The most underrated actors and actresses

I'm not kidding you. For the performance in "The Help" (=Niceville), this actress has managed to deliver the most impressive piece of acting that has so far reached the silver screen. For that achievement alone, I put her at the top of my list for the most underrated actors/actresses of all time, even when I consider that she probably got an Oscar for this role (I'm not sure). She still belongs here, since her performance even overshadowed Brando's in "The Godfather". What she does with the smallest of expressions is pure magic!

Probably the most charismatic actor ever to grace the silver screen! Humphrey Bogart has had his revivals and is not on this list, like many others. But this guy? This actor alone make films worth while. We would not know that a guy like this existed were it not for films. When will there be a proper revival of his films?

Even I did at first not even think about this actor for this list - that's how underrated he is! Just like with Robert Donat, this actor seems to possess some decency that just stays with him no matter what part he played and therefore he was often assumed not to be such a good actor. And maybe he wasn't. Maybe he just always played himself. But that was a most exciting self and never totally predictable. I guess he had more influence over the movies he was in, because regardless of director he never crept below a certain standard. There was no boasting here, no superficial toughness. This guy was as good as they come and it shone through. Gary Cooper had a little of this but not as much and Cooper is well known. So is McCrea but nevertheless underrated for I consider his range in presenting feelings and nuances to be greater than Coopers and he definitely belongs to this list.

Ever since "Runaway Train" a most impressive actress. Maybe the best actress that I have ever seen on film. Totally different in her different roles - this woman really can act! Abominably underrated!

If this man was English-spoken he would be a name in the world. Now he is still a name but only for German-speaking people. Therefore underrated.

Played The Second Best Secret Agent In the Whole Wide World, which was a lie, since he was simply the best! His films, except the minor parts, are impossible to get.

The more interesting sister of Catherine Deneuve. Died in a car accident, I think, and could not finish many films but the few of her that exist we are grateful for, or should be!

Acting but, before all else, a truly natural beauty. This woman had class or was great in faking it if she didn't. Much too little known.

Today sadly neglected. Not much of an actor but much of an anti-actor, which is almost better. Always played himself, regardless of what he played! Had no actor ambitions whatsoever - what a relief! I've been trying to get all his films but that isn't easy because of the neglect. Especially his own favorite "Bonne chance, Charlie" is nowhere to be found and I haven't seen it.

Was the star in "Sitting Pretty" and the other "Belvedere-films". Maybe if they were out on DVD or Blu-ray he would be better known. As it is, he is most known for one of his lesser roles as in "Laura". Neglected, for sure.

What screen-presence and charisma! And that voice of hers! Always interesting to look at - saved more than one movie and is not enough remembered today.

Always a treat to see. You forgive him his excellent sleepy upper-class-twit English, since you know he's only putting it on, unlike, for instance, Sir Guilgood or what's his name and all those other real twits. Known but not known enough!

Admittedly not as good as villain as he is as fragile hero. Could you imagine a more touching performance than the one he delivered in "Report to the Commissioner (Operation Undercover)"? Or would you find a better anti-hero than in "Who'll Stop the Rain?" in which, by the way, Nick Nolte plays a fantastic hero. Sadly often miscast as in Holocaust. Maybe therefor not well known.

That smile! What a delight! Always interesting. In a way an enigma because I cannot really say why he's always interesting. Underrated, for sure.

Good as villain, better still as hero. Disappeared into television. Probably a leftist and therefore did not play ball as he was supposed to in order to make it big. Surely underrated.

What was mentioned about Michael Moriarty could be said about this actor too. Always a delight to see. Neglected.

Was as menacing as a villain as any movie villain ever was and yet he could play other roles and be almost totally different without changing anything in his appearance but his acting. He got the role of villain most often because the producers knew he was box office. But did he get the appreciation due to him? Hardly!

Like an iceberg, only showing one tenth of what is there. Always interesting and elevated the whole of television by his presence alone. Underrated.

Only 23 films to his credit but his presence made the film from Maltese Falcon onwards. He's the fat guy speaking meticulous English, in case you wouldn't know. However, if there was a picture on the side here, I would not have to write anything. If he was in the film, the film was never a total waste.

The brother of George Sanders, who was at his most charismatic in "I Walked With a Zombie". Always good though. There should have been more of him.

One of them really sweet girls. Actress? Well, certainly not worse than most but had that something special as well. Underrated.

Quite well known as singer but most underrated as actor. Cannot remember a film in which his acting was not outstanding. Always lit up the screen with his presence. Maybe the only one who was truly great as both singer and actor. Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald were great singers, for instance, but the acting? They did not have to act, they were just in their films in order to sing - almost (they did convey a lot of feeling while singing, which is maybe a form of acting after all).

Could play any role, written for black men or white men. Erases all barriers of race. Always interesting. Always underrated.

What a character. Could anyone be more sarcastic than he when he put his mind to it? Sadly misunderstood and underrated.

Did almost never play a leading role but helped many a film from mediocrity. In that respect much like Sydney Greenstreet. Underrated by most critics.

Bombastic to say the least. But you forgive him, since he overdoes it so deliciously. Always a great joy to behold and never got the appreciation due to him.

Maybe at his best in "The Hill" but also quite enjoyable in "The Scalp-hunters" as in many other films. Always underrated.

The Singing Detective indeed. Good as villain and good as hero. Who can look more astonished than this actor and don't mean a bit by it. Underrated, for sure.

Class and not in a bad sense even if he often played upper class. A charming voice. Underused and underrated.

Never got a film-role that truly showed the full scale of his abilities. What little we have of him on film is however still delightful.

Had charisma but just disappeared. Pity.

That voice revealing so much intelligence. Except for "The Man In the White Suit", she never got a truly decent role to play.

Those dreamy eyes. Unforgettable and always lovely to look at. Even if well known, still underrated.

Delightful and intelligent. Well known but not nearly enough.

Maybe well known in her time but now forgotten, which is a shame.

Delicious and too easily forgotten.

Had that special liveliness, which can be witnessed in Twin Peaks. Interesting and most underrated face.

The most underrated beauty of all time? Maybe. Never got a decent film role - totally disappeared in television.

An actress with that little extra which is so important. Always interesting and often underrated.

Truly sympathetic and generous in showing what nature had bestowed her.

A wonderful mixture of brains and sex. Hopefully, she will get better roles before it is too late.

Most touching actress as in "Frantic". Could have done more if given the chance.

Prisoner of the German language. A looker for sure.

A truly good actress. Deserved better roles.

Something about her looks.

Unforgettable face. Always played some vermin of a man. Overplayed everything but no film suffered from his presence. I do not think I ever saw him as something else than a villain. Not really threatening but always deliciously ridiculous.

Sleazy Slezak as in "The Fallen Sparrow". Totally uninteresting when he was young and of normal weight. Got better with every pound he got fatter. Deserves to be forgotten in his early roles but not for the latter ones in which he often played the villain that you love to hate.

Very well known and still underrated. The fatter, the better. I only wait for the time, when he is so fat that he must sit in a wheel-chair and can hardly move but still kicks the *beep* out of every conceivable villain. Of course, I do not hope, for his sake, that he ever gets to be that fat for fatness is the worst curse of all but I am deeply impressed by his mockery of the film kingdom. A truly sympathetic man and totally misunderstood and underrated.