The 20 Greatest American Actors of All Time
There is a lot of talent here! For this list, we’ll be looking at those talented American performers who have made the greatest impact on the big screen.
Transcript
00:00 - Now, the flamingo is used to all kinds of goings on,
00:03 but even the management of the flamingo
00:05 was impressed by Dame Blanche.
00:07 - Welcome to WatchMojo,
00:08 and today we're counting down our picks
00:10 for the top 20 greatest American actors of all time.
00:14 - Oh, the truth, the truth,
00:16 I don't even know what is the truth.
00:18 After all these lies I have told.
00:25 - For this list,
00:26 we're looking at those talented American performers
00:28 who have made the greatest impact on the big screen.
00:30 There are so many more who could have made this list.
00:33 Who's your favorite American actor?
00:34 Let us know in the comments.
00:36 Hey, Mojoholics, for a chance to win cash prizes,
00:40 play our live daily trivia challenges
00:42 every day at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern
00:45 only at watchmojo.com/play.
00:48 Number 20, Leonardo DiCaprio.
00:52 The longstanding joke about him not winning an Oscar aside,
00:55 Leonardo DiCaprio has been demonstrating his great ability
00:57 as an actor from the start.
00:59 - What satisfaction can't so have tonight?
01:01 - The exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine.
01:07 - His early work shows a dedicated actor
01:09 with a long and rich career ahead of him.
01:11 Making the transition from '90s heartthrob to leading man,
01:14 DiCaprio traded in his boyish charms
01:16 for something a bit more substantial.
01:18 His roles have only increased in difficulty
01:20 since those early days.
01:21 Part of that has to do with his working
01:23 with some of the greatest directors of the last few decades.
01:26 The other part is his courage to constantly evolve,
01:29 building up to his long overdue,
01:31 Oscar-winning performance in 'The Revenant.'
01:34 - He's afraid.
01:34 He knows how far I came for him.
01:39 - Number 19, Philip Seymour Hoffman.
01:42 A character actor in the truest sense,
01:45 even if he had never broken out as a leading man,
01:48 Philip Seymour Hoffman would still be counted among the best.
01:51 - Well, I'd only just handed in the final scene
01:55 when the bellhop told me I had a phone call.
01:58 - Over his unfairly short career,
02:00 he portrayed almost every kind of screen character there is.
02:03 Standout work in complicated roles
02:05 like those in 'Boogie Nights,' 'Magnolia,' and 'The Master'
02:08 are only a few highlights.
02:09 His incredible Oscar-winning work
02:11 as the famed author Truman Capote
02:13 once again highlighted his ability
02:14 to disappear into a character almost completely
02:17 when he died in 2014.
02:19 It was clear there was still so much left for us to see.
02:23 - If we are not helping him,
02:25 then it is we who have failed him.
02:30 - Number 18, Elizabeth Taylor.
02:33 As famous for her off-camera exploits
02:35 as her on-camera ones, Elizabeth Taylor might just be
02:37 the first modern Hollywood it girl.
02:39 - You must never envy Caesar or anyone, anything again.
02:44 - She was no stranger to drama, controversy, and scandal.
02:49 However, she had all the talent and charisma to back it up.
02:52 Beginning her career as a child star,
02:54 Taylor didn't just make it over the hurdle to adult stardom,
02:57 she cleared it completely.
02:59 Her persona as an elegant but seductive man-eater
03:02 was only part of her success.
03:04 Her depth of feeling and tremendous skill,
03:06 particularly in her Oscar-winning role
03:08 in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'
03:09 made it impossible for anyone to write her off
03:12 as a mere glamour queen.
03:13 - Daddy knows how to run things.
03:16 - Make no mistake, she was glamorous,
03:18 but she was also so much more.
03:20 - Some men would give their right arm for the chance.
03:23 - Number 17, James Stewart.
03:25 Male stars of old Hollywood could be cool and brutal
03:29 or suave and sophisticated,
03:30 but most of them were larger than life.
03:33 - In other words, I've got a piece to speak,
03:35 and blow hot or cold, I'm gonna speak.
03:37 - James Stewart was the classic era's great everyman.
03:40 With his crystal blue eyes and slow drawl,
03:42 there was something familiar and less glamorous
03:45 about him than his contemporaries.
03:46 He could portray boyish naivete with ease.
