playing the tables much here at Monday
no I’m afraid that sort of thing ceased
to amuse me years ago the world may have
been at war but these men ensured that
not all was doom and danger you hear
what he said
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top ten
decade defining actors of the 1940s with
my friend is a million Dame’s in this
world they all look like her for our
series on the top ten decade defining
male actors / period we’ve made our
choices based on a combination of their
commercial success their box-office
scores their productivity their awards
and how they helped set the tone and
raise the standard in Hollywood for the
era thank you
number 10 Alan Ladd you know until I
hired you was my devil I didn’t know how
good-looking I would lads was a
determined breakthrough into acting that
saw him take a flurry of early cameo
appearances including as a newspaper
reporter in Citizen Kane rosebud
how about a Jerry but this gun for hire
was his debut as a featured star here’s
a funniest angle of it all he had an
unsmiling coldness about his bad guy
with a conscience persona which proved
popular with wartime audiences yeah keep
your dirty hands off me you you and your
kid go on beat it thanks to his work in
westerns as well as war films often
alongside Veronica Lake Ladd is credited
as a revolutionary who turned the
villain into a charming attractive
tempting figure like those we see in
gangster movies today
I’m not going you get out of here share
with you Taylor stop him Oh
number 9 Gary Cooper and they’re using
your country as a proving ground for
their new war machinery their tanks and
Diet bombers and stuff like that
coupe as he was known in Hollywood had
roles in over 100 movies during his
career including a breakthrough
supporting part in wings the first ever
recipient of the Best Picture Oscar
he famously rejected the part of Rhett
Butler and Gone with the Wind but still
achieved fame in the following decade
with his stone-faced and modest style I
reckon I ain’t found no roots what will
hold me up when when I’m hell-bent
appalled varying between comedy drama
crime and westerns Cooper won an Oscar
for sergeant York during the decade and
eventually paired up with Ingrid Bergman
in an adaptation of For Whom the Bell
Tolls today – a troll
number eight Robert Mitchum
you know Dondo it had give me a great
deal of personal pleasure to break every
bone in your body
goofing off down there was one thing up
here is another I’ll get out of here
before I kicked it wait a tough
upbringing led to a steely on-screen
character for Mitchum who achieved much
of his fame within the film noir genre
however it was an early non noir 1945’s
the story of GI Joe that yielded his
first and only Oscar nomination
how does your funeral that kicked off a
career full of Western anti-heroes and
soldiers but it was in Juarez like
crossfire and out of the past where he
truly shines
money’s a liar what makes you believe
his story it just happens to be the only
story of God he became known as the
tough yet sensitive male who must resist
his femme fatale
a forerunner of the film noir victim who
says never heard number seven Bud Abbott
and Lou Costello the gentleman buys 10
ties
how can he sell ties that cheap we go no
overhead we haven’t even got a license
to sell he’s tied at 7 we have to hey
cabbie snip on it we’re trying to get
away from a cop oh yeah these actors are
impossible to separate seeing as they
formed the most prolific double act of
their time put that down oh it’s a put
up job it’s a frame-up I never saw the
stuff falling on my life
they found fame and saved Universal
Pictures from bankruptcy in the process
by starring in World War two flicks buck
privates and in the Navy oh boy oh boy
oh boy
their success was built around Abbott
playing the straight man and Costello
playing the Joker a combination that
enabled them to become one of the
highest-grossing acts throughout the
Second World War
are you the spirits of the two traitors
number 6 Peter Lorre you sit down mr.
Carroll
thank you sir Peter Lori’s early career
spread across the 1930s when due to his
Austrian birth he was continually
typecast as the menacing foreigner
figure next to actors like Sydney
Greenstreet and Humphrey Bogart to mr.
