Actors & Actresses
December 27, 2002
2:38 PM CST
My 20 Favorite Actors, alphabetically (I will watch almost any movie they’re in, regardless); and my favorite showcase movie for each in parentheses:
Humphrey Bogart (Casablanca)
Steve Buscemi (Fargo)
Robert De Niro (Raging Bull)
Robert Duvall (Tender Mercies)
Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven)
Harrison Ford (Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Alec Guinness (Kind Hearts and Coronets)
Gene Hackman (The Conversation)
Anthony Hopkins (The Remains of the Day)
Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive)
Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice)
Val Kilmer (Tombstone)
Ben Kingsley (Gandhi)
Robert Mitchum (Cape Fear)
Paul Newman (Nobody’s Fool)
Jack Nicholson (Batman)
Edward Norton (Primal Fear--his first movie!)
Peter O’Toole (My Favorite Year)
Brad Pitt (Fight Club)
Kevin Spacey (L.A. Confidential)
Honorable mentions :
Ben Affleck (Good Will Hunting)
Russell Crowe (L.A. Confidential)
John Cusack (High Fidelity)
Matt Damon (Rounders)
Johnny Depp (Ed Wood)
Guy Pierce (L.A. Confidential)
The 10 Worst Actors (my TV screen is in real danger when they appear):
Alan Alda
Richard Burton
Jerry Lewis (except in King Of Comedy)
Zero Mostel
Jack Palance
Steven Seagal
Rod Steiger
Gene Wilder
Any of the Baldwins (Steven, Alec, Billy, Spunky, Dorky, whichever)
Any martial arts "actor"
My 20 Favorite Actresses (some for talent, some just because I like looking at them, and my favorite showcase movie):
Ann-Margret (Twice In A Lifetime)
Ingrid Bergman (Casablanca)
Julie Christie (Shampoo)
Judi Dench (A Handful Of Dust)
Catherine Deneuve (Belle du Jour)
Laura Dern (Rambling Rose)
Glenda Jackson (Women In Love)
Greta Garbo (Ninotchka)
Greer Garson (Mrs. Miniver)
Katherine Hepburn (Adam’s Rib)
Myrna Loy (Thin Man series)
Sarah Miles (Ryan’s Daughter)
Helen Mirren (any, but her BBC-TV Prime Suspect will do)
Marilyn Monroe (Niagara Falls)
Ginger Rogers (Bachelor Mother, or any Astaire movie)
Meryl Streep (Sophie’s Choice)
Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility)
Liv Ullman (Cries and Whispers)
Natalie Wood (Love With The Proper Stranger)
And my politically incorrect #20:
Marilyn Chambers (Up ‘n Coming)—"Sure I’m an actress � the only difference is that I’d play Mary Poppins with the umbrella up my ass."
Honorable Mentions:
Helena Bonham-Carter (Fight Club)
Bridget Fonda (Scandal)
Annette O’Toole (Cross My Heart)
Suzanne Pleshette (Rome Adventure)
Joanne Whalley (Scandal)
My 10 Worst Actresses (these women not only cause me to turn off the TV, but to run screaming from the room):
Drew Barrymore
Sandra Bernhard (except in King of Comedy)
Joan Crawford
Sally Field (except in Norma Rae)
Janeane Garofalo
Diane Keaton (except in Looking for Mr. Goodbar)
Rosie Perez
Julia Roberts
Barbra Streisand
Sigourney Weaver
