Wesley Trent Snipes born July 31^st 1962 in Orlando Florida; had a late start to his acting fame unlike many others.  With no childhood performances, no teen sensations and no early twenties showstoppers to speak of, Wesley did not get his first acting gig until the age of 24 in the film Wildcats (Which I just finished watching).  Even though Wildcats is an awesome film, Snipes role was minimal and it took one more to get him recognized.  Acting as Michael Jackson’s nemesis in the Scorsese film Bad Wesley was recognized by director Spike Lee and was offered an upcoming role in Lee’s new film Do the Right Thing.  Snipes, who made a tough decision in turning down the Spike Lee role, went for the larger part of Willie Mays Hays in Major League.  1989 officially began the Wesley Snipes craze and the box office hits rolled in one by one.

Spike Lee was finally able to get a hold of Wesley Snipes in 1990 for his film Mo Better Blues and in the 1991 racially charged film Jungle Fever.  Keeping the ’91 spirit, Snipes starred as the drug lord Nino Brown in New Jack City which then lead to a very popular string of leading roles.  Passenger 57, Rising Sun, Demolition Man, Money Train, The Fan, Murder at 1600 and US Marshals brought in hundreds of millions at the theaters and prepared audiences for what has become Snipes most recognizable role, the vampire slaying, well, vampire; Blade.  Two sequels later Wesley was slated to make a few international films in ’07 and ’09 but Snipes decided to fight the law and the law won. (Actually, is currently ahead)

In 2006, Snipes was charged with intentionally defrauding the United States as well as making a fraudulent claim for payment against the United States.  In 1996 Snipes filed a refund claim of $4M and in 1997 filed another refund claim of $7.3M.  While his defense strategy was ridiculous, Snipes was actually able to beat both of these felony’s but was not as fortunate on the misdemeanors.  In February of 2008, Wesley Snips was convicted of not filing Federal Income Tax Returns for three years and was sentenced to three full years in prison.  The prosecution was able to use Snipes’ fame against him and the judge clearly made an example of the celebrity.  Before you think Snipes’ received the rare “short end of the stick” for a celebrity it should be noted that he is jail-free while his appeal is in process. So today, we honor soon-to-be imprisoned Wesley Snipes as the 89^th Greatest Actor of All Time.

When I think Wesley Snipes so many things come to mind.  Sadly, I have never seen Snipes on the big screen, only on my TV screen and usually on channels such as UPN, WB or late night Spike TV, where the Blade trilogy plays over and over and over again.  Quality Snipes is Demolition Man.  Quality Snipes is Major League.  Quality Snipes is NOT US Marshals.  Wesley does not belong in the “realistic” action genre but shines in the “unrealistic” action genre.  And, for all of you wannabe actors out there, please allow Mr. Snipes to give you a friendly word of advice.

* Interesting Fact #181,291.  Wesley Snipes avoided the World Trade Center tragedy on September 11^th, 2001 when he was running very late from the gym to get back to his Trade Center apartment.

Kurt Vogel Russell, born March 17^th 1951 in Springfield Massachusetts; has been acting since he hit the age of 11 and has never turned back.  When Russell turned 13 he had completed his first major Motion Picture in Guns of Diablo.  After spending a long number of years on T.V. and signing a 10-year contract with Disney Kurt landed another very successful role in 1981 film Escape from New York.  It was Kurt Russell’s first real leading role and the beginning of a long and successful movie career.

Following up quickly on his 1981 performance, Kurt released The Thing in 1982.  Sticking with the genius of John Carpenter, Russell released another hit in 1986 with the film Big Trouble in Little China.  Then one year later in ’87, Kurt Russell hooked up with Goldie Hawn in the comedy Overboard.  On a side note, Russell has been with Goldie Hawn since 1983 as her domestic partner AND raised three of Goldie’s children (Including the gorgeous Kate Hudson).  Tango and Cash, Backdraft, Captain Ron, Tombstone, Stargate, Executive Decision and Escape from LA outlined the next few years of Kurt’s career.  During the late 80’s and early 90’s, Russell was thought of as a top level action star and moderate level Comedy Star (Captain Ron is pretty freakin funny) and toward the late 90’s was cast more as an older action star.  Finishing out his action career, Kurt Russell landed roles as a husband whose wife is kidnapped in Breakdown, a physical superior warrior in Soldier and an Elvis impersonator in 3,000 Miles to Graceland.  To close out his career, Kurt led the 1980 Men’s Hockey Team to the Gold Medal in Miracle and most recently starred in the Quentin Tarantino film Grindhouse.  Sadly, it appears that Russell has closed out his acting career as he turned down a recent role in the crazy Stallone movie The Expendables and has nothing cooking for the next few years.  Regardless, the 90^th Greatest Actor of All-Time will always be Kurt Russell.

