Clark Gable
Clark Gable was the very definition of American masculinity, no wonder he was hailed as the King of Hollywood during his Golden Age prime. Although he was earlier most suitable for playing the rough and tough roles, later he also came to ace the role of romantic leads too.
Gable’s charismatic demeanor was evident in films such as A Free Soul, Red Dust, and San Francisco. He also earned a feather in his cap with Frank Capra’s film It Happened One Night. He was one of the few actors who not only aced the slightly roughish roles such as Mutiny on the Bounty but also charmed the women folk for his role as Rhett Butler in the film Gone with the Wind. His oft-quoted line “Frankly, my dear I don’t give a damn” became one of the most popular lines in the history of Hollywood.
James Dean
James Dean is one of the best actors in Hollywood and he exercised his talent in just three films before his death in 1955: East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause, and Giant. Their last two films earned him Oscar nominations, and today he is known as the one actor who has played the role of a troubled adolescent with seething rage with the raw emotional power of the highest caliber he is the benchmark of such roles.
Of course, it helped that he had a brooding, boyish good look, and his dazzling presence never failed to impress the audience. He is still remembered for his stellar performances and not many could mimic his intensity or charm on the screen, yes he is inimitable!
Robin Williams
Robin Williams was one of the best actors ever, period. Williams began his journey in the entertainment world on the stage. His sets are always fierce, fearless, and very`` spontaneous. Actors like Robin Williams never courted convention, but always walked away from the more established routines.
He tried TV and was successful at that and then went on to win the Academy Award with the Film Good Will Hunting, his career trajectory is certainly something to be admired at. Not only that he had earned several Oscar nominations for films like Dead Poets Society, The Fisher King, and Good Morning, Vietnam). The world couldn't get over his unexpected passing over.
Javier Bardem
It’s no wonder Javier Bardem has impeccable acting skills and his chameleon-like ability to make his character his own is what sets him apart from the rest. He sinks his teeth into the character so well that it renders him unrecognizable apart from his piercing eyes of course.
Hailing from Spain, Bardem’s first role was in the film El Picaro (aka The Scoundrel). when he was just six years old. His filmography was enhanced further by Bardem’s collaborations with filmmakers par excellence such as Pedro Almodóvar and J.J. Bigas. His status as an international movie star was further bolstered with Milos Foreman’s Goya’s Ghosts in 2006. But it was No Country for Old Men that brought Bardem immense critical acclaim. He even won the Oscar award for the category of the best-supporting actor.
Christian Bale
It is said that physically and emotionally, Christian Bale was almost like a chameleon. He had the acting chops to turn into a sociopath, American hero, or Caped Crusader. Bale has been a former child actor who was one actor who combined commercial and art house movies with great success. '
He would go to dedicated lengths to ensure that he gets the pitch of the character just right. Hew not only lost 60 pounds for 2004’s The Machinist but also ate pints and pints of cream to get the beefy look for Batman Begins. Bale also won the Best Supporting actor for the Fighter (2010) and is certainly a living acting legend.
Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks is Hollywood’s go-to everyman. He has the uncanny knack of having the audience eating out of his hands much like Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy, and Jimmy Stewart. His wide range of acting skills has helped him conquer different film genres with effortless ease, right from comedy, drama, and even animated movies. Over the years Hanks has earned the reputation of being Hollywood's most bankable star.
Hanks shot to fame with the film Sleepless in Seattle. But he won the Academy Award that same year with his performance in Philadelphia. He earned his best actor Oscar award with the 1994 film Forrest Gump.
Sean Penn
Sean Penn won maximum appreciation for his role as a beloved stoner Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. For the next 35 years on screen, Penn has been acting in more than 50 films and even donned the director's hat for a few films.
No wonder he is considered one of the best actors of his generation, Penn can effortlessly combine the best of both worlds of Brando and De Niro. He is meticulous in his character-building skills and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Mystic River and Milk.
Philip Seymour Hoffman
What a fine actor Philip Seymour-Hoffman was! No wonder people still haven't been able to get over his death. If you are a movie buff like us, you are sure to have at least a few of your films on your favorite list.
The respected actor began his career in 1992 with Al Pacino’s Scent of a Woman. He also made appearances in films like The Big Lebowski, Moneyball, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Capote, he even won the Oscar for best actor for the film. His contribution to cinema and theater can never be ignored. Of course, he continues to live on through his extensive work.
Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington has enjoyed an enviable career trajectory. He has the power to move from one genre to the next with effortless ease, such as in The Book of Eli, and Philadelphia.
Ever since he made his theatrical debut (early ’80s), the actor has belted out one incredible performance with the other. He also has added two Oscar awards to his kitty, thanks to Training Day, Glory. Over the years he has carved himself a niche as one of America’s most bankable stars. Washington looks poised and in control of his emotions yet quite capable of portraying seething rage with great aplomb, he is certainly one of the best actors you could ever find.
Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman may not be an awards favorite, but he is simply a great actor. Oldman has taken a commanding lead whenever duty calls. Oldman recently earned critical acclaim (and his first Oscar) for playing the role of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour.
