The best actors that I have chosen have mostly disappeared from the silver screen. I have recently read an article on the ten best of all time and do not know how anyone can limit their choices to only ten. There are dozens of great all time actors that have long gone, let alone ones who are currently active and popular and others who have yet to scale the pyramid of fame.
Of the actors that have passed away, I would even go back to some of silent film stars. Shame on anyone who would not even consider that at a time of silent movies, there were no great performances and those actors were mediocre. Lillian Gish is one of those actresses who lived through that period and yet put on challenging performances in speaking roles too.
If I widen my scope to theater as well as film I might include other female greats such as Helen Hayes who made a successful transition from a child to adult star. Natalie Wood was also quite gifted when she was very young and also when she became mature. This is a quality not underestimate in actors.
Gloria Swanson did some challenging roles, a very convincing come back role in Sunset Boulevard to a good range of silent film roles that were forgotten when talkies got around.
I can never forget Bettie Davis from “Of Human Bondage” to “Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte” where she plays a convincing role as a distraught and disturbed sister. Clearly here was an actress who could perform well in unsympathetic roles and was able to sustain her come back, even though she went through a court case over her earnings and other actresses like Crawford campaigned against her.
I haven't even begun to think of male actors yet. That said there was Cary Grant who played the debonair and smooth talker but he knew how to play some very convincing ambiguous roles as well like the agent in Charade. This would have made an excellent Hitchcock film had the master of suspense got hold of it before.
There were so many other great male actors who are no longer around like Humphrey Bogart, Steve McQueen, James Dean, Lawrence Harvey, Gregory Peck and many others.
Many will probably leave out European and other actors that are worth mentioning as greats of all time like Alberto Sordi, an Italian actor who had a wide acting range. One can also mention Ugo Tognazzi and Vittorio Gassman who also performed well in comic and serious roles. There were remarkable French actors as well like Phillippe Noiret and Simone Signoret. Current great European actors that are cutting edge are Hannah Schygulla and Klaus Maria Brandauer.
So I have mostly mentioned those actors who have passed away and encourage readers to return later to this column to discover what actors that are alive today, are worthy of being called great.