Zepeda I’m trying to recover ornament
that – shall we see has been mislaid
however his roles in The Maltese Falcon
and Casablanca earned him greater
respect within Hollywood circles and he
emerged as a leading wartime entertainer
with films such as background to danger
and three strangers why the three
strangers what else perhaps because in
your Ian’s – three is the symbol of the
life principle like with us the seventh
indeed how did you know that well I’ve
managed to collect he endear some
useless bits of information post-world
War two
his career took a downturn but Laurie’s
legacy had already been written you
despise me don’t you hello I gave you
any thought I probably would number five
Henry Fonda either we got a time up and
throw him in the trucker something he
can’t stay here
when Fonda roomed with James Stewart in
the 1930s little did their landlords
realize the acting royalty that slept in
their beds where’s the best place to get
work her out here don’t matter what kind
either Fonda’s own career kick started
with a role as Tom Joad in an adaptation
of The Grapes of Wrath which earned him
an Oscar nomination and a seven-year
contract with 20th Century Fox he then
starred opposite Barbara Stanwyck in the
Oxbow incident and with Joan Crawford
and Daisy Kenyon don’t ever expect one
person to replace another one Peter
might be disappointed
sure you’re talking about me all during
a decade in which he also saw Second
World War action in the Navy wherever
there’s a fight so hungry people can eat
I’ll be there wherever there’s a cop
beating up a guy I’ll be there
number four Laurence Olivier oh that
this too too solid flesh would melt thaw
and resolve itself into a team
an Englishman of such Worth he was
eventually granted the title Lord
Olivier this actor is considered among
the greatest of the 20th century we
didn’t go into the cottage did you yes
the door don’t buy that again you here
why not because I hate the place and if
you had my memories you wouldn’t go that
I’ll talk about everything thing about
it
roles in Rebecca and withering Heights
as well as a complicated relationship
with actress Vivien Leigh meant that
Olivier entered the decade as megastar
material in peace there’s nothing so
becomes a man as modest stillness and
humility but when the blast of war blows
in our ears then imitate the action of
the tiger two parts of his acclaimed
Shakespeare trilogy were also released
in the 40s allowing Olivier to combine
his classical background with his silver
screen stardom he was professional
prolific and all but cinema perfection
you cannot sir take from me anything
that I will more willingly part withal
except my life number three Orson Welles
could hear you very well if you speak in
a normal tone of voice receiving our
bronze medal is a man who’s more than an
actor he’s a pioneering director theater
figure and radio broadcaster is that
correct don’t believe everything you
hear on the radio read The Enquirer we
reduced a nation to apocalyptic paranoia
with his radio adaptation of the War of
the Worlds took me two solid years in
the best boys school in the world alone
that trick
fellow taught it to me is now the
president of Venezuela that earned him
Hollywood’s attention and allowed him to
write direct and star in his best
remembered contribution to cinema and a
film that’s widely regarded as one of
the greatest ever made 1941 s Citizen
Kane
but on the screen his direction and
narration of 1942 s the Magnificent
Ambersons gained further critical
acclaim to slow for us nowadays because
the faster we’re carried the less time
we have to spare number two
Humphrey Bogart never saw it locked
behind me and don’t open it till the
police come who do you know who he is
yeah yeah it’s Captain Jacobi master de
la paloma a good man sitting again this
guy is more than an actor he’s an icon
born on the last Christmas day of the
19th century Bogaerts life was a romance
from the beginning he scored a contract
with Warner Brothers at the start of his
career and struggled to break past the
company’s leading males James Cagney and
Edward G Robinson but films like High
Sierra The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca
changed all that that plane leaves the
ground and you’re not with him you’ll
regret it maybe not today maybe not
tomorrow but soon and for the rest of
your life two years after that romantic
hit he met his fourth and final wife
Lauren Bacall go ahead he scratch and
the pair became Hollywood’s darlings
horses I play the wheel playing
something else too what makes you why
I’m talking let me do it before we
unveil our pick for decade defining
actor of the 1940s here are a few
honorable mentions oh that’s all right I
shall be too late you send your card and
quit and get the money see you Sunday
every man for himself
Oh time to go home now
goodnight
number one James Stewart
I can promise you one thing I’ll do
nothing to disgrace the office of the
United States Senate Bogart and wells
were influential but Jimmy Stewart stole
the show in a decade when he also
dedicated time to World War two military
