The 20 Best Actors Of All Time

How do you quantify the talent of an actor? Do you do it in terms of how many times they've been nominated for Oscars? How many times they've won? BAFTAs, Emmy Awards, Golden Globes, Tony Awards? Cultural impact? Diversity of roles and genres? It's an impossible question. Art isn't made to be ranked and sorted, but there's also no denying that a handful of screen actors have set themselves apart since we started filming plays and calling them moving pictures. The so-called Golden Age of Hollywood showcased tons of early stars who have remained icons even decades later. But as time goes by, more and more actors join the upper echelon, earning legendary status.

Let's be super clear: If we were to name every actor who deserves recognition, we'd be here all week. Instead, we've assembled a roster of stars from across the long history of film who represent the best of their craft. Omissions are unavoidable, but the actors discussed here have all established themselves as unquestionable, highly influential talents. In selecting them, we looked at career accolades, overall critical reputation, and their versatility on screen. We also made an effort to look at international markets and stars, though Hollywood presence inevitably played a major role. With all that out of the way, let's take a look at some of the greatest actors of all time.

It seems apt to start off with someone who's both widely recognized as one of the greatest actors ever and still working today. Meryl Streep is currently in a six-way tie for the second-most Oscar wins ever with three, but she also holds the gold medal for most nominations at the Academy Awards with a staggering 21 nods over the course of her career. And at the age of 75 at the time of this writing, with a vast and formidable range of performances already behind her, she may not be done anytime soon.

"Kramer vs. Kramer," "Sophie's Choice," and "The Iron Lady" — the three films that put Streep over the top — span 32 years. Her other nominated performances include turns in "The Post," "The Devil Wears Prada," "The Deer Hunter," "The Bridges of Madison County," "Silkwood," and "Postcards from the Edge." From 1979 to 1991, she was nominated nine times in just 13 years. That streak is arguably the most impressive in the history of the Oscars, and doubly so for occurring during an incredibly competitive decade.

Many might call Denzel Washington the greatest actor of his generation. The two-time Oscar winner (and nine-time nominee in acting categories) has proven his unparalleled ability time and time again, in projects ranging from Shakespeare adaptations to gritty crime dramas to historical epics.

His two Academy Award wins for "Glory" in 1990 and "Training Day" in 2002 are just a couple of his achievements. Some would argue that he deserved even more wins for movies like "The Tragedy of Macbeth" and "Malcolm X," but Washington certainly doesn't need any more awards: he also has a Tony and trophies from the AFI and the British Academy of Film and Television, among many others, to secure his legacy.

With a role that will blow you away in Ridley Scott's "Gladiator II," Washington also isn't slowing down one bit. He's become such a pillar of modern-day Hollywood that it's difficult to imagine the movie landscape without him, so thank goodness we're likely to keep getting fantastic performances from him in the years ahead.

At 59 years old, Viola Davis is actually one of the youngest living actors on this list, but there's no question as to her level of impact on the big screen. With her 2023 Grammy Award win for audiobook narration, Davis completed an EGOT, the extremely rare feat of winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. She won her Oscar in 2017 for her performance in "Fences" alongside Denzel Washington, and she's been nominated three other times for "Doubt," "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," and "The Help."

Perhaps more impressive than Davis' numerous accolades is her range. If you've seen a movie like "Widows" and then watch "The Woman King," it's immediately evident. No matter the role, Davis always inhabits it with groundedness, gravitas, sincerity, and complete control. She was even debatably the best part of the now-defunct DC Extended Universe, turning in one of the definitive comic book movie character interpretations as Amanda Waller. And did we mention her BAFTA, Critics Choice Awards, and Golden Globes? We'd be here all day.

Daniel Day-Lewis is, in many ways, the platonic image of a great actor. Famous for his commitment to the Method acting style, as well as for his extreme selectiveness when it comes to taking on roles, he's built a reputation over the years as an enigma, an old-fashioned actor, and one of the true masters of the craft. And while reputation is not the same as truth, there's no denying that the last few decades have seen very few performers who can match him when it comes to sheer onscreen star power.

Since 1997, Day-Lewis has only appeared in six films, though he's set to star in a seventh, titled "Anemone," which his son Ronan is directing. Two of those six movies, "Lincoln" and "There Will Be Blood," earned him Oscar wins in the category of best actor in a leading role. He's won that title a total of three times, with his first trophy coming in 1990 for "My Left Foot." In addition to his three Oscars, Day-Lewis won a BAFTA in 2003 for his villainous turn in Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York" — his second career collaboration with the esteemed director — and his other accolades are numerous as well.

Really, though, any performance from Day-Lewis quickly conveys his dedication to the craft of acting. His non-Oscar-nominated films often get overlooked, but they're just as worth a watch.

