Personal Ratings of Actors

[Prunepicker]

This is something I've been thinking about for several years. Here's my take
on who's a good actor and who isn't.

At the moment Don Johnson rates as the worst of the worst. I'm not sure
how anyone can think of him as being a good actor. I will admit, he stars
in one of my favorite cult movies, "Zachariah".

At any rate, at the moment I want to put Alan Alda just above Johnson.
Alda can't act himself out of a Chinese Take Out sack. In fact I believe
the sack is a better actor.

As far as the Best Actor/Actress goes, I'm not so sure that one exists.
However there are some who are definitely better actors than most.
Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bette Davis, John Wayne,
et al are amongst the most credible actors and actresses.

As far as modern actors/actresses go, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep are
certainly in the running. I'm not sure how Leonardo DiCaprio won an
Oscar. Were the movies really that bad that year? Seriously. He's not
that good of an actor. Had Dean Martin been in a movie that year nobody
would even know who DiCaprio was and Martin was a marginal actor at
best.

What do you think? I promise not to criticize anybody's selection. I'll only
ask about it. I hope you'll do the same for me.

[Chadanth]

This is something I've been thinking about for several years. Here's my take
on who's a good actor and who isn't.

At the moment Don Johnson rates as the worst of the worst. I'm not sure
how anyone can think of him as being a good actor. I will admit, he stars
in one of my favorite cult movies, "Zachariah".

At any rate, at the moment I want to put Alan Alda just above Johnson.
Alda can't act himself out of a Chinese Take Out sack. In fact I believe
the sack is a better actor.

As far as the Best Actor/Actress goes, I'm not so sure that one exists.
However there are some who are definitely better actors than most.
Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bette Davis, John Wayne,
et al are amongst the most credible actors and actresses.

As far as modern actors/actresses go, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep are
certainly in the running. I'm not sure how Leonardo DiCaprio won an
Oscar. Were the movies really that bad that year? Seriously. He's not
that good of an actor. Had Dean Martin been in a movie that year nobody
would even know who DiCaprio was and Martin was a marginal actor at
best.

What do you think? I promise not to criticize anybody's selection. I'll only
ask about it. I hope you'll do the same for me.

Leonardo Dicaprio hasn't won an oscar. He probably should have for WOWS, but he didn't. He's one of the best without one.

Dean Martin is still one of the all time greats. Really, really great. No doubt.

[ljbab728]

Maybe I missed something. When did DiCaprio win an oscar?

Whoops, Chadanth got there first.

I'm not really a fan of his either. His best work, by far, was The Basketball Diaries.

[Chadanth]

Maybe I missed something. When did DiCaprio win an oscar?

Whoops, Chadanth got there first.

I'm not really a fan of his either. His best work, by far, was The Basketball Diaries.

Leo?

He was amazing in "The Departed". He was very good in WOWS.

[ljbab728]

Leo?

He was amazing in "The Departed". He was very good in WOWS.

Well, everyone has their opinion and I gave mine. (And I'm not going to provide "evidence".) LOL

[Chadanth]

Well, everyone has their opinion and I gave mine. (And I'm not going to provide "evidence".) LOL

Honestly, I haven't seen Basketball Diaries in a long time. Did you see the departed or WOWS? The departed is far better, IMHO.

[ljbab728]

Yes, and I'm just not a big fan of his acting.

[Achilleslastand]

Leo?

He was amazing in "The Departed". He was very good in WOWS.

He was also pretty good in "This boys life".
And what no love for Frank Sinatra? Von Ryans Express.

[Chadanth]

Yes, and I'm just not a big fan of his acting.

Fair enough. It's highly subjective. Did you catch 12 Years a Slave? I though the overall film was fantastic, but nothing really stood out in terms of individual performance.

[Prunepicker]

Leonardo Dicaprio hasn't won an oscar.

I thought he won an Oscar for Titanic. I'm relieved to know that he didn't.
Thanks for the information. He's not that good of an actor. I just saw that
he was nominated or an Oscar for Titanic. I still don't see it.

Dean Martin is still one of the all time greats. Really, really great. No doubt.

Dino was a fantastic entertainer. No doubt, but not near Oscar proportions.
He's far better, in my opinion, than DiCaprio can aspire to be.

Hmmm... In my opinion? I believe I'll change my statement to an absolute.
"He isn't that good of an actor." However, from what I've seen he's better
than Alan Alda, who is a terrible actor but better than Don Johnson.

[ljbab728]

Fair enough. It's highly subjective. Did you catch 12 Years a Slave? I though the overall film was fantastic, but nothing really stood out in terms of individual performance.

Sorry, I haven't seen it.

[Prunepicker]

Should Don Johnson be considered an actor? Seriously. Should he be
considered an actor. I've always thought that an actor should be able to act.
Don Johnson shows no ability to act.

He's not anywhere in the same league as Alan Alda or Tom Cruise and both
are horrible, terrible, no good and very bad actors.

Don Johnson is definitely the worst person to appear in a movie or a serial.
Period. Can anyone think of a worse actor? (the term is used loosely)

Hey, the Three Stooges were definitely far and above the qualifications of
being Oscar nominees compared to Johnson.

[Chadanth]

Should Don Johnson be considered an actor? Seriously. Should he be
considered an actor. I've always thought that an actor should be able to act.
Don Johnson shows no ability to act.

He's not anywhere in the same league as Alan Alda or Tom Cruise and both
are horrible, terrible, no good and very bad actors.

Don Johnson is definitely the worst person to appear in a movie or a serial.
Period. Can anyone think of a worse actor? (the term is used loosely)

Hey, the Three Stooges were definitely far and above the qualifications of
being Oscar nominees compared to Johnson.

