De Niro Wins Greatest Living Actor Poll

Robert De Niro and Al Pacino sit atop British film magazine Empire’s poll of the greatest living movie stars over the age of 50. The co-stars of the Godfather saga took the top two places in the vote of 10,000 readers.

The magazine writes:

They are the pinnacle of the acting craft, the men and women who have defined cinema over the decades. They are, of course the Gods Aong Us and, after months of voting, the head of the pantheon has now been revealed. The competition was fierce, with Al Pacino, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson and the late Marlon Brando all vying for the top spot but, in the end, it was the one and only Bobby De Niro who emerged as the singular actor who has most affected our readers’ lives.

From Mean Streets back in ’73 to his recent comedy hits like Meet The Parents, Robert De Niro’s career has been an awesome collection of performances. Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle, Raging Bull’s Jake La Motta, Goodfellas’ Jimmy Conway, The Untouchables’ Al Capone and, of course, Godfather II’s Vito Corleone, few actors can boast so many iconic roles on their CV. He is, quite simply, the man and we at Empire and all of our readers salute him.

The full list:
1. Robert De Niro
2. Al Pacino
3. Jack Nicholson
4. Paul Newman
5. Marlon Brando
6. Anthony Hopkins
7. Morgan Freeman
8. Dustin Hoffman
9. Clint Eastwood
10. Sigourney Weaver
11. Gene Hackman
12. Harrison Ford
13. Sean Connery
14. Meryl Streep
15. Ian McKellen
16. Christopher Lee
17. Sidney Poitier
18. Robert Redford
19. Alan Rickman
20. Judi Dench
21. Samuel L Jackson
22. Peter O’Toole
23. Bill Murray
24. Albert Finney
25. Woody Allen
26. Helen Mirren
27. Christopher Walken
28. Ben Kingsley
29. Lauren Bacall
30. John Hurt

Looking at the overall career it’s hard to argue with De Niro and Pacino, but both have faded of late. I am especially not a fan of De Niro’s comedy performances of recent vintage — Meet the Parents, Analyze This, Analyze That — although he was terrific as an unfunny comedian in The King of Comedy.

Great to see Bill Murray on the list – he has developed a real inner life to his characters since the classic Groundhog Day, where we see a real, seismic transformation of the standard Murray semi-charming, shallow, self-serving prick into a vulnerable, empathetic man in love.