Top 20 Performances of 1981
by Aunt-Peg | created - 26 Aug 2011 | updated - 08 Apr 2019 | PublicThese are my top 20 performances listed in order for each category (lead actor, lead actress, supporting actor & supporting actress).
1. John Heard
Actor | The Guardian
John Heard was a very talented actor who established himself as a respected thespian in the late 1970s and early '80s, though he is perhaps better known for his turn as Peter McCallister, Kevin McCallister's (Macaulay Culkin) father in the Home Alone (1990) movies.
John was born in Washington, D.C.,...
in Cutter's Way (best performance by an actor in a leading role 1981)
2. Jeff Bridges
Actor | The Big Lebowski
Jeffrey Leon Bridges was born on December 4, 1949 in Los Angeles, California, the son of well-known film and TV star Lloyd Bridges and his long-time wife Dorothy Dean Bridges (née Simpson). He grew up amid the happening Hollywood scene with big brother Beau Bridges. Both boys popped up, without ...
in Cutter's Way (2nd choice)
3. John Hargreaves
Actor | Long Weekend
John Hargreaves was the quintessential Australian man. An actor of sparkling, biting wit, he once said he would easily give up his remarkable career if it ever bored him, in favor of metallurgy because it was something that always interested him. Despite his lengthy list of credits in his home ...
in Hoodwink (3rd choice)
4. Philippe Noiret
Actor | Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
Philippe Noiret was one of French cinema's most familiar faces who appeared in more than 140 films in a career that spanned more than half a century.
He was born on October 1, 1930, in Lille, Nord, France, into a middle class family of shopkeepers. His father was fond of literature. Young Noiret ...
in Three Brothers (4th choice)
5. Treat Williams
Actor | Deep Rising
Richard Treat Williams was born in Stamford, Connecticut, to Marian (Andrew), who dealt in antiques, and Richard Norman Williams, a corporate executive. At the age of three, his family moved to Rowayton, Connecticut. Educated at prep-school, he first made a serious commitment to his craft during ...
in Prince of the City (5th choice)
6. Sissy Spacek
Actress | In the Bedroom
As a kid, Sissy Spacek climbed trees, rode horses, swam, and played in the woods. She was born Mary Elizabeth Spacek on December 25, 1949, in Quitman, Texas, to Virginia Frances (Spilman) and Edwin Arnold Spacek, Sr., a county agricultural agent. Her father's family was of Czech and German origin.
...
in Raggedy Man (best performance by an actress in a leading role 1981)
7. Lisa Eichhorn
Actress | The Vanishing
Lisa Eichhorn was born on February 4, 1952 in Glens Falls, New York, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for The Vanishing (1993), Cutter's Way (1981) and The Europeans (1979). She has been married to Richard Moxon since August 31, 2005. She was previously married to Ben Nye III and John ...
in Cutter's Way (2nd choice)
8. Kate Nelligan
Actress | Frankie and Johnny
Cando-American actress Kate Nelligan has had a successful acting career in her native Canada, in Britain and in the United States. Born Patricia Colleen Nelligan on March 16, 1950 in London, Ontario, Kate was the daughter of blue collar-worker Patrick Nelligan and his wife Josephine (née Deir), a ...
in Eye of the Needle (3rd choice)
9. Susan Anspach
Actress | Five Easy Pieces
Susan Anspach was born on November 23, 1942 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Five Easy Pieces (1970), Play It Again, Sam (1972) and The Big Fix (1978). She was married to Sherwood Ball and Mark Goddard. She died on April 2, 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
in Montenegro (4th choice)
10. Marsha Mason
Actress | The Goodbye Girl
Marsha Mason has a wonderful, extremely engaging "feel good" quality about her, an innate warmth that makes you root for her whether she's playing a stubborn single mom, brittle prostitute, or strung-out alcoholic. She was a resoundingly respected and popular film actress of the 1970s and 1980s ...
in Only When I Laugh (5th choice)
11. David Warner
Actor | Titanic
Distinguished character actor David Hattersley Warner was born on July 29, 1941 in Manchester, England, to Ada Doreen (Hattersley) and Herbert Simon Warner. He was born out of wedlock and raised by each of his parents, eventually settling with his itinerant father and stepmother. He only saw his ...
in Time Bandits (best performance by an actor in a supporting role 1981)
12. Vittorio Mezzogiorno
Actor | Cerro Torre: Schrei aus Stein
Vittorio Mezzogiorno was born on December 16, 1941 in Cercola, Campania, Italy. He was an actor, known for Scream of Stone (1991), La piovra (1984) and Il giocattolo (1979). He was married to Cecilia Sacchi. He died on January 7, 1994 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.
in Three Brothers (2nd choice)
13. Eric Roberts
Actor | Runaway Train
Roberts is an Academy Award nominee for his role in Runaway Train, and a three-time Golden Globe nominee for Runaway Train, Star 80, and King of the Gypsies.
In addition, Roberts received acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival for his role in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and It's My Party. He ...
in Raggedy Man (3rd choice)
14. Jorge Julião
Actor | Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco
Jorge Julião is known for Pixote (1980), Moinhos de Vento (1983) and Aurora (1987).
in Pixote (4th choice)
15. Michele Placido
Actor | La piovra
Michele Placido was born on May 19, 1946 in Ascoli Satriano, Puglia, Italy. He is an actor and writer, known for La piovra (1984), Romanzo Criminale (2005) and Un eroe borghese (1995). He has been married to Federica Vincenti since August 14, 2012. They have one child. He was previously married to ...
in Three Brothers (5th choice)
16. Judy Davis
Actress | Husbands and Wives
Davis was educated at Loreto Convent and the Western Institute of Technology and graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1977. She found international success with the role of Adela Quested in A Passage to India (1984). Her performance was nominated an Academy Award for Best...
in Hoodwink (best performance by an actress in a supporting role 1981)
17. Joan Hackett
Actress | The Last of Sheila
Joan Hackett was never one of your conventional leading ladies. Directors sometimes found her difficult to work with. Yet this strong-minded perfectionist had an unquenchable individuality that came through in her performances, and she never hesitated to appear unglamorous whenever the role ...
in Only When I Laugh (2nd choice)
18. Kristy McNichol
Actress | The Pirate Movie
Actor Kristy McNichol is best known for her role as "Buddy" in the Spelling/Goldberg hit TV series Family (1976), where she won 2 Emmy awards and was nominated for a Golden Globe. McNichol began her career with guest appearances on such popular TV series as Starsky and Hutch, The Bionic Woman, Love...
in Only When I Laugh (3rd choice)
19. Mink Stole
Actress | Serial Mom
Part of the original motley crew of cast players in underground shock master John Waters' bare-bones 8mm, 16mm and 35mm cult perversions during the late 60s and early 70s, Mink Stole would remain a thoroughly offbeat, outrageous presence in counterculture films for five decades.
She was born with ...
in Polyester (4th choice)
20. Maureen Stapleton
Actress | Reds
Academy Award-winner Maureen Stapleton was born June 21, 1925 in Troy, New York, to Irene (née Walsh) and John P. Stapleton. Her family was of Irish descent. Maureen moved to New York City at the age of eighteen and did modeling to pay the bills. Already a Tony Award-winner, she made her Academy ...
in Reds (5th choice)
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