Who's the best actor/actress ever?

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44. Orson Welles called him "the greatest actor who ever lived"

Last edited Thu Sep 12, 2013, 01:14 AM - Edit history (2)

and was referring to the very great, the one and only Frenchman known by one name, that of Raimu. He was also the favorite actor of greats such as Marlene Dietrich and Sir Alec Guiness. Plain-looking, natural, down-to-Earth in style, anyone who understands French and has seen his large and impressive body of work on film would know why. Welles was on his way to France to pay homage to Raimu when he learned of his death. Here, he plays an alcoholic, washed up lawyer who fled from life and even disappointed his own daughter but makes a final wonderful effort to sober up and defend a young man wrongfully accused (kind of a washed up, has-been lawyer role played by Paul Newman in The Verdict, the latter being one of the most powerful performances ever by an American actor - I love Paul Newman and James Caan deserves mention here as well).

Among females, although she played many characters I found difficult to like, I admire the genius and unlimited talent of two-time Academy Award winning actress Bette Davis. Meryl Streep was in complete awe of Bette Davis and has stated it in her tribute to her that can periodically be seen on Turner Classic Movies.