When you talk about the greatest actors of the modern era, you have to talk about Frances McDormand. Not only is she a three-time Oscar winner in acting categories (having been nominated six times), but she won a fourth for producing her 2021 film "Nomadland." On top of that, she's a three-time BAFTA winner, a two-time Emmy winner for "Olive Kitteridge," and a Tony Award winner, meaning that she's completed the so-called "Triple Crown" of acting.

While McDormand has garnered particular attention over the past decade or so, her career spans many years, and she's been delivering standout performances that whole time in films like "Fargo" and "Burn After Reading." She's also crossed acting chops with a number of the other big names on this list, like when she co-starred with Denzel Washington in 2021's spectacular "The Tragedy of Macbeth." McDormand has a screen presence unlike any other working actor, and she easily steals any scene she's in. it's not hard to see how she's become one of the most decorated actors of her era.

There are those who might argue that Paul Newman doesn't belong on this list, by virtue of him being more of a "movie star" in his day than a true actor's actor. He gained fame because of his charisma and good looks, not some kind of next-level acting skill, those people might say. But those folks have surely forgotten how Newman received 10 acting Oscar nominations over the span of 44 years, reaching the highest level of acclaim at every stage in his career.

It's only fitting that his one victory came in 1987 for "The Color of Money," a decades-later sequel to "The Hustler," for which he had previously been nominated in 1962. His other nominated roles include fantastic performances in films like "The Verdict," "Absence of Malice," and "Road to Perdition," and that's without even getting into some of Newman's greatest and most culturally impactful movies — titles like "The Sting" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" — or the fact that he won a BAFTA.

Perhaps nothing better exemplifies Newman's incredible legacy than the fact that his last major award nomination — a Primetime Emmy nod for "Empire Falls" — came in 2005, just three years before his death at the age of 83.

When people talk about the greatest actors in the history of Japanese cinema, Toshirō Mifune is always near the top of the list. He's most famous for his numerous movies with famed director Akira Kurosawa, including starring roles in films like "Seven Samurai," "Rashomon," "Yojimbo," and "Sanjuro." However, his career encompassed far more than just his collaborations with Kurosawa, covering more than 180 total screen credits.

Due to international cinema being less recognized in America during most of Mifune's career, he never earned an Oscar nomination, though he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 1981 for playing Yoshi Toranaga in the acclaimed miniseries "Shōgun," based on the novel by James Clavell. In a bit of cosmic justice, Hiroyuki Sanada won the Emmy for his own performance of Toranaga in the 2024 "Shōgun" adaptation. Mifune did, however, win numerous awards in Japan and at international events, with multiple wins in the '60s at the Venice Film Festival.

With four Academy Award wins to her name, Katharine Hepburn has more acting Oscars than any other performer in film. She won those four awards over a span of nearly 50 years, marking arguably the most impressive run in Hollywood history. She was nominated an additional eight times and won two BAFTAs and an Emmy in her career as well. When the American Film Institute constructed its list of the Greatest American Screen Legends, it was unsurprising to see Hepburn named the No. 1 actress, even ranking above lauded Golden Age contemporaries like Ingrid Bergman and Bette Davis.

Hepburn's list of Oscar-nominated films includes "The Philadelphia Story," "Long Day's Journey Into Night," "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," and "The Lion in Winter." However, her most enduring legacy may be the tough intensity that she became famous for on the screen, playing women who broke ground in Hollywood with their tenacity and gravitas. As film critic and historian Mary McNamara wrote in the Los Angeles Times after Hepburn's death, "Katharine Hepburn was the patron saint of the independent American female. Spirited, direct, in charge of her own fate, but not above falling head over heels in love, often scandalously."

Philip Seymour Hoffman died tragically at just 46 years old, which makes it all the more impressive that in such a short amount of time, he established himself as one of the greatest actors ever. A master of both comedy and drama, he earned four Oscar nominations in eight years between 2006 and 2013, winning for his turn as Truman Capote in "Capote." He was nominated for five BAFTAs in that same span and earned a Primetime Emmy nod in 2005 for "Empire Falls."

Philip Seymour Hoffman's best movies include "The Master," "Synecdoche, New York," "The Big Lebowski," "Moneyball," and "Doubt." He also kept up a steady stream of appearances on the stage as well. While we may always wonder what other incredible performances he might have gifted to the world had he not died so young, Hoffman still left behind a lasting legacy, including many of the finest films of the last 30 years.

For decades, India has been a cinematic hub, with Bollywood films creating their own distinct niche in the global cinema landscape. We would be completely remiss not to include at least one big star from that corner of the industry, and if you're a fan of Bollywood at all, you probably aren't surprised that we chose Amitabh Bachchan, who another filmmaking legend, Francois Truffaut, once called (via Diplomacy & Beyond) "a one-man industry."

