Best Comedian Actor?

So who do you guys think is the best comedian turned actor or other way around? It almost seems like a true sign of a good comedian is becoming an actor these days.

Who has the best of both worlds?


Personally, I love Dave Chappelle as a comedian and actor. I'm not sure which he started off on, I think comedian. The first movie I ever remember seeing him in was Eddie Murphy's The Nutty Professor. I didn't expect him to become the huge success that he became on the Chappelle show. I haven't seen him live, but his DVDs are among the greatest!

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For my money, it's hard to beat Steve Martin for both comedy and acting. The guy was dismissed as a goofy, Adam Sandler-ish type early in his career by no less than an authority than Roger Ebert, but over the last few decades he's shown that he really can do it all. Goofy comedy, satire, drama, writing (both films and novels), and some wonderful little SNL cameos, too. And did I mention he's a world-class banjo player?



That said, while I think Martin is the best overall, I think Bill Murray gives him a run for his money, partially because I think he's actually a better pure actor.

Pretty much just going to agree with Yoda here, except that I think would I would give a very slight edge to Bill Murray.

Chris Rock is growing on me but hasnt had big enough parts to be number one yet. My current favourite is Owen Wilson despite Drillbit Taylor

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Well you will have to go back in time for this, and while I admire Bill Murray tremendously, my selection would have go to Jackie Gleeson (of The Honeymooners fame ) for three significant dramatic roles:

Soldier in the Rain (1963) .... MSgt. Maxwell Slaughter






Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) .... Maish Rennick




and his best:

The Hustler (1961) .... Minnesota Fats

I'd have to say ... Robin Williams




and to a lesser degree ... John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd

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The best "comedian" who ever acted was probably Chaplin. He got a lot of crap for this in 1940, but you tell me what you think.

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This classic I really want to see !!! ... thanks mark f

It really illustrates that Chaplin was alot more than slapstick and twirling canes.

lol Im goiung to say Jim Carrey as ive been in a real Carrey mode this past week. Was watching a few of his older movies recently (Me Myself and Irene, Trumen Show). I just think hes a real solid performer and he has me in stiches at the best of times.

At present: Will Ferrell
All time: Woody Harrelson

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Steve Martin can do no wrong.





Speaking of comedian actors and jugglers, WC Fields is the gold standard. One of the true Vaudevillians to transition from stage, to silent films to "talkies," his physical comedy, mixed with his under-your-breath wise-cracks are pure gold.

Must see: It's A Gift, You Can't Cheat An Honest Man, The Bank Dick, Never Give A Sucker An Even Break, and on and on.

Random WC quotes:

1. Some weasel took the cork out of my lunch...
2. The cost of living has gone up another dollar a quart.
3. I certainly do not drink all the time. I have to sleep you know
4. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house unless they have a well-stocked bar
5. Twas a woman who drove me to drink. I never had the courtesy to thank her.
6. I believe in tying the marriage knot, as long as it's around the woman's neck.
7. The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive.
8. Women are like elephants to me: nice to look at, but I wouldn't want to own one.
9. (When asked : "How do you like children?") "Fried!"
10. My illness is due to my doctor's insistence that I drink milk, a whitish fluid they force down helpless babies
11. Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.
12. I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally.
13. (In a restaurant to waitress): "I didn't squawk about the steak, dear. I merely said I didn't see that old horse that used to be tethered outside here."
14. If at first you don't succeed, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it.
15. ...more people are driven insane through religious hysteria than by drinking alcohol.
16. My father...one of the great immorals, er, immortals, of our time.
17. Man: "I have no sympathy for a man who is intoxicated all the time." WC: "A man who's intoxicated all the time doesn't need sympathy."
18. Now don't say you can't swear off drinking; it's easy. I've done it a thousand times.
19. (Asked if he believed in clubs for women, Fields responded "Yes, if every other form of persuasion fails."
20. All the men in my family were bearded, and most of the women.
21. Back in my rummy days, I would tremble and shake for hours upon arising. It was the only exercise I got.
22. Charlie McCarthy: "Say, Mr. Fields, I read in the paper where you consumed two quarts of liquor a day. What would your father think about that?" WC: "He'd think I was a sissy."
23. I exercise extreme self control. I never drink anything stronger than gin before breakfast.
24. Comedy is a serious business. A serious business with only one purpose--to make people laugh.
25. Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven times more pleasant than anywhere else. We start drinking early. And while everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we'll be seeing six or seven.
26. "Fields reloading!" (Fields' retort from his dressing room after a director had shouted, "Camera reloading!")
27. Hangman: "Have you any last wish?" WC: "Yes, I'd like to see Paris before I die." (pause) "Philadelphia will do."
28. How well I remember my first encounter with The Devil's Brew. I happened to stumble across a case of bourbon--and went right on stumbling for several days thereafter.
29. I like to keep a bottle of stimulant handy in case I see a snake, which I also keep handy.
30. Secretary: "It must be hard to lose your mother-in-law." WC: "Yes it is, very hard. It's almost impossible."
31. I don't believe in dining on an empty stomach.
32. I once spent a year in Philadelphia, I think it was on a Sunday.
33. (Invited to play golf by someone he didn't like, Fields responded "When I want to play with a prick, I'll play with my own."
34. What rascal has been putting pineapple juice in my pineapple juice?
35. "I was married once--in San Francisco. I haven't seen her for many years. The great earthquake and fire in 1906 destroyed the marriage certificate. There's no legal proof. Which proves that earthquakes aren't all bad."
36. Say anything that you like about me except that I drink water.
37. Water rusts pipes. (His reasoning for not drinking water)

