English Actors as opposed to American Actors.

[herringbonekid]

Hummm.HBK, I think that most of our best screen actors come from the theater,especially New York Theatre.

really ? the same theatre in New York that is "all but dead" ?

perhaps you can tell me which theatre roles DeNiro is famous for ? or Steve Buscemi, or going back a way... Bogart ?

 

[DOUGLAS]

I'm talking about the actors that came out of New York Theater. Some of them would be Al Pacino, James Earl Jones, John Cassavetes, George C.Scott,Colleen Duhurst, Jean and Maureen Stapleton, Julie Harris,Raul Julia,Charles Durning and so on.Granted most of these actors have died but I hope you get the idea.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

... there is no such trend Hem. it exists only in your imagination and the brief examples you gave at the start of this thread.

Gee, that's not contradictory, is it?

Some actors from the UK, as mentioned before, have chosen to differentiate themselves by writing some books. Few American actors have chosen the same path.

Some have. Peter Weller is compelling and interesting in regards to Roman History. I would sit through one of his lectures at Syracuse. He could have chosen to make B-movies for the rest of his life, but instead decided to pursue something he was passionate about. I respect that decision and its consequences.

Marlon Brando wrote a book, "Fan Tan." I have it here on my shelf, but I will probably never read it. It was reviewed by The NY Times and others, and by all accounts it is bizarre.

I rather wish Orson Welles had written a book. It probably would have been fascinating. He adapted books to the screen and did a wonderful job in that process. He was certainly one of the most compelling dramatists of the last 100 years. Is American culture capable of fostering another Orson Welles?

Do American actors need to distinguish themselves intellectually? After all, their publicists and fellow actors seem to do it for them. Is any word thrown around more times than "genius" in the celebrity interview? How many countless actors from Robin Williams, the comic genius, to Brad Pitt, a genius, to Jim Carrey, a physical genius, to Woody Allen, well, Woody Allen may very well be a genius, but he has that disturbing daughter thing to contend with.

Perhaps, younger actors are looking toward tabloid fame rather than long lasting artistic accomplishment. Some of the individuals we have named previous chose to advance their craft or another scholarly discipline.

 

[Merlin]

Hmm. . . in addition to "Shopgirl", Steve Martin also wrote the play "Picasso at the Lapin Agile", which is quite good.

Other than that. . .

Hmm. . .

Hey, here's one; Harrison Ford can build a deck on his house. Can Kenneth Branagh do THAT?

 

["Doc" Devereux]

Hey, here's one; Harrison Ford can build a deck on his house. Can Kenneth Branagh do THAT?

I seem to remember hearing that Harrison Ford flies his helicopter as a volunteer with his local mountain rescue service, and is heavily involved in the creation of national parks all over the world with an organisation called Conservation International.

I think Branagh can drive a car...

Admittedly it's not an example of academic achievement, but it is an example of an American actor directing his other talents beyond the field of 'celebrity' and into something that contributes to society at large.

Here's a side thought: how about the number of British comedians* who go on to become novelists.

* Successful comedians, that is - which excludes me from the topic.

 

[Girl Friday]

Hmm. .

Hey, here's one; Harrison Ford can build a deck on his house. Can Kenneth Branagh do THAT?

Good one, I was going to say something about Harrison Ford, Blade Runner was on the other night, and I remember saying how good a job he does getting the snot beat out of him! Ironically, Dead Again was also on the other night, I really love Kenneth Brannagh, even playing an American (Emma Thompson too) I guess that is where the training really shows up, getting an accent right! Or even close... poor Kevin Costner!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

... there is no such trend Hem. it exists only in your imagination and the brief examples you gave at the start of this thread.

Gee, that's not contradictory, is it?

No, it's not contradictory. The list of 5 people given hardly constitutes a trend. One of them is the chancellor of a university - an appointment, not an achievment. One writes books about shakespeare plays that may or may not be acclaimed within shakespeare-scholarly circles. One has written a biography of Welles. The other two (Palin and fry) are decidedly in the category of overachievers, and well educated ones at that - thusly placing them squarely in the "non-standard" camp.

None of this suggests a trend to me.

The fact that there are many examples given in this thread of actors from this side of the pond with similar achievements speaks for itself re. this discussion.

bk

 

[Jack Scorpion]

I think Britain still has a little bit of that snob left in them. They require their actors do well. Heck, when a thespian goes to the darkside (Hollywood), they throw flames as it is.

American actor success stories are much more rags to riches, but so is America in general. Robert Mitchum didn't finish any schooling, hoboed across America many times and only got an acting job because he was able to stay on top a bucking horse. Yet I don't consider him any less of a success because he doesn't have initials after his name and a couple publications to stroke his chin about.

