I recently watched a documentary about Brando who never lived up to his real potential IMO. No doubt he was great but to Brando acting was merely a means of earning a living.
American Film Institute top 50 actors (does not include actors before the invention of the camera).
Men Women
1. Humphrey Bogart Katharine Hepburn
2. Cary Grant Bette Davis
3. James Stewart Audrey Hepburn
4. Marlon Brando Ingrid Bergman
5. Fred Astaire Greta Garbo
6. Henry Fonda Marilyn Monroe
7. Clark Gable Elizabeth Taylor
8. James Cagney Judy Garland
9. Spencer Tracy Marlene Dietrich
10. Charles Chaplin Joan Crawford
11. Gary Cooper Barbara Stanwyck
12. Gregory Peck Claudette Colbert
13. John Wayne Grace Kelly
14. Laurence Olivier Ginger Rogers
15. Gene Kelly Mae West
16. Orson Welles Vivien Leigh
17. Kirk Douglas Lillian Gish
18. James Dean Shirley Temple
19. Burt Lancaster Rita Hayworth
20. The Marx Brothers Lauren Bacall
21. Buster Keaton Sophia Loren
22. Sidney Poitier Jean Harlow
23. Robert Mitchum Carole Lombard
24. Edward G. Robinson Mary Pickford
25. William Holden Ava Gardner
My personal choice would be Laurence Oliver.
Born 22 May 1907 – Died 11 July 1989) was an English actor, director, and producer. He is one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft and Ralph Richardson.
Olivier played a wide variety of roles on stage and screen from Greek tragedy, Shakespeare and Restoration comedy to modern American and British drama. He was the first artistic director of the National Theatre of Great Britain and its main stage is named in his honour. He is generally regarded to be the greatest actor of the 20th century, in the same category as David Garrick, Richard Burbage, Edmund Kean and Henry Irving in their own centuries.
Olivier's AMPAS acknowledgments are considerable — fourteen Oscar nominations, with two wins for Best Actor and Best Picture for the 1948 film Hamlet, and two honorary awards including a statuette and certificate. He was also awarded five Emmy awards from the nine nominations he received. Additionally, he was a three-time Golden Globe and BAFTA winner.
Olivier's career as a stage and film actor spanned more than six decades and included a wide variety of roles, from Shakespeare's Othello and Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night to the sadistic Nazi dentist Christian Szell in Marathon Man and the kindly but determined Nazi-hunter in The Boys from Brazil.
A High Church clergyman's son who found fame on the West End stage, Olivier became determined early on to master Shakespeare, and eventually came to be regarded as one of the foremost Shakespeare interpreters of the 20th century. He continued to act until his death in 1989.
Olivier played more than 120 stage roles: Richard III, Macbeth, Romeo, Hamlet, Othello, Uncle Vanya, and Archie Rice in The Entertainer. He appeared in nearly sixty films, including William Wyler's Wuthering Heights, Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca, Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake is Missing, Richard Attenborough's Oh! What a Lovely War, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Sleuth, John Schlesinger's Marathon Man, Daniel Petrie's The Betsy, Desmond Davis' Clash of the Titans, and his own Henry V, Hamlet, and Richard III. He also preserved his Othello on film, with its stage cast virtually intact. For television, he starred in The Moon and Sixpence, John Gabriel Borkman, Long Day's Journey into Night, Brideshead Revisited, The Merchant of Venice, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and King Lear, among others.
Olivier was created a Knight Bachelor on 12 June 1947 (in the King's Birthday Honours, and created a life peer on 13 June 1970 (in the Queen's Birthday Honours) as Baron Olivier, of Brighton in the County of Sussex, the first actor to be accorded this distinction. He was admitted to the Order of Merit in 1981.
The Laurence Olivier Awards, organised by The Society of London Theatre, were renamed in his honour in 1984.
Though he was a knight, a life peer, and one of the most respected personalities in the industry, Olivier insisted he be addressed as "Larry", which he made clear he preferred to "Sir Laurence" or "Lord Olivier".
wikipedia
American Film Institute top 50 actors (does not include actors before the invention of the camera).
