Best Actor born in the 1930s?

Gene Hackman.

Well, that was easy.

Finney, by far is my #1. Recently watched The Murder on the Orient Express. Even in his lesser work, he's more interesting than Nicholson in his serious mode. In his GOAT-esque work like in Under the Volcano, he destroys pretty much everybody. I've yet to see an even decently acclaimed performance from him yet that I thought was below the level of its acclaim.   Finney, Olivier, Oldman, and Day-Lewis hold a distinct troupe of British actors for me.


#2..... I'll go Robert Redford. I like him more than Newman, really. Maybe Newman's the better actor, but I've always had a thing for Redford. Call it kind of a small man-ixation of mine. He plays the "lost soul gliding through this earth searching for something/some manifestation" character well, exactly like how you think of it, ideally.


#3..... between McKellen, Hopkins, and Hoffman.


Hopkins is more of the Hollywood guy. He was on fire in the early 90s.... from like 1992-1995 he had a string of hits but also a period that seemed suited for his awakening as an actor and a cultural figure. Don't think he was regarded as anything special until he won his Oscar though.

Personally speaking, I hate his win and McKellen might beat him on the basis of the fact he doesn't have anything as bad as his ultimate hamjob in The Silence of the Lambs. And that's not to mention, Hopkins tend to be in more crap and he mostly sucks in those, but he does have far more nominations (5 compared to 2) and he seems like the actor more people know vs Magneto or Gandalf for McKellen.

But then McKellen is the superior actor on TV, imo. And he has more underrated gems (most that the majority of people haven't seen) - and Shakespearean stuff, that can claim him as the better actor on that basis. He also is a great theater actor.  And he seemed to have come out of the gate and into the footsteps of cinema already regarded as a great actor, earlier so than Hopkins.

And I like Hoffman as much as anyone, but dude got seriously washed up after Rain Man. What happened to him? He was in hit after hit before that for 20 years - some of the famous roles of all time.

Hard to say which group is better between the 30's and 40's actors. De Niro and Pacino beat anyone here but there might be more depth to this list.

Jack and Hackman are the top two and there are so many I can't decide after that. Torn between Connery, Finney, Beatty, and Hoffman. I might come back later and add a third vote.