1983) | A broken-down, ex-country music legend who finds redemption in the love of a widow and her young son. | |
| Eleanor of Aquitaine | Katharine Hepburn | The Lion in Winter (1968) | A crafty, scheming and manipulative 12th-century queen. | |
| "Badass" Buddusky | Jack Nicholson | The Last Detail (1973) | A rebellious, steely-eyed, anti-authoritarian, combustible Navy man transporting a hapless young grunt (Randy Quaid) to prison. | |
| Christy Brown | Daniel Day-Lewis | My Left Foot (1989) | A lusty, complicated, and brilliant writer afflicted with cerebral palsy. | |
| Jake La Motta | Robert De Niro | Raging Bull (1980) | A blunt, ferocious, sinewy boxer and puffy-faced, overweight entertainer in his later years. | |
| Frederick Frankenstein | Gene Wilder | Young Frankenstein (1974) | A poor, doomed and frantic lunatic doctor - both sophisticated and childish. | |
| George Bailey | James Stewart | It's a Wonderful Life (1946) | An Everyman whose dreams slowly fade as his responsibilities preclude his ambitions. | |
| "Ratso" Rizzo | Dustin Hoffman | Midnight Cowboy (1969) | A persevering, slumping, filthy, sweaty, rodent-like tubercular street hustler. | |
| George M. Cohan | James Cagney | Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) | An exuberant and dazzling song-and-dance performer and 'grand old man'. | |
| Margo Channing | Bette Davis | All About Eve (1950) | An aging, threatened grand dame/diva of the theater. | |
| Sonny Wortzik | Al Pacino | Dog Day Afternoon (1975) | A strutting, raw, nervously inept bank robber who steals money to pay for his boyfriend's sex-change operation. | |
| Sophie Zawistowski | Meryl Streep | Sophie's Choice (1982) | An Auschwitz inmate faced with pure horror - and then a survivor's torment and guilt. | |
| Terry Malloy | Marlon Brando | On the Waterfront (1954) | A callow young boxer, a dumb and innocent pawn, who leads a defiant crusade as a stoic iconoclast. | |
| T.E. Lawrence | Peter O'Toole | Lawrence of Arabia (1962) | An unfathomable, desert leader legend, alternatingly self-confident, querulous, deeply wounded, or frighteningly vengeful. |
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The list is in reverse order.
Peter O'Toole is #1.
I cant say that I really agree or disagree with this, it is subjective. And the list is actually the top 100. I didnt post the whole thing here because it seemed to me it would look too long.
But where is Alec Guinness- Bridge Over The River Kwai?
George C Scott as Patton is on the list, way down the list. I think it should be top 20 or top 10.
Faye Dunaway in Network ?
and one of my favorites
Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love
Until I saw your comment I, too, wondered why Alec Guinness was not on the list, but I was thinking Kind Hearts and Coronets, but you are absolutely right about Bridge Over the River Kwai. However, I think it is a travesty to have omitted Paul Muni from the top 20, let alone the whole damn list of 100.
A few more
Paul Newman in Nobody's Fool
Val Kilmer in Tombstone
Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate
Joe Pesci in Goodfellas
Tom Berenger in Platoon
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof....Paul Newman, Burl Ives and Elizabeth Taylor all did well.
Rear Window....Jimmy Stewart...with a host of other good performances
The African Queen....both Bogart and Hepburn.
Ben Kingsley in Gandhi, who won Best Actor. The movie received 11 Academy Awards nominations and won 8, including also Best Picture and Best Director.