Men Women
1. Humphrey Bogart Katharine Hepburn
2. Cary Grant Bette Davis
3. James Stewart Audrey Hepburn
4. Marlon Brando Ingrid Bergman
5. Fred Astaire Greta Garbo
6. Henry Fonda Marilyn Monroe
7. Clark Gable Elizabeth Taylor
8. James Cagney Judy Garland
9. Spencer Tracy Marlene Dietrich
10. Charles Chaplin Joan Crawford
11. Gary Cooper Barbara Stanwyck
12. Gregory Peck Claudette Colbert
13. John Wayne Grace Kelly
14. Laurence Olivier Ginger Rogers
15. Gene Kelly Mae West
16. Orson Welles Vivien Leigh
17. Kirk Douglas Lillian Gish
18. James Dean Shirley Temple
19. Burt Lancaster Rita Hayworth
20. The Marx Brothers Lauren Bacall
21. Buster Keaton Sophia Loren
22. Sidney Poitier Jean Harlow
23. Robert Mitchum Carole Lombard
24. Edward G. Robinson Mary Pickford
25. William Holden Ava Gardner
My personal choice would be Laurence Oliver.
Born 22 May 1907 – Died 11 July 1989) was an English actor, director, and producer. He is one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft and Ralph Richardson.
Olivier played a wide variety of roles on stage and screen from Greek tragedy, Shakespeare and Restoration comedy to modern American and British drama. He was the first artistic director of the National Theatre of Great Britain and its main stage is named in his honour. He is generally regarded to be the greatest actor of the 20th century, in the same category as David Garrick, Richard Burbage, Edmund Kean and Henry Irving in their own centuries.
Olivier's AMPAS acknowledgments are considerable — fourteen Oscar nominations, with two wins for Best Actor and Best Picture for the 1948 film Hamlet, and two honorary awards including a statuette and certificate. He was also awarded five Emmy awards from the nine nominations he received. Additionally, he was a three-time Golden Globe and BAFTA winner.
Olivier's career as a stage and film actor spanned more than six decades and included a wide variety of roles, from Shakespeare's Othello and Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night to the sadistic Nazi dentist Christian Szell in Marathon Man and the kindly but determined Nazi-hunter in The Boys from Brazil.
A High Church clergyman's son who found fame on the West End stage, Olivier became determined early on to master Shakespeare, and eventually came to be regarded as one of the foremost Shakespeare interpreters of the 20th century. He continued to act until his death in 1989.
Olivier played more than 120 stage roles: Richard III, Macbeth, Romeo, Hamlet, Othello, Uncle Vanya, and Archie Rice in The Entertainer. He appeared in nearly sixty films, including William Wyler's Wuthering Heights, Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca, Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake is Missing, Richard Attenborough's Oh! What a Lovely War, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Sleuth, John Schlesinger's Marathon Man, Daniel Petrie's The Betsy, Desmond Davis' Clash of the Titans, and his own Henry V, Hamlet, and Richard III. He also preserved his Othello on film, with its stage cast virtually intact. For television, he starred in The Moon and Sixpence, John Gabriel Borkman, Long Day's Journey into Night, Brideshead Revisited, The Merchant of Venice, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and King Lear, among others.
Olivier was created a Knight Bachelor on 12 June 1947 (in the King's Birthday Honours, and created a life peer on 13 June 1970 (in the Queen's Birthday Honours) as Baron Olivier, of Brighton in the County of Sussex, the first actor to be accorded this distinction. He was admitted to the Order of Merit in 1981.
The Laurence Olivier Awards, organised by The Society of London Theatre, were renamed in his honour in 1984.
Though he was a knight, a life peer, and one of the most respected personalities in the industry, Olivier insisted he be addressed as "Larry", which he made clear he preferred to "Sir Laurence" or "Lord Olivier".
wikipedia