So, where do I begin my Kurt Russell praise?  I guess for me I first noticed Kurt Russell along side Kevin Costner in 3000 Miles to Graceland.  The acting wasn’t that great but the movie was awesome and I decided to look up Russell in a few more films.  Executive Decision was another cool film and shocking Steven Segal dies!!! I think I cried for weeks when I saw that happen as I kept thinking to myself “This is only a dream, this is only a dream.”  Even though you won’t find the big box office hit that nearly all of the other actors on this list has, Kurt Russell brings a very enjoyable personality to the big screen that I hope will continue to show up in movies.  Even though he lost the role of Han Solo to Harrison Ford, he is currently an active card carrying member of the NRA.  Gotta respect that!

* Interesting Fun Fact – Kurt Russell was a start minor league baseball player in the LA Angels organization and the year he jammed his shoulder enough to ruin his career, he was batting a league record .563. (For those that don’t follow Baseball, .563 is terribly insane!)

Kevin Michael Costner born January 18^th 1955 in Lynwood California; never had aspirations to become an actor as a youth.  Small in stature, Costner excelled at Baseball in High School and focused on academics while attending Cal State Fullerton.  Graduating in 1978 with a degree in Business, Kevin decided to drop the business plan and pick up the acting plan while flying back from his honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta. Work was not immediate for Costner, so income came from random places.  After working on a fishing boat, driving a Big Rig and showing celebrity houses, Kevin finally landed a role in the Ron Howard film Night Shift Only appearing for a few seconds as “frat boy #2″ did little for Costner’s career and it took a favor from a friend for Kevin to land his first major role in the 1985 film Silverado.

Continuing on his newfound stardom, Kevin Costner released two more films in 1985 titled Fandango and American Flyers. Beginning to take the world by storm, Costner starred in the 1987 Blockbuster The Untouchables, which propelled him as an A-List actor.  Kevin went on a Box Office tear following The Untouchables with No Way Out, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, Dances with Wolves, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and JFK.  With little to no junk in-between, Costner was due for a letdown here or there and in 1995, he released one of THE WORST movies of all-time. Waterworld epitomized motion picture misery and likely tarnished what was otherwise and unblemished record for Costner.  Never releasing the million dollar films after Waterworld, you can still find a lot of quality works in Kevin’s career.  Tin Cup, 3,000 Miles to Graceland and Open Range drew decent box office numbers that kept Costner a desirable actor.  In 2006, Kevin played the role of an assassin in Mr. Brooks and most recently in 2008, portrayed the man who would decide the presidency in Swing Vote.  With a horror movie pegged on the horizon entitled The New Daughter, Costner will have had a feature film in almost every genre, making him our selection as the 91^st Greatest Actor of All-Time.

That’s-All-Folks understands that it might take a lot of flack for this selection but we don’t care.  For an actor to take a roll in only 42 films and make such an impression is startling.  Kevin Costner has done it all … Comedy, Romance, Horror, Action, Suspense, Drama and anything else I’m leaving out, some of his best roles, in our opinion, were in less acclaimed films.  Tin Cup still gets me laughin, 3000 Miles to Graceland is non-stop action with a star studded B list cast and for all the crap The Postman takes, I enjoy it’s absurdness.  Add to his resume the love of sports that Costner has, I could not resist chalking him in on this list.  Brian Griffin would rather watch a Val Kilmer movie than Kevin Costner one but not us!

Fun Fact – Kevin Costner developed the film Air Force One and was originally slated as the US President but gave up the role to finish The Postman and personally offered it to Harrison Ford.  Wow, how the world could have been different.

Robert John Downey Jr. born April 4^th 1965 in New York City New York; has taken quite the tumultuous road to become the actor he is today. Although I am not suggesting that other actors have had an easy road to fame, Downey Jr. has certainly not made life easy on himself. Early in life, Robert moved from New York to California as his parents divorced and he decided to live with his father. The Father/Son relationship didn’t seem to take and Downey Jr. moved back to New York to pursue an acting career. Finding work pretty young in his career, Robert joined the cast of Saturday Night Live at the age of 20. The same year, his first major motion picture was released, Tuff Turf. One could suggest acting along side James Spader does not help a drug addiction but there are no facts to support such a conclusion. Unfortunately, Robert’s tenure on SNL came to a quick end, as he was fired in ’86 due to poor ratings. Focusing solely on his movie career, Downey Jr. began a path that few in the movie industry would forget.

