Best Biographical Portrayal...

[PeruvianSkies]

Okay, which actor/actress based on performance alone was the best at portraying a non-fictional character in a Biographical film....

[musicman1999]

Peter O'toole for sure,the film won best picture and director oscars, among others, and started a run of 8 best actor nominations in a remarkable near 50 year career.One of the greatest actors of all time.

bill

[PeruvianSkies]

Peter O'toole for sure,the film won best picture and director oscars, among others, and started a run of 8 best actor nominations in a remarkable near 50 year career.One of the greatest actors of all time.

bill

I definitely can't argue that at all. He is certainly one of my all-time favorite actors...do you remember the Oscars a few years ago when he won his lifetime achievement award? He is so interesting to just listen to, it's like every syllable that comes out of his mouth is this charming little nugget of value. O' toole's about as classy as they come. LAWRENCE is also one of my all-time favorite films and there is no doubt that his debut performance is top-notch. He would have won best actor had Gregory Peck not stolen the show with TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.

Have you ever seen the film THE RULING CLASS with Peter O'Toole? A must must see!

I choose John Hurt because the grueling process that was involved to transform into the Elephant Man, plus I understand that he worked for free on the film...not sure if that's 100% true or not. That movie is just stunning and a great use of B&W, plus one of the few David Lynch movies that most people can watch and know what the heck is going on.

[Worf101]

1. Paul Scofield - Sir Thomas Moore "A Man for All Seasons"

2. George C. Scott - Patton in "Patton"

3. Paul Muni - Emil Zola "The Life of Emile Zola"

4. Denzel Washington - Ruben Hurricane Carter "Hurricane"

5. Leonardo Di Caprio - Howard Hughes "The Aviator"

Just a few off the top of my head.

Da Worfster

[PeruvianSkies]

Good call on PATTON....can't believe I forgot to list that one now that I look at the list. Dang, what a movie...dang.

[Feanor]

Okay, which actor/actress based on performance alone was the best at portraying a non-fictional character in a Biographical film....

I was very impressed with Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler in The Downfall. I guess evil comes in different flavors, (as well as colors), which I say thinking of Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin Dada in Last King of Scotland; also a great performance.

[PeruvianSkies]

I was very impressed with Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler in The Downfall. I guess evil comes in different flavors, (as well as colors), which I say thinking of Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin Dada in Last King of Scotland; also a great performance.

Absolutely! I also just picked up the terrific soundtrack to the film.

[Smokey]

Gandhi and Malcolm X are both excellent biographical movies. In Malcolm X, Spike Lee intercut between black&white footage of real Malcolm X and Denzel, and one hardly can tell the difference between two. Same with Ghandi.

Between two, think I vote for Gandhi. The range of acting, make up and story from a young to an old age Ghandi is seamless. And with it carry message of peace.

[Worf101]

I was thinking about this thread again and I realized I actually SAW these men, live in person.

John F. Kennedy - "PT 109"
Bobby Kennedy - "Bobby"
Malcom X - "Malcom X"

Strange....

Da Worfster

[Smokey]

I was thinking about this thread again and I realized I actually SAW these men, live in person.

John F. Kennedy - "PT 109"
Bobby Kennedy - "Bobby"
Malcom X - "Malcom X"

Worf, you're old as dirt

Looks like the poll is a tie.

[Worf101]

Worf, you're old as dirt

Looks like the poll is a tie.

That's MISTER Dirt to you bub!!!!!

Da Worfster

[RoyY51]

My vote goes to Kingsley in Gandhi. Even though he came across as a self-centered, egotistical a$$ in the two interviews that I've seen, the man can act!

[PeruvianSkies]

My vote goes to Kingsley in Gandhi. Even though he came across as a self-centered, egotistical a$$ in the two interviews that I've seen, the man can act!

What is amazing about Ben Kingsley's performance is that you forget what Gandhi looks like because you attribute Ben Kingsley to what Gandhi really looks like. I actually felt the same way though by some of these other performances, when I think about George S. Patton, George C. Scott's face comes to mind.

Two other performances here that I felt were really strong though were Anthony Hopkin's as NIXON and Will Smith as ALI, mainly because they didn't really "look" like them as much as they nailed (and I mean nailed) the mannerisms! This is what sold their part more than anything else. Philip Baker Hall has also portrayed Nixon in a Robert Altman film called SECRET HONOR, which I would have put on the list, but most people around here probably have not seen it.