List Of Crap#60 Countdown - Top Comedic Actors & Actresses (Possibly NSFW clips)

[Asbestos Bill]

Jack Lemmon, if you haven't seen them, rent Some Like it Hot and the Apartment immediately. The man's timing and delivery was perfection.

And The Odd Couple

[Pak-Man]

Leslie Neilson gets me to watch comedies that I would totally skip otherwise. He was the only halfway good part of Superhero Movie, and I loved his performances in the lesser-appreciated Spy Hard and Wrongfully Accused.

He plays it straight in every spoof he's done. The surroundings just tended to get wackier as time went on.

[Smith Dr John Smith]

Number 17
(63 points, on 4 of 16 lists - Top Vote #7 by Smith Dr John Smith)
Hugh Laurie

Again Pure awesome.  I like his British TV work better but the fact that House was at all likable is completely down to him. A bit of Fry and Laurie is a good place to start if you have never seen his or Steven Fry's work before,just skip season four.

[Asbestos Bill]

He plays it straight in every spoof he's done. The surroundings just tended to get wackier as time went on.

I'm not sure this is true. Dracula: Dead and Loving It?

I don't think it's anywhere near true, except for the really recent spoofs where they were consciously referencing his early career (such as Scary Movie 3)

[Mrs. Dick Courier]

The Apartment is my favorite comedy of all time, Some Like it Hot Ranks pretty high too.  Jack Lemmon was a genius.

Leslie Nielson also ranked high on my list, love his deadpan delivery.  I remember not long after I saw him in The Naked Gun I got an old tape of "Tammy and the Bachelor" from the library.  I was a teenager, and developed quite a crush on him. 

Great list, and I didn't even think of Hugh Laurie, I'm gonna have to check out his comedy.  I know I loved House, and he was great in "Sense and Sensibility".

[MontyServo]

Number 10
(97 points, on 7 of 16 lists - Top Vote #4 by ColeStratton & Monty)
Gene Wilder

My thoughts:
Gene Wilder is just great.  Such a funny guy with a bunch of classic films to his credit. 

 
The Wiki:
Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silberman; June 11, 1933) is an American stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, author and activist.

Wilder began his career on stage, making his screen debut in the TV series Armstrong Circle Theatre in 1962. Although his first film role was portraying a hostage in the 1967 motion picture Bonnie and Clyde, Wilder's first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1968 film The Producers for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This was the first in a series of collaborations with writer/director Mel Brooks, including 1974's Young Frankenstein, a script which garnered the pair an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Wilder is known for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and for his four films with Richard Pryor: Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), and Another You (1991). Wilder has directed and written several of his films, including The Woman in Red (1984).

He was married to actress Gilda Radner. Her death from ovarian cancer led to his active involvement in promoting cancer awareness and treatment, helping found the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Center in Los Angeles and co-founding Gilda's Club.

Since his most recent contribution to acting in 2003, Wilder has turned his attention to writing, producing a memoir in 2005, Kiss Me Like A Stranger: My Search for Love and Art, and the novels My French Whore (2007), The Woman Who Wouldn't (2008), and What Is This Thing Called Love (2010).

The clip:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/bE5cshs3cdc?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/bE5cshs3cdc?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US</a>

[MontyServo]

Number 9
(102 points, on 7 of 16 lists - Top Vote #2- Wurwolf)
Steve Carell

My thoughts:
No question Steve is a really funny guy and deserves to be on this list, but I think he may be a bit too high at #9.  Definitely talented though.

 
The Wiki:
Steven John "Steve" Carell (born August 16, 1962) is an American comedian, actor, voice artist, producer, writer, and director. Although Carell is notable for his role on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he found greater fame in the late 2000s for playing Michael Scott on The Office. He has also starred in lead roles in the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine, Evan Almighty, Dan in Real Life, Get Smart, Date Night, Dinner for Schmucks, and Crazy, Stupid, Love.; and voiced characters in the animated films Over the Hedge, Horton Hears a Who!, and Despicable Me. Carell was nominated as "America's funniest man" in Life magazine, and received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Comedy Series for playing the lead role of Michael Scott for The Office in 2006.

The clip:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/YtHLsiE7UUQ?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/YtHLsiE7UUQ?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US</a>

[MontyServo]

Number 8
(105 points, on 6 of 16 lists - Top Vote #4 - Mrs. Dick Courier)
Stephen Colbert

My thoughts:
I think Colbert is amazing, and although he has had bit roles here and there, the fact that he ranks this high on this list almost entirely due to one single character is pretty cool.  The fact that he has pretty much turned his entire life over to the "role" of Stephen Colbert is really fun to watch, whether it is during his show, in interviews, or testifying before Congress.
 
The Wiki:
Stephen Tyrone Colbert (born May 13, 1964) is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.

Colbert originally studied to be an actor, but became interested in improvisational theatre when he met famed Second City director Del Close while attending Northwestern University. He first performed professionally as an understudy for Steve Carell at Second City Chicago; among his troupe mates were comedians Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris, with whom he developed the critically acclaimed sketch comedy series Exit 57.

