Is John Candy the greatest comedic actor of all time?

[FeelGood]

i think it may be so.

uncle buck
great outdoors
stripes
plains trains automobiles

and more. there is a handful of truly golden flicks that are untouchable imo. his only rival,that ever was and by the looks of things ever will be, is bill murray. i would be hard pressed to choose between these two, but they are definately in a league of their own.

 

[genjiglove]

Bill Murray is better.

Edit: I read your entire post and saw you mentioned Murray. Even so, Murray is still better even if only for Kingpin.

 

[aria]

No.

He's a fine comedic actor, but no where near the elite.

Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Curly... I think there have been some better

 

[AcidPope]

I loved the Great Outdoors, but John Candy isn't the greatest. I couldn't tell you who is, but it's definitely not John Candy. Yeah.

P.S.- Bill Murray is overrated.

 

[FeelGood]

No.

He's a fine comedic actor, but no where near the elite.

Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Curly... I think there have been some better

lol wtf? you didnt just mention the 1800s and comedy in the same post, did you? yeah ill nod to the stooges they can make me smile sometimes but when you start saying silent actors are better than candy, its when i gotta draw the line.




murray may be better than candy. he definately has way more comedic success than candy, but i think the best both have to offer are right up alongside eachother for different reasons.

murray makes me laugh so hard i shit my pants. what about bob? FUCKIN CADDYSHACK!? kingpin? rofl.

candy films never get old. the good ones anyway.

 

[CharlotteBMM]

John Candy Hated Black People

 

[DevilRedeemed]

Candy was an incredible talent. this was back in the day when comedic actors actually had to act and not just clown or do the same routine time and again.

I was sad when I found out that he had died as I couldn't get enough of what he was putting out.

now, if we are talking the best actors in this league I'd be hard pressed to choose one (could be Candy).

Murray in Life Aquatic is amazing - but so too is Owen Wilson (man, that guy can crack me up bad), as well as Willem Dafoe (how I love thee).

Ben Stiller in Something About Mary is amazing.

I could go on (Adam Sandler, Chris Tucker etc.), what I'm saying is alot of actors have their moments, but fail to keep on the level. this is the problem with most 'modern' comedic actors. plus they tend to be one trick ponies (xept for Wilson and Sandler who can properly act).


Jack Black has teh funnay..
Chevy Chase had teh funnay..
Tom Hanks had quite a bit of teh funnay..
Chris Farley had lots of teh funnays
so too did Eddie Murphy (man used to be on fire, some great action films too)
how can you say who's the best?

what can I say?

 

[supergoose]

nope. imo, he was pathetic. might have been the german dubs, but i never really liked any of his roles.

i used to enjoy watching chevy chase movies, tho.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Chevy Case has done a bang up job of sabotaging his career by taking shit parts over the past decade or two, but he'd get my vote for Caddyshack, Fletch, Seems Like Old Times, Vacation, etc.

My other top pick would be Peter Sellers.

But I'd put Candy and Murray right up there. And you forgot to mention 'Who is Harry Crumb?', which despite many stupid parts, I love anyway. Candy was so great because he combined humor with a Jimmy Stewart-type everyman quality.

As for Buster Keaton and Chaplin, I see them as more of comedy idea men, rather than rounded comedy actors. You can look down on me for that if you want to. As for any of the Stooges; they're great, but they are kind of one-note. A little bit can go a long way.

 

[Eldios]

John Candy was good, but I cannot place him in the same category of Eddie Murphy, Richard Prior, Bill Murray and such. It was a shame he died so young though....

 

[N2x]

The best comedic actors are the people who have posted so far, for pretending that the afformentioned comedians are the best at what they do.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

The best comedic actors are the people who have posted so far, for pretending that the afformentioned comedians are the best at what they do.

when I saw you had posted I knew you would make a sarcastic remark. you just can't help yourself. name a couple of 'real' comedic actors then.

 

[AcidPope]

You know... Dave Chapelle is funnier than shit, and he can act too. He was in You've Got Mail, The Nutty Professor, Half Baked (don't know how good his acting is in this one though), etc. His skits on the Chapelle Show were the funniest I've ever seen. He's #1 in my book. There, I just picked someone.

 

[smuf]

John Cleese and Rowan Atkinson are simply hilarious.

 

[SonGohan]

If anybody says Will Ferrell I will personally drive to your house and stab you with a rusty steak knife.

 

[Baseley09]

If anybody says Will Ferrell I will personally drive to your house and stab you with a rusty steak knife.

By the beard of Zeus!

 

[Rassilon]

John Cleese and Rowan Atkinson are simply hilarious.

