3. Robin Williams
Robin Williams' career is about as frenzied and peripatetic as the man himself. It also shows some of the rewards, and pitfalls, of trying just about every kind of acting known to man. The American actor and stand-up rose to stardom playing a sweet, chaotic alien trying to assimilate into the human race in the sit-com Mork and Mindy. He progressed on to comedic films and picked up an Oscar nomination for his outstanding performance as an irreverent army radio DJ in Good Morning Vietnam (1987). And, after a string of further Oscar nominations, as an inspirational teacher Dead Poet's Society (1989) and a grieving homeless man in the Fisher King (1991), Williams looked set to become a dramatic stalwart. However, in the 90s, Williams veered off towards children's comedy, taking the title role as the eponymous child hating captain in Hook (1991), voice roles in the animated movies Toys and Aladdin (both 1992) and a memorable performance as everyone's favourite cross-dressing nanny in Mrs Doubtfire (1993). Williams finally achieved Oscar glory in 1997, switching to drama once again and winning the best supporting actor gong for his turn as a kind professor in Good Will Hunting. But, after that, things got a bit weird. Up until this point, Williams had largely only portrayed sympathetic or larger than life characters, but, in 2002, he made the decision to take on not one but two creepy-as-hell roles, as a cryptic killer in Insomnia and as a damaged stalker in One Hour Photo. We don't know if taking on those parts freaked him out, too, but since then Williams has largely stuck to comedy and animation, eventually ending up, as De Niro and so many other now compasses greats did, in mega comic flop The Big Wedding (2013). A strange journey indeed.