------------

Personally, I hate Branagh. I'm sure he is a fine scholar. However, after seeing that Hamlet of his, I think he is the worst Shakespearian actor I've ever seen, in my opinion. To him I say leave your overacting to the stage.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

but the point we're trying to make is that we (Brits) *don't* require our actors to do well at anything other than their primary function: acting. The list is very very VERY short of those that do well in multiple environments (for want of a brain to come up with a better phrase). I see very little difference between american and british film actors, and in fact i concur with hbk when he said earlier that the Americans just beat the Brits in this regard.

there seems to be a feeling amongst some on this thread that by acheiving in multiple disciplines (ha ha i got it! Replace environments with disciplines in the previous para) one is "showing off" in some way. Well, let me say that i *wish* i was as good at anything as these people are at multiple things, and i applaud them for their skill and ability.

Let's take Stephen Fry as an example. One problem may be that people cannot disconnect his acting from his scholarly work (i admit i haven't read any). His novels entertained me greatly as a younger man, and his stand-up double act with Hugh Laurie was wonderful. I remember hearing similar things as i'm hearing in this thread when Fry decided to take serious roles (Wilde being his most famous to date), and the same is true of Billy Connoly, who has turned out to be a great actor as well as a very funny man. (he also endured harsh criticism when he stopped being a folk musician and turned to comedy.)

There is nothing elitist or snobbish about fulfilling your talent in multiple disciplines.

Where's my beer? Ah, there it is . . .

bk

 

[Hemingway Jones]

.

Baron, Old Boy, If something exists in my head; it then exists if I am the one bringing up the topic. I would argue that five does make a trend and that I have not seen a similar list of Americans, except for those that I provided.

And an appointment is an achievement to an honorary title. I only wish I had done something of worth to be appointed to a similar position.

If you remove the compare and contrast element from the thesis and consider the English actors as stated and ask who else? Who can you add to the list?

I applaud Renaissance men and women of every stripe, especially those who go beyond what they are known for and carve out some niche of respectability in something else. Peter Wellers' work in Roman Studies come to mind as does Sam Shepherd's plays. Studying Branagh back at Rutgers was a joy to me and hearing the exhaustive process it took Mr. Callow to write his Welles biography has forever endeared him to me as well.

This dear friends, is a friendly conversation on the front porch. A topic has be introduced, bandy it about for a while, have fun with it, but don't get emotionally invested. To do so, would be ridiculous.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

.

I should say that there may well be more Americans than actors from the UK who have diversified themselves in academia and letters; I just don't know them. I am more curious about what would make an actor pursue one field over another?

Some one earlier said that some actors from the UK get criticized if they "Go Hollywood;" that may very well be true. I had not heard of it. I know that the tabloids in the UK are pretty rough and this seems the likely venue for that sort of criticism. Would this then push them in the opposite direction?

As we have seen from the likes of Paris Hilton, Brittany Spears, and Lindsay Lohane (sp?), tabloid fame in this country sometimes appears to be enough.

Personally, I would be mortified.

 

[Tomasso]

back at Rutgers

The Class of 1919 produced quite a multifaceted individual .

 

[Feng_Li]

Even Mother Theresa used her fame to bring awareness to the poverty and problems of other countries.

That's not quite the same thing, as much of her fame resulted directly from her work in that area. The equivalent for an actor would be stumping for NEA funding, or trying to raise money to bring a drama program to poor schools, or somesuch. Or, think of Frank Zappa testifying before congress when music-labeling laws were being debated.

 

[Diamondback]

And what about character-actor/economist Ben Stein?

Econ isn't exactly a "softcore" subject--it took me two tries to get through Econ 212 (a community-college survey course), and I'm a certified genius!

So I'd argue Stein belongs on the list, even though most of his characters are dull, dry, dreary, droning egghead geeks.

(Said by someone who most of the time also fits that description.)

 

[Elaina]

American actors also spend a lot of their time doing coaching to children that can't afford an acting coach that in England they don't do.

I also think there is a huge difference between a little island, where distingushing oneself makes one stand out, and huge block of land where there are, frankly, good looking people wanting to take your job. Americans don't value intelligence, they value looks, and it's been my experience that Europe values someone being smarter over someone being pretty.

Many American actors have written fiction that has been critically acclaimed: William Shatner, Margaret Mitchell, Ethan Hawke, Lenord Nimoy off the top of my head at 4 a.m.

 

[GOK]

American actors also spend a lot of their time doing coaching to children that can't afford an acting coach that in England they don't do.

Actually, we do have this in the UK too. We have Stagecoach, which takes both paying and non-paying children. There are also a number of free roadshows and workshops that our luminaries give up their time for. And of course there are lots of stage schools, where established thesps give of their time.