TOP TEN TUESDAY: Top Ten Jeffs In Movies

In honor of JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME, the gang at WAMG put together a different kind of Top Ten Ten Tuesday. This Friday, Paramount Vantage and Indian Paintbrush are bringing to the screen Jay Duplass’ and Mark Duplass’ story of Jeff (Jason Segel). On his way to the store to buy wood glue, Jeff looks for signs from the universe to determine his path. However, a series of comedic and unexpected events leads him to cross paths with his family in the strangest of locations and circumstances. Jeff just may find the meaning of his life… and if he’s lucky, pick up the wood glue as well.

So who’s game for a Top Ten Jeffs in Movies? We came up with a list of our favorite “Jeffs” and boy are they a busy lot. As you can see below, these guys have run the gamut between film, TV and the stage. Have a look at our list and tell us who you would’ve included.

10. Jeffrey Hunter

From Jesus Christ in KING OF KINGS to Christopher Pike, 1st Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise on Star Trek, actor Jeffrey Pike made his mark as an actor in both TV and film. Most will remember Hunter’s star making performance in John Ford’s classic American Western THE SEARCHERS as John Wayne’s adoptive nephew. Although he died at the young age of 42, Hunter roles covered the cinematic landscape with such noticeable films THE LONGEST DAY (1962), A KISS BEFORE DYING (1956) and THE FROGMEN (1951).

09. Jeff Speakman

Jeff Speakman was supposed to the next Jean Claude Van Damme. A very accomplished martial artist, Speakman is founder and director of American Kenpo Karate Systems (AAKS), an international kenpo karate organization with more than 50 schools. In 1991 he was cast in the lead of his first showcase film THE PERFECT WEAPON, an adequately mediocre actioner that failed to distinguish itself from the gazillion direct-to-video martial arts films that were flooding the market at that time. He appeared in a few more films but his big moment as the next big thing never materialized and he went back to his (very successful) day job.

08. Jeff Fahey

A dependable character actor, Jeff Fahey scored the plum role of the Humphrey Bogart surrogate in Clint Eastwood’s WHITE HUNTER BLACK HEART in 1991 and the title role in the Stephen King adaption LAWNMOWER MAN a year later. Stardom eluded the rugged blue-eyed actor but he kept busy over the next two decades starring in a slew of direct-to-video horror and action films before becoming a TV regular with gigs on CSI and LOST. Robert Rodriguez cast Fahey in his films PLANET TERROR (2007) and MACHETE (2010) and he has a half dozen films in the can for future release.

07. Jeffrey Jones

“There are simply too many notes, that’s all. Just cut a few and it will be perfect,” Jeffrey Jones memorably intoned in his velvety voice as Emperor Joseph II in AMADEUS (1984). Jones followed up this Golden Globe-nominated turn with several more notable roles. He was Principal Ed Rooney in FERRIS BEULLER’S DAY OFF (1986), Mr. Deetz in Tim Burton’s BEETLEJUICE (1988) and was perfectly cast as Criswell in Burton’s ED WOOD (1994 – “We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives”). Often cast as a buffoon or foil, the 6′ 4½”actor had a great career going for him until 2004 when he was arrested on child pornography charges and -well – he was great in FERRIS BUELLER!

06. Jeffrey Wright

Primarily a stage actor, Jeffrey Wright has appeared on the big screen in such big films as SOURCE CODE, CASINO ROYALE, THE IDES OF MARCH, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE and W. He also had a pivotal role in M. Night Shyamalan’s THE LADY ON THE WATER as Mr. Dury,  a word game enthusiast who is the symbolist of the fantasy story. Wright won a Tony Award for his role in Angels in America, and gave an astonishing portrayal of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in the 1996 film BASQUIAT.

