My Favorite Actors
A long time ago, I made a post about my favorite male entertainers. That was before I had gotten into what are now my current fandoms. So, here is the updated list. As before, all my favorite actors have four things in common:
1. Characters--they've brought to life at least one character (some have brought to life more than one) that I absolutely adore--this can be either a fictional version of themselves, or just a purely fictional character. Regardless, there was something about the character/fictional self that intrigued me.
2. Personality--their real-life personalities are either sweet, charming, funny, or one or more of the above. Major bonus points if they are Renaissance men (that is, not limiting themselves to just movies/TV, but other forms of media, like theatre/music/writing/art).
3. Voice--they have a nice/wonderful voice. For me, the voice is one of the first things about an actor that gets my attention; I've always been an auditory learner/person, so what I hear often influences me more than what I see. A singing voice goes hand in hand with this, actually--I have heard every single one of the entertainers mentioned below sing at least once and enjoyed hearing them sing, even if singing is a rarity for some of them (of course, for some of the others, it's a career--and a wonderful one at that).
4. Age--So, it turned out that every single entertainer mentioned in the top two tiers is (or would be, if alive) over 40 years old (at least--most of them are even older), and the others in the third tiers are at least in their 30s (again, most even older). I'm in my mid-20s. What does that say about me, I wonder...?
So, here they are...
Top tier of favorites: these are my celebrity crushes, the ones who receive most of my admiration, and, at any given moment, one or more of them are playing keep-away with my heart (at the moment, it's Pat and Alan). They are also the ones whose various roles and performances I will seek out and repeatedly watch (even if the thing in question is not my genre of choice). These are also the actors who have a tag in my journal (most of them have an individual tag, while Scott, Sean, Barry, and Elliott share the Rockapella tag) because I talk about them so often. Currently, there are fifteen, and here they are, in the order I fell in love with them, and what they've done for me:
Scott Leonard--the one I've had the glorious chance to meet and talk to in person and who thanked me for being there (it still feels like a dream. I regret nothing).
Sean Altman--the one who made me laugh (that snowball... among other things)
Elliott Kerman--the one who made me smile (with his own smile)
Barry Carl--the one who wished me Happy Birthday on FB and made my year (self-explanatory; my reply may have been "thank you," but I was verbally keysmashing like you wouldn't believe...).
Steve Barton--the one with the soft yet fierce voice who convinced me to take a semester of German (his voice literally smacked me across the face when I first heard that 1986 Phantom soundtrack--sweet merciful heavens, I did *not* expect his voice to be that deep...)
Robert Clary--the one who actually took the time and effort to get my name right (a feat that very few non-Indians have accomplished!) when he wrote a personalized note to me (AND THE ENVELOPE. YOU CAN BET I KEPT THAT ENVELOPE)
Richard Dawson--the one who charmed me (such incredible wit and snark--in character as Newkirk, and IRL)
Simon Oakland--the one who convinced me to broaden my horizons (there were genres I refused to touch until I finally broke and watched things because Simon was in them--mainly the Old West genre, which I ended up adoring)
Darren McGavin--the one who taught me to make the tough choices that need to be made (left his Kolchak series after 1 season when it ended up not going the way he had hoped)
Davy Jones--the one who caught my attention as a child and returned years later to see if I remembered (I'd watched him on Scooby-Doo as a child, and when I looked into the Monkees, he was the familiar face who was, figuratively, there to take my hand and welcome me)
Mike Nesmith--the one who saw that he could make me dance and enjoyed the fact that I enjoyed him (last April's concert, where I, as well as others, were dancing in our seats during "Grand Ennui." He noticed, and was quite tickled by it)
Jeremy Brett--the one who taught me that the show must go on (he refused as much as possible to take sick days during the final season of Granada Sherlock, despite the fact that his health was very poor at the time)
Patrick Troughton--the one who taught me to look at things in another way, which can make all the difference (I had only seen New Who until the point the BBCA started airing the lookback specials last year, and I was convinced that I could never have been more than a casual fan of Doctor Who. And then Pat stole my heart, became My Doctor, and brought me into this wonderful world of a madman in a box, and I was actually able to appreciate New Who more because of Classic Who)
Jon Pertwee--the one who taught me that change can hurt, but things can still be okay (after Pat had finalized himself as My Doctor, I wasn't sure if I could like anything post-War Games/Season 6B. Jon charmed me and softened the hurt of losing Two, and though Two is still My Doctor, Three is very much dear to me, too)
Alan Hale Jr--the one who taught me that it's never too late to love something (I knew about Gilligan's Island all my life, but hadn't gotten into it, and my starting to watch it last month was pretty much "well, it's there, I might as well take a look." And I unexpectedly fell in love with it--but yes, better late than never)
And, of course, the best thing of all is when actors in my top tier end up working together--case in point, Carmen-era Rockapella, Robert and Richard in Hogan's Heroes, Simon and Darren in Kolchak and Gunsmoke, Davy and Nez in the Monkees, Pat and Jon in the multi-Doctor specials (and their sci-fi convention shenanigans), Davy and Richard in that Treasure Island adaptation (which has hilarious irony in that Richard did more singing than Davy did!), and Richard and Alan in a special celebrity Family Feud ep (which I've only seen part of, but their bantering was too adorable for words).
