Jackie Gleason
Best Known Comedic Roles: Gleason was best known for his playing Ralph Kramden in seminal sitcom “The Honeymooners,” but also appeared in comedy movies like “Skidoo,” “How To Commit Marriage,” “Don’t Drink The Water,” “The Toy” and, probably most familiarly to movie audiences in the past several decades, the “Smokey And The Bandit” franchise.
Best “Serious” Dramatic Turn: “The Hustler” (1961)
The public might have identified Gleason most with his pioneering and popular sitcom (and he began his career with musical comedy in nightclubs), but he was also an accomplished dramatic actor, most notably with his Oscar-nominated turn as Minnesota Fats in “The Hustler.” The method stylings of Paul Newman and George C. Scott in the film might be more immediately noticeable, but Gleason is immediately iconic as the pool legend that Newman’s Fast Eddie is determined to take on. Virtually wordless, it’s a performance of gesture and physicality, Gleason’s larger-than-life presence and hangdog face saying so much about the life of a professional pool player without the need for monologuing. There’s something almost ninja-like about his economy of movement: an absolute pro for whom playing pool is as easy as breathing.
Other Dramatic Roles Of Note: Beyond that, Gleason’s also very good in “Requiem For A Heavyweight” and “Soldier In The Rain,” and it’s worth seeking out his performance opposite Laurence Olivier in HBO movie “Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson.”
Jamie Foxx
Best-Known Comedic Roles: Various stand-up specials, “The Jamie Foxx Show,” “Booty Call,” “Breakin’ All The Rules,” “Valentine’s Day,” “Django Unchained,” “Due Date”
Best “Serious” Dramatic Turn: “Collateral” (2004)
Foxx is a performer whose hyphenates have hyphens (actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian), so it might seem churlish not to give this little award, like the Best Actor Oscar, to his admittedly powerhouse turn as Ray Charles in “Ray” which uses at least a few of those different facets. But honestly, we’re just not fans of the Taylor Hackford biopic and were much more impressed by Foxx’s other Oscar-nominated turn that year in Michael Mann’s “Collateral.” Opposite Tom Cruise’s slick blond psychopath, Foxx’s is in many ways the trickier role, and making him the audience’s proxy, the everyman good-guy if you will, while Tom freaking Cruise is the cold blooded killer, is itself pretty unusual casting for Hollywood. It’s a film that needs Foxx’s underplaying to work at all, especially as it goes increasingly off the rails in the end. There are a lot of set-pieces within “Collateral,” but when we think of it, we tend to think of Foxx and Cruise in the car, all rearview-mirror glances and downtown lights reflecting off glass —it’s a terrific two-hander from two stars both cast against type, rising to the occasion and upping each other’s game in the process.
Other Dramatic Roles of Note: Foxx is probably better known as a serious actor these days than a comic one, as befits his “Oscar Winner” status, but long before “Ray” with Mann’s “Ali” and Stone’s “Any Given Sunday” he’d taken on a variety of roles. More recently, he’s shown up in “Stealth,” ”Jarhead,” “Miami Vice,” “Dreamgirls” and the awards-baity “The Soloist,” and you can add “White House Down” too, though whether that belongs more in the comedy category above is a good question.
Honorable Mentions: There’s only so much space and time, so there are several other performers that didn’t quite make the cut for one reason or another. Mike Myers for instance, who ventured into drama for disco biopic “54,” and more successfully, “Inglourious Basterds” (though his turn in the latter is only slightly less cartoonish than “Austin Powers“). Then there’s Patton Oswalt, who was used to great effect in “Big Fan” and “Young Adult,” Jack Black, who graduated from “School Of Rock” to “King Kong” and “Margot At The Wedding,” Scottish stand-up Billy Connolly, who won acclaim in “Mrs. Brown,” and Marlon Wayans, who was so good in “Requiem For A Dream.”
Beyond that, Michael Keaton started off as a great stand-up and continued into comedy as much as drama, but having just written about him extensively, we thought we’d give the limelight to others. Some actors best known as dramatic ones, like Joe Pesci, Alan Arkin, Melinda Dillon and Peter Boyle, actually started out on the comedy circuit or at Second City.
And then there’s Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Eddie Izzard, Chris Tucker, Janaene Garofolo, Hugh Laurie, Rodney Dangerfield, Simon Pegg, Stephen Fry, Billy Crystal, Tracey Ullman, Will Forte, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph, Dane Cook and Greg Kinnear, all of whom began as more comedy-minded actors, but have delved into dramatic territory at least once. Anyone we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments.
— Oliver Lyttelton & Jessica Kiang