03:49 His idealistic characters
03:50 in Frank Capra's sentimental classics
03:52 allowed him to play into that warmth.
03:54 - That's right.
03:55 (crowd singing)
03:56 That's right.
03:57 (crowd singing)
03:59 That a boy clad.
04:01 - When the occasional antihero role
04:02 required him to shift into a darker mode,
04:05 such as in the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece, 'Vertigo,'
04:07 he was just as engrossing.
04:09 Number 16, Viola Davis.
04:12 It was far from her first screen role,
04:14 but when Viola Davis appeared in 'Doubt'
04:16 and blew Hollywood legend Meryl Streep
04:18 right off the screen, audiences the world over took notice.
04:22 - I'm talking about the boy's nature now,
04:24 not anything he's done.
04:28 - A steady character actress
04:30 throughout the '90s and early 2000s,
04:32 Davis rocketed to fame for her ability to emote
04:35 and stay grounded in the reality of a scene.
04:37 Her stage training is evident in her monologues,
04:40 which are always pointed
04:41 and perfectly calibrated for the screen.
04:43 Genre-wise, her movies are all over the place,
04:46 but they all have one thing in common.
04:48 They all have a lived-in,
04:50 well-modulated performance from Viola Davis.
04:53 Number 15, Robert Redford.
04:56 As actor, director, and co-founder
04:58 of the Sundance Film Festival,
04:59 Redford is known for his commitment to his craft
05:01 and the art of filmmaking in general.
05:03 - Laughed loud and long,
05:05 and all the while, his eyes went to and fro.
05:09 Ha ha, quoth he, "Full plane, I see.
05:15 The devil knows how to roll."
05:17 - However, like many of his contemporaries,
05:20 Redford began his career on Broadway.
05:22 Once he appeared in multiple movies alongside Natalie Wood,
05:25 he became a hot commodity in Hollywood.
05:27 - Why do you do that?
05:28 Why are you so fanciful?
05:31 Why do you make everything seem so special?
05:33 - He became one of the most bankable actors
05:35 of the next decade,
05:36 headlining some of the most unforgettable movies
05:38 of the 1960s and '70s.
05:40 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,
05:42 The Way We Were, and many others were made unforgettable
05:45 because of his steady and charming screen persona.
05:48 Number 14, Morgan Freeman.
05:51 - But as the sunlight begins to disappear
05:53 at the end of their fifth year,
05:55 and the warm days begin to cool,
05:57 they too will climb out of the water,
05:59 and they will march.
06:02 - His sonorous voice is unmistakable.
06:04 Given his assertive screen presence,
06:07 it makes sense that he didn't really find fame
06:09 until he was nearly 40.
06:10 His breakthrough role in 1987's "Street Smart"
06:13 earned him his first Academy Award nomination
06:16 and propelled him to movie stardom.
06:18 - You're looking a little paler than usual, boy.
06:22 - You play rough.
06:24 - Well, it ain't all basketball and dishwashers out here.
06:27 Move it out, Reg.
06:28 - From haunted police detectives
06:30 to bat-wielding high school principals to God himself,
06:33 Freeman shines best when he plays a figure of authority,
06:36 but he's far from a villain.
06:38 His persona may be consistently self-assured,
06:41 but he also manages to find the fundamental goodness
06:43 in all of his characters.
06:45 - Get busy living or get busy dying.
06:48 That's God damn right.
06:53 - Number 13, Jane Fonda.
06:56 How good does an actor have to be
06:58 to be able to take a 15-year hiatus
07:00 and just pick up where they left off?
07:02 Apparently, the answer is Jane Fonda good.
07:05 - I'll tell you something, Jack.
07:06 It is in the bells that I hear my voices.
07:10 - Few actors have had careers as varied
07:12 and full of so many distinct eras as Fonda.
07:15 She started out as Hollywood royalty,
07:17 the daughter of actor Henry Fonda,
07:19 and began playing in girl-next-door roles.
07:21 In the 1970s, she pivoted towards
07:24 her controversial political activism
07:25 and a series of socially conscious films
07:28 that won both acclaim and awards.
07:30 Despite an early retirement in 1990,
07:32 Fonda returned to films in 2005,
07:35 reclaiming her spot as one of Hollywood's
07:37 most powerful forces on screen and off.
07:40 - Oh, I've missed you so much, I promise.
07:44 I'll never leave you again.
07:45 - Oh my God, Mom, look at you.
