Kathy Bates win for Misery was one of a kind. She was a woman in her 40s, who was having a breakout role, in a horror film. Plus, she doesn't look like the "typical Hollywood beauty" that wins Best Actress. There was so much going against Kathy Bates but she won. Could not deny her.

I have only watched 'Sophie's Choice' one time. That scene where she had to choose between her children, absolutely tore me to shreds emotionally, so much that I don't ever want to see it again.

F. Murray Abraham's portrayal of Salieri in Amadeus was my favorite Oscar win.

It will be hard for someone to ever beat Meryl Streep's Sophie's Choice acting. It's simply perfect. There's no Meryl there, you only see Sophie.

Could not agree more with regarding Jack Nicholson's portrayal in Cuckoo's Nest as one of cinema's all-time greatest, but would quickly add that that entire cast is so good in that picture it's astonishing. One of the best ensemble dramatic products ever captured on celluloid.

Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind is one of the most deserving Oscars ever! No doubt you know the history of the studio changing directors mid filming from a 'womens' director to a more Clark Gable director that treated the women quite harshly. You cannot tell watching that movie. Vivien was just brilliant!

After 40 years I still have to say Timothy Hutton in "Ordinary People" is one of the most earned wins of all time. He was only 19 years old and had only been in a few TV movies, but carried the immense weight of this film. He never sank into melodrama and he carried the tragedy, humor, awkwardness yet ordinary-ness of Conrad Jarrett. It's one of those performances that, like you describe with Charlize Theron, could never be topped no matter what he does.

Heath ledger performance in brokeback mountain was so moving, showing love is love- his walking away from his love spills into an alley and his heartbreak is crush8ng.

When you announced Meryl Streep for Sophie's Choice as your #1 Oscar win, I immediately yelled "Yep!" She did everything in that movie but sell popcorn to the audience.

Tragically Vivian Leigh died too early. It was tuberculosis from what I read. Her short career showed enormous talent.

Scarlett and Blanche are both tortured (in different ways) legends for the ages-they both share Ms Leigh’s cocked right eyebrow, after all, as well as her considerable private suffering which breathes life into both performances. Thank you!

I can't even watch Sophie's Choice again. The ending tore my heart out! I love all of her films but this one affected me the most.

Of course Hattie McDaniel performance in GWTW is as powerful and heart wrenching as Ms. Leigh or Mr. Gables was. When McDaniel is climbing the steps with Melianie and telling her how the baby's death has affected Scarlett & Rhett, I remember crying along with Mammy as that scene played out. McDaniel played a small part in GWTW, somehow, someway with all her talent was a key character in GWTW. I have to mention The Whale and Brandon Fraser's performance. It is a stunning movie, and Fraser's performance is iconic.

Marion Cotillard in LA VIE EN ROSE was stunning, too!

In her autobiography, Elizabeth Taylor said that "Virginia Woolf" was her Hamlet, her top acting performance of them all.

Liz Taylor and Vivian Leigh both have a fire and passion that all of us feel represented with life’s ups and downs . They show feelings that very few peo0le would want to ever display but immediately relate too. They knew how to portray without over acting.

I think its okay that Theron won't top Monster. It did its job; it changed our perception of her and what she was capable of as an actress, and her follow-ups have now cemented her as an ACTOR. Her legacy is set.

Good list. You forgot Katherine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter. The “I could peel you like a pear, and God himself would call it justice” speech was a master class of acting.

Kathy Bates 100% deserved her spot on the list her performance is Operatic in her death scene at the end she make you feel as if she left it all on the film. So many emotions just brilliant! If "Sophie's Choice" had not been released that year Jessica Lange would have most definitely won Best Actress that year!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for recognizing the incredible talent of Vivien Leigh in two of the greatest performances of all time as well the personal sacrifice she gave TO BE Blanche DuBois! Your post is so much in sync with my own tastes it makes me grateful to have found you on KZfaq. I saw the Seattle premiere of "Sophie's Choice." Meryl Streep's incredible performance had me walking around for three days----and I still vividly remember being bowled over by the power she brought to that performance.

Sophie's choice is unbeatable. That's the proof the acting can be also objective when it comes to performances like these. Pure perfection!

