Ayre

This list is from referenced from a link on IMDB's front page. I don't know (or care) who made it, but as these types of lists go it is pretty darn good (IMO).

The two basic rules are that they must be alive (or appear to be alive) and have been nominated for an Oscar.

*NOTE - There is a black & white photo of Faye Dunaway (#60) that is absolutely amazing.

http://www.freewebs.com/top100actors/index.htm

1. Robert De Niro
2. Al Pacino
3. Jack Nicholson
4. Paul Newman
5. Robert Duvall
6. Gene Hackman
7. Dustin Hoffman
8. Michael Caine
9. Meryl Streep
10. Liv Ullmann

11. Harrison Ford
12. Johnny Depp
13. Cate Blanchett
14. Deborah Kerr
15. Tom Hanks
16. Julianne Moore
17. Emma Thompson
18. Peter O'Toole
19. Olivia de Havilland
20. Kevin Spacey

21. Kate Winslet
22. Shirley MacLaine
23. Morgan Freeman
24. Sidney Poitier
25. Kirk Douglas
26. Albert Finney
27. Diane Keaton
28. Max von Sydow
29. Judi Dench
30. Billy Bob Thornton

31. Frances McDormand
32. Anthony Hopkins
33. Clint Eastwood
34. Ellen Burstyn
35. Philip Seymour Hoffman
36. Edward Norton
37. Ian McKellen
38. Karl Malden
39. Angela Lansbury
40. Jean Simmons

41. Daniel Day-Lewis
42. Leonardo DiCaprio
43. Chris Cooper
44. Russell Crowe
45. Samuel L. Jackson
46. John Hurt
47. Denzel Washington
48. Sissy Spaceck
49. James Earl Jones
50. Sean Penn

51. Ed Harris
52. Julie Christie
53. Tom Cruise
54. Brad Pitt
55. Ralph Fiennes
56. Robin Williams
57. Sean Connery
58. Juliette Binoche
59. Maggie Smith
60. Faye Dunaway

61. Ian Holm
62. Ben Kingsley
63. Sigourney Weaver
64. Uma Thurman
65. Don Cheadle
66. Tim Robbins
67. Benicio Del Toro
68. Nicole Kidman
69. Laura Linney
70. Alan Arkin

71. Vanessa Redgrave
72. Jeff Bridges
73. Joan Fontaine
74. Helen Mirren
75. Woody Allen
76. Emily Watson
77. Jodie Foster
78. David Strathairn
79. Renee Zellweger
80. Jane Fonda

81. Bill Murray
82. Harvey Keitel
83. Charlton Heston
84. Dennis Hopper
85. Jon Voight
86. Laurence Fishburne
87. Judy Davis
88. Tom Courtenay
89. Bob Hoskins
90. Helena Bonham Carter

91. Gerard Depardieu
92. Liam Neeson
93. Willem Dafoe
94. Isabelle Adjani
95. William H. Macy
96. Gena Rowlands
97. Elizabeth Taylor
98. Jennifer Jones
99. William Hurt
100. Susan Sarandon

William Fuld

I disagree.

Rockmjd23

I'm surprised Julia Roberts isn't on there. I'm not a fan of hers, but I figured she would be there.

Edit: nevermind kidman is there.

Giantrobo

Hmmmm, not sure I buy all the names on that list and some great names were left out. But I guess that's simply the nature of these lists right?

Shannon Nutt

Wow, considering what she's done (and what she's been awarded), Jodie Foster is WAY too far down on that list. Someone must have made the list after viewing THE BRAVE ONE.

Ayre

I agree. Juliette Binoche at 58 is nothing short of a crime.

The author of the list did an exceptional job of presentation, with photos and descriptions of each actors 5 most notable roles.

Toad

I like the first bracket (1-10) and agree with it.

The fourth bracket (40-49) is the most interesting to me - DiCaprio, Crowe, Darth, etc.

PopcornTreeCt

Harrison Ford needs to drop about 50 spots.

Toad

There was a time where he was my #1.

inri222

These folks are still alive :

Alain Delon
Jeremy Irons
Isabelle Huppert
Gary Oldman
Harriet Andersson
Bibi Andersson
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Catherine Deneuve
Nick Nolte
Jeanne Moreau
Forrest Whitaker

PopcornTreeCt

Me: Gary Oldman, which actors on this list do you think you're better than?

Gary Oldman: EVERYONE!!!!!!

Lee Harvey Oswald

Harrison Ford #11

I know he's played memorable characters, but he's not a better "actor" than those below him.

And where the fuck is Christian Bale?

Giggles

What, Gene Hackman is so much better than William H. Macy? I doubt. More popular - maybe, but hardly better. I wouldn't place them in order. I believe everyone in Top 100 deserves to be named the first. Whole other question is that this Top lacks many other great actors because there are much more of them in our world to fit into this list of 100.

nateman

Robert De Niro definitely deserves the #1 spot, for Taxi Driver alone he deserves that spot.

I think Jack Nicholson should have been #2, I know I’m going to get sh*t for this but Al Pacino is overrated, in my opinion.

Peter O’Toole should have been higher up on the list & Tom Hanks is a much better actor than Johnny Depp, Cate Blanchett or Mr. Ford.

Robin Williams should be MUCH lower. Like #250.

No love for Alan Alda?

baracine

Gary Oldman is the greatest living actor today (in the English-speaking world, anyway).

Charlie Goose

Al Pacino - #2? Not in the last 15 years. He's a caricature of what he was.

Clint Eastwood is my favorite movie star of all time, but #33 is a little too high, he never was a great actor.

Doesn't matter though, a top 100 Living Actors list without Mickey Rooney is useless. Nobody on that list is as versatile as Rooney.

Lemdog

Oldman is absolutely in the top 5 in the English-speaking world. Was there any non-english speakers on the list?

movieguru

I would have put Harrison ford in the top 10.

fiver

I think this list is biased anyway towards English speaking actors since to be on the list, you have to have won an oscar (undoubtedly the mark of quality ;/ ).

Michael

baracine

Only one: Gérard Depardieu and that's probably because English-speaking film critics have invested so much time in pronouncing his name right.

(I assume Juliette Binoche is on there for the same reason.)

Did Sophia Loren die?

Supermallet

I find it funny that nobody else has mentioned that WOODY ALLEN is on that list. I mean, I love his movies to death, but one of the world's greatest living actors? Come on.

islandclaws

I could argue this list to death, but I'm pretty pleased with the top choice. De Niro is (arguably) the greatest actor living today. Maybe he's been making some bad choices lately, but his prior body of work is astounding.

Toad

Good point. He doesn't have a whole shitload of movies, maybe that's what kept him off the list (for now, anyway).

Shannon Nutt

I would have but Crowe in the top 10. He's probably going to be recognized down the road as one of our greatest living actors...it's only his "bad boy" image that's prevented him from being seen as such right now.

And Max Von Sydow can drop some...he's a good actor, but he needs to learn how to say "no" to roles...he's been in some horrible films.

MoviePage

Meryl Streep not #1 = INVALID.

I think a majority of the other actors on that list would agree with me. In fact I've heard several of them state as much in interviews etc.