10: Jim Carrey
Yeah, so I love the first two Ace Ventura movies and BOTH of the Dumb and Dumber movies. Sue me.
Also, Jim is in some of my favorite Saturday Night Live sketches, including the legendary "Fat Busters" segment.
Ride the snake by mario0318
When I met him last year he was hella nice. He worked for more than 8 years at The Comedy Store basically for free before he hit the big time. Well-deserved fame.
9: Charlie Chaplin
Go ahead. Scoff. But I urge you to go to a special screening of one of his films at your local hipster theater and get stunned as you find yourself laughing uproariously at his nearly century-old gags along with the rest of the theater. Timelessness= genius.
8: Will Ferrell
If I were only going by films for this list he might not even make the cut. But in my eyes, he was the best SNL cast member of all time.
7: Robin Williams
He brought a humanity and accessibility to his film comedies that, other than my list's #1, no other comedian can/could quite match.
6: Andy Kaufman
As Andy himself said, nothing that he did onstage was truly stand up comedy. It was all performance art. He couldn't have cared less if you laughed or not-- he just wanted to entertain.
But most of it was hilarious-- especially the wrestling bits. He was also my favorite part of Taxi, which isn't exactly a major accomplishment because that show (as Andy himself stated) was mostly garbage.
5: Chris Farley
He wasn't just brilliant on TV. He was usually the best part of every shitty film that he was in -- and outstanding in a great comedy called "Dirty Work."
I remember vividly when I watched the Matt Foley sketch as it was happening live - I laughed so hard that my parents woke up and asked me what the hell was happening.
Rolling Stone recently ranked it #1 on their list of all time best SNL skits.
4: Eddie Murphy
Yes, his star has lost some of its luster lately due to a string of shitty films. If I were writing this list in 2000 he would probably be at #1. But he is inarguably one of the best SNL stars of all time, and according to many accounts that I've heard around L.A. from people who have met him, a hell of a nice guy.
Anecdote about this ^ picture: when I lived near that Beverly Hills sign tourists often took pictures of each other near it. I often said to them (probably annoyingly) "you don't look anything like Eddie Murphy." Some people laughed. Most of them figured it out on the plane ride home.
3: Robert Downey, Jr.
Rolling Stone recently ranked him the worst Saturday Night Live cast member of all time. They noted that he is outstanding in everything else, though. I've seen a lot of his SNL performances on Hulu Plus. I disagree. He was nowhere near good-- he reminded me of his character in my favorite comedy of all time ("Back to School")-- just mediocre and forgettable. But his comedy was the only redeeming part of the "Iron Man" sequels, he shined in "Weird Science," and I even laugh at him when he plays characters who I dislike-- i.e.: in "Due Date."
2: Peter Sellers
A genius. Who the hell-- living or dead-- could possibly pull off the feat of playing three different comedic characters as perfectly as he did in "Dr. Strangelove?" He hated the Pink Panther films (and I'm not completely sold on them), but he always makes me laugh even in the mediocre films he was in.
I spoke with his daughter a couple of years ago. I didn't quite know how to mollify the question that I wanted to pose to her, so I just put it bluntly like an idiot: "Did you have a good relationship with him-- did you really like him... or?" I knew by the look in her eyes that she knew that I was referring to the anecdotes about his cruelty. She said, "YES! OF COURSE!"
1: Bill Murray
All hail the king, baby. His recent "Jaws" song on SNL's 40 anniversary show was the best part of a great show. He also turned in a great performance in "Saint Vincent" last year. The fact that he has remained at the top of the comedy game at his advanced age when other actors who are decades younger are quickly fading away is a hell of a statement in itself. He has compiled an oeuvre that no comedian can match. Frankly, I just realized when I watched Ghostbusters for the ten billionth time a few months ago that a) he was probably the only reason why I like that film, and b) he is possibly the best comedian (maybe better than Carlin) of all time. He does everything so effortlessly and with a likeability and accessibility that every comedian wants to attain.
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