[cairns]

Within their range I thought Dean (and Clift) were both very good actors (Clift was far better IMO- he could have been great I thought but I don't recall ever seeing it). Of their contemporaries only Newman and Lee Remick stand out as great in my mind though. Except for On the Waterfront I don't even think Brando showed much in the way of greatness- but that's just my opinion.

Great to me means you forget who they are- and they "become" the character- no matter who they're playing. Currently I think Russell Crowe, Andrew Oldham and Meryl Streep have all shown greatness. But there aren't many others that I can think of. Most of them fit very narrow roles and IMO that's all Dean could do. Maybe he would have grown but we'll never know.