I know she didn’t win, but looking back on Sigorney Weaver’s loss for best actress in Aliens, and how more and more iconic it becomes over the years. She has got to be on some kind of list. Changed the roles for women both in fiction and reality. Maybe she is on a list by herself.

Thank you for recognizing so many incredible perfected female roles and actresses. Scarlett and Blanche are my iconic all time favorites. Archetypal

Vivien Leigh is just brilliant in those two roles!

Great list! Makes me want to rewatch a bunch of these.

Great List. One I would add is Anne Bancroft for The Miracle Worker. That performance still brings tears to my eyes.

A person's top 10 list is very personal. That is the one thing I've learned over the years. Performances hit individuals differently, ya know? Thrilled to see Vivian Leigh for Streetcar and Elizabeth Taylor for Virginia Woolf on your list.

The single greatest acting performance by an actor is Timothy Hutton in Ordinary People. A genius performance. The role of Conrad Jarret is a high wire act. He can’t be too sympathetic or too unrelatable. The crying scene with the psychiatrist is a tourdeforce. Filmed in one long take is a masterclass.

I just found this on my KZfaq list and I’m binging hard. Really well done and nice to hear names pronounced right as well as researched and put together very professionally. Looking forward to more. ☮️😎😊

Meryl Streep's performance in Sophie's Choice is a masterclass in acting; a performance that I doubt will ever be surpassed. I agree with all of your choices but if I had to drop one performance from the list to replace with another, it would have to be Natalie Portman's in favor of Marion Cotillard's heartbreaking and explosive performance as Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose. Exquisite is the only word that comes to mind. Also, I would have added Hillary Swank's harrowing performance in Boys Don't Cry and in the best actor category, without question F. Murray Abraham as the tormented and guilt ridden Salieri in Amadeus.

Joan Crawford as Mildred Pierce is such an unbelievable performance to ever win any award.

Elizabeth in Who's Afraid of Virgina Wolfe just like Richard - is an acting masterclass. BOTH should have won the Oscars for that!

I missed Ledger and Hopkins in the top 10 so im very happy you included them in the runners-up. This list is great and I will definitely be catching up on the vivienne leigh performances

Let's hope the Academy becomes more open to performances in horror films. Toni Colette getting snubbed for "Heredity" was an unforgivable snub, as was Anthony Perkins for "Psycho." The bias against the horror genre goes back decades.

Great list. Agree with everything except for Black Swan. For actors I'd add F. Murray Abraham for Amadeus, Jeremy Irons for Reversal of Fortune and Daniel Day Lewis for My Left Foot (he's great in Lincoln too), Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote and Sean Penn in Milk.

Fantastic list, and I love that I came across your channel! I've only sat through Sophie's Choice once, many years ago, and it still haunts me and is the greatest acting performance I've ever seen. (As a film buff, I want to show it to my husband, but I don't know if he could handle it.)

Jack Nicholson winning for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was well deserved. I also liked when Christian Bale won for The Fighter as well as Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour. Both should have more Oscar’s than the ones they have as well as more nominations. Great video Brian, have a great weekend!

Great video and list, Brian! My number one is Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind. I watched that film over and over when I was younger, I just adore her.

I think one of the best years for head-to-heads at the Oscars, was when Gloria Swanson, Bette Davis and Judy Holliday were competing (Sunset Boulevard, All About Eve and Born Yesterday). Holliday won - which wouldn't have been my choice, but damn - that's a tough decision!

WONDERFUL NEWS Brian, both for you and for us too, we're gonna get way more of what we love!!! Big CONGRATULATIONS🍾🥂🎊 I know for sure this is all just the beginning for you and your channel!!! BRAVO!!!! So lovely to revisit Michele Yeoh's win here, great idea for another great video!!

It was great to see someone else who has the respect for Joan Crawford like I do. No matter what movie - even when she wasn't pleased with the script quality - Joan would put 110% effort into her part. "Mildred Pierce" is the best example of her efforts. She's one of my favorites

Someone else who loves Joan Crawford. She’s terrific and gave the better performance in Baby Jane IMO

ok we NEED a Annette Bening elusive Oscar video

My top two at the time of writing Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice and Charlize Theron in Monster. Transformative, captivating and at times truly harrowing. Two performances that hunker down at the human experience and pose some very difficult questions and performances that have stuck with me, those two performances truly show the power of acting.

