Who are your most favorite and least favorite actors/actresses?

[speedracer5]

Who are your favorite actors/actresses and which ones can you not stand even when they appear in decent films?

 

FAVORITES

Errol Flynn

Cary Grant

Humphrey Bogart

Gene Kelly

William Holden

William Powell

Rita Hayworth

Lauren Bacall

Katharine Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn

Judy Garland

Myrna Loy

 

LEAST FAVORITES

 

Ginger Rogers- I don't know what it is about her; but I never find her compelling enough in films I've seen her in (i.e. "Stage Door") that makes me want to watch a film that she carries on her own. I also may be in the minority; but I find the Astaire/Rogers films dull; Astaire is much better in films without Rogers.

 

June Allyson- I also find her completely dull. She was completely wrong as Jo in "Little Women" and annoying. I was kind of wishing she was playing Beth, so she could disappear halfway through the film. I also find Allyson's voice annoying.

 

Gary Cooper- He's just so boring. I want to watch "High Noon" and I'm hoping that maybe this will change my opinion of him; but so far, I find him completely uninteresting.

 

Marlon Brando- I don't like his "method" acting style. He's always mumbling. Don't even get me started on him singing in "Guys and Dolls." Frank Sinatra was RIGHT there. Why did I have to endure Brando singing "Luck Be a Lady?"

[ERROL23]

Favorites

Humphrey Bogart

John Wayne

Bette Davis

Olivia De Havilland

James Dean

Frank Sinatra

George Raft

Errol Flynn

Stephen McNally

Les Favorites

Natalie Wood

Paul Newman(I always thought he was trying to take up where James Dean left off and not doing a good job at it.Sample Somebody Up There Lkes Me.That had Jimmy written all over it.I must say it was a good film)

Jerry Lewis

Woody Allen

[mrroberts]

I don't understand this, Mr Flynn is eighth on your list but you choose "Errol" for your name here

[JimAgain]

I have too many favorites to list. :-)

 

As for the ones I can't stand:

 

Jack Nicholson

that "Mork" guy

Warren Beaty

Barbra Streisand

Carol Channing

Mr. Turner's wife

Leslie Caron

 

Their presence ruins any movie for me.

[Geralddddd]

If they're in a film, I want to watch it: (In no particular order )

 

Humphrey Bogart

Cary Grant

Fred Astaire

Clark Gable

Audrey Hepburn

Liz Taylor

Marlene Dietrich

Barbara Stanwyck

Ginger Rogers

Mae West

William Powell

Frank Sinatra, I could go on !

 

Those I don't care for:

 

Gary Cooper

Kevin Costner

Ben Affleck

George Raft ... all I can think of for now. Those I don't like, I don't think about.

[speedracer5]

The "Mork guy" Robin Williams?

 

I agree with you on Barbra Streisand, yuck. Can't say I've ever wanted to watch any film with her starring in it.

 

I also agree about Leslie Caron. I have to admit, I've only ever seen "An American in Paris," so I'm not familiar with her other works. But I wish that Gene Kelly would have cast someone else in that role. She just didn't work for me. She's an excellent dancer; but that's about it. I didn't buy that Gene would be in love with her. But I love Gene Kelly, so I did enjoy the film. But I mostly enjoyed all the numbers that she wasn't in.

[speedracer5]

I'll have to add the following to my least favorites list:

 

Nicholas Cage- I cannot figure out for the life of me how not only does he still have a movie career; but how he got one in the first place! He is terrible. He even somehow managed to win an Oscar no less! Come on Academy! Don't encourage him. Is he skating by purely on who he's related to?

 

Kevin Costner- Thanks Gerald for mentioning him. I forgot all about him. I kind of lump him into the same category as Nicholas Cage. He also makes a terrible Robin Hood!

 

Joan Crawford. I don't know what it is about her. But she bugs. The only movie of hers that I enjoy is "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" But it might be because Bette Davis is so crazy in that film, that's what I enjoy about it.

 

Orlando Bloom. A poor man's Errol Flynn.

 

Jennifer Lopez- Way over exposed. I cannot figure out what her talent is. She kind of sucks at everything.

[jamesjazzguitar]

Did you see Dancing Lady last night? Joan does a very good acting job, and I find her very alluring and attractive at this stage of her career. She has those big eyes that just draw me in.

 

Have you seen movies like A Women's Face and some of her 30's work with Gable?

[speedracer5]

I haven't watched it yet; but I recorded it on my DVR. I was too busy watching a couple of my boyfriend, Errol Flynn's films.