Following his early success in movies such as Weird Science and Back to School, RDJ finished the 80’s on a weak note, and began the 90’s the same way, until he landed the role of Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin. The performance scored Downey Jr. an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, but Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) made short work of his chances. Robert’s following films hardly qualify as quality acting and in 1996 it was what many thought was the beginning of the end for Downey’s career (and possibly life).

In 1996 RDJ was pulled over and arrested for possession of Cocaine, Heroin, and an unloaded .357 Magnum. (And I forgot to mention speeding.) His initial prison term was a 3 year suspended sentence but after failing to show up for two separate court mandated drug tests, Downey Jr. landed himself if the pokey for what was to be three years. For some strange reason, people can apparently leave prison early if they are nice while behind bars, and Robert was released on $5,000 bond in 2000. Just one week after his release, RDJ landed a role on Ally McBeal. Having to take a drug test every day, Downey Jr. cracked under the pressure and was arrested once again on Thanksgiving Day, 2000 for possession of cocaine. While on parole for that violation, he was arrested a third time for suspicion of Drug use, and although tests showed he did have cocaine in his system, he was released shortly thereafter. Taking advantage of yet another loophole, Downey Jr. did not serve jail time (Inspiring stuff for all of you addicts out there) and landed only three years probation. Being given so many chances, Robert finally took advantage of one and began rolling off Blockbuster hits in Iron Man and Tropic Thunder. With another Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor under his belt (Lost of Heath Ledger) and two Monster Iron Man Sequels sure to follow, we felt it necessary to award Robert Downey Jr. as the 92^nd Greatest Drug Free Actor of All-Time.

Robert Downey Jr. first made an impression on me when I watched the comedy classic Back to School. Although his role was secondary, the kid had talent. Being able to adjust from Comedy, to Action, then to Drama and back again to Action is not easy for any actor. (Maybe Arnold Schwarzenegger if you consider Commando a drama) I also must admit I have yet to see Iron Man, so I cannot attest to the greatness of that movie, however I have seen enough of RDJ to know that he will be acting for quite some time. (Unless James Spader is in the same state as Downey Jr.) For our everyday readers, (Thanks Mom and Dad) you may have noticed that I put more fluff into my factual paragraphs than normal. I did this because I wanted to show how no matter how stupid you are, if you’ve got talent, you will be forgiven time and time again. The world is all about second chances, and RDJ seems to have purchased quite a few that others didn’t need.

* For a quick laugh, you should check out this fun fact about Robert Downey Jr. from IMDB. “Son of Robert Downey Sr.”… Really IMDB? Really?

Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone born July 6^th 1946 in New York City New York; already had something working against him the day after he was born. Stallone is known for his poor speech and disheveled complexion but if he had it his way, he would be as normal as most. When Stallone was born, the docs had to use forceps for his delivery and they severed a nerve that affects his face and spoken words. Moving to Baltimore as a child to live with his parents, Sylvester took up his parents business and decided to work in the family owned Beauty Salons. Loving the life, Stallone enrolled into Beauty School, which did not last long as he was given a scholarship to an acting school in Switzerland. From there, Sylvester enrolled at the University of Miami (GO CANES) and shortly there-after, landed his first role in the Pornography (That’s right) The Party at Kitty and Stud’s.

Starting his career like no other on this list, Stallone was not able to land any roles as a result of his “performance”. After attending a Muhammad Ali fight, Sly had the idea to write the screenplay that made him who he is today. In only three days, he had hammered out Rocky and the legend was born. Originally, Rocky Balboa was to be played by either Burt Reynolds or James Caan (How awesome would James Caan have been as Rocky?) however the director and Stallone came to terms. With the monster success that Stallone found in Rocky, “Rocky II” continued the upward trend. Sylvester cranked out one more Rocky sequel “Rocky III” before taking on a new (or kinda new) persona, John Rambo. First Blood wowed audiences with it’s anger and violent theme, and Stallone knew he needed to deliver more.

