TALENT

Charlie Chaplin was one of the greatest talents to ever grace Hollywood.

Of the thousand or so men and women who have become famous movie stars - in the century that has passed since Max Anderson and Florence Lawrence became household names as "Broncho Billy" and "The Biograph Girl" - six names outshine all others in terms of pure talent.

In order of birth they are: Charles Chaplin 1889-1977, Bette Davis 1908-1989, Mickey Rooney 1920-, Judy Garland 1922-1969, Marlon Brando 1924-2004 and Barbra Streisand 1942-.

Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney are the two greatest entertainers ever in Hollywood. As a team and separately these diminutive dynamos demonstrated more raw talent and stage presence than anyone else. They could do it all. Sing, dance, act. And with such overflowing enthusiasm.

Both had incredible comic timing and could break your heart with their dramatic skills as well. She possessed one of the greatest vocal instruments ever and he could play almost any instrument, compose songs and do impeccable impersonations. Two supernovas of endless talent and boundless energy.

Bette Davis and Marlon Brando are the greatest dramatic actors in the history of the medium. I'm not talking about today's subdued chatty realism. These two were hams. Nobody chewed scenery like Bette. Nobody blazed with more raw intensity than Brando. Other actors became invisible when they entered a room.

Bette's distinct enunciation and Marlon's mumble have become legend. Their respective performances as Margo Channing and Stanley Kowalski will echo down the centuries like Mona Lisa and Hamlet.

Charlie Chaplin and Barbra Streisand are simply the greatest movie talents of them all. No one else has possessed so many different skills, in front of, and behind the camera. He was a director, mime, clown, writer, composer, choreographer, actor, dancer and comic. She remains the only person to direct, star, co-write, produce, and sing every song in a motion picture, Yentl; she has also composed music and designed clothes for her movies.

Who else has combined all-around moviemaking craft with such amazing versatility as performers? Orson Welles and Woody Allen come the closest, but both are more famous as directors than movie stars. Chaplin's Little Tramp never spoke a word and yet remains one of the screen's most durable icons. Streisand's golden voice is truly exquisite, but more than that she is the only singing comic to successfully play a romantic leading lady. They are both, in a word, sublime.

In this day and age words like talent and legend get tossed around like a frisbee at the beach. These six are the real deal. By their originality, charisma and larger-than-life performances the gold standard has long since been set.