I would put Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice,Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire,Robert De Niro in Raging Bull and Marlon Brando for On The Waterfront in the category of for the ages it's hard to compare thenm to others because all else is measured against them fair or not .But t's not what I would say are honorable mentions althought they are fab too. Some of my favorites Charlize Theron for Monster, Bette Davis in Jezabel,Sophia Loren in Two Women ,Judy Holliday for Born Yesterday ,Michelle Yeoh in EEAAO, Frances McDormand in Fargo,Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins ,Liza Minnelli in Cabaret Jane Fonda in Klute and Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,Patrica Neal in Hud Supporting actress Catherine Zeta Jones in Chicago, Octavia Spencer in The Help, Youn-yuh jung in Minari,Marcia Gay Harden in Pollock,Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck,Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton, Mo'Nique in Precious ,Viola Davis in Fences Supporting actor Joel Grey in Cabaret ,Christoph Waltz Django Unchained ,Burl Ives The Big Country Daniel Kaluuya Judas and The Black Messiah ,Edmund Gwenn in Miracle on 34th Street , Best Actor Jamie Foxx in Ray ,Sidney Poitier in Lillies in The Field ,Jack Lemmon in Save The Tiger , Daniel Day Lewis in Lincoln and My Left Foot Eddie Redmayne The Theory of Everything, Humphry Bogart The African Queen Sorry I could not keep it at ten over all and at that I left a number of favorites off .

I am so grateful that Vivien Leigh is remembered for GWTW and A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. It is as tragedy that financing for a film of MacBETH w/Olivier couldn’t be found or that she wasn’t cast in LONG DAY’S INTO NIGHT instead of Katherine Hepburn (who was too strong.) For those who say GWTW hasn’t aged well, read the book. It’s not about the history of slavery in the south or how African Americans were portrayed. Yes, the story is about glorifying the succession of southern states and the Civil War, but that only occupies 4 of the 12 years the story covers. It is really s story of how an event cuts across the path of everyone in a country with a parallel of a romance of two characters who never get their act together at the same time until it’s too late. Nearly 85 years later that still happens.

This was SO MUCH FUN TO WATCH , Thank you very much !!!!

Great top 10 list, Brian! So many 10 out of 10 iconic and legendary performances that are hard to argue with, and glad you have goddess Streep at #1 with the immortal Sophie's Choice! Honorable mentions were awesome picks! Although I know your true #1 would be Gloria Swanson had she won with Sunset Boulevard! I think that'll be an interesting race to cover next year, the infamous 1950 one!

Vivien Leigh is so underappreciated, She's literally run Acting Circles among the Greatest. I felt amazed people appreciate Katherine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn,Bette Davis, Meryl Streep but don't know about Vivien Leigh. In "A Streetcar Named Desire" she runs the "Acting Circle" Around Marlon Brando, Eventhough She's the highlight for me in that Movie.

Great list! Nice surprise with Kathy Bates, iconic performance. Some other ones worth mentioning, Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot and Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry. Have you done a segment for actors who should have won but didn't or the race was so close it was difficult to call?

I’d love to see a video on the biggest acting snubs for each decade!

Great to see Vivien Leigh twice on the list. Because of her smaller film list, she doesn't always get the focus many of her contemporaries get. She was put on earth to play Scarlett and got the double whammy with Blanche. She's incredible.

I’m so happy that you included Joan Crawford’s win! ❤ I haven’t heard you talk about her that much on the channel, so it’s nice to hear that you hold her in such high regard, as I do.

Couldn’t agree more, the honorable mentions are great, it would be neat to see a retrospective on this in a few years. 😎

Love your choices! Couldn't agree more!

Best performance of all time by an actor or an actress: Vivien Leigh in "A Streetcar Named Desire". Second best performance: Olivia de Havilland in "The Heiress".

yes to kathy bates!!!! one of my absolute favorite performances of all time!!!!

