1910's Mary Pickford
1920's Clara Bow

That Oscar he won should help. also, this isn't a popularity thread, right?

70s : Chevy Chase
80s: Chevy Chase
90s : Bjork

I'll follow-up my earlier "actors" list with this one for "actresses":

1930's - Myrna Loy
1940's - Greer Garson
1950's - Marilyn Monroe
1960's - Angie Dickinson
1970's - Barbra Streisand
1980's - Sigourney Weaver

2000s: Paul Bettany
1990s: Michael Keaton
1980s: Tom Cruise
1970s: Robert Forster
1960s: Marcello Mastroianni
1950s: Leslie Neilson
1940s: Robert Montgomery
1930s: Gary Cooper
1920s: George O'Brian
1910s: Eric Campbell

Actresses of each Decade:

2000s: Toni Collette
1990s: Bridget Fonda
1980s: Rebecca DeMorney
1970s: Ruth Gordon
1960s: Cary Grant

^ Cary Grant would beat your ass for that, if he were still alive.

This is really hard to say, but:

1920's - Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
1930's - Clark Gable (Gone with the Wind 1939, need I say more)
1940's - Cary Grant (His awards came from 1942 and beyond and he belongs on this list)
1950's - John Wayne (Love his westerns)
1960's - Sidney Poitier (Man with character crossed the color line, changed movies)
1970's - Robert De Niro (God Father and many others)
1980's - Harrison Ford (To many fun, great movies everyone went to see)
1990's - Tom Hanks (To many fun, great movies everyone went to see)
2000's - No one

Yeah I'm pretty sure it is. How else would no-talent-acting-wise Harrison Ford be on the top of everyone's list?

pretty much like Brad Pitt and Russell Crowe.

Oh, you mean the same Russell Crowe that has been nominated for 3 Oscars and won 1? He's probably the greatest actor of this decade.

Some pretty funny responses here and some pretty ridiculous choices also.
I thought this thread was about definitive actors for each decade?

Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Ford, Cruise.....
Granted they were superstars, but in reguards to acting chops nowhere near the definitive actors in their respective decades.

I'll go with.....

40's- Bogart
50's- Brando
60's- Poiter
70's -Nicholson
80's- DeNiro
90's- Hanks
00's- Norton

I'd have to disagree there. Ford is one of my favorite comparisons in my "why I hate Will Ferrell movies" rant.

Harrison Ford IS Jack Ryan
Harrison Ford IS Han Solo
Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones

And so on, and so on. Ford takes each character and makes them notably different from the others that he plays.

On the other hand, Will Ferrell is.... Will Ferrell.

If you want a one-note actor with no range, Ferrell is your man. Every character he plays is the exact same thing - Will Ferrell playing his usual stupid act in a new set of clothing.

Now maybe he'll surprise me and do something different. Jim Carrey had this same problem, a string of comedies where he was basically the same guy in different situations. Then he came out with a damned good performance in Man on the Moon, and some other non-slapstick roles and demonstrated that he did have some range to the characters he could play.

1950s - Ulla Jacobsson
1960s - Louise Lasser
1970s - Dom DeLuise
1980s - Michael Dudikoff
1990s - Ernie Hudson
2000s - Dennis DeYoung (just you wait)

The thread title is "Who were the definitive actors of each decade?", not "Who were the best actors of each decade?" They are the actors that define the decade. They may not have made the best movies, but they made the movies that everyone identifies as being inexorably linked to that period in cinema.

With that in mind, my list is pretty similar to others. For some there is no question in my mind, but I noted some I had a little trouble deciding on.

1930s: Clark Gable
1940s: Humphrey Bogart
1950s: James Stewart¹
1960s: Paul Newman
1970s: Jack Nicholson²
1980s: Tom Cruise³
1990s: Tom Hanks⁴
2000s: Too early to tell

1. I debated quite a bit on this one. I also thought Cary Grant and John Wayne deserved recognition someplace on the list, but ultimately I couldn't find a place.

2. This was tough as well, but I think everyone agrees that it's really just between Nicholson, Pacino, and De Niro. I think just as the '60s began in '63 with Kennedy's assassination, Nicholson's career spans and typifies the '70s "era" in cinema, from Easy Rider to The Shining.

3. Debated a bit on this one, too. Schwarzeneggar could have easily fit here. Since I know this choice might get some flak, think of Cruise in the '80s: Risky Business, Top Gun, Cocktail, Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July, and I would throw in Days of Thunder in there as well (see my note above).

4. Hate to admit it, but it's true.

Meh. Ford is definately leagues ahead of Will Ferrel but he's still pretty one-dimensional as far as I'm concerned. Jack Ryan, Han Solo, Indiana Jones... I can already see the vast similarities. Ford is in that same state where he essentially palys himself over and over again, like Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt. They're all still great actors they just don't have the depth and changeling qualities of say... a Johnny Depp or Gary Oldman. To me, the latter is the truer art form that is "acting."

It's hard to disagree with what you say(although I think Ford is a better actor than most give him credit for)

But I have to disagree with you about Tom Cruise. As weird as he may be in real life, I think he's one of the best actors of our generation! See Born of the Fourth of July, Magnolia, The Color of Money, The Firm for just a few examples.

If the 80s belonged to just one actor, it's Harrison Ford. Let me point you to the 2nd half of the time, 1985's Witness brought him his first Academy Award nomination and had highbrow critics finally raving over him just like Joe Public had been for years followed by another Peter Weir collaboration The Mosquito Coast, Polanski's Hitchcockian thriller Frantic, and the clever comedy Working Girl before picking up his fedora and bullwhip again.

Well said.

I think that people are just putting the actor they happen to like into the slots.

It's not the best actor in the decade that's the issue here. The guy that ruled the decade, defines it.

And Connery ruled the 60's. It's not even close. Thunderball played for several MONTHS at movie houses. Goldfinger was huge with lines going around the block in London and NYC. Immigrants in London demonstrated against what they felt were high tickets prices to the film.

Guys wanted to be Connery and women wanted to be with him. Star power through the roof.

Btw, props to the OP. Well thought out initial list.

I've said it before and I will say it until the end of time. If Harrison Ford had not turned down the Michael Douglas role in Traffic, he would have won an Oscar that year.

After reviewing the different post, Tom Hanks seems to be the one that has his Decade Nailed down - 1990's

Surely you jest.

Surely I do not.

Generally beloved actor who specialized in larger-than-life action-hero roles doing a "serious" role in a "serious" movie with a "serious" director? It would have been a LOCK. Money in the bank, I'm telling you.

Nah, but he made the right move, doing K-19: The Widowmaker instead.

Why are people mentioning Ed Norton for the 2000s?

Keeping The Faith
The Score
Death to Smoochy
Red Dragon
25th Hour
Italian Job

I doubt more than 2 of those will even be remembered in 20 years.

Actually now that I think about it, Johnny Depp is by far the most popular actor of this decade.

Here's how I break down the 80's, 90's and 00s:

Early 80's: Harrison Ford
Mid 80's: Sylvester Stallone, Eddie Murphy, Tom Cruise and Arnold Schwarzenegger
Late 80's: Tom Cruise, Eddie Murphy and Arnold Schwarzenegger

Early 90's: Kevin Costner and Arnold Schwarenegger
Mid 90's: Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise
Late 90's: Jim Carrey and Will Smith

Early '00s: Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp
Mid '00s: Johnny Depp rules everybody.