 

I have to admit I haven't seen many of Crawford's films. I have seen "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" which is amazing. I have also seen "Mommie Dearest" which isn't really a Joan Crawford movie persay. From clips I've seen of her, she seems like she'd be a bit tedious to hang out with in real life.

 

I am not a big silent movie fan, so I probably wouldn't be apt to check out that aspect of her career; but I would like to check out some of her other films like "Mildred Pierce" and "Humoresque." I will look into the film you suggested.

[johnm001]

Favorite Actors

Jimmy Stewart

Kurt Russell

Van Heflin

Dick Van Dyke

Claude Rains

 

Least Favorite Actors

Robin Williams

Tom Hanks

Marlon Brando

Jack Nicholson

Al Pacino

 

Favorite Actresses

Julie Andrews

Anne Bancroft

Doris Day

Olivia de Havilland

Barbara Stanwyck

 

Least Favorite Actresses

Meryl Streep

Katharine Hepburn

Norma Shearer

Glenn Close

Julia Roberts

[movielover11]

Favorite Actors:

 

Marlon Brando

William Holden

Richard Widmark

Vic Morrow

James Dean

Lee J. Cobb

Vincent Price

Jimmy Stewart

James Cagney

Al Pacino

 

 

Least Favorite Actors:

 

Kirk Douglas

James Mason

Richard Burton

Victor Mature

Mickey Rooney

Charles Laughton

Peter Lorre

John Wayne

Dan Duryea

 

 

Favorite Actesses:

 

Bette Davis

Vivien Leigh

 

 

Least Favorite Actresses:

 

Joan Crawford

Merryl Streep

Julia Roberts

Elizabeth Taylor

Audrey Hepburn

Ingrid Bergman

[Larien]

So I'm new to the forums (hello, all!) and thought this would be a good thread to start with! I'm 27, obsessed with old Hollywood and I just moved to TN.

 

Favorite Actresses (in order)

 

Eleanor Parker - my mom got me an autographed portrait of her for Christmas, I cried like a baby. Heartbroken by her death! She was from the same town as my dad and went to his high school!

Barbara Stanwyck

Vivien Leigh

Bette Davis

 

Favorite Actors (in order)

 

Lawrence Olivier - been madly in love with him since I was 7, Wuthering Heights was my first classic film.

Errol Flynn

Fred Astaire

Frank Sinatra

Leslie Howard

Paul Henreid

 

It's hard for me to think of classic actors I don't like- to be honest, I'm not liking all but a few modern actors. Favorite talents include Christoph Waltz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Samantha Morton, Emily Watson, Benedict Cumberbatch, and a few others. Mostly I have to say I basically despise today's Hollywood and it's films. My absolute least favorite actors are Nicholas Cage (I don't see the appeal there either), Julia Roberts, Jennifers Aniston & Lopez, Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt, Clooney - none of them do a thing for me. Wouldn't walk across the street to see any of them.

 

I should have lived in the golden age- thank heaven for TCM!

[crazyblonde7]

Favorites-James Cagney, Bing Crosby, Steve McQueen, Shirley Temple, Madge Evans, June Travis, Ann Sheridan, Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy,Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Ginger Rogers, Basil Rathbone, Sidney Portier and many more! Least Favorite-Betty Davis, Joan Crawford, Woody Allen, Nick Cage and Ben Stiller.

[chaney7]

Funny you should mention Barbara Stanwyck. The only thing I can watch her in is Double Indemnity. Don't know why exactly. Favorites? I kind of go by film roles. Like Kirk Douglas as Van Gough or Cagney as George Cohan or Hellen Mirren as Queen Elisabeth. My true favorites are the guys & gals that were almost unsung. Great actors like Eli Wallach, Charles Bickford and Joseph Weisman. You know. The people that could take on any role so well you almost didn't notice them. Least favorite? I'm still thinking about that one.

[roverrocks]

I will just put down my least favorite/utterly stupid/nauseatingly bad actors and they are all modern or what passes these days for modern actors: Will Farrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaugn, Adam Sandler. Four nauseating atrocious actors!! Oh, did I say that I also don't like them or the junk they make and I avoid them like cowpies in the hot sun.

 

I can't think of any older or classic actors/actresses I really did not like or enjoy at least somewhat. I even liked John Belushi and was greatly saddened by his death.

[jamesjazzguitar]

Nice to see someone that list Leslie Howard as one of their favorites (Howard is my #1 favorite).

 

For actresses, one can't go wrong with Davis and Stanwyck.

 

Thanks for TCM I know a lot more about Parker than I did before she was Star of the Month. I'm a big fan now.

[chaney7]

Roverrocks: Add Steve Carell to your list and it fits me perfectly.