Second tier of favorites: these are the entertainers whose other roles I will also seek out, watch, and squee over. Really, the only thing that separates them from the actors in the top tier is that I'm not crushing on them. Again, in the order I discovered them:
Vincent Price
Chris Kratt
Martin Kratt
Eric Stuart
Michael Crawford
Micky Dolenz
Peter Tork
Frazer Hines
Third tier of favorites: these are the entertainers whose other performances I sometimes seek out and watch and follow from role to role. They may also get a squee from me now and again. Again, in order:
Greg Lee
Phil Collins
Tony Banks
Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy
Dick van Dyke
Don Adams
Bob Hope
Shahrukh Khan
Dan Green
Patrick Wilson
Larry Hovis
Edward Hardwicke
David Burke
Benedict Cumberbatch
Martin Freeman
Matt Smith
Peter Capaldi (Welllll, I haven't actually seen anything with him yet, other than his "KIDNEYS" bit in the DW Christmas special, but I'm already admiring him from the behind-the-scenes footage of the DW set and I just know I'm gonna love him, so I'm accepting the inevitable and placing him here on the third tier...)
There's also a Fourth Tier. And chances are if there's an actor that's strongly connected to a show I love (i.e., any of the other Doctors, any of the other soldiers from Hogan's Heroes, etc), they're on this tier automatically. And if the opportunity to watch one of their other roles comes alone, I'll take it.
1. Characters--they've brought to life at least one character (some have brought to life more than one) that I absolutely adore--this can be either a fictional version of themselves, or just a purely fictional character. Regardless, there was something about the character/fictional self that intrigued me.
2. Personality--their real-life personalities are either sweet, charming, funny, or one or more of the above. Major bonus points if they are Renaissance men (that is, not limiting themselves to just movies/TV, but other forms of media, like theatre/music/writing/art).
3. Voice--they have a nice/wonderful voice. For me, the voice is one of the first things about an actor that gets my attention; I've always been an auditory learner/person, so what I hear often influences me more than what I see. A singing voice goes hand in hand with this, actually--I have heard every single one of the entertainers mentioned below sing at least once and enjoyed hearing them sing, even if singing is a rarity for some of them (of course, for some of the others, it's a career--and a wonderful one at that).
4. Age--So, it turned out that every single entertainer mentioned in the top two tiers is (or would be, if alive) over 40 years old (at least--most of them are even older), and the others in the third tiers are at least in their 30s (again, most even older). I'm in my mid-20s. What does that say about me, I wonder...?
So, here they are...
Top tier of favorites: these are my celebrity crushes, the ones who receive most of my admiration, and, at any given moment, one or more of them are playing keep-away with my heart (at the moment, it's Pat and Alan). They are also the ones whose various roles and performances I will seek out and repeatedly watch (even if the thing in question is not my genre of choice). These are also the actors who have a tag in my journal (most of them have an individual tag, while Scott, Sean, Barry, and Elliott share the Rockapella tag) because I talk about them so often. Currently, there are fifteen, and here they are, in the order I fell in love with them, and what they've done for me:
Scott Leonard--the one I've had the glorious chance to meet and talk to in person and who thanked me for being there (it still feels like a dream. I regret nothing).
Sean Altman--the one who made me laugh (that snowball... among other things)
Elliott Kerman--the one who made me smile (with his own smile)
Barry Carl--the one who wished me Happy Birthday on FB and made my year (self-explanatory; my reply may have been "thank you," but I was verbally keysmashing like you wouldn't believe...).
