Top 10

1. Anne Ramsay (Throw Momma from a Train)
2. Michael Lerner (Barton Fink)
3. Leslie Browne (The Turning Point)
4. Jack Palance (City Slickers)
5. David Paymer (Mr. Saturday Night)
6. Beatrice Straight (Network)
7. Ida Kaminska (The Shop on Main Street)
8. Thelma Ritter (All About