Best (Movie) Actor of All Time?

[Robert Treder]

All right, best male actor of all time, who is it?

Larry Olivier can play the heroic lead (Henry V, Lawrence of Arabia), the tragic hero (Hamlet, Rebecca), or the villain (Spartacus) all with equal aplomb. Plus, he's good looking and charismatic to boot.

Toshiro Mifune is similarly versatile, able to play crazy or wild (Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, Miyamoto Musashi), noble and heroic (Duel at Ichijoji Temple, Duel at Ganryu Island), cool, calculating, and selfish (Yojimbo, Sanjuro), tormented and frustrated (High and Low), etc. etc.

Robert De Niro isn't as versatile as the others, but he has shown several faces, and put in great performances in numerous films, such as Mean Streets, King of Comedy, Taxi Driver, Casino, Once Upon a Time In America, The Godfather Part II, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Deer Hunter, Brazil, The Mission, Heat, The Untouchables, Jackie Brown, etc. etc.

Personally, my favorite type of acting is character acting, and there are many great character actors out there. But for the title of greatest actor, I feel that someone with more depth should be chosen, hence my three picks above.
But I have to give honorable mention to Christopher Walken and Al Pacino, who generally play the same characters in all their movies, but it is invariably brilliant to watch.

[Lord Pounder]

Al Pachino. He's never made a bad performance. I still get the chills when i see his rant against god in Devils Advocate.

[Dahak]

CHarile CHaplin. He was a great actor, even without the Power of Voice.

Orson Welles was a powerful actor.

Alec Guiness. Though "tainted" by Star Wars, he was one hell of an actor.

[Chardok]

Greatest EVER?

Hmm....

Sean Connery. Do I really need to give a reason?

[Comosicus]

Greatest EVER?

Hmm....

Sean Connery. Do I really need to give a reason?

You just took the words off my mouth

He also has such an impressive voice. I remember him empersonating Draco ... brilliant

[baelfire1945]

I have to go with Chardok on this one, Connery takes it so far as I'm concerned.

He may not have the depth of Olivier or Mifune, but he has played in a variety of roles (Bond, Jones, Ramius), and I have never seen him put out a dissapointing performance. Also, he is the only Bond that I ever enjoyed watching, which counts for a lot IMO.

[Robert Treder]

Al Pachino. He's never made a bad performance.

So I take it you haven't seen Simone?

Not that I'm arguing that Pacino isn't a great actor; an actor is allowed to have some duds. But Pacino isn't infallable.

[zombie84]

Greatest of all time?

Well i dont think you can really narrow it down to a single, solitary individual.

Certainly of that list Mifune is the best. DeNiro is great but he has the habbit of only being able to play scumbags--granted, he is the best actor is the world to do so. I dont know if its just him being typecast or not, but he pretty much is variations of the same character through all his films, from Taxi Driver to Raging Bull to Goodfellas. Great character actor though. Its hard to make a judgement though--does an actors diversity necessitate greatness? Its a little difficult to compare.

Mifune is certainly one of the greatest actors of all time--from comedic (Seven Samurai), to psychotic (Rashomon), to badass (Yojimbo/Sanjuro), and sometimes combinations of all three (Hidden Fortress) and being accomplished in straight drama (Red Beard, High and Low), Mifune was definitely one of the greates and most versatile screen actors of all time.

My personal favourite is Harrison Ford.

To me, he is the American/Western equivalent to Toshiro Mifune--he can play cool Dean Martin-esque characters (American Graffitti), rough badasses (Star Wars), hardboiled detectives (Blade Runner), noble goodguys (Jack Ryan films, Air Force One), dirty swashbucklers and smooth playboys within the same films (Indiana Jones), and to top it off he is a respected actor is straight drama (Witness). Like Mifune he has an incredible screen presence and charisma, and a cool, dry sense of humor. To me, Harrison Ford and Toshiro Mifune are the peak of excellence in motion picture acting.

[SyntaxVorlon]

Partly because he's one of the best and partly because he hasn't been mentioned yet, Gregory Peck. A DAMN fine actor, able to effect a sober if emotional character in any role. From progressive humanist Atticus Finch to mad Aryan doctor Joseph Mengele.