07:48 You look fantastic.
07:50 - It's just something I threw together.
07:51 - Number 12, Humphrey Bogart.
07:53 Exemplifying the cool masculinity of the classic period,
07:57 Humphrey Bogart's mannerisms and line readings
07:59 made him one of Hollywood's most imitated actors.
08:01 - Hello, Sam.
08:02 - Hello, Luke.
08:03 - Say, that was too bad about Miles.
08:06 - Yeah, it was tough break.
08:07 - Casually tossing out sardonic dialogue
08:09 with a cigarette in his mouth,
08:10 nobody could ever get the better of Bogart.
08:12 His BS detector is off the charts.
08:15 With his performances in the murder mysteries,
08:17 The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep,
08:19 he's largely responsible for the screen archetypes
08:21 associated with the hard-boiled detective.
08:23 Although known for playing tough guys,
08:25 his screen persona actually made every romantic lead
08:28 he played more believable.
08:30 Bogart represented the kind of masculinity
08:32 most American men wanted to emulate.
08:34 - Nana.
08:38 - He's looking at you, kid.
08:40 - Number 11, Sidney Poitier.
08:42 His debut role in 1950's No Way Out
08:45 is a perfect encapsulation
08:47 of what made Sidney Poitier so special.
08:49 - Look, he's sick, he's crazy, he's everything you said.
08:52 But I can't kill a man just because he hates me.
08:55 - Even in the face of prejudice and racism,
08:57 he was a poised and stalwart presence.
09:00 His characters ran against the grain
09:02 of what Hollywood generally allowed African-Americans
09:04 to be on the silver screen.
09:06 Not just a great actor,
09:08 Poitier was also a Hollywood trailblazer
09:10 and barrier breaker.
09:11 - Let me tell you something.
09:13 I owe you nothing.
09:16 If you carried that bag a million miles,
09:19 you did what you were supposed to do.
09:21 - In 1964, he earned the distinction
09:23 of becoming the first black performer
09:25 to win the Academy Award for Best Actor
09:27 for his role in Lillies of the Field.
09:30 Later in his career,
09:31 he used his fame for good as a diplomat.
09:34 Number 10, Robin Williams.
09:36 If being adored by millions
09:38 were enough to make someone a great actor,
09:40 Robin Williams has more than earned his spot on this list.
09:43 - Good morning, Vietnam!
09:47 - Luckily for all of us,
09:49 he brought so much more to the table.
09:51 Dogged by early career criticisms
09:53 that he was merely playing himself in front of a camera,
09:55 Williams took more dramatic roles
09:57 that demonstrated his range.
09:59 - You move, chief.
10:01 - Even his more comedic roles like Mrs. Doubtfire
10:05 became grounded by serious circumstances.
10:07 His once-in-a-generation gift
10:09 for impressions and improvisation,
10:11 irrepressible energy,
10:13 and deft approach to both comic and dramatic roles
10:16 are so extraordinary,
10:17 they should be studied in labs.
10:19 - But the human spirit is more powerful than any drug.
10:23 And that is what needs to be nourished.
10:28 - Number nine, Frances McDormand.
10:31 With three Academy Awards
10:32 and a boatload of other trophies on her shelf,
10:34 Frances McDormand has earned a reputation for excellence.
10:38 - You ain't trying to make me believe
10:39 in reincarnation or something, are you?
10:41 'Cause you're pretty, but you ain't her.
10:44 - Widely known for her collaborations
10:46 with the Coen brothers,
10:47 McDormand is a master at creating specific
10:49 and distinctive characters.
10:51 In her most iconic role as Marge Gunderson in "Fargo,"
10:54 she is somehow able to balance big, comedic swings
10:57 with a real sense of humanity and empathy.
10:59 - So we got a trooper pull someone over.
11:02 We got a shooting.
11:04 These folks drive by.
11:05 There's a high-speed pursuit.
11:07 Ends here, and then this execution-type deal.
11:10 - Throughout her career,
11:12 she's also been praised for her authenticity.
11:14 If acting is reacting,
11:16 few screen actors do it better than her.
11:18 Even when she's not speaking,
11:20 it's thrilling to just watch her exist.
11:23 Number eight, Robert De Niro.
11:25 He may be one of director Martin Scorsese's go-to gangsters,
11:28 but even this actor's work under the legendary director
11:31 shows a breadth of emotions, intensity, and archetypes.
