The 85 Greatest Actors of the Past 40 Years

Written by Ben Pogany

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Rankings were made taking into account overall ability and range, strength of the roles taken, longevity, influence, and awards won.

1. Robert Deniro
2. Al Pacino
3. Jack Nicholson
4. Tom Hanks
5. Sean Penn
6. Daniel Day-Lewis
7. Paul Newman
8. Morgan Freeman
9. Jack Lemmon
10. Peter O'Toole
11. Dustin Hoffman
12. Ben Kingsley
13. Denzel Washington
14. Anthony Hopkins
15. Leonardo DiCaprio
16. Kevin Spacey
17. Brad Pitt
18. Clint Eastwood
19. Russell Crowe
20. Matt Damon
21. Harrison Ford
22. Edward Norton
23. Ed Harris
24. Willem Defoe
25. Ralph Fiennes
26. Jon Voight
27. Gene Hackman
28. Walter Matthau
29. Richard Dreyfuss
30. Johnny Depp
31. Christian Bale
32. Warren Beatty
33. Sean Connery
34. Benicio Del Toro
35. Michael Caine
36. Phillip Seymour Hoffman
37. Tommy Lee Jones
38. Robert Duvall
39. Liam Neeson
40. Don Cheadle
41. Tom Cruise
42. Josh Brolin
43. Tim Robbins
44. Harvey Keitel
45. Mel Gibson
46. Ian McKellan
47. William H. Macy
48. Paul Giamatti
49. Christopher Walken
50. Joaquin Pheonix
51. Will Smith
52. Kevin Costner
53. Billy Bob Thorton
54. Michael Douglas
55. Laurence Fishburne
56. Samuel L. Jackson
57. Gary Oldman
58. John Hurt
59. Bruce Willis
60. Javier Bardem
61. Heath Ledger
62. Kevin Bacon
63. Jaime Foxx
64. John Malkovich
65. Robert Downey Jr.
66. David Carradine
67. George Clooney
68. Michael Clarke Duncan
69. Robin Williams
70. Forest Whitaker
71. John Travolta
72. Jim Carrey
73. Donald Sutherland
74. Nick Nolte
75. Richard Gere
76. Nicholas Cage
77. Jeff Daniels
78. Steve Buscemi
79. Bill Pullman
80. Jeff Bridges
81. Mark Wahlberg
82. Gary Sinise
83. Viggo Mortensen
84. Kurt Russell
85. Hugh Jackman