The Greatest British Actor

[poliphilo]

Someone I know in Real Life has just got themselves an LJ. All hail playdreams. Up until now the only Real Life people I've known on LJ were my kids.

So who's the greatest British actor of all time? Channel 5 gave its viewers a list compiled by "experts" and asked them to put the names in their preferred order. And, no- Burbage, Garrick, Keane and Irving weren't on it. I hate that phrase "all time" because it never means what it says.

Anyway, the greatest British actor of all time turns out to be Anthony Hopkins. I guess it was the fava beans that did it. I saw Hopkins on stage once (in Lear) and thought he was ordinary.

But Cary Grant and Peter Sellers were on the list- they came in at 4 and 7 respectively- and this makes me happy.

Yes, Cary Grant was a Brit. Born in Bristol. Real name Archie Leach. Is this common knowledge? It should be. Surely it's time we put his head on a stamp or a bank note or something!

Comments

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

Hello, playdreams (cool alias!): you picked a good topic to join us on - it's got my mind spinning off to all points of the compass...

poliphilo, is this using "actor" to refer only to men?

I love Cary Grant, he's in two of my favourite films (The Philadelphia Story and - believe it or not - I Was a Male War Bride!), but he's always Cary Grant, isn't he? I'm not sure he's a great actor...

It's not only that "of all time" means "since the invention of a recording technology that allows us to see it" - this is heavily biased towards people who have done a lot of work, not just on film but on colour film (I see it includes Laughton, who was evidently colourful enough in himself...). Of the actors I've actually seen, I'd probably vote for Ian Holm - with a special prize for Richard Burton, Best Voice Of All Time!

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

Charles Laughton was amazing. Our local NPR station runs OLD radio programs and Charles Laughton frequently shows up on Suspense.

I loved Ian Holm in Chariots of Fire, but I LOVED Ian Charleson.

Richard Burton...hm. I've seen some of his early films, and he was very handsome as well as having a great voice.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ian Charleson died far too young. His Hamlet(which he played while dying from AIDS) was reportedly brilliant.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

yes indeed. I heard about his Hamlet, too (from the Scot who teaches Legal Writing here and whose grandfather actually saw Eric Liddel run in Real Life).

Did no one mention Ronald Coleman? His Prisoner of Zenda is my favorite version of the story, and "If I Were King"...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

No, Coleman wasn't mentioned.

But it's like

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No, Coleman wasn't mentioned.

But it's like <ljuser="shewhomust"> says, if you're not in colour you're forgotten.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes, this was only men. They're dealing with the ten best women next week.

Cary was always Cary, but no-one ever had such faultless timing. Or was quite so dreamily debonair. And he had range. He was a great comedian, but he was also equally brilliant in such dark entertainments as Suspicion and Notorious and North by North West.

Holm is under-rated. Burton was a great actor who hated acting and squandered his talent. Everyone says he was at his best on stage in the 1950s.

There are so many great names who didn't make the cut.