Great list! Thank you. Agree about Streep in Sophie. Love the Vivien Leigh love…deserved. And Kathy Bates and Elizabeth Taylor and Theron. As far as Best Actress goes, I would suggest Hilary Swank for “Boys Don’t Cry,” but I would go to the mat for Anna Magnani in “The Rose Tattoo.” Great video…thank you!

Loved this one too, Brian! Great presentation! Yes, please do those Benning/Portman videos!

I love your videos! THey are so fun! Where do you watch all of your classic films?? I find some here and there, even on KZfaq!

Thank you for acknowledging Meryl Streep’s performance in Sophie’s Choice. In recent times, it is almost a cliche to celebrate her performances because she always delivers! Brava Ms. Streep, you are the best ever male or female.

Charlize was totally amazing in Monster. I was appalled and so saddened...She really delivered. I love her work.

Great list - spot on.

Ahhhhh this video is gonna be GREAT! I have to wait till after work to watch it... but I already commend you on putting this together because I know it took some hard work to do !

An excellent list. And I totally agree with number one. The scenes where Sophie is struggling to speak English words from her Polish background are absolutely unbelievable. But for number two I would have to have Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird. His understated and restrained performance was the perfect counterpoint to the ignorance and poverty of the 1930's South. Everyone wanted Him to be your Dad. (Except when he refused to play for the Methodists...)

I agree with your choices, especially Vivian Leigh, she plays Southern so well. No one could have played Scarlett O'Hara like her & no one could play Blanche DuBois like her. Very few movies shock me or make me cry, but Sophie's Choice did & it was Meryl Streep who was so believable. So glad you had Joan Crawford, Mildred Pierce was great , as was Elizabeth Taylor, who stopped being beautiful & became Martha. Kathy Bares was great in Misery, but I like her better in Dolores Claiborne.

Wow! You are incredible! So inspirational!

Amazing choices! On my list I would've included Hilary Swank for Boys Don't Cry, wow that performance shook me to the core in ways I can't even describe.

You made an excellent list here. Definitely agree with all these sublime actors. My personal favourite I was hoping to see on the list was Simone Signoret best actress for ROOM AT THE TOP. Such a poignant and heartbreaking performance she gave with LawrenceHarvey. I love that film.

All great actresses and well deserved Oscars. I'd switch Vivien Leigh in "Gone With The Wind" for Marion Cotillard in "La Vie En Rose". Still can't get over the fact that Glenn Close has not won at least 2 Oscars, for "Fatal Attraction" and "Dangerous Liaisons". SMH

I agree with your take on Cherize Theron, but after seeing her performance in "The Devil's Advocate," I wasn't at all surprised. Your vids are great!

Amazing video! Have been following you for a few months since the Oscar predictions and you are 😉✅

Charlize Theron really blew me away! I didn't see the actress there, I just saw Aileen Wuornos. Her's and Meryl Streep's performance in Sophie Choice are my favorites. I add Natalie Portman in Black Swan, Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins and Ted Levine (snubbed) in The Silence of the Lambs, Vivien Leigh in GWTW and A Streetcar Named Desire, Kathy Bates in Misery, Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea, Bjork in Dancer in the Dark (snubbed).

Viola Davis, in Fences, was brilliant. She is actually brilliant in all of her performances.

New to this channel. Great picks all! How about the greatest music film scores and how they enriched their films? As a newbie here looking forward to more! Thank you!

A few suggestions: Top 10 acting performances (could be in the 4 different categories - 4 videos) - not wins, the best overall, regardless of awards; top 10 Oscar egregious snubs; top 10 Oscar nominated, but not winning performances; top 10 not Oscar nominated performances; top 10 Oscar winning film scores or songs; top 10 horror movie performances or characters (since this is your favourite genre); top 10 films not in the English language; how Kathy Bates won (I am still pushing for that); top 10 actors or actresses who never won an Oscar; top 10 best films of each decade (regardless of awards).

