10. Michael Caine (Best performance: Sleuth)
Icon of British cool in the 1960s, leading action star in the late '70s, and knighted into official respectability in 1993, Michael Caine has enjoyed a long, varied, and enviably prolific career. Although he played a part in some notable cinematic failures, particularly during the 1980s, Caine remains one of the most established performers in the business, serving as a role model for actors and filmmakers young and old.
9. Dustin Hoffman (Best performance: The Graduate)
The emergence of Dustin Hoffman in 1967 heralded the arrival of a new era of Hollywood stardom. Diminutive, wiry and unassuming, he was anything but the usual matinee idol, yet he quickly distinguished himself among the most popular and celebrated screen performers of his generation. A notoriously difficult talent famous for his battles with directors as well as his total immersion in his performances, Hoffman further battled against stereotypes by accepting roles which cast him firmly as an antihero, often portraying troubled, even tragic figures rarely destined for a happy ending. By extension, he broke new ground for all actors - not only were stars no longer limited to heroic, larger-than-life characterizations, but in his wake virtually anyone, regardless of their seeming physical limitations, could attain success on the big screen.
8. Philip Seymour Hoffman (Best performance: Magnolia)
A strawberry blond character actor who was given fearless performances that expose both the beauty and ugliness of real life, Philip Seymour Hoffman has created a number of memorable characters since his debut in the early 1990s.
7. Gene Hackman (Best performance: Bonnie and Clyde)
One of the most versatile and well-respected actors in American cinema, Gene Hackman has enjoyed a productive career that has spanned over five-decades and encompassed stage, television and features. Beginning as a reliable character player, the unglamorous Midwesterner assumed the unlikely mantle of leading man in the 1970s. Despite periods of "retirement" (one brought on by health problems), Hackman, who excels at portraying "regular guys" caught up in extraordinary circumstances, remains a much sought-after player.
6. Johnny Depp (Best performance: Finding Neverland)
Initially known as a teen idol thanks to his role in 21 Jump Street and tortured pretty-boy looks, Johnny Depp survived the perils of adolescent heartthrob status to earn a reputation as a respected adult actor. His numerous collaborations with director Tim Burton, as well as solid performances in a number of critically acclaimed films, have allowed Depp to carve a niche for himself as a serious, if idiosyncratic performer, a real-life role that has continuously surprised critics intent on writing him off as just another photogenic Tiger Beat casualty.
5. Robert Duvall (Best performance: The Godfather)
One of Hollywood's most distinguished, popular, and versatile actors, Robert Duvall possesses a rare gift for totally immersing himself in his roles. Hailed by The New York Times as "the American Laurence Oliver".
4. Paul Newman (Best performance: Cool Hand Luke)
In a business where public scandal and bad-boy behavior are the rule rather than the exception, Paul Newman is as much a hero offscreen as on. A blue-eyed matinee idol whose career has successfully spanned five decades, he is also a prominent social activist, a major proponent of actors' creative rights, and a noted philanthropist.
3. Jack Nicholson (Best performance: Chinatown)
With his cheshire-cat grin, devil-may-care attitude and potent charisma, Jack Nicholson emerged as the most popular and celebrated actor of his generation. A classic anti-hero, he typified the new breed of Hollywood star - a rebellious, contentious and defiantly non-conformist. A supremely versatile talent, he uniquely defined the zeitgeist of the 1970s, a decade which his screen presence dominated virutally from start to finish, and remained an enduring counterculture icon for the duration of his long and renowned career.
2. Al Pacino (Best performance: The Godfather)
Arguably the greatest and most accomplished actor of his generation, Al Pacino became a cultural icon thanks to revered performances in a wide range of classic films. Coming to prominence during the 1970s - a period commonly regarded as Hollywood's Golden Age - he possessed none of the classic features of leading men from Tinseltown's previous heydays, but nonetheless, enthralled audiences with absorbing performances on screens both large and small, as well as on stage. As a Method actor, Pacino revealed the dark complexities of characters like Frank Serpico, Sonny Wortzik and Colonel Frank Slade. But in life, the actor remained an elusive figure, preferring to avoid disclosing anything of a personal nature. Despite such reluctance to open up about his life, Pacino maintained a long, prominent career in which he accomplished acting's rarest of feats - winning Oscar, Emmy and Tony awards.
1. Robert De Niro (Best performance: Raging Bull)
Considered the best actor of his generation, Robert De Niro has built a durable star career out of his formidable ability to disappear into character, whether tempering his charisma to become a believable everyman or imbuing his renowned gallery of mobsters and psychopaths with a compelling, frightening authority.
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