11:34 - You talking to me?
11:35 You talking to me?
11:39 Then who the hell else are you talking to?
11:44 You talking to me?
11:44 - His character in "Taxi Driver"
11:46 is a favorite for impersonators,
11:48 but watching Travis Bickle's God complex
11:50 wear away at his psyche is not for the faint of heart.
11:53 De Niro's dedication to giving his all
11:55 to every character is admirable,
11:57 like many of his contemporaries.
11:59 He had an explosive energy
12:01 that made him seem unpredictable on the screen.
12:03 Unlike them, though,
12:04 De Niro had a way of making his menace
12:06 seem reasonable and measured.
12:08 His ability for deadpan villainy
12:10 lent itself to comic roles later in his career.
12:13 - Did I not clearly explain
12:14 the circle of trust to you, Greg?
12:16 - Yeah, I think I got it.
12:19 - Number seven, Jack Nicholson.
12:21 What sets this now-retired actor apart is his playfulness.
12:25 - The patient came to me with a large hole in his abdomen.
12:29 Caused by a fire poker used on him by his wife.
12:32 - He's a rambunctious performer
12:34 with a sense of mischief that can be hilarious
12:36 and horrifying depending on the circumstances.
12:39 Nicholson shines best in roles
12:40 where he's got his tongue in his cheek.
12:42 This is not the kind of guy you'd wanna cast to play,
12:45 say, Abraham Lincoln,
12:46 unless you had a really novel take.
12:48 But if you need someone to play a hotel caretaker
12:51 who's slowly going mad,
12:52 an institution patient with a hatred for conformity,
12:55 or even the devil himself, call Jack.
12:57 He's got you covered.
12:58 - I don't quite get how that's a compliment for me.
13:01 - You make me wanna be a better man.
13:09 - Number six, Denzel Washington.
13:11 With a cool confidence and unmatched gravitas
13:14 in front of a camera,
13:15 Denzel Washington has imbued his characters
13:17 with humanity and power
13:19 no matter their circumstances or social station.
13:21 - Most important thing in business is honesty,
13:24 integrity, hard work,
13:27 family,
13:28 never forgetting where we came from.
13:32 - He won his Oscar for playing
13:33 a corrupt narcotics officer in "Training Day,"
13:36 but his performances in "Malcolm X" and "Fences"
13:38 demonstrate his skill.
13:39 He may be one of our last real movie stars.
13:42 - King Kong ain't got (beep) on me!
13:45 - He's the kind of performer who is so distinctive,
13:49 yet somehow believable in every role.
13:51 Whether it's an adaptation of an acclaimed play,
13:54 a high-octane action thriller, or a probing biopic,
13:57 you can count on him to commit wholeheartedly.
14:00 - Like you?
14:00 Who the hell said I got to like you?
14:04 What law is there say I got to like you?
14:07 - Number five, Al Pacino.
14:10 Few actors represent the gritty atmosphere
14:12 of the post-classical Hollywood period than Al Pacino.
14:15 - Whoever told you that you could work with men?
14:17 - His first leading role was as a heroin user
14:20 in "The Panic in Needle Park,"
14:21 but his performance in "The Godfather"
14:23 cemented him as a first-rate screen actor.
14:26 Since then, he's completed
14:27 the prestigious Triple Crown of acting,
14:29 having won an Oscar, two Tonys, and two Emmys.
14:32 What makes Pacino so thrilling to watch
14:35 is that you never really know what he's gonna do.
14:37 Even his more heroic characters
14:39 have a touch of mania to them.
14:40 As a viewer, it makes for an edge-of-your-seat
14:43 viewing experience every time.
14:45 - Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.
14:49 - Number four, Tom Hanks.
14:51 It takes a very special actor
14:53 to pull off the everyman routine
14:54 without sacrificing too much in the way of depth.
14:57 - My mom always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates.
15:02 You never know what you're gonna get."
15:06 - On top of embodying some of the most beloved
15:09 movie characters of the past few decades,
15:11 Tom Hanks has shown us his many layers as a performer.
15:14 Though his screen presence is usually warm and familiar,
15:17 he's able to use that to draw us in.
15:19 Whether he needs us to laugh or cry,
15:21 we are always in the palm of his hand.
15:23 - Wilson!
15:24 I'm sorry!
15:27 I'm sorry, Wilson!