Colbert also wrote and performed on the short-lived Dana Carvey Show before collaborating with Sedaris and Dinello again on the cult television series Strangers with Candy. He gained considerable attention for his role on the latter as closeted gay history teacher Chuck Noblet. It was his work as a correspondent on Comedy Central's news-parody series The Daily Show, however, that first introduced him to a wide audience.

In 2005, he left The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to host a spin-off series, The Colbert Report. Following The Daily Show's news-parody concept, The Colbert Report is a parody of personality-driven political opinion shows such as The O'Reilly Factor. Since its debut, the series has established itself as one of Comedy Central's highest-rated series, earning Colbert three Emmy Award nominations and an invitation to perform as featured entertainer at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in 2006. Colbert was named one of Time's 100 most influential people in 2006. His book I Am America (And So Can You!) was No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list.

The clip:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/QquTUR9nbC4?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/QquTUR9nbC4?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US</a>

[MontyServo]

Number 7
(125 points, on 8 of 16 lists - Top Vote #3 - George Harrison & Kete)
Peter Sellers

My thoughts:
Another genius and legend. Being There is simply amazing and you should check it out if you have never seen it.
 
The Wiki:
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE (8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980), known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr. Strangelove, as Clare Quilty in Lolita, and as the TV-addicted man-child Chance the gardener in his penultimate film, Being There. Actress Bette Davis once remarked of him, "He isn't an actor—he's a chameleon."

Sellers rose to fame on the BBC Radio comedy series The Goon Show. His ability to speak in different accents (e.g., French, Indian, Italian, American, German, as well as British regional accents), along with his talent to portray a range of characters to comic effect, contributed to his success as a radio personality and screen actor and earned him national and international nominations and awards. Many of his characters became ingrained in public perception of his work. Sellers' private life was characterised by turmoil and crises, and included emotional problems and substance abuse. Sellers was married four times, and had three children from the first two marriages.

The clip:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/-mUCLHzWiJo?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/-mUCLHzWiJo?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US</a>

[MontyServo]

Number 6
(128 points, on 8 of 16 lists - Top Vote #1 - Smith Dr John Smith)
Groucho Marx

My thoughts:
Simply one of the funniest men who ever lived.  Great delivery and timing.  There is no one like him today and there may never be another.
 
The Wiki:
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (October 2, 1890[1] – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian and film and television star. He is known as a master of quick wit and widely considered one of the best comedians of the modern era. His rapid-fire, often impromptu delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers and imitators. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born. He also had a successful solo career, most notably as the host of the radio and television game show You Bet Your Life. His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, glasses, cigar, and a thick greasepaint mustache and eyebrows. These exaggerated features resulted in the creation of one of the world's most ubiquitous and recognizable novelty disguises, known as "Groucho glasses", a one-piece mask consisting of horn-rimmed glasses, large plastic nose, bushy eyebrows and mustache.

The clip:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/H3FZ_jtDMVg?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/H3FZ_jtDMVg?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US</a>

[MontyServo]

Top 5 tomorrow and don't forget to vote for the next list of crap!

[D.B. Barnes]

I love John Candy. Even without his brilliant work on SCTV, I would've had him very high on my list. His movie roles feature some classic comedy performances. He was such an great screen presence. I remember thinking the best part of the wall-to-wall hilarity that is Stripes, was Candy's line in the scene where everybody is going around introducing themselves. The get to Candy and he sheepishly says:

"My name's Dewey Oxburger. My friends call me Ox. You might have noticed that, uh, I've got a slight weight problem."

"Nooo! NOOOOO!!!"

So goddamn funny.

And then there's SCTV, which is just a treasure trove of great comedians and top-notch comedy writing. Perhaps the greatest thing about SCTV, aside from the best collection of sketch players ever, was the whole world they created, and the character relationships and story continuity it enabled. One of my favorite running story lines was The Sammy Maudlin Show and all the classic characters that inhabited that world. It made for consistently hilarious sketches.

Just one example:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/9n0u-5QqnXY?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/9n0u-5QqnXY?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US</a>

Has there ever been a better sketch show in the history of television? I don't think so.

Also had Marx, Idle, Lemmon, Palin, Nielsen, Sellers, Wilder, and Atkinson on my list; all well deserving of spots in the top twenty. Just that group alone amounts to countless laugh-out-loud moments over the years.

It's funny, I never even considered Colbert. I guess I should have. I'd say between The Colbert Report, Strangers With Candy, and his voice work, he's deserving of a spot.

[Asbestos Bill]

5 of my picks in a row. Nice.

And I voted for Steven Colbert based more on The Dana Carvey Show and Strangers with Candy

[Asbestos Bill]

Steven Colbert as Gregory Peck:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/uF_haaJOCzQ" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/uF_haaJOCzQ</a>

[D.B. Barnes]

Steven Colbert as Gregory Peck:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/uF_haaJOCzQ" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/uF_haaJOCzQ</a>

Indeed. Can't forget the Carvey show.

I feel like I just posted this a little while ago, but who cares? It's probably my favorite bit from the show, also featuring Carrell and Colbert.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y3K7Qc6vW5Q?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/Y3K7Qc6vW5Q?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US</a>