Best Actor born in the 1940s?

Looooooooove these threads.......Pacino, De Niro, Depardieu for me - there's something about this "40s class" and the ones that closely surround it (like in the late 30s Hopkins, Nicholson) that went into their actual talent too - it's hard to explain - what this class saw and grew up with regardless of country post-WW II experiences informed their life and Art.

The same way that there was a peak for writers or poets or painters - this "era" is the peak for depth across film actors it seems to me......I can't imagine what circumstances would replicate that since films mean less and less as time goes forward.

Without a doubt the best group so far for either actors or actresses.

Pacino and De Niro are obviously mandatory as the top two. Martin Sheen beat out John Hurt for the third spot for me. Hurt might have a deeper filmography but Sheen's highs with Apocalypse Now and his work on The West Wing put him ahead. An all time great lead movie performance and him on The West Wing might be the all time best performance across an entire TV show.

There are a lot of great actors missing from there, which are much better in my opinion than most of those listed: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Takeshi Kitano, Bruno Ganz and Sam Neill, just to name a few.

From those listed Depardieu and De Niro are my two favourite, with Pacino and Walken close behind.

1. Al Pacino
2. Robert DeNiro
3. Gerard Depardieu