05. Jeffrey Tambor

Mr. Tambor may be best known for his stellar television work starting with ” The Ropers ” (a low-rated spin-off of ” Three’s Company”) to ” Hill Street Blues ” to ” The Larry Sanders Show ” (as the ultimate thick-headed sidekick Hank Kingsley) and the sublime ” Arrested Development ” (very soon headed to the big screen), but he’s been making an impression on film goers as a superb supporting player going all the way back to 1979 as Al Pacino’s unstable law partner in “…And Justice for All “. Since then he’s been bouncing back and forth between big comedy blockbusters ( THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, CITY SLICKERS, and the two HANGOVER flicks ) and family friendly fare (HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, MR. POPPER’S PENGUINS, various Muppet movies, and voices in MONSTERS VS. ALIENS and THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE). Many times he’s a goofy father or somewhat shady business guy (as in the recent indie WIN WIN), so his role as as Tom Manning in the two HELLBOY films was a pleasant surprise. His uptight, clueless beaucrat become a great addition to the demon fighting team by the end of the first movie mission. Film fans have come to look forward to his great scene-stealing performances when they spot his name in conjuction with projects for the small and big screen.

04. Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Morgan has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most charming actors as well as one of the most sought after. Truly this generations ladies man. From WATCHMEN to THE LOSERS to ALL GOOD THINGS, Jeffrey Dean Morgan comes across on screen as a man’s man. Like Jeffrey Hunter, Morgan is another actor who can easily slip between roles in movies and TV. In the last decade he’s been on such hit shows as “Weeds”, “Supernatural”, and “Grey’s Anatomy”. WAMG looks forward to his upcoming roles in the RED DAWN remake, STARZ’s “Magic City”, and anything else that may come down the road for the fast approaching leading actor.

03. Jeff Daniels

For a fella’ that looks like your typical suburban dad next door, Jeff Daniels has had an interesting film resume’. He first used his affable boyish charm as that cheatin’ hubby Flap in James Brooks’s TERMS OF ENDEARMENT. After that smash it seemed that he was looking to team up with gifted directors rather than grab the ” rom-com ” brass ring. In Woody Allen’s THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO he was the matinee idol that literally walked off the screen to romance Mia Farrow. Then he was an uptight every-man literally handcuffed to wildchild Melanie Griffith in Jonathan Demme’s SOMETHING WILD. A complete turn around from that was perhaps his biggest hit as equally dimwitted brother Harry keeping comic pace with the white-hot Jim Carrey in the Farelly Brother’s DUMB & DUMBER. Jeff’s done his share of ” safe” multiplex fare (101 DALMATIONS, ARACHNOPHOBIA), but in recent years he’s made a mark for himself in supporting roles from PLEASANTVILLE, THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, to the quirky recent thriller THE LOOKOUT. Let’s hope that Jeff will continue to surprise us with his big screen choices.

02. Jeff Goldblum

“But, John. If the Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists.” Jeff Goldblum is perhaps most widely known as Dr. Ian Malcolm from JURASSIC PARK, followed closely as Dr. Brundle from THE FLY. Interesting, both are doctors. Goldblum is an actor not unlike Christopher Walken, an actor we love and that always shows up in every character he performs, but adds such a unique style and personality of his own that we’re perfectly willing to accept this recurring familiarity. Beloved for his trademark style of delivering dialogue with a cool, intellectual stagger, Goldblum never fails to get his point across and always succeeds at making the audience read his facial gestures and body language as readily as we listen to his words.

01. Jeff Bridges

From “The Dude” to Rooster Cogburn, Jeff Bridges puts his all into every character he plays. Bridges made the slacker cool, not just a do nothing bum, reinvented the role John Wayne made famous, but many of his greatest roles are from so many of the lesser known films in which he so graciously partakes, such as a man experiencing an existential epiphany after surviving a plane crash, or when he plays an alien disguised as a human on Earth, struggling to get back home in STARMAN. More than just as actor, Bridges is an artist, a photographer, a musician and has now become a household name and an American icon.

So how did we do? Let us know in the comments section. JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME will be in theaters this Friday, March 16.

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