The icon Richard Gere called America's greatest-ever actor

Richard Gere likely wouldn't make anyone's cut for the greatest actor American cinema has ever seen, but he knows who belongs at the top.

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Film » Cutting Room Floor

Sat 5 April 2025 14:15, UK

There’s definitely a difference between an actor and an icon, and a strong case can be made that the latter term gets bandied around a little too much these days. Where does Richard Gere fall on that spectrum? Well, it’s hard to say because he’s a little bit of both.

What can’t be argued is that he was one of the biggest stars of the 1980s, exploding in popularity with American Gigolo and An Officer and a Gentleman, two movies that made a killing at the box office, won a couple of Academy Awards, earned him a Golden Globe nomination, and impacted popular culture.

However, does appearing in several movies that gain iconic status – Pretty Woman prime among them – make an actor an icon by default? That’s a much tougher question, especially when it’s not untrue to say that despite his stardom, status, and reputation, Gere has never given a performance that enters the iconic bracket. Scenes? Sure, there’s been a few, but not an entire role that’s rested on his shoulders.

For many, he’s the guy who shoved a gerbil up his arse. That’s not even true, but it’s still the first thing that comes to mind whenever certain people think about Gere. For others, it’s his status as a dashing romantic lead and eventual silver fox, one who was effectively exiled from mainstream Hollywood due to his ongoing and unwavering support of Tibetan independence.

Whether or not Gere is an icon is an argument that can rage into the small hours, but a debate over his credentials as one of America’s greatest-ever actors is a much shorter one. No disrespect, but he’s not, and he never will be. When he was asked by The Daily Eye to name the performer who deserved that status, though, only one immediately sprang to mind.

“There are so many, yet there’s no more of an icon of an American actress than Bette Davis,” Gere said. “You can caricature her. She was so outrageous. She was a mountain, Mount Everest herself. Everything about her was theatrical, extravagant, and so true. That’s something which cannot be coached or taught. It is what it is.”

Not only is she one of ‘Golden Age’ Hollywood’s most indelible figures and one of the industry’s most naturally gifted talents, Davis was also the first person to notch five consecutive Oscar nominations for acting and the first to gain ten nods overall, winning two ‘Best Actress’ prizes along the way. The best ever are usually the ones who make history, and Davis made it feel like second nature.

Although her career didn’t end on the highest note, it was effortlessly obscured by everything that preceded it. It’s fine to disagree with Gere and name somebody else as America’s greatest-ever actor, but it’s an entirely different matter to say with a straight face that Davis doesn’t deserve to occupy one of the highest spots on any list.

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Bette DavisRichard Gere

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