Greatest British Actors of all time
by jberglund21 | created - 05 Aug 2011 | updated - 05 Aug 2011 | PublicThe British actors are among the greatest in the world, and I would like to share my favorites with others.
1. Oliver Reed
Actor | Gladiator
Robert Oliver Reed was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. His notable films include The Trap (1966), playing Bill Sikes in the Best Picture Oscar winner Oliver! (1968), Women in Love (1969), Hannibal Brooks (1969), The Devils (1971), Revolver (1973), ...
A drunk but a wonderful actor. The 60s bad boy. Lived by his own words, and no one could "correct" him. He died due to his drinking habits. A real shame.
2. Richard Harris
Actor | Unforgiven
Richard St John Harris was born on October 1, 1930 in Limerick, Ireland, to a farming family, one of nine children born to Mildred (Harty) and Ivan Harris. He attended Crescent College, a Jesuit school, and was an excellent rugby player, with a strong passion for literature. Unfortunately, a bout ...
A great man in his time. His best era was during the 60s and 70s, but even when he was older he always managed to shine. The Wild Geese and The Heroes from Telemark were some of his best.
3. Robert Shaw
Actor | Jaws
Robert Archibald Shaw was born on August 9, 1927, in Westhoughton, Lancashire, England, the eldest son of Doreen Nora (Avery), a nurse, and Thomas Archibald Shaw, a doctor. His paternal grandfather was Scottish, from Argyll. Shaw's mother, who was born in Piggs Peak, Swaziland, met his father while...
Robert Shaw died too soon in my opinion, he was a great actor especially as a Russian hitman in From Russia With Love, and a surly fisherman in Jaws.
4. Gary Oldman
Actor | The Dark Knight
Gary Oldman is a talented English movie star and character actor, renowned for his expressive acting style. One of the most celebrated thespians of his generation, with a diverse career encompassing theatre, film and television, he is known for his roles as Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy (1986), ...
A perfectionist in everything he gets involved with. The most perfect antagonist in history. Leon, Dracula, Air Force One, The Fifth Element, just to name a few.
5. Sean Connery
Actor | The Rock
The tall, handsome and muscular Scottish actor Sean Connery is best known as the original actor to portray James Bond in the hugely successful movie franchise, starring in seven films between 1962 and 1983. Some believed that such a career-defining role might leave him unable to escape it, but he ...
The original James Bond. Need I say more?
6. Anthony Hopkins
Actor | The Silence of the Lambs
Anthony Hopkins was born on December 31, 1937, in Margam, Wales, to Muriel Anne (Yeats) and Richard Arthur Hopkins, a baker. His parents were both of half Welsh and half English descent. Influenced by Richard Burton, he decided to study at College of Music and Drama and graduated in 1957. In 1965, ...
Hello Clarice. Its sad that he actually wasn't the first Hannibal Lecter, Brian Cox was the first, but character whise, he made it into what people fear when they see the movies today.
7. Peter O'Toole
Actor | Lawrence of Arabia
A leading man of prodigious talents, Peter O'Toole was born and raised in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, the son of Constance Jane Eliot (Ferguson), a Scottish nurse, and Patrick Joseph O'Toole, an Irish metal plater, football player and racecourse bookmaker. Upon leaving school, he decided to become a...
A true thespian. One of the best british voices I have heard ever. It really shivers me.
8. Laurence Olivier
Actor | Sleuth
Laurence Olivier could speak William Shakespeare's lines as naturally as if he were "actually thinking them", said English playwright Charles Bennett, who met Olivier in 1927. Laurence Kerr Olivier was born in Dorking, Surrey, England, to Agnes Louise (Crookenden) and Gerard Kerr Olivier, a High ...
The denist-scene in Marathon Man gave me chills, and since then I love Laurence's work.
9. Michael Caine
Actor | The Dark Knight
Michael Caine was born as Maurice Joseph Micklewhite in London, to Ellen (née Burchell), a cook, and Maurice Micklewhite Sr., a fish-market porter. He had a younger brother, Stanley Caine, and an older maternal half-brother named David Burchell. He left school at age 15 and took a series of ...
During the 70s was his glory period to me. Get Carter, A Bridge too Far, The Eagles Has Landed are some of his best.
10. Richard Burton
Actor | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Probably best-remembered for his turbulent personal life with Elizabeth Taylor (whom he married twice), Richard Burton was nonetheless also regarded as an often brilliant British actor of the post-WWII period.
Burton was born Richard Walter Jenkins in 1925 into a Welsh (Cymraeg)-speaking family in ...
Where Eagles Dare, The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, is all I have to say.
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