15:31 - On top of Oscars, the AFI Life Achievement Award,
15:34 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
15:36 Hanks is regarded around the world as an American icon.
15:40 Number three, Catherine Hepburn.
15:43 At her most memorable, Hepburn played parts
15:45 that reflected her iron will and Yankee sophistication.
15:48 - And of course you've heard about me.
15:50 I'm the black sheep.
15:51 (sheep bleating)
15:52 That's a goat.
15:52 - Roles that allowed her to wear the pants, so to speak.
15:55 But over her 67 years in show business,
15:58 Catherine Hepburn proved to be one of classic Hollywood's
16:01 most versatile and enduring performers.
16:03 She's remembered for witty roles in "Bringing Up Baby"
16:06 and "The Philadelphia Story,"
16:07 but those are just the tip of the iceberg
16:09 as far as her talent is concerned.
16:11 - You've got all the arrogance of your class,
16:13 all right, haven't you?
16:14 - Hope!
16:15 What have classes to do with it?
16:16 What do they matter except for the people in them?
16:18 - Dramatic turns in "Long Day's Journey Into Night"
16:21 and "The Lion in Winter" showed a seasoned actress
16:23 constantly evolving and going deeper into characters.
16:26 - I dressed my maids as Amazons
16:28 and rode bare-breasted halfway to Damascus.
16:31 - Number two, Marlon Brando.
16:34 People who saw Marlon Brando in the Broadway production
16:37 of "A Streetcar Named Desire"
16:38 talk about it as if it were a religious experience.
16:41 - Hey, Stella!
16:43 Hey, Stella!
16:49 - His performance in the 1951 film version
16:52 brought his electric and brutal style of acting
16:54 to millions more.
16:55 Brando's emergence marked a shift
16:57 in what America expected from its leading man.
16:59 He was brooding and brutal,
17:01 while also being soft and vulnerable.
17:03 Brando's career was incredibly inconsistent,
17:06 and his most famous role as Don Vito Corleone
17:08 came at the end of a long string
17:10 of box office disappointments.
17:12 Despite this, the famously intense actor
17:14 gave us some of the most engrossing
17:16 and dangerous performances ever captured on film.
17:19 - Instead of you coming to my house
17:21 on the day my daughter's to be married,
17:22 and you ask me for the murder money.
17:25 - Before we unveil our top pick,
17:27 here are some honorable mentions.
17:29 Clark Gable.
17:30 Whether it was a comedy or an epic,
17:32 he was one of the Depression era's great leading men.
17:35 - Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
17:37 - Glenn Close.
17:39 The eight-time Oscar nominee
17:41 has a knack for crafting rich characters.
17:43 - I became a virtuoso of deceit.
17:48 - Kirk Douglas.
17:49 Known for his explosive but assured performances
17:52 in the biggest movies of the '50s and '60s.
17:55 - And I'd like to point out that this soldier
17:57 has distinguished himself
17:58 in some of the bloodiest battles of the war.
18:00 - Angela Bassett.
18:02 Screen icon whose work never misses,
18:04 and who famously did the thing.
18:07 ♪ He's got the smile that I should be ashamed ♪
18:10 ♪ Got me lovin' when my heart is in pain ♪
18:13 - Paul Newman.
18:15 Regularly cited as one of Hollywood's
18:17 most successful students of method acting.
18:19 - They say act as if you had faith.
18:21 Faith will be given to you.
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18:41 Number one, Meryl Streep.
18:45 Not only the greatest American actor of all time,
18:47 Streep is one of our great screen chameleons.
18:50 - But that night,
18:51 I kept repeating to myself,
18:55 I have saved my son.
18:59 I have saved my son.
19:00 Tomorrow I can see him.
19:04 - She almost seems like the anti-method actor,
19:07 as she crafts her characters from the outside in.
19:09 Her technique is most evident
19:11 in her renowned ear for accents.
19:13 In her five decade career,
19:15 she has given us the full range of human experience.
19:18 She devastated us in "Sophie's Choice."
19:20 She made us laugh in "Death Becomes Her."
19:22 She terrified us in "The Devil Wears Prada."
19:25 Oh, and did we mention she can sing?
19:27 If it weren't enough that she's insanely talented.
19:29 She's the rare actor who has earned as much affection
19:32 from her colleagues as she has from her audience.
19:34 - When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor,
19:38 did America go cap in hand
19:40 and ask Tojo for a peaceful negotiation of terms?
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