Steve Barton--the one with the soft yet fierce voice who convinced me to take a semester of German (his voice literally smacked me across the face when I first heard that 1986 Phantom soundtrack--sweet merciful heavens, I did *not* expect his voice to be that deep...)
Robert Clary--the one who actually took the time and effort to get my name right (a feat that very few non-Indians have accomplished!) when he wrote a personalized note to me (AND THE ENVELOPE. YOU CAN BET I KEPT THAT ENVELOPE)
Richard Dawson--the one who charmed me (such incredible wit and snark--in character as Newkirk, and IRL)
Simon Oakland--the one who convinced me to broaden my horizons (there were genres I refused to touch until I finally broke and watched things because Simon was in them--mainly the Old West genre, which I ended up adoring)
Darren McGavin--the one who taught me to make the tough choices that need to be made (left his Kolchak series after 1 season when it ended up not going the way he had hoped)
Davy Jones--the one who caught my attention as a child and returned years later to see if I remembered (I'd watched him on Scooby-Doo as a child, and when I looked into the Monkees, he was the familiar face who was, figuratively, there to take my hand and welcome me)
Mike Nesmith--the one who saw that he could make me dance and enjoyed the fact that I enjoyed him (last April's concert, where I, as well as others, were dancing in our seats during "Grand Ennui." He noticed, and was quite tickled by it)
Jeremy Brett--the one who taught me that the show must go on (he refused as much as possible to take sick days during the final season of Granada Sherlock, despite the fact that his health was very poor at the time)
Patrick Troughton--the one who taught me to look at things in another way, which can make all the difference (I had only seen New Who until the point the BBCA started airing the lookback specials last year, and I was convinced that I could never have been more than a casual fan of Doctor Who. And then Pat stole my heart, became My Doctor, and brought me into this wonderful world of a madman in a box, and I was actually able to appreciate New Who more because of Classic Who)
Jon Pertwee--the one who taught me that change can hurt, but things can still be okay (after Pat had finalized himself as My Doctor, I wasn't sure if I could like anything post-War Games/Season 6B. Jon charmed me and softened the hurt of losing Two, and though Two is still My Doctor, Three is very much dear to me, too)
Alan Hale Jr--the one who taught me that it's never too late to love something (I knew about Gilligan's Island all my life, but hadn't gotten into it, and my starting to watch it last month was pretty much "well, it's there, I might as well take a look." And I unexpectedly fell in love with it--but yes, better late than never)
And, of course, the best thing of all is when actors in my top tier end up working together--case in point, Carmen-era Rockapella, Robert and Richard in Hogan's Heroes, Simon and Darren in Kolchak and Gunsmoke, Davy and Nez in the Monkees, Pat and Jon in the multi-Doctor specials (and their sci-fi convention shenanigans), Davy and Richard in that Treasure Island adaptation (which has hilarious irony in that Richard did more singing than Davy did!), and Richard and Alan in a special celebrity Family Feud ep (which I've only seen part of, but their bantering was too adorable for words).
Second tier of favorites: these are the entertainers whose other roles I will also seek out, watch, and squee over. Really, the only thing that separates them from the actors in the top tier is that I'm not crushing on them. Again, in the order I discovered them:
Vincent Price
Chris Kratt
Martin Kratt
Eric Stuart
Michael Crawford
Micky Dolenz
Peter Tork
Frazer Hines
Third tier of favorites: these are the entertainers whose other performances I sometimes seek out and watch and follow from role to role. They may also get a squee from me now and again. Again, in order:
Greg Lee
Phil Collins
Tony Banks
Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy
Dick van Dyke
Don Adams
Bob Hope
Shahrukh Khan
Dan Green
Patrick Wilson
Larry Hovis
Edward Hardwicke
David Burke
Benedict Cumberbatch
Martin Freeman
Matt Smith
Peter Capaldi (Welllll, I haven't actually seen anything with him yet, other than his "KIDNEYS" bit in the DW Christmas special, but I'm already admiring him from the behind-the-scenes footage of the DW set and I just know I'm gonna love him, so I'm accepting the inevitable and placing him here on the third tier...)
There's also a Fourth Tier. And chances are if there's an actor that's strongly connected to a show I love (i.e., any of the other Doctors, any of the other soldiers from Hogan's Heroes, etc), they're on this tier automatically. And if the opportunity to watch one of their other roles comes alone, I'll take it.