Known as the "Shahenshah of Bollywood" ("Shahenshah" meaning "emperor"), Bachchan began his film career in 1969 and has appeared in over 200 movies since. Bachchan has won numerous awards both in India and internationally, including dozens of wins and nominations at the Filmfare Awards, the International Indian Film Academy, and the Indian National Film Awards, among many other accolades. At 82 years old, he's still quite active, with seven acting credits in 2024 alone and many announced projects currently on the horizon.

Few modern actors move or speak with as much gravity as Benicio Del Toro. An Oscar, BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild, and Golden Globe winner for his role in "Traffic," Del Toro has also made huge splashes with movies like "Sicario," "Snatch," "The Usual Suspects," and "Sin City." He played Che Guevara in Steven Soderbergh's historical epic "Che," and received a Primetime Emmy nomination in 2019 for "Escape at Dannemora."

At 57 years old, Del Toro still has a lot of career left to continue building out his legacy. Speaking with Esquire in 2018, frequent collaborator Sean Penn referred to Del Toro as "a major artist in the craft" and called him "arguably unparalleled in his inventiveness of character." Whether you know him best from dramas like "Things We Lost in the Fire" or his roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the "Star Wars" franchise, he most certainly leaves a lasting impression.

Michelle Yeoh finally entered the rare company of Academy Award winners when she took home the trophy for lead actress in 2023 for "Everything Everywhere All at Once." But long before she was honored with Hollywood's most prestigious prize, she had already made a name for herself as one of the biggest names in the history of Hong Kong cinema, starring in films like "Wing Chun," "Magnificent Warriors," and "Tai Chi Master." Her most famous wuxia role came in 2000 with Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," which is widely credited with helping to popularize the genre in America. Yeoh specifically received many major award nominations for her performance in that film.

Since then, she's garnered praise for films like "Crazy Rich Asians" and "Gunpowder Milkshake," while also receiving a new level of retroactive acclaim for her Hong Kong career after the global success of "Everything Everywhere All At Once." As both an Oscar winner and one of the greatest ambassadors for martial arts movies worldwide, she easily earns a spot on this list.

No male actor has been nominated for as many Academy Awards as Jack Nicholson, and no male actor has won more than Nicholson has won. From "Chinatown" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" to "A Few Good Men" and "The Departed," the now-retired 87-year-old actor brought gravitas, intensity, and memorable one-liner deliveries to each one of his films. No one in Hollywood history has a better snarl, and it's hard to come up with a more iconic collection of memorable quotes from a single performer than "Here's Johnny," "You can't handle the truth," and "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?," just to name a few.

Nicholson's longevity in Hollywood is as much the reason for his placement here as his individual performances. He's been an anchor through multiple eras of film history, playing protagonists, anti-heros, and outright villains at every stage. His particular brand of unhinged performance is what most people probably think of today when they reflect on his work, but he also had an impressive breadth during his career that's often overlooked.

If this were a ranked list of the most iconic voices in Hollywood history, Morgan Freeman would probably be at the very top. But while his skill as a narrator in various documentaries and films like "The Shawshank Redemption" is perhaps his most famous quality these days, his overall catalog of work as an actor is also one of the most impressive in the history of cinema. If you want someone to play God, the president, or a convict, you get Morgan Freeman.

From his first of five Oscar nominations in 1987's "Street Smart" to his most recent nod in 2010 for playing Nelson Mandela in "Invictus," Freeman has made his mark on a wide range of genres, from science fiction movies like "Oblivion" and crime thrillers like "Seven" to dramas like "Million Dollar Baby," which finally earned him an overdue Academy Award win. He's also received trophies from the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild, as well as various lifetime achievement awards from various organizations. And of course, we can't forget his original breakout screen role as a part of the original cast on "The Electric Company."

In a generation of highly esteemed stage and screen actresses that includes Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright, and Eileen Atkins, it's hard to pick just one for this list. Challenging as it is to leave any of them off, we're going with Dame Judi Dench, arguably the most accomplished and renowned of the bunch.

Dench's long list of accolades includes an Academy Award (and eight total nominations, the most recent one coming in 2022), 10 BAFTAs, three Primetime Emmy nominations, two Golden Globes, a Tony, and a record-setting eight Olivier Awards in her native England. That's without mentioning her appointment to the Order of the British Empire. While American audiences still know her best for her run as M in the Daniel Craig "James Bond" movies, Dench has nearly 150 credits to her name at the age of 89, including beloved movies like "Shakespeare in Love" and "Belfast," as well as TV series like "Cranford" and "Behaving Badly."

