Who's the greatest African-American actor of all time?

[RobFunk]

Forest Whitaker

4 blacks have won academy awards for best actor

Forgot about Forest. Always liked him.

 

[festeringZit]

<object height="385" width="480">
<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kJ7t-lEWr4U&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kJ7t-lEWr4U&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5Vf20Qwf3lo&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></object>

 

[Scoops]

Lol Zit,Steve actually crossed my mind.One of my favorite characters of all time.

 

[RobFunk]

Jamie Fox in "Ray". That might be the single greatest performance by a black actor ever.

 

[X-Files]

NBA players when a foul is called on them....

I've heard that the futbol teams of Africa have made this into an art.

When will the NFL players catch up with the rest of the sporting world?

The NBA, NHL and soccer world have incorporated it as part of their game.

 

[soli]

In no particular order regarding talent.

Denzel Washington
Samuel L. Jackson
Morgan Freeman
Don Cheadle
Eddie Murphy
Sidney Poitier - The man who broke the acting racial barrier for Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lillies of the Field.
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Danny Glover
Ossie Davis
Harry Belafonte
Lawrence Fishburne
Terrence Howard (really up and coming since Crash won Best Picture Oscar)
Bill Cosby
Will Smith
Forest Whitaker
Paul Robeson
James Earl Jones
Mike Epps




wil.

I would add Wesley Snipes

 

[WorldNumberOne]

Rev. Jesse Jackson... Has been fooling people for decades.....

 

[Willie99]

Denzel Washington
Morgan Freeman
Samuel L Jackson
Will Smith
Forest Whitaker
Sidney Portier


like them all

 

[Gritsn'Gravy]

 

[Gritsn'Gravy]

 

[Gritsn'Gravy]

 

[Gritsn'Gravy]

 

[JudgeWapner]

Laurence Fishburne. He has done everything from Pee Wee's Playhouse to Shakespeare. That is some range.

 

[celticGreen+]

Wesley snipes was mentioned above - he was really strong in a lot of earlier work (jungle fever, new jack city, sugar hill, rising sun) but faded away and has done some real trash.

I don't think jeffrey wright has been mentioned, and he has an amazing career as far as supporting roles go.

Delroy lindo has been in a ton of good stuff, including a great portrayal of satchell paige.

 

[ThePig+]

 

[NES]

don't understand the love for denzel, except for a few movies he generally plays the same type of character or at least plays them close to the same way. now i'm not saying he can't act, but that wouldn't matter anyway cause his name alone draws people to the seats and that is the major thing for the studios.

I'm with you, way overrated, he picks good roles but it doesnt take a great actor to play the same part over and over.

 

[TheDopeman]

Chris Tucker

from the original Friday to the rush hours series, dude knows how to make you laugh

 

[HacheMan]

Earlier in this thread my vote was for:

Denzel Washington
Morgan Freeman
Samuel L Jackson
Will Smith


But even though I thought I'd never say it, I'd have to remove Will Smith from that list and narrow it down to the other 3...

 

[TopShelf11]

James Evans
Micheal Evans
Florida Evans
Thelma Evans
JJ (aka James Jr.) Evans
Wilona Cougar-Neighbor
Alderman Davis

& Fish bone

8-Way tie.

 

[KingofNicotine]

Probably Washington. I haven't seen enough of Sidney Poitier's work.

Morgan Freeman is one of the worst. He looks calm and relaxed on the screen but that's about it. He's the same in every movie. He's not versatile. He's just very serious and people confuse that for good acting.

Will Smith is a joke. No need to even elaborate on that joker's career.