Academy Award-Winning Best Actor Who's Actually The Worst Actor, 1960-present

This is a career vs. peak question, except in this case it's career vs. valley. Brando and Pacino and De Niro and Scott can be pretty awful. But you probably mean career. The chair climber? I've never seen a film of his.

not saying nic cage should win this, but this might be a good spot to memorialize his response to a question about whether he cares about winning another oscar:

It’s not important to me. In fact, I think that if you go about making movies to win Oscars, you’re really going about it the wrong way. I think that it’s ... right now, what I’m excited about is trying to create a [pauses] kind of a cultural understanding through my muse that is part of the zeitgeist that isn’t motivated by vanity or magazine covers or awards. It’s more, not countercultural, but counter-critical. I would like to find a way to embrace what Led Zeppelin did, in filmmaking.

A totally unscientific guess, combining career and the film he won for: Cliff Robertson. His filmography is largely undistinguished (Underworld U.S.A., The Best Man--where he was appropriately wooden--and Three Days of the Condor look to be the highlights), and Charly's a complete cipher.

I think that it’s ... right now, what I’m excited about is trying to create a [pauses] kind of a cultural understanding through my muse that is part of the zeitgeist that should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future. For our children.

I do not enjoy the comedy stylings of Russell Crowe

objectively speaking Rex Harrison couldn't act could he?

What's under consideration, career as a whole or just the actual award-winning performances?

Whichever. I'd argue the former, though, since Academy Award-winning performances are often for an actor's worst performance (challenging opinions but, seriously...Forrest Gump? GTFO).

Indeed. Question was asked w/Pacino in mind particularly

Still a shame he wasn't nominated for Jack & Jill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLvf7HaaRLA

I like Save the Tiger myself, but I think a lot of people would see it as Jack Lemmon at his most excessively mannered.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I voted. Roberto Benigni. He could mug, but even his physical humor is mediocre.

Cant help voting sweaty bigface here

Felt like Benigni was too easy a choice, so I went with Steiger.

If Penn had won for I Am Sam I would have no problem voting him, as that was one of the most insultingly awful acclaimed performances I've ever seen.

I think I have to go with Hopkins. He fooled me with a smokescreen of Britishness for a long time but I had a revelatory moment watching him in a movie recently where his whole shtick became really obvious to me. I now find it difficult to see past his 'gaze distantly with your mouth slightly agape' style of emoting.

I mean:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpvkddo3x_U

(Although I still can't say I actively dislike him, and I do like a lot of movies he's in.)

John fucking Wayne

gregory peck

Voted Cliff Robertson, although I'm sure that's not the right choice. I've never seen a Benigni film (or a second one from the Artist guy, I don't think), I like at least one performance from most everyone on here, and the only Cliff Robertson performance I like, The Best Man, I like because he's (appropriately) woodenly ruthless.

the Artist guy

The two OSS 117 movies he did are hilarious.

Richard Dreyfus is awful in The Goodbye Girl, itself an insufferable movie with perhaps my least favorite child performance in an Oscar picture.

that move is mystifying, like it's very hard for me to imagine a world where people liked it

yeah I wanted to hit every actor in it with a brick

The Goodbye Girl looks terrible, I've never seen it, but could never vote Dreyfuss because of American Graffiti, Duddy Kravitz, and Jaws.

i was talking to my mom one time and telling her about this ridiculous movie with richard dreyfus where all the characters were awful and she was like "oh the goodbye girl?" and all i could think is what the hell were people doing in the late 70s.

haha

it's like the dinner theater Annie Hall. I can imagine middle aged couples deciding which movie to watch before their 7 p.m. dinner and deciding TGG over Annie Hall because of the poster.

http://assets.flicks.co.nz/images/movies/landscape/2b/2ba61cc3a8f44143e1f2f13b2b729ab3_567x210.jpg

there needs to be a word for the opposite of onscreen chemistry

could've voted pacino in that it's a travesty he won for that, it's a travesty it beat denzel in malcolm x, and the success of that performance kinda warped him afterwards (imagine if deniro hadn't won an oscar and then won his first one for analyze this). at the same time i kinda love some of those disgraceful pacino performances it spawned. what can i say - she has a great ass and i've got my head all the way up it.

ignored what performance actually won though and voted peck as i think it's the largest gap between rep and reality. he'll be mentioned in the same breath as cary grant or jimmy stewart and man he is just nowhere near that level imo, i was going to say he's closer to rock hudson but hudson was a better actor (esp at comedy). this isn't to say he's the worst actor up there, that probably is cliff robertson.

voted adrien brody
almost gave it to dustin hoffman for squandering so much talent and coasting for the last 30 years--like take a look at it. you think pacino and de niro are bad...hoo boy..

Peck isn't even convincing in Romania Holiday. He's like a bank manager reading good news on the stock ticker.

uh Roman Holiday

balls OTM on denzel's role of a lifetime losing to that pacino performance

(xpost) Disagree there--that's the one Peck performance I really like. (Well, purely as camp, I also like his Josef Mengele.)

Twelve O'Clock High, taking advantage of his ramrod stiffness, is my fave of his work

yeah i don't hate peck, and he probably was perfect for atticus finch (i'm guessing that's what he won for), but imagine how much better roman holiday is w/ say dean martin in peck's role.

Honestly, I can't see Dean Martin in that role. I think it'd be a much different and much lesser film.

yeah leave Peck alone, he is quite fine in Roman Holiday

Voted for Pacino, he can be terrible of course, and he has been for a long time. On top of that, his easy-to-adopt mania also gave way to some style of acting that I just can't stand anymore.

yeah dino might have pushed it too far, i was thinking of someone who could be a straight man but also be acerbic and witty and be the cynical fool who wisens up thx to love. i do love roman holiday fwiw, vicarious tourism and an excuse to stare at some good looking ppl are two of the purest motivations in cinema imo.

One of these

Kevin Spacey
Richard Dreyfuss
Roberto Benigni
Tom Hanks

I went Dreyfuss. I recently saw Spielberg's Always which he is terrible in.

i find it hard to objectively rate peck, he was a childhood icon for me and the first old-movie star i adored, i still can't help but think of him fondly even tho i realize he's not in the same class as grant or stewart. for worst i'd prob go with spacey who i've always found pretty boring.

Voted Cliff Robertson, although I'm sure that's not the right choice

I'm leaning Cliff Robertson too. His performance in Charly is simply not that impressive, and in fact calls to mind the discussion in Tropic Thunder about actors playing "full retard" or not.

Have never seen Benigni. Never liked Kevin Spacey, except for impressions.

Redmayne, de niro or spacey. Had to check twice to make sure I wasn't missing malkovich.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

lol

not enough appreciation in this generation for the older crap actors

"I would like to find a way to embrace what Led Zeppelin did, in filmmaking."

This line really caught me as funny.

I would like to find a way to embrace what Miles Davis did, in cake decorating.