They call him Mr. Tibbs! After establishing himself as a major talent in Hollywood during the 1950s, Sidney Poitier rose to superstardom in the '60s with films like "In the Heat of the Night," "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," and "Lilies of the Field," the latter of which earned him an Oscar win in the best lead actor category — the first ever for a Black American.

The rest of Poitier's career brought recognition at basically every major awards show, including wins at the Golden Globes. BAFTAs, and Grammy Awards, plus nominations from the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Tony Awards. While he's best known his work during the '50s, '60s, and early '70s, Poitier continued acting for decades after that heyday, with later-career films like "Sneakers" and "The Jackal" showcasing more fantastic performances. Poitier even managed to make the often difficult transition from acting to directing, helming successful projects like the Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor comedy "Stir Crazy."

Perhaps nothing better sums up Poitier's contributions to the world of acting than how Denzel Washington paid homage to him after winning the Academy Award for "Training Day" in 2002 (via The Daily Beast): "I'll always be chasing you, Sidney. I'll always be following in your footsteps. There's nothing I would rather do."

Rita Moreno gets overlooked too often in discussions of the greatest actors, but how can you possibly have an EGOT, the Triple Crown of Acting, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom and not be featured on a list like this? Had she not had to fight such severe racial typecasting early in her career, even after breaking out with her Oscar-winning performance in "West Side Story," she might have gotten more of the widespread recognition she deserves.

Far from just a movie star with an incredible voice, Moreno also did extensive work on television, appearing alongside Morgan Freeman in the original "Electric Company" cast and winning two Primetime Emmy awards for "The Muppet Show" in 1977 and "The Rockford Files" in 1978. That back-to-back pair of victories perfectly encapsulates Moreno's immense versatility as an actor — a skill that's earned her spots in everything from " The Four Seasons" to the "Fast and Furious" franchise.

An absolute legend of American film, television, and musical theater, Moreno has made her mark on every major era of Hollywood. And at 92 years old, she's still going strong.

Al Pacino may have only one Academy Award win (for 1992's "Scent of a Woman"), but he's been nominated a whopping nine times, and with two Primetime Emmy wins and two Tony Awards, he's also completed the Triple Crown of Acting. Four of those Oscar nominations came in four sequential years, for "The Godfather" in 1973, "Serpico" in 1974, "The Godfather Part II" in 1975, and "Dog Day Afternoon" in 1976 — one of the most impressive runs in Academy Awards history, and all for films that are widely considered masterpieces. In 1980, he was nominated a fifth time in eight years for "...And Justice for All."

Those early days might have been enough to secure Pacino's legacy among the acting greats, but he certainly didn't slow down after the '70s came to an end. From "Scarface" and "Heat" to "Donnie Brasco," "The Irishman," and "Glengarry Glen Ross," Pacino has continued to deliver iconic performance after iconic performance over the decades. And with all those characters has come perhaps the greatest collection of individual lines in Hollywood history: "Say hello to my little friend," "This whole trial is out of order," "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in" — the list goes on and on.

Known for his versatility and commitment to his roles, Ben Kingsley is a living legend of the stage and screen. He remains best known for his career-defining turn as Mahatma Gandhi in Richard Attenborough's 1982 biopic, but he's been just as lauded for films like "Schindler's List," "Sexy Beast," and "Hugo." He won an Oscar, two BAFTAs, and two Golden Globes for his performance in "Gandhi," and he's been nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards. He's received similar recognition for his work on the live stage, earning two Olivier Award nominations in 1980 and 1983.

While his most famous roles and his training with prestigious organizations like the Royal Shakespeare Company paint a picture of a very serious and classically-inclined actor, Kingsley has never shied away from different kinds of projects, be they Marvel movies, comedies, romances, family films, or anything in between. It's that openness to playing all kinds of different characters that's made him so popular among audiences for so many years, though he brings the same level of skill and preparation to even the silliest parts.

The final entrant on this list is also its youngest. At 55 years old, Cate Blanchett has already established herself among the greatest to ever practice the craft of acting. While younger performers like Mahershala Ali and Emma Stone may solidify their place on lists like this in years to come, we decided that 55 was a good cut-off point to make sure every actor chosen here has had enough time to build a real legacy.

Many will know her from her genre film roles, like the elven elder Galadriel in "The Lord of the Rings" or Hela in "Thor: Ragnarok." Cinephiles likely prefer her performances in dramas like "Tár," "Carol," and "The Aviator," the last of which won Blanchett her first of two Academy Awards in 2005. She's been nominated eight times at the Oscars so far, winning again in 2010 for her leading role in "Blue Jasmine."

Additionally, Blanchett has won four BAFTAs and four Golden Globes, among numerous other nominations. And the wildest part is that her career is still young. With decades more to go, Blanchett could continue to climb into the upper echelons of great actors in the not-too-distant future.