The best part of his acting is you don't see him when you see the film, but the character. His role in Sid and Nancy helped made him one of Hollywood’s greatest ’90s villains. Oldman finally has achieved superstardom in the new millennium portraying the role of Sirius Black in the Harry Potter series and the role of Commissioner Gordon in The Dark Knight trilogy series.
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro has not only been one of the greatest actors in the world but he has inspired thousands to become like him. De Niro rose to fame with films like Taxi Driver and Mean Streets.
He has always been a pro in portraying authentic emotional intensity and you would especially be able to portray his prowess with filmmakers such as Hollywood filmmakers, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese. De Niro has an impressive career that spans over 40 years. Although, he is in his seventies the New York native has shown no signs of slowing down.
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire is not only a great actor but also an exceptional dancer, musician, singer, and more. Fred Astaire has been able to nail every genre he has ever attempted. Astaire has completely transformed the musical genre in Hollywood.
He introduced dance to film with his on-screen partner Ginger Rogers in films such as Top Hat Swing Time and Shall We Dance. Although he breathed his last in 1987, he continued with his legacy of elegance, grace, and ingenuity on the dance floor. Over his three-decade-long career, Astaire has performed more than 31 movie musicals. He has simply changed the way dance was incorporated into films.
Spencer Tracy
Tracy is one of Hollywood’s best-loved stars and if you believe some critics, he is regarded as the greatest of them all. Not only he has a natural talent based on which he has been able to get professional accomplishments.
Tracy has a career spanning over four decades. He has around nine Academy Award nominations like another great actor Laurence Olivier. He went on to win Oscars for his performances in films such as Captains Courageous, and Boys Town. Tracy has also starred in films such as Father of the Bride and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. Most of Tracy's films have been box office winners.
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is one of the most accomplished actors in Hollywood. The veteran actor has enjoyed a wonderful career in all three mediums of films, television, and on stage.
He is an accomplished actor who has played different types of roles as an ex-con, hitman, and more. His versatility has earned him Academy Award nominations five times. Not only that he has won Best Supporting Actor in 2004 for his role in the critically acclaimed boxing drama, Million Dollar Baby. Freeman continues to wow his audience with different types of films, each different from the other.
Robert Duvall
It's not that only we think that Duvall is one of the most accomplished actors that America has ever seen, in 1981, the New York Times even declared him America’s greatest actor.
Duvall created a stir with his ace act as Boo Radley in the classic To Kill a Mockingbird. It was not the only film that made it to the hallowed echelons of Hollywood, in fact, A decade later, Duvall turned up with a sterling performance as Tom Hagen in The Godfather. He has been nominated for as many as seven Academy Awards and won for his performance in Tender Mercies. He has the acting prowess to make each character that he plays his own.
Richard Burton
Richard Burton had been nominated for the Oscar awards seven times. He was one actor who was as much known for his onscreen persona as his off-screen charm. He also married Elizabeth Taylor twice and is regarded as one of the greatest Welsh actors of all time.
The combination of his rugged looks and captivating persona has made Burton one of the pioneers of Hollywood cinema. He has played several roles not only in London theatre, and Broadway but also in Hollywood through the 1950s and ’60s. Burton has successfully delivered several top-notch performances such as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Cleopatra.
Orson Welles
Orson Welles was a polarizing figure in his lifetime, Welles has been able to exercise his talent in all three forms of media, such as The radio, theater, and films. Welles was one of the classic examples of a genius who came, saw, and conquered.
He also produced some of the greatest films in the history of cinema, thanks to his impeccable style and aesthetic. One of the landmark films in Welles’ career was Citizen Kane which was a triumph of style and was no less than a masterpiece.
Al Pacino
Al Pacino is one of the rare actors whose acting chops and larger-than-life persona help him find a place as one of the greatest actors of all time. His acting chops have earned him Oscar, Emmy, and Tony awards.
His work as Panic in Needle Park threw him into the spotlight. But the jewel in his crown certainly turned out to be the Godfather trilogy. Michael Corleone is the career-defining role that everyone wants but few gets, and of course not forget very few actors can justify the role as remarkably as Pacino. Pacino is an unpredictable genius and you'll never know what role he would come up with next.
Cary Grant
Cary Grant was one of the few actors who could ace any kind of role whether it is thrillers to romantic comedies. He has acted in the finest films to have come out of Hollywood.
Grant exuded an urbane sophisticated class like no Hollywood actor could. His charisma and comedic talent made him one of the Hollywood stalwarts. He can easily be placed among the top icons of the industry’s “Golden Age.” After earning two Oscar nominations he finally got the award in 1970 and everyone right from his friend Frank Sinatra would agree that it was well-deserved.
Paul Newman
Paul Newman’s good looks and clear blue eyes made him a box-office winner for decades. His role in Cat on the Hot Tin Roof earned him his first Academy nomination in 1968, while his standout performance in Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money won him his first Oscar.