What a wonderful list! Because it leans heavily on the female actors you should do a top 10 male Oscar acting wins. Some honorable mentions (to add to the ones you've already listed) could possibly be: 1. Daniel Day Lewis - There will be blood 2. Laurence Olivier - Hamlet 3. George C. Scott - Patton 4. Dustin Hoffman - Rain Man 5. Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland 6. Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea

Well done! Loved your list! Elizabeth taylor was So overlooked as an actress due to her dazzling beauty, but I’ve come to see her as having been an excellent actress… I loved her performances in A Place in the Sun, Suddenly last Summer, Giant….❤️❤️❤️ PS 👍👍👍 Vivian Leigh and Meryl!🥇🎭🏆

Excellent choices. Thank you for sharing your Oscar Countdown choices. When people like you take the time to share such a well thought-out opinion on a subject this intriguing, it's a thrill! I subscribed so hope to catch you again!!

Great show! You are so right about Sophie’s Choice and M.S.

I have always loved Vivienne Leigh’s work and no one else has ever agreed with me before. I’m going to argue for the lifetime work of Renee Zellweger. She melts into her character whether she’s a supporting actor or number one. She does accents, dances, and sings.

Someone is missing. Someone who will strike his left foot and drink your milkshake🥛

Good picks!!!

Just want to say i think your videos are excellent and i always enjoy them. Would you ever consider doing a Top10 list of great Horror Movie Performances?

Al Pacino's courageous & heart-wrenching performance in Dog Day Afternoon ran circles around Nicholson playing Crazy Jack yet again. Google the word "robbed" & there's a clip of Al screaming "Attica!" The work HE did in the '70s is indeed ASTONISHING!!

I find some horror or pulp material much more dramatic and emotionally impactful than the films nominated at the Oscars each year. Kathy Bates in Misery is a great reason as to why.

What a captivating list!!

Happy New Year’s Day 🎉 I just found your channel

Im pretty late but I thought Id share mine: 1.Robert de Niro- Raging Bull 2.Elizabeth Taylor- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf 3.Meryl Streep- Sophie's Choice 4.Joan Crawford- Mildred Pierce (Part of me feels this should be higher) 5.Marlon Brando- On the Waterfront 6.Vivien Leigh- A Streetcar Named Desire 7.Kathy Bates- Misery 8.Jack Nicholson- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 9.Natalie Portman- Black Swan 10.Vivien Leigh- Gone With the Wins -Gregory Peck- To Kill A Mockingbird -Heath Ledger- The Dark Knight -Anthony Hopkins- The Father (I went into this movie only knowing he won over Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey and thought ´ok, fair´) -Charlize Theron- Monster -Liza Minnelli- Cabaret -Anthony Hopkins/Jodi Foster- The Silence of the Lambs

Vivien leigh the first one, gone with the wind or streetcar named desire, incredible actress and in addition so, so beautiful!!!

Great choices, dude!

I love that you got in front of the camera for this video. One of my top ten that you didn't mention would be Shirley Maclaine in Terms of Endearment.

I just have one question, when will the Meryl Streep Oscar series continue? I love that saga, and saw there has not been an update in a while. So just curious when the next one will come out😊

Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron y Kathy Bates. Imposible decidir cual es la mejor de las 3. Rompieron el molde con esas interpretaciones. Realmente insuperables.

Your list is pretty great actually… really enjoyed your wins from the 40s, 30s… especially Joan Crawford, Vivian Leigh, and Marlon Brando. Keep it up!

Hi, new subscriber here 😁 I absolutely love your list! Thanks for sharing 😊🍿🎥

I appreciate the addition of Michelle Yeoh - for her body of work AND Everything Everywhere All At Once, a well deserved win 👍

Vivien Leigh is simply the best in both GWTW and A Streetcar Named Desire!

You are spot on with every one of your choices. I would have chosen exactly the list and in the numerical order that you put them in. Two of my favorites are Vivian Lee and my favorite of all time Joan Crawford. Joan Crawford made so many movies in her lifetime and each of them were fantastic and made it a time when she would sometimes make two or three movies per year. Thank you for your wonderful video!

Heath Ledger as Joker was amazing, don't get me wrong, but I also think that he is a little overrated, and if not for his unexpected death, he would not be praised for this role to the extreme, like he is today. Also, Ledger's Joker popularity overshadows other, key, and absolutely fantastic acting performances in this movie, which is annoying and not fair! Christian Bale as Bruce and Batman was brilliant as well, Gary Oldman as Gordon was perfect, Michael Caine as Alfred - excellent, and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two-Face was genius! So I wish people talk more about these other actors and performances too!