Who Are The Greatest Actors
We all have our beloved actors and our favorite movies. It is simply an opinion and no one is more right or more wrong we just all know what we like. However there are actors that we watch who are incredibly talented and there are others that are pretty boys and then there are the few that fit into both categories. There are also actors who along with being great entertainers they are also great men who use their reputation and notoriety to help the world.
Tom Hanks is an remarkable talent. It is rather outrageous that he got his start in a goofy TV show called “Bosom Buddies”. Later on he played an amazing role as Andrew Beckett, a gay lawyer who was infected by the AIDS virus and took on his own conservative law firm for firing him because of the fear that they may too contract the disease. Tom won his first Academy Award for that role in 1993.
Tom Hanks is only the second actor ever to win back-to-back Academy Awards as he again took home the Oscar the next year 1994 for his moving portrayal of Forrest Gump. The only other actor to do that was Spencer Tracy in 1937 and 1938. Tom has also entertained us with other wonderful movies but the list is too lengthy to cover.
Brad Pitt has been known for his pretty boy good looks since he first came on the scene in the 1991 film “Thelma and Louise”. Although he hasn’t always played the role of the good-looking boy. If you remember “Seven” and “Twelve Monkeys” both from 1985 you know what I mean. While the tabloid press seems to take his personal life and overshadow his movie roles, what is the most commendable thing about Brad Pitt is his pledge to humanitarian causes throughout the world. He continuously donates large sums of his wealth to help people that are less fortunate.
After Hurricane Katrina basically wiped out New Orleans, Brad Pitt started the “Make It Right Foundation” to aid in the redevelopment of the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans. The foundation builds homes that are affordable, sustainable and true to the diverse culture of New Orleans. The goal was to accomplish the building of the homes immediately so that the residents could return home as soon as possible. That has been his true success.
Which reminds me of one more great actor who we lost just this past year. Paul Newman passed away on September 26, 2008. All through his life he entertained us with countless great movies including the “Road to Perdition” in 2002, “The Color Of Money” from 1986 and “Absence of Malice” from 1981. He also had the leading role in the well-known favorite “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” from clear back in 1969. Certainly, he was also in many other wonderful movies, too.
But we also remember him for his charity. In 1982 he created a line of food products called “Newman’s Own”. It began with a salad dressing and then extended to include pasta sauce, lemonade, popcorn, cookies, salsa and more. He established a policy that all of the proceeds generated from Newman’s Own, after taxes of course, would be donated to charity. As of 2006, the company had donated in excess of $250 million.
We will always have our favorite movies and our favorite actors and actresses. We may be fond of them because of their talent or for other reasons but now that we can download full-length, high quality movies immediately on the Internet at least we won’t have to miss any of their movies.