Now we will discuss about the Top Movie-Stars of Hollywood.
Actors and actresses come and go, but movie stars are forever.
Or at least a really long time.
But what exactly constitutes a movie star isn't clear. It's not just talent or marketability or good taste or any other single thing, though all of those elements play a role. It's something more, something not as easy to define.
Star power, you might call it - the ability to create time and again characters audiences want to spend time with for whatever reason. The easiest way to describe it is to say you know it when you see it.
And who are the biggest stars? That's what we're debating. Ask 10 people, and you'll likely get 10 different answers - it's that subjective.
You'll only get one answer here: mine.
Meryl Streep ... 15 Oscar Nominations and 2 Wins. Legend personified .....As such, it isn't intended to be the last word on the matter, but the first word on a long, healthful argument. Will you find fault with who's on it and who's not, and the order? I certainly hope so.
The selection here is open for all, as you guys can definitely suggest some addition of your choice. I have just compiled some Top 50 Actors and Actresses in this List who deserve to be in it. (It certainly does not signify anybody outside this List deserve any less, but it is that I have selected 50 only.)
So, Let's begin our Quest .....
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50. Johnny Depp: Sort of a latter-day Jack Nicholson, with the huge talent, the exotic lifestyle, all that. He's come a long way from "21 Jump Street."
49. Kate Winslet: The next Meryl Streep? Perhaps. A great talent who never disappoints, even if her movies sometimes do. Won the heart of millions in the blockbuster Titanic as the beautiful Rose. Won an Oscar for "The Reader," though she's been better elsewhere.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet sizzled the silver screen in Titanic48. Mary Pickford: Huge silent star and an Oscar winner, for "Coquette," she also co-founded United Artists and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A tiny giant in the industry.
47. Robert Mitchum: "The Night of the Hunter," "Cape Fear" and a hard-charging lifestyle combined for a nicely iconoclastic image.
46. Sean Connery: Three words: Bond. James Bond. And yet he won his Oscar for "The Untouchables."
45. John Travolta: He's been a star - and not - several times. "Welcome Back, Kotter" made him famous, "Saturday Night Fever" got him respect, "Pulp Fiction" made people care again. Clunkers along the way, but a likable sort.
44. Jerry Lewis: Oui, Jerry Lewis, though you don't have to be French to appreciate that he had total control over his absurd comedies.
43. Michael Caine: Here's how you know you're a star: You make "Jaws: The Revenge" and everyone respects you anyway. A couple of Oscars ("Hannah and Her Sisters" and "The Cider House Rules") will do that for you.
At 75, still adorable and equally great - Michael Caine stars in The Dark Knight42. Shirley Temple: Long before the term "child star" meant a future ticket to rehab, she was one of the world's biggest celebrities - and emerged unscathed.
41. Brad Pitt: More than just a pretty face. Really - watch him in "Twelve Monkeys." And with tabloid romances and multiple adoptions and whatnot, the modern embodiment of what it means to be a star.
40. Steve McQueen: Went from "The Blob" to "The Great Escape" and "Bullitt," becoming just about the coolest guy on the planet in the process.
Steve Mcqueen, during the filming of the Documentary classic Le Mans39. Sigourney Weaver: Hugely talented, good at drama ("The Ice Storm") and comedy ("Ghost Busters"), but she'll always be kick-butt Ripley in the "Alien" films to us.
38. Groucho Marx: You think of the eyebrows and the greasepaint mustache, but Marx is probably the greatest comic actor of all time. A legitimate genius.
37. Julie Andrews: She's doesn't only play good girls, in films like "Mary Poppins" (for which she won an Oscar) and "The Sound of Music" - she did have a memorable topless scene in "S.O.B." But she played them well enough to be loved for them.
36. Denzel Washington: Sure, he's won two Oscars, for "Glory" and "Training Day." But you know you're a star when you're handsome enough to have your face featured in a hit song ("Whatta Man," a hit for Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue).
35. Warren Beatty: The last bridge between the studio system and modern Hollywood. Great actor, director, has had some success with the ladies, as they say. Won an Oscar for directing "Reds."
34. George Clooney: Heir to Cary Grant, sort of - handsome, suave, the kind of guy you'd like to hang out with. Or see in a movie. Gained weight and won an Oscar for "Syriana."
33. Morgan Freeman: With some stars, it's looks. Others, it's attitude. With Freeman? It's that voice. No wonder he played God in "Bruce Almighty" and "Evan Almighty." Won an Oscar for "Million Dollar Baby."
Morgan Freeman (right) and Christian Bale in The Dark Knight. A legend and another in the making ???32. Will Smith: Makes about a movie a year, sometimes two, typically rules the box office. Why? Because people really, really like him.
