Best actor (actress) in a sitcom

In your opinion who was the best actor (actress) in a sitcom.
Watching old All in the Family episodes I tell you Jean Stapleton was fantastic.

 

way too many to list, but Herman Munster comes to mind...he's a funny guy.

 

true...her and Archie were golden together.

 

Bronson Pinchot And Mark Linn-Baker in Perfect Strangers were great !

Dick York out of Bewitched was great!

 

Richard Coyle as Jeff Murdoch on Coupling.

 

The whole primary cast of Frasier could be up there.

Here's one of my favorite scenes where a defeated Frasier Crane who finally grasps after being challenged by his mentor that his whole life's work has been a facade and that in spite of seemingly having everything, his life is empty.

 

Nicholas Colasanto played Coach on Cheers. "Best" is perhaps a stretch as he didn't get a lot of dramatic scenes but this sure tops most other actors' performances, IMHO, in the heartfelt sentimentality type.

 

Others off the top of my head who should be way up there...

Betty White
James Avery
Doris Roberts
John Lithgow
John Laroquette
Christopher Lloyd

 

Best actor in a sitcom? I dunno. But as far as best actor to star in a sitcom, Tom Hanks would be a strong contender.

 

Florence Henderson

Robert Reed

Some of the Brady children, but not all

 

Barney Fife

 

John Ritter as Jack Tripper in "Three's Company"

 

Carrol O'Connor and Jean Stapleton.

Hands down.

 

Dick Van Dyke

 

I’m going with O’Connor and Stapleton too. Working in their favor is that, besides the comedy, the show often provided a dramatic showcase for them — and they were terrific at both.

 

Recently I re-watched several episodes of How I Met Your Mother, and I forgot how good Neil Patrick Harris was as Barney.

 

I agree!
I think so too.

 

Also, I think Jackie Gleeson was pretty great in The Honeymooners.
Especially considering he never rehearsed.

 

I would love some suggestions of the best actors in sitcoms...that weren't the funny ones. Settin' 'em up so somebody else can knock 'em down is such an unheralded skill.

My first choice would be Margaret DuMont in the Marx Brothers films...but, you know, not sitcoms...

 

I concur.

 

I have a couple of favorites:

Hal Linden in Barney Miller
Bob Newhart in The Bob Newhart Show

 

Hal Linden is the first actor who came to mind when I read this:

 

Barney Rubble, what an Actor!

 

Steve Carrell as Michael Scott on The Office

He could be extremely funny in both subtle and outrageous ways, but (I would argue more importantly) he really humanized Michael and made him likable and vulnerable under his desperation to be liked. So many moments throughout the show allowed us to see Michael's huge heart and Steve gave that to him.

While I like the UK Office, I have always and will always prefer the American version. I find it warmer and more human. It's just my personal preference.

 

Some sitcom actresses that haven’t been mentioned yet:

Lucille Ball
Vivian Vance
Bea Arthur
Charlotte Rea

Plus some child sitcom actors that haven’t been mentioned:

Johnny Crawford
Ricky Schroder
Jason Bateman
Staci Keenan
The “My Three Sons” children.