IMO Mark Wahlberg is a horrible actor. He can't do straight dialogue without sounding like a child reading aloud from a fairytale. He has had some great roles, but he is Keanu Reeves-esque in his one-dimensional, wooden acting. My dark horse is Justin Timberlake, who was pretty good both in the turd that was Southland Tales, and Alpha Dog which I just saw on cable Sinatra has to be #1 if you are going to let in the old school stuff, but he took a couple of movies to get into the swing of things. The earliest few that I've seen, he wasn't very good. In 'From Here to Eternity' he really didn't have to strech himself any. He was basically his (apparently natural) buddy-buddy nice guy self. Same goes for 'Ocean's Eleven'. Both were good films, but he was basically playing himself in both. But 'The Man with the Golden Arm' was pretty damn good he streched himself quite a bit and he was pretty intense in 'The Manchurian Candidate', too.
Well I know she was a stage singer by training before she ever hit it big, wherever it first happened. One legendary story among acting students concerns an audition she went to when she was still an 'unknown'. She showed up for the audition smacking a big wad of gum, came into the room chewing this obnoxious wad, sat on the stool to read her part, and just before she began, she said, 'Oops, sorry, I forgot,' then proceeded to remove the gum from her mouth and stick it to the bottom of her stool seat. Then went on about the business of the audition. After she left, the director and others went up to look under the stool.. no gum was there. Don't know if she got the part, but they definitely remembered her, and the story has been passed down over the years.. I was too young to have seen her that early in her career I guess, but you were right, I don't know a lot about her before she did Funny Girl. Ah well, live and learn.
well, Streisand certainly wanted to be an actress from early on, but she was a much better singer early on. Wasn't Funny Girl a Broadway hit with her before the movie? Anyhow, Cher wasn't nearly as talented as Streisand, acting or (especially) singing. If it weren't for Sonny's friendship with Phil Spector, they may never have made it big. Let's put it this way. If Cher was anywhere close to the talent of Babs, there would have been a blur between when her singing and movie careers started, as well. I mean, they are the same era. Don't see how you can disqualify Streisand for being a much better talent. Andrews and Minneli, I agree with. They were musical stars.