31. Audrey Hepburn: Five Oscar nominations, one win (for "Roman Holiday") and a continuing presence as a fashion icon.
30. Tom Cruise: Savvy, successful, maybe a little nuts. A huge star anyway, and an underrated actor.
29. Al Pacino: There are other reasons he's on this list - "Dog Day Afternoon," for instance - but I'm sorry, you play Michael Corleone in the "Godfather" movies, you get a free pass for life. Then he goes and wins an Oscar for overacting in "Scent of a Woman."
28. Clint Eastwood: From spaghetti-Western star to Dirty Harry to a four-time Oscar winner - two each for "Unforgiven" and "Million Dollar Baby." Star power? Helped get him elected mayor of Carmel, Calif., and has kept him atop the list of iconic American tough guys.
27. Barbra Streisand: Known now more for her politics, she has two Oscars (for acting in "Funny Girl" and composing "A Star is Born"), a Tony, an Emmy, a Grammy, a Golden Globe ... you get the idea.
26. Harrison Ford: Has the cool roles (Indiana Jones, Han Solo) and the box-office pull; his films have made, literally, billions.
25. John Wayne: Embodies the Western, a larger-than-life movie cowboy. Check out "The Searchers" and "The Shootist" (his last film) for his best work, not his Oscar turn in "True Grit."
24. Dustin Hoffman: His Ben Braddock from "The Graduate" is a counterculture icon and got him his first of seven Oscar nominations (he would win for "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Rain Man").
Dustin Hoffman (right) and Tom Cruise put some outstanding performance in the Rain Man. Two of the Finest in Hollywood.23. Elizabeth Taylor: Has become something of an oddity, but was the biggest star of her day (that day being roughly the 1960s). More husbands than Oscars, but she does have two of the latter, for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Butterfield 8."
22. Julia Roberts: Her power outstrips her performances, despite an Oscar for "Erin Brockovich."
21. Sidney Poitier: Won an Oscar for "Lilies of the Field," but he's best known for the three (!) films he made in 1967: "To Sir, With Love," "In the Heat of the Night" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." Not a bad run.
20. Robert Redford: The thinking-woman's sex symbol, at least in the '70s. Known as an actor, of course, but also an Oscar-winning director ("Ordinary People").
19. Grace Kelly: Won an Oscar for "The Country Girl," won hearts in "Rear Window" the same year. Beautiful, talented and married a prince - now that's a star.
18. Buster Keaton: Chaplin gets more acclaim, but "Sherlock Jr." and "The General" are works of comedy genius.
17. Gary Cooper: "High Noon" alone would be enough, but there's also "Sergeant York" (he won Oscars for both), "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" and "Pride of the Yankees," among many others.
16. Robert De Niro: Sometimes lately it seems like he's quit trying. Another "Fockers" movie? But back in the day - "Mean Streets", "Taxi Driver", "Goodfellas", "The Godfather: Part II", "Raging Bull" - no one was better. Won Oscars for those last two; was robbed for "Taxi Driver."
Robert De Niro - Versatile Legend15. James Dean: Three movies. Two Oscar nominations. Tragic death. Legend.
14. Clark Gable: Sure, "Gone with the Wind" is swell, but we'll take "It Happened One Night" (for which he won an Oscar), thanks.
13. Henry Fonda: Best known as the level-headed, decent sort ("The Grapes of Wrath," say, or "Young Mr. Lincoln"), it made roles like the incredibly vile Frank in "Once Upon a Time in the West" all the more enjoyable. Won Oscar in his last film role, "On Golden Pond."
12. Bette Davis: Maybe it's impolite to say this about a woman (or a man), but I think she would have liked it: In such films as "Jezebel," "All About Eve" and "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane," she kicked butt. Another versatile genius who could simply fit in any Role without much effort, despite having a beauty like that. She won Oscars for "Dangerous" and "Jezebel."
Enigmatic, Beautiful and Versatile Bette Davis11. Tom Hanks: Just missed the top 10. Male version of America's sweetheart. Two Oscar wins; work in "Forrest Gump" underrated (he also won for "Philadelphia").
10. Jimmy Stewart
Played things deceptively simple; "It's a Wonderful Life" gets him icon status, but he's better in "The Philadelphia Story" (he won an Oscar, in fact). Just old-school good, really, in so many roles, moving easily from thrillers to comedies to Westerns to dramas and being great in all of them.