Rambo: First Blood Part II hit theaters hard in 1985 and Rocky IV landed just a few months later. Keeping the competition trend rolling, Sylvester starred in Over the Top, the official eternal movie for Arm Wrestling. Staring the downslide to his acting career, Stallone sent out one more Rambo, and one more Rocky … but both were major flops. Thinking a change of pace was the answer, Sly worked along side Estell Getty in Stop or My Mom Will Shoot. Finding rock bottom after doing some serious digging, Sylvester found moderate success in CliffHanger, Demolition Man, Judge Dredd and Assassins. Two stinkers later, (CopLand and Get Carter) most wrote Stallone’s career off. Determined to show everyone that he still had enough to win over moviegoer’s hearts, Sylvester came up with the ingenious new idea, of, ugh … re-making the same two films that began his stardom. Rocky Balboa and Rambo gave Stallone one more glimpse of the spotlight, which in my opinion is well deserved. Now, in his late 60’s, Sly’s career is nearly over, but not before we award Sylvester Stallone as the 93^rd Greatest Actor of All-Time.

So, you may be asking yourself, is there one role that separates itself from the rest for Sylvester Stallone? The answer to that question is an emphatic no. But if you have been paying attention to this string so far, you know Mr. Smith loves Cliché! Sly takes so much crap for not being a good actor, but the man has roles that you simply do not forget. Rocky IV has mixed reviews but to me, it is arguably the best sports movie ever. (With the best soundtrack for a sports movie ever) Let’s be honest, no one wants to go to Russia, and definitely not for Christmas but Rocky does what needs to be done, period. (Plus those cheating Russians doped up Dolph Lundgren … figures) When you factor in his staunch republican status, his “near completion” of his Hurricane degree, and his love for Leonardo DaVinci, (Really don’t care about this one, but thought I threw it in) are you really surprised by my selection?

* It should be noted that Stallone is working on a film that is near completion titled The Expendables, starring himself, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Eric Roberts, Danny Trejo, Arnold Schwarzenegger and so on. If half of those actors are alive by the time the movie is released, I will be very impressed.

John Gavin Malkovich born December 9^th 1953 in Christopher Illinois; is the oldest actor so far to be mentioned on the Top Actor Tuesday list. Malkovich began his acting career early in High School, starring in Carousel and continue his acting career throughout college. Following his degree in Theater, John began his professional acting career in Chicago (Theater) alongside Gary Sinese and Joan Allen. Moving to New York in 1982, Malkovich starred in the Broadway play Death of a Salesman as the main character, Biff Loman. It was then that Malkovich decided to take his talents to the big screen, taking a supporting role in Places in the Heart. Amazingly, after only his very first on-screen performance, Malkovich was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. (Lost to Haing S. Ngor) The following year, Death of a Salesman was picked up by CBS, and Malkovich worked along side Dustin Hoffman to win a sizeable amount of Emmys. Closing out his 80’s run; Malkovich landed a role alongside Glen Close and Michelle Pfeifer in Dangerous Liaisons, which captured three Oscars.

With a slow start to the 90’s, John found his stroke and starred in the 1992 critically acclaimed Of Mice and Men followed by the 1993 Action/Drama In the Line of Fire. Losing yet another award for Best Supporting Actor, Malkovich drudged on and managed to produce more memorable films in the late 90’s. Starting in 1997 with Con Air followed by Rounders and finished up with Being John Malkovich, John showed versatility in three very different roles which were all very enjoyable to watch. Getting older in age, Johns acting career slowly shut itself down for a while, with nothing to memorable to mention for years. Finally in 2008, Malkovich landed a few noteworthy roles in Angelina Jolie’s Changeling and the Coen Brothers Burn After Reading. It had been some time since John was noticed on the Big Screen and unfortunately, his name won’t be showing up again anytime soon, as he has very little in production. Even with what we feel is a weak finish to a strong career, we humbly salute Mr. John Malkovich as the 95^th Greatest Actor of All Time.

Being a poker player and overall gambler, the obvious choice for my favorite Malkovich movie is Rounders where Matt Damon uses the Oreo Cookie tell to beat out John’s character, Teddy KGB. Even though I love that movie, it’s not my most memorable Malkovich role. Some will site smaller films where Malkovich shines, however I feel his absolute best film is In the Line of Fire where John plays a psycho killer out to assassinate the President of the United States. Clint Eastwood, Dylan McDermott and Rene Russo have other ideas but in the end Malkovich goes on a sizeable killing spree before being taken down by Eastwood. With multiple appearances on SNL and a variety of acting roles, putting John in the top 100 was an easy decision. ( I swear it has nothing to do with him being “Extremely Right Winged”) Wink.