He has acted in over 65 movies spanning over five decades. He was a rare mix of grace, intelligence, and sharp humor. He has the caliber of making acting look completely effortless on screen. He was the bonafide movie star who has left behind a rare acting legacy.
Dustin Hoffman
Most renowned critics would agree on one thing no one can do justice to the role of Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate than Dustin Hoffman. He brought about an immense change in the way screen acting worked.
Character actors can now demand as much screen time as movie stars. In the first five decades directors gave him many memorable turns in American movies. The fact that he is versatile could be evident from the fact that he rocked in hard-hitting and diverse roles as a Watergate scoundrel, a thinking detective, a livid divorcee, and a small-time crook. There's no one quite like Hoffman and he is truly one of the greatest stars of this generation.
Sidney Poitier
Sir Sidney Poitier adds many feathers to his illustrious cap, so he is not only a legendary actor, director, and diplomat, but he has a life full of wonderful accomplishments. He earned the distinction of winning the first African American Oscar for his role in Lilies of the Field.
He also earned the distinction of being the Bahamian ambassador to Japan. He was adamant about refusing to compromise on his principles and avoided roles that stereotypically depicted African Americans, Poitier reached the zenith of success yet he refused to compromise on the choices he made. His screen presence and his gravitas are stuff that movie legends are made of.
Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck was distinctive in his portrayal of strength and authority and starred in many classic movies. Peck was excellent as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird and proved that he was an actor to take seriously.
This was the role that earned him maximum respect from the audience. Peck has worked with many great directors and is one of the few actors who earned five Best Actor Academy Awards. Peck was a big movie star whose indefatigability and creative synergy can never be questioned.
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Anthony Hopkins has been credited for as many as 130 roles on both stage and screen. No wonder he still stays relevant and much sought after even after spending five decades in showbiz.
Sir Anthony Hopkins has taken up multiple things in his career and has effortlessly portrayed each role with great ease. As the saying goes he can do pretty much anything and with great aplomb. He has been able to do any kind of role, right from period dramas to horrors. Hopkins had no fear of being typecast. He picked up the Academy Award for his fierce and intimidating role in the iconic movie Silence of The Lambs.
Jimmy Stewart
James Stewart began his acting career on Broadway and earned the distinction of acting opposite Spencer Tracy in the film Murder Man. While he was completely at ease with the role of every man, he later was found to be at as much each in playing the darker roles in Hitchcockian thrillers.
Stewart continued with his career for five long decades and in each of his films playing the role of ordinary people, lawmen, cowboys, military officers, pioneers politicians, and more. In 1940, he went on to win his first Academy Award for his superlative performance in George Cukor’s The Philadelphia Story.
Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson is his person and yet he could channel each of the bonafide movie stars of his generation such as Gable, Bogart, and the Cagney of his times. His has been an illustrious career playing each role as different from the other, like brooding rebels, crazed villains, and suave charmers in movies.
No wonder, Nicholson’s body of work has earned him not one but several Academy Award nominations. The three-time Oscar winner revamped the image of a leading man on screens such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Last Detail, and The Shining. Arguably Nicholson's most accomplished work is surely Alexander Payne’s About Schmidt. Jack Nicolson is truly an icon in the true sense of the term.
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier is a truly original great actor. Many believe he is one of the greatest English-speaking actors of the 20th century. In 1944, he was the star and director of Shakespeare’s Henry V.
He was outstanding in the role and there were onscreen magic thanks to some good old old-fashioned theatricality and quintessential cinema which deservedly earned him an Academy Award. He went on to star in three more Shakespearean film adaptations and he donned the director's hat for the two of them. He won an Oscar for both Best Picture and Actor for his masterpiece, Hamlet.
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis is a flawless ac Oscartor and his acting prowess has earned him an Oscar three times. Daniel Day-Lewis has a certain amount of eccentricity embedded deep in his demeanor that made him threaten to quit acting several times.
His eccentricity aside, he is still regarded as one of the most famous figures in cinema. Lewis’ stature has helped him cement his place in the industry as one of the best actors of his tireless hard work for five decades. His work in films like There Will Be Blood to Lincoln proves that he is right up there among the likes of Marlon Brando.
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando has been one of the most enigmatic actors in America and he has unleashed undeniable movie magic on screen. He is one of the most recognizable actors of all time, Brando was famous for blending a certain amount of realism in his performances.
It was his standout performance as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire that made him the movie star he was. He was also excellent as the gang leader of Johnny Strabler in The Wild One and went on to receive Oscar for On the Waterfront. His second Oscar was for the role of Vito Corleone in The Godfather.
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart has known hands down as one of the greatest male stars in the history of American cinema by the American Film Institute 1999. Humphrey Bogart acting skills and screen presence made him shine like a diamond on the silver screen.
He had a career that spawned for almost three decades and made an appearance in 75 feature films. Bogart also impressed one and all as an anti-hero in Casablanca. Not to forget his role as a drunken riverboat captain in The African Queen and a sleuth in The Maltese Falcon, each of the roles was as impressive as the other one. He was the ultimate cultural icon and his films are a crash course on acting for people yearning to join the acting business.