GREAT LIVING ACTOR

Let's see, a pulse, range, guts, humanity, longevity, peak performances. Here's a few of the younger generation I like: Robert Downey, Jr. has boatloads of talent, plus the above criteria, and if he stays out of jail we have a lot to look forward to. We shouldn't ignore Kevin Bacon, either. From "Footloose" to "Tremors" to "Mystic River", he might be the Michael Caine of his generation. It will also to be interesting to see if Haley Joel Osment grows up as talented as he started out; he knocked my socks off in "The Sixth Sense." (As did Bruce Willis who gets ignored because he spends too much time in action flicks, but remember "Pulp Fiction" and "Nobody's Fool." If he grows up, he might be interesting. [I think Unbreakable also speaks to his guts and range. -Dr. X])

Still, I think you cats are missing an obvious choice. Thirteen Academy Award nominations, two wins, a film career dating from the seventies, range of roles including drama, comedy, musical, action, romance, villain and hero (once both in the same movie) and a stint on "The Simpsons." Give up? It's Meryl Streep, you pinheads!

1977 Julia
1978 The Deerhunter
1979 Kramer vs Kramer (played a lesbian and Bad Mother in 1979!)
1981 The French Lieutenant's Woman
1982 Sophie's Choice
1983 Silkwood
1984 Falling in Love (blowing Keitel AND De Niro out of the water)
1985 Plenty (a risky film and she plays a villain)
1985 Out of Africa
1986 Heartburn (she dances circles around Nicholson and he was pretty good in this one)
1987 Ironwood (not a feel-good movie, but here Nicholson holds up his end of the film and the performances soar)
1988 A Cry in the Dark (The dingo took her baby! And we still don't like her!)
1989 She-Devil (under-rated chick flick with Streep as a shallow, unappealing villain.)
1990 Postcards from the Edge (She and Hackman shine. Plus she and Shirley MacLaine (a personal favorite) sing.)
1991 Defending Your Life (remember her slurping pasta and giving the "thumbs up?"
1992 Death Becomes Her (it's gutsy for a female actor to play ugly)
1993 The House of the Spirits (with Glenn Close, Winona Ryder, Vanessa Redgrave, Antonio Banderas, and Jeremy Irons,
but let me guess: you didn't see this chick-flick based on a chick-book.)
1994 The River Wild (Meryl does action! With Kevin Bacon, John C. Reilly, and the vastly underappreciated David Strathairn.)
1995 The Bridges of Madison County (I didn't see this one, but apparently Clint liked it)
1997 First Do No Harm (when Hollywood gave "Evita" to Madonna Ciccone instead of Meryl (Can you imagine? The movie might have been watchable and listenable with Meryl, who is also a much better singer than Mrs. Ritchie.) Meryl produced and starred in a made-for-TV movie--just so she could keep acting! I don't think Brando would have done that, or would have had to, but that's a much bigger issue)

I won't list them all, you guys probably didn't see any of her later movies until maybe "Adaptation" or "The Hours" in 2002. She's going to appear in a remake of "The Manchurian Candidate" that I'm looking forward to.

[I've only ever seen one Meryl Streep movie (Out of Africa), but she delivered a hell of a commencement address at Vassar 21 years ago. The best line was: "These are, or these were, the halcyon days. Real life actually is a lot more like high school." -Dr. X]

I know I'm griping about the motes in your eyes when I've got a cinder in mine, but come on! Meryl Streep!

[Not to be legalistic about it, but Ms. Streep would be at or near the top of my list if we were considering the greatest living actor or actress. -UttDC]

[Nice try, you sexist. Or sexer. Nobody but Phyliss Shafly says "actress" these days. CSG]

[I stand corrected, but Google returns 2.4 million hits for pages with both "actor" and "actress" on them. Ms. Shafly has been industrious, indeed. -UttDC]

[Toosh and Shay, my dear! --CSG]