I suppose if you like the 80's and pastel suits, he's an actor. I can't think of anything of substance he's done.

[ljbab728]

I don't see anyone here singing the praises of Don Johnson. He was just a "flavor of the month" actor many years ago.

[hoya]

There are a lot of actors who made a career out of basically playing themselves (or at least, playing the same part). I think Don Johnson was probably one of those. Miami Vice was cool in the 80s, but that's about it. I did like him as a southern plantation owner in Django Unchained. Jeff Goldblum is the same type of actor. He plays Jeff Goldblum a lot.

Stephen Root is one of the best character actors around. And Charles Durning was a great one as well.

[Snowman]

Should Don Johnson be considered an actor? Seriously. Should he be
considered an actor. I've always thought that an actor should be able to act.
Don Johnson shows no ability to act.

He's not anywhere in the same league as Alan Alda or Tom Cruise and both
are horrible, terrible, no good and very bad actors.

Don Johnson is definitely the worst person to appear in a movie or a serial.
Period. Can anyone think of a worse actor? (the term is used loosely)

Hey, the Three Stooges were definitely far and above the qualifications of
being Oscar nominees compared to Johnson.

While he mostly struck me as kind of average for acting but was fun in some roles, though the only shows I saw him in were ones the show was written around him so probably hid weaker parts of his acting. His forte at least for a while was on the production end after he made a name for himself.

Since you mentioned poor performances, I checked and it looks like he had money problems starting a few years ago for not getting payments he was due and the issue was in court for a long time. So if you are judging by anything in the last few years it may be because it was taking whatever he could get, even ones with known problems he would have otherwise avoided. There are a lot of things that have to go right between managing, subject selection, story arc, dialog, casting, directing/filming, editing, scoring, promotion, distribution, (probably others) for a film/TV to be it's best. Though given how few roles I have seen him in, he might just have a history of taking the money and running on bad projects that I never saw.

[RadicalModerate]

This is something I've been thinking about for several years. Here's my take
on who's a good actor and who isn't.

At the moment Don Johnson rates as the worst of the worst.

Wasn't Don Johnson in "A Boy and His Dog"?
(another cult classic)

After careful consideration, I have to say that Billy Bob Thornton is one of the best and most versatile actors ever.
(and I hate to admit it, but George Clooney is darn good too.)

However, my favorite all-around actor is still Jack Nicholson.
(compare and contrast his performances in "Five Easy Pieces" . . . "Goin' South" . . . and "Terms of Endearment" [not to mention "Hell's Angels on Wheels" or "Easy Rider" or "Chinatown"] and you might get my point).

Liam Neeson somehow went to hell after Schindler's List . . . But he was sure good in that film.
(it's the best movie ever made)

Kenneth Branaugh ain't no slouch neither.
Ditto for Johnny Depp.


The worst actor ever is probably William Shatner (even though I'm a Star Trek fan . . . without getting all goofy about it).
His acting triumph might have been the episodes of The Twilight Zone involving the fortune telling coin-operated device and/or the stratosphere airplane gremlin. It was all downhill from there. (except for the Captain Kirk thing that intentionally involved bad acting).

[trousers]

I suppose if you like the 80's and pastel suits, he's an actor. I can't think of anything of substance he's done.

You guys obviously havent seen his classic film "A Boy and His Dog".
A Boy and His Dog is a cycle of narratives by science fiction author Harlan Ellison. The cycle tells the story of a boy (Vic) and his telepathic dog (Blood), who work together as a team to survive in the post-apocalyptic world after a nuclear war.

[RadicalModerate]

I can't believe I left out Jeff Bridges.
He runs a close second to Jack Nicholson in my book.

(and--again hating to admit it--Alec Baldwin. "Glengarry Glenross"/"The Cooler"
plus Jack Lemmon . . . and William Macy . . .)

So . . . To wrap it up:
Good:
Jack Nicholson
Jeff Bridges
Billy Bob Thornton
Jack Lemmon
William Macy
Alec Baldwin
Tom Hanks
(The dude in "Eraserhead" =)

Other:
William Shatner
A Cast of Thousands =)

(p.s.: I actually met Harlan Ellison in his heyday. At a bookstore at which I used to work. He's a great writer, but a pompous little schumck in person. this was back in the '70s and he might have changed. probably for the worse. =)

[trousers]

Yeah, Jeff Bridges just gets better with age. I'm also a fan of Gary Oldman. Interesting body of work, sometimes you cant even recoginize him in the parts he plays.

[RadicalModerate]

Harry Dean Stanton ("Repo Men") and Bruce Dern ("The Wild Angels" . . . "Nebraska"). =)

[stick47]

I think any actor that ever starred or guest starred in the TV series Gunsmoke was a better actor than most of the current crop of Hollywood actors.

[Jim Kyle]

And what no love for Frank Sinatra? Von Ryans Express.

Much better, though, in "From Here to Eternity."

Some on prunie's "best" list were simply reprising the same character in role after role. Having once interviewed Jimmy Stewart, I know that he was by no means playing himself, ever, on the screen. However he did reprise Elwood Dowd, Harvey's friend, many times over. I think the same sort of thing was true for The Duke. Nevertheless they remain among my favorites -- along with quite a few others from that era, and almost none of the modern crew.

For sheer acting ability, though, my nominee is Edward G. Robinson. A close second is Henry Fonda. And don't forget Burgess Meredith, who hardly ever had a lead role, and Walter Brennan...

[Jersey Boss]

I would like to add Marlon Brando, Robert Mitchum, and second Edward G. Robinson.

[Achilleslastand]

I really liked William Macy in his portrayal of real life salesman Bill Porter who was stricken with cerebral palsy in Door to Door.