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Jim Carrey

Just because he can go from this



to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which should have gotten him an Oscar

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Some I'd have to go with would be;

- Mike Myers
- Jim Carrey
- Martin Short
- Jim Belushi
- John Belushi
- Eddie Murphy
- Jamie Foxx
- Steve Carell
- Chevy Chase
- Steve Martin
- Adam Sandler

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"It's not the destination, but the things you learn on the way there"

I've always loved a lot of the older comedians...

Buster Keaton
Charlie Chaplin
W.C. Fields
The Marx Brothers
Fatty Arbuckle
John Cleese
Abbott and Costello
Bob Hope
Laurel and Hardy
Steve Martin
Robin Williams
Lucille Ball

And never have really been a Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler fan...

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Eddie Murphy
Steve Martin
Adam Sandler
John Belushi

Also;

- Jerry Lewis
- Bill Murray
- Chris Rock
- Woody Allen
- Jerry Seinfeld
- Billy Crystal
- Dan Ackroyd
- Bill Cosby
- Ray Romano
- Ted Danson
- Kelsey Grammar

Ever since realising who Leslie Nielsen was when i watched the first Naked Gun film, i have always been a fan since, every comedy i've seen him in, he has made me laugh, he was the funniest person in Scary Movie 4!

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I've got an unusual nominee for an actor who can do comedy--Peter O'Toole! My Favorite Year is best example, but he's been funny in other movies, especially one where he's a British lord with an old haunted castle that is turned into a tourist attraction. Peter Falk is another very serious actor who has a real flair for comedy--Pocketful of Miracles, The In-laws. Perhaps the oddest entry of all is Bogart, but look how he handles the fast and funny patter of Raymond Chandler in The Big Sleep and the subtle humor of We're No Angels. Another actor who is even better at comedy was James Cagney--just look at his last film, One, Two, Three.

As for the best comedian turned actor, I have to go with Jackie Gleason--you can't top him in The Hustler and Requiem for a Heavyweight.

As for Steve Martin, I never much cared for him until I saw him in Roxanne--seemed to me that for the first time he was playing a real role rather than just being Steve Martin on screen. Also liked him in his other classic remake of Silas Mariner.

W.C. Fields was the funniest, but for someone who wrote/directed/starred in films that are widely considered comedies Buster Keaton was brilliant. If this was a competition, there wouldn't be any competition.

Peter O'Toole is an interesting choice, but I agree [w/ rufnek]! I want to see that "haunted castle" movie you mentioned. Anyone have a title for this? My Favorite Year and The Ruling Class are both funny movies and I don't think I would have liked My Favorite Year if it weren't for him. I also happen to think Lawrence of Arabia is [among many other things] an intentionally funny movie. Not a comedy but O'Toole's Lawrence has a sense of humor.

I completely disagree about Bogart, I suspect his style of acting just hasn't aged well, anyway I've never found him compelling or funny. Don't hate him but I just don't watch movies to admire his acting. But I do like Cagney. Probably not his best movie but my favorite Cagney moment of all time was when he tap dances while disguised as an old man and acting rickety and senescent in Yankee Doodle Dandy.

I also really like Michael Keaton. He's in a lot of tripe unfortunately but he's a good dramatic and comic actor, and hilarious in a handful of supporting roles.

I'm a little confused about the couple mentions so far of Gleason's (serious) performance in The Hustler. It could be because I haven't seen enough of him to get the impact or contrast or whatever of his being in that film, but if I remember correctly he had a very small role there and was good but didn't really steal the show from either Paul Newman or George C. Scott (another very talented actor who could do just as well in funny roles).