This man speaketh the truth.
I like John Candy and Bill Murray and all, but Cleese is simply in a higher league. its not even close.

 

[Stinky-Dinkins]

Charlie Chaplin isn't and never was funny.

People that say he is want to turn comedy into some sort of wine tasting contest.

 

[Magnaflux]

Survey says: Yes

PS. Spaceballs

 

[Kirk Foiden]

John Candy wasn't the greatest, but he certainly was memorable. I would say, the fact that he's very good and so unique, with his comedy, is why he stands out.

On another note, from the Second City TV crew(and not surprisingly, the two getting back together in Spaceballs), Rick Moranis is also hilarious, too. He just doesn't get enough credit. He's also a victim of being put in not-so-funny films in which he really wasn't free to do his thing. He's one of those few actors in which, the more you let him alter his script, the funnier he gets. He's also has a fantastic adlib. Too many things he does are so funny that you could roll a camera on him, doing stuff outside of a regular take; and decide to put it in the movie.

 

[Hidden Character]

Curly

God bless The Stooges Slap-Happy Hour on Spike TV. :chimp:

 

[CharlotteBMM]

He's also a victim of being put in not-so-funny films in which he really wasn't free to do his thing. He's one of those few actors in which, the more you let him alter his script, the funnier he gets. He's also has a fantastic adlib. Too many things he does are so funny that you could roll a camera on him, doing stuff outside of a regular take; and decide to put it in the movie.

This is personally why I tend to not find acting comedians very funny. They're written to BE funny, rather than given freedom to simply be themselves. Someone had mentioned Dave Chapelle earlier. Funny guy, good stand-up, edgy TV show, but in the movies, he's just another name in the credits. "Half-Baked?" Come on. It was mentioned that he was in "You've Got Mail." Thanks for the reminder because I completely forgot. Seriously. It's still a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan film.

Though I'm not a fan, at least it seemed like Rodney Dangerfield was putting a LOT of himself in the sillly movies he was in. What you saw of his style and behavior in film was very similar to his way on the stage.

EDIT: Rowan Atkinson. This guy's a borderline cross-over success. "Bean" was underachieving, "Johnny English" sucked, but as "Mr. Bean" for the British TV series, he's simply a genius. His HBO stand-up routines are funny as hell. ...but because movie writers and directors wanted to cash in on his quirky style and finesse, we were given garbage like, again, "Bean" and "Johnny English." At least with the Mr. Bean movie, he was fully in character. It was too bad the movie was stupid beyond all belief.

 

[kobylka68]

Lets say best Canadian Comedic Actor

 

[Kirk Foiden]

Good points, CharlotteBMM. Rodney Dangerfield was always given that freedom, in his films. Let's say when he was hired to do a part, he was hired strictly to be him. So in a way, he didn't play a character, he played Rodney Dangerfield. Of course, that was a match made in heaven (and the directors were really looking for a character just like Rodnet, there), so it came off funny. It's just that he never really got to act in movies where it called for someone else, outside of his known comedy routines.

Rick Moranis is one of those guys that had a bit of both. Certain movies he was able to be himself and adlib a bunch. (Case in point. Spaceballs, in which a large percentage of Dark Helmut's entire on-screen presence was written on-the-fly by Rick Moranis. Mel Brooks mentioned it several times, in the director's commentary soundtrack, of the Spaceballs DVD. Then, of course, you have Rick Moranis' early movies, where he was also free to do his stuff. "Strange Brew" etc.)

And then he was in movies in which he was asked to play a character and, in general, that character wasn't meant to be funny. In those, he played a rather straight man character who simply had a quirky occupation or scenario happen to him. (Case in point. The Honey I shrunk the Kids movies, among other things.) In those cases, it was as if Rick was asked to play second fiddle to whatever comedy 'They' wanted to serve.

And don't forget Rick Moranis is also Candian. Rick and John Candy both got their big start on a Candian Night comedy show called "Second City TV". It was basically, the Candian Saturday Night Live.

 

[Loopz]

Let us not forget Richard Pryor. Stir Crazy is still hilarious.

And yes, it's far from the best movie ever, but I have a retarded fixation for 'Brewster's Millions'. There, I said it. You can see two of the funniest men on screen ever sleepwalk through a really bad 80s rags-to-riches story. For some reason it's still fun though.

What's the greatest 80s comedy of all you ask? Tough call.

For me, it's a photo finish between 'Trading Places' and 'Stripes'.
At least the rise of Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn has given us back a very sacred ritual, the R-rated tit-laden comedy. It was a staple of my youth, and it has returned none too soon.

I blame the Police Academy series for it's disappearance.