[tcmgem]

BARBARA STANWYCK so eclipses the group of glam Hollywood actors for me that, while I like many others, it would be too many to list. After I finish reading my current book, I'm diving into Stanwyck's biography.

 

Stanwyck fascinates me in her being able to go from great screwball comedian to high drama. And she sells it all--totally invests herself in so many kinds of roles.

 

I have noticed that she seems to choose roles in which she is surrounded by the "man's world." She doesn't seem to stand out to me in many movies in which womens' worlds are primary (although, perhaps, I'd say Remember the Night compares and contrasts her character's unique outlook on life with those of her mother and women she visits).

 

Current favorites: Laura Linney; Julianne Moore; Cher (perhaps one generation behind them). Very smart women.

 

Actors: No leading men stand out.

Current favorite: Steve Carrell (Chaplinesque--a look tells a story); and he truly believes in his characters and trusts that. He does not "shirk."

[tcmgem]

Speedracer5: I would put Cary Grant heads and tails over all male actors. You have a great list--I merely don't find anyone as compelling and as versatile Grant.

 

He was comfortable playing any role, any genre--and I always get the feeling he is living the character.

 

He played smart and skillfully; nuanced and broad when called for. Genius.

 

I agree with your estimation of Marlon Brando. He is always the example of how only he could have yelled "Stelllllaaaa!" and made it seem real. I suppose it was real for him. But I find this very easy and lacking any nuance or stretch of imagination.

 

I would also put James Dean in this category: his body of work is too limited in scope and example to know what may have become of his hissy fits. He leaves me bored.

 

I've already posted on my great admiration for Stanwyck, but on the other pole would be the too-earnest and unappealing, "hey kids, let's put on a show!" June Allyson.

[karenkdempsey]

Claude Rains (he could do Sesame Street and have me on the edge of my seat) and the perfect combination of handsome and humble,, Gary Cooper. Jack Nicholson. Cary Grant. Actresses: Bette Davis(hands down the best ), Marie Dressler, Mary Boland, Meryl Streep, Carol Baker(you know, the one who should've won for Baby Doll). Least favorite actor: Orson Welles, sorry. least fav actress: Joan Crawford because you can tell in her pictures her lighting had to be just right. And for some reason Norma Shearer.Can't figure that one out yet I have only seen 2 of her films and she's too..."enthusiastic"..overacting?

[karenkdempsey]

some of you have posted twice so I guess I'm OK to do also. Heres some more of my favorite actress: Greer Garson, Elizabeth Taylor (just because she is such a joy to look at but I will say in Virginia Wolff she was superb). Ingrid Bergman, Olivia de Havilland, Merle Oberon. Some more of my favorite actors are Jack Lemmon, Jimmy Stewart, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore oh hell the whole darn cast of "Dinner At Eight", Humphrey Bogart. Don't like Burt Lancaster, Peter Fonda, any actor making the comedies now days aimed at 20 somethings.

[lanceroten]

Actors:

Bogart, Grant, Stewart, Eastwood, McCrea

Actresses:

Audrey H., Grace K., Stanwyck, Lombard, Lana Turner

I love movies too much to have "least" favorites.

[roverrocks]

KKDempsey: I can't understand not liking the magnificent (to me) Bert Lancaster but I sure agree with "Peter Fonda, any actor making the comedies now days aimed at 20 somethings": they are all definitely underwater at a sewage lagoon for me as well. Bert though, love that tough guy!! I wouldn't mind being reborn looking like him with his talent and personality.

[BogeyFab]

Since this TCM I will stick with classic actors and actresses.

 

1. Jimmy Stewart.

Humphrey Bogart

James Cagney

Clark Gable

many others.... I saw where someone put Charles Loughton in the least favorite category. I was just telling my wife last night that he was a really good actor.

 

Women

 

Greer Garson (love her)

Betty Davis

Barbara Stanwyck

Ingrid Bergman (beautiful)

many others...

[speedracer5]

I enjoy Burt Lancaster myself too. I started watching "The Swimmer" but ended up turning it off because I had to go to bed. I wanted to see if he ever made it home. I may record it the next time it comes around. In fact, this month in Portland, one of the little local theaters is having a month long tribute to Lancaster and Hayao Miyazaki-- strange pairing I know. They have Lancaster movies scheduled every Thursday (I think) and Miyazaki on Fridays (I think).

 

I understand what people mean by not liking movies geared toward "20-somethings" as that implies to me that people don't enjoy the "frat boy" humor (bathroom and sex jokes)-- which is fine; but as someone who is 29, I don't think all the movies geared toward 20-somethings instantly make them low-brow or unworthy of enjoying.