service Stewart’s roles as the average
aspiring American resonated with and
gave encouragement to just about
everyone dust I’ll have a washroom thank
me his natural style want him an Oscar
for the Philadelphia Story having been
previously nominated for Frank Capra’s
mr. Smith goes to Washington
however he found everlasting Fame as
George Bailey in it’s a wonderful life a
captivating performance in a Christmas
classic his was the highest standard
during one of Hollywood’s highest points
under Ella gets off now you right back
to the ball before you turn into a
pumpkin and six white mice combined do
you agree with our list which 1940s
actor do you think is the most iconic
Jacob wait tell him you’re gonna dig
latrines for every man in this company
from here to Rome for more classic top
10s published every day be sure to
subscribe to watchmojo.com
no I’m afraid that sort of thing ceased
to amuse me years ago the world may have
been at war but these men ensured that
not all was doom and danger you hear
what he said
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top ten
decade defining actors of the 1940s with
my friend is a million Dame’s in this
world they all look like her for our
series on the top ten decade defining
male actors / period we’ve made our
choices based on a combination of their
commercial success their box-office
scores their productivity their awards
and how they helped set the tone and
raise the standard in Hollywood for the
era thank you
number 10 Alan Ladd you know until I
hired you was my devil I didn’t know how
good-looking I would lads was a
determined breakthrough into acting that
saw him take a flurry of early cameo
appearances including as a newspaper
reporter in Citizen Kane rosebud
how about a Jerry but this gun for hire
was his debut as a featured star here’s
a funniest angle of it all he had an
unsmiling coldness about his bad guy
with a conscience persona which proved
popular with wartime audiences yeah keep
your dirty hands off me you you and your
kid go on beat it thanks to his work in
westerns as well as war films often
alongside Veronica Lake Ladd is credited
as a revolutionary who turned the
villain into a charming attractive
tempting figure like those we see in
gangster movies today
I’m not going you get out of here share
with you Taylor stop him Oh
number 9 Gary Cooper and they’re using
your country as a proving ground for
their new war machinery their tanks and
Diet bombers and stuff like that
coupe as he was known in Hollywood had
roles in over 100 movies during his
career including a breakthrough
supporting part in wings the first ever
recipient of the Best Picture Oscar
he famously rejected the part of Rhett
Butler and Gone with the Wind but still
achieved fame in the following decade
with his stone-faced and modest style I
reckon I ain’t found no roots what will
hold me up when when I’m hell-bent
appalled varying between comedy drama
crime and westerns Cooper won an Oscar
for sergeant York during the decade and
eventually paired up with Ingrid Bergman
in an adaptation of For Whom the Bell
Tolls today – a troll
number eight Robert Mitchum
you know Dondo it had give me a great
deal of personal pleasure to break every
bone in your body
goofing off down there was one thing up
here is another I’ll get out of here
before I kicked it wait a tough
upbringing led to a steely on-screen
character for Mitchum who achieved much
of his fame within the film noir genre
however it was an early non noir 1945’s
the story of GI Joe that yielded his
first and only Oscar nomination
how does your funeral that kicked off a
career full of Western anti-heroes and
soldiers but it was in Juarez like
crossfire and out of the past where he
truly shines
money’s a liar what makes you believe
his story it just happens to be the only
story of God he became known as the
tough yet sensitive male who must resist
his femme fatale
a forerunner of the film noir victim who
says never heard number seven Bud Abbott
and Lou Costello the gentleman buys 10
ties
how can he sell ties that cheap we go no
overhead we haven’t even got a license
to sell he’s tied at 7 we have to hey
cabbie snip on it we’re trying to get
away from a cop oh yeah these actors are
impossible to separate seeing as they
formed the most prolific double act of
their time put that down oh it’s a put
up job it’s a frame-up I never saw the
stuff falling on my life
they found fame and saved Universal
Pictures from bankruptcy in the process
by starring in World War two flicks buck
privates and in the Navy oh boy oh boy
oh boy
their success was built around Abbott
playing the straight man and Costello
playing the Joker a combination that
enabled them to become one of the
highest-grossing acts throughout the
Second World War
are you the spirits of the two traitors
number 6 Peter Lorre you sit down mr.
Carroll
thank you sir Peter Lori’s early career
spread across the 1930s when due to his
Austrian birth he was continually
typecast as the menacing foreigner
figure next to actors like Sydney
Greenstreet and Humphrey Bogart to mr.