Irving Rameses Rhames born May 12^th 1959 in New York City New York; started his career on Broadway at the age of 25. Although Rhames appeared in a few low budget films in the 80’s, most of his work was done on Broadway and in Soaps. It wasn’t until 1994 that Ving landed his first major motion picture role, as Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction. The big screen finally got a taste of Rhames and it craved more. In 1996, Ving put on his hacking shoes and worked along side Tom Cruise in Brian de Palma’s Mission Impossible. To close out the trifecta, Rhames went back to the criminal side and portrayed Diamond Dog in the very under-rated (In my opinion) Con Air. In between these excellent performances, Ving was able to put together other enjoyable films such as Kiss of Death and Striptease. It appeared as if Rhames could do no wrong.

Toward the end of the 20^th Century, Rhames booked a few small roles along-side big names (George Clooney, Sean Connery, Catherine Zeta Jones to name a few) in Out of Sight and Entrapment. Amazingly, Ving had never though of taking the lead role in a film and felt more comfortable in the supporting role. With a couple of sequels to Mission Impossible already book, Rhames decided to grab the spotlight for the first time, however it wasn’t on the big screen, just your home screen. In 2003, Rhames began production on the TV Series Kojak. Unfortunately, the series never made it past one season, and Rhames decided to hit the American Theather again with roles in Dawn of the Dead and Mission Impossible III. Unlike previous Top Actor Tuesday choices, Ving has kept himself awfully busy these past few years, with over 10 new releases scheduled to show in the next two years. Continuing to plow through like a trooper, we hail Mr. Ving Rhames as the 97^th Greatest Actor of All-Time.

Now, where do I begin? Just last night I enjoyed “Con Air” for the 114^th time, and whenever “Dawn of the Dead” is on TV … I must watch. Some might hale his performance in “Pulp Fiction” as his best, but that never really did it for me. I always enjoyed Rhames as the cool, underhanded villain and bad-ass because to be honest, I can’t remember him in another role. So to all of you wanna-be actors out there, remember this key piece of advice. If Ving Rhames doesn’t have a problem being typecast, neither do you.

(I suddenly have the urge to buy something from Radio Shack)

Kevin Norwood Bacon born July 8^th 1958 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania; received his first role in a major motion picture earlier than the previous two members of this list. At the age of twenty, Kevin found a middle of the road part in Animal House, which did not launch his acting career to the heights he had hoped. Baby step by baby step, Kevin slowly worked his way through the early 80’s. After getting killed by Mrs. Vorhees in Friday the 13^th, Bacon tried his luck as a soap opera star in The Guiding Light. It wasn’t until 1984 that Kevin landed his first major role, alongside Steve Guttenberg, Mickey Rourke and Daniel Stern in Diner. Playing a sarcastically funny drunk, Bacon appeared to find his calling card as an actor and danced into his biggest 80’s roll, Footloose. Unfortunately for Kevin, his fame was short lived as year after year, leading roles seemed out of his reach.

The rest of the 80’s came and went for Kevin without as much as a whimper. With the new decade dawning, Kevin decided to leave behind his dancing shoes and donned a shotgun in the cult horror classic Tremors. Even though this wasn’t the most prestigious of roles, it was good enough to get Kevin back in the acting game. Finding his stride, Bacon reeled off hit after hit with JFK in ’91, A Few Good Men in ’92, The River Wild in ’94, Apollo 13 in ’05 and Sleepers in ’96. A few years of Horror misses including Stir of Echoes and Hollow Man did not stop Kevin from giving a few more excellent performances. Unlike Busey and Gere, Bacon has shown a few great performances since 2000, ala Mystic River and most recently Frost Nixon. Although Kevin had a few downturns in his career, his versatile acting style has obliged me to nominate Mr. Kevin Bacon as the 98^th Best Actor of All-Time.

Kevin Bacon … mmmmmm Bacon. To be honest, I was never a fan of his 1980’s work, except for the film where he was overpowered by a 70 year old woman that wanted revenge. For me, Bacon’s first shining role came along side Tommy C in “A Few Good Men”. It would have been easy to forget Kevin when he stood along side such a super-sized cast, but his performance in the courtroom was just as unforgettable as Cruise and Nicholson’s were. Even with all of his great performances in Movies, Plays and Soaps, most of the world will remember Kevin for the “Six Degrees of Bacon”. To test your Kevin Bacon skills … CLICK HERE!