9. Meryl Streep
Can you be too good? Maybe. We've come to take excellence from her for granted. And with 15 Oscar nominations - more than anyone else - and two wins, how can we not? Dramatic performances in "Kramer vs. Kramer," "Sophie's Choice" (she won Oscars for both) and "Silkwood" define her, but the Vassar College graduate can also be funny - see "Postcards from the Edge" and "Defending Your Life" for proof. Greatest living actor? Hard to argue.
8. Humphrey Bogart
Here's lookin' at you, kid. Even in a brilliant career, a single role can establish you as a legend. What if you had several? Sam Spade, Rick Blaine, Philip Marlowe, Charlie Allnut (he won an Oscar for "The African Queen"), Queeg - that's astounding. And each holds up well.
7. Paul Newman
The blue eyes, the iconoclastic cool, the quiet confidence. What are we leaving out? Oh, the enormous talent. "The Hustler," "Hud," "Cool Hand Luke," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," even "Slap Shot" - this was a guy you didn't just want to watch, you wanted to be like. And many have tried. Finally won an Oscar for "The Color of Money."
6. Katharine Hepburn
Where to start? The 12 Oscar nominations? The four wins, for "Morning Glory," "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?," "The Lion in Winter" and "On Golden Pond?" As good a place as any. Yet my favorite of her roles - as headstrong, spoiled Tracy Lord in "The Philadelphia Story" - garnered only a nomination (the win went to Ginger Rogers for "Kitty Foyle"). Fine. But a career that spanned 62 years can probably best be summed up in a single word: class.
Katherine Hepburn - Classic Beauty in conjunction with Unequal Enigma and Fluent diversified Performance.5. Marlon Brando
Arguably the most influential actor ever; his eight Oscar nominations (and two wins) only begin to tell the story. Famous for method acting, his performance in "The Wild One" was an anti-establishment classic in the buttoned-up '50s; his Oscar-winning role in "On the Waterfront" broke new ground and explored new possibilities and, of course, his Vito Corleone in "The Godfather" is iconic. Won Oscars for the latter two.
4. Marilyn Monroe
She's better known for her personal life than her movies, creating the oversized persona that is now a staple of tabloids and gossip shows. Whatever star power is, she had it in spades. Yet she was also in "All About Eve," "The Asphalt Jungle," "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "How to Marry a Millionaire;" her pose over the street grate in "The Seven Year Itch" is as famous (and imitated) as anything in movies.
3. Charlie Chaplin
In theory, when it comes to just watching a movie, I'm more of a Buster Keaton man. But it is impossible to overstate Chaplin's influence on the history of film. Actor, director, producer, composer (he shared an Oscar for original score for "Limelight") and all-around genius, he was the first truly huge movie star. He made what we think of as the motion-picture industry possible.
The first King of Movies - Charlie Chaplin. LEGEND.[period]2. Cary Grant
Among the (many) movies he made between 1938 and 1941: "Bringing Up Baby," "His Girl Friday," "The Philadelphia Story" and "Suspicion." Nice little career for most; "Notorious" and "North by Northwest" would follow, as would many others. He personified the suave male lead; George Clooney's career would be unthinkable without him. Yet his only Oscar is honorary.
1. Jack Nicholson
He's been around forever (his first role was in a 1956 episode of "Matinee Theatre"), he's been nominated for 12 Oscars (winning three) and he somehow manages, through his roles and his lifestyle, to continue to epitomize cool (even though he's 72 years old). He's slowed down considerably, but whether through riding on the back of a motorcycle in "Easy Rider," riling up his fellow patients in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" or managing all work but no play in "The Shining," he's become the face of Hollywood. Won Oscars for "Cuckoo's Nest," "Terms of Endearment" and "As Good As It Gets."
Jack Nicholson - Showman Forever****************************************************
Of course, I have missed a lot of other Actors, who are also brilliant in whatever Role they play and moreover whom I simply love to watch again and again ... Namely 'Russel Crowe' in Gladiator, Cindrella Man or A Beautiful Mind; then 'Leonardo DiCaprio' in Departed, Blood Diamond or Titanic; 'Christian Bale' in American Psycho, The Machinist or Batman Begins, 'Anne Hathaway' in The Princess Diaries, The Devil wears Prada and Rachel getting Married; 'Jim Carrey' in Liar Liar, The Mask and Bruce Almighty; 'Sylvester Stallone' in Assassins, Rocky series or the Rambo series; 'Penélope Cruz' in The Girl of Your Dreams and Volver; 'Pierce Brosnan' in James Bond series or Thomas Crown Affair or Laws of Attraction; 'Heath Ledger' in The Dark Knight and Ten Things I hate about You; 'Matt Damon' in Jason Bourne series or Good Will Hunting; and a few others .... I can simply watch these Actors sizzle into the Silver Screen again and again .....
Regards,
Satadru Roy
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