Zepeda I’m trying to recover ornament
that – shall we see has been mislaid
however his roles in The Maltese Falcon
and Casablanca earned him greater
respect within Hollywood circles and he
emerged as a leading wartime entertainer
with films such as background to danger
and three strangers why the three
strangers what else perhaps because in
your Ian’s – three is the symbol of the
life principle like with us the seventh
indeed how did you know that well I’ve
managed to collect he endear some
useless bits of information post-world
War two
his career took a downturn but Laurie’s
legacy had already been written you
despise me don’t you hello I gave you
any thought I probably would number five
Henry Fonda either we got a time up and
throw him in the trucker something he
can’t stay here
when Fonda roomed with James Stewart in
the 1930s little did their landlords
realize the acting royalty that slept in
their beds where’s the best place to get
work her out here don’t matter what kind
either Fonda’s own career kick started
with a role as Tom Joad in an adaptation
of The Grapes of Wrath which earned him
an Oscar nomination and a seven-year
contract with 20th Century Fox he then
starred opposite Barbara Stanwyck in the
Oxbow incident and with Joan Crawford
and Daisy Kenyon don’t ever expect one
person to replace another one Peter
might be disappointed
sure you’re talking about me all during
a decade in which he also saw Second
World War action in the Navy wherever
there’s a fight so hungry people can eat
I’ll be there wherever there’s a cop
beating up a guy I’ll be there
number four Laurence Olivier oh that
this too too solid flesh would melt thaw
and resolve itself into a team
an Englishman of such Worth he was
eventually granted the title Lord
Olivier this actor is considered among
the greatest of the 20th century we
didn’t go into the cottage did you yes
the door don’t buy that again you here
why not because I hate the place and if
you had my memories you wouldn’t go that
I’ll talk about everything thing about
it
roles in Rebecca and withering Heights
as well as a complicated relationship
with actress Vivien Leigh meant that
Olivier entered the decade as megastar
material in peace there’s nothing so
becomes a man as modest stillness and
humility but when the blast of war blows
in our ears then imitate the action of
the tiger two parts of his acclaimed
Shakespeare trilogy were also released
in the 40s allowing Olivier to combine
his classical background with his silver
screen stardom he was professional
prolific and all but cinema perfection
you cannot sir take from me anything
that I will more willingly part withal
except my life number three Orson Welles
could hear you very well if you speak in
a normal tone of voice receiving our
bronze medal is a man who’s more than an
actor he’s a pioneering director theater
figure and radio broadcaster is that
correct don’t believe everything you
hear on the radio read The Enquirer we
reduced a nation to apocalyptic paranoia
with his radio adaptation of the War of
the Worlds took me two solid years in
the best boys school in the world alone
that trick
fellow taught it to me is now the
president of Venezuela that earned him
Hollywood’s attention and allowed him to
write direct and star in his best
remembered contribution to cinema and a
film that’s widely regarded as one of
the greatest ever made 1941 s Citizen
Kane
but on the screen his direction and
narration of 1942 s the Magnificent
Ambersons gained further critical
acclaim to slow for us nowadays because
the faster we’re carried the less time
we have to spare number two
Humphrey Bogart never saw it locked
behind me and don’t open it till the
police come who do you know who he is
yeah yeah it’s Captain Jacobi master de
la paloma a good man sitting again this
guy is more than an actor he’s an icon
born on the last Christmas day of the
19th century Bogaerts life was a romance
from the beginning he scored a contract
with Warner Brothers at the start of his
career and struggled to break past the
company’s leading males James Cagney and
Edward G Robinson but films like High
Sierra The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca
changed all that that plane leaves the
ground and you’re not with him you’ll
regret it maybe not today maybe not
tomorrow but soon and for the rest of
your life two years after that romantic
hit he met his fourth and final wife
Lauren Bacall go ahead he scratch and
the pair became Hollywood’s darlings
horses I play the wheel playing
something else too what makes you why
I’m talking let me do it before we
unveil our pick for decade defining
actor of the 1940s here are a few
honorable mentions oh that’s all right I
shall be too late you send your card and
quit and get the money see you Sunday
every man for himself
Oh time to go home now
goodnight
number one James Stewart
I can promise you one thing I’ll do
nothing to disgrace the office of the
United States Senate Bogart and wells
were influential but Jimmy Stewart stole
the show in a decade when he also
dedicated time to World War two military
service Stewart’s roles as the average
aspiring American resonated with and
gave encouragement to just about
everyone dust I’ll have a washroom thank
me his natural style want him an Oscar
for the Philadelphia Story having been
previously nominated for Frank Capra’s
mr. Smith goes to Washington
however he found everlasting Fame as
George Bailey in it’s a wonderful life a
captivating performance in a Christmas
classic his was the highest standard
during one of Hollywood’s highest points
under Ella gets off now you right back
to the ball before you turn into a
pumpkin and six white mice combined do
you agree with our list which 1940s
actor do you think is the most iconic
Jacob wait tell him you’re gonna dig
latrines for every man in this company
from here to Rome for more classic top
10s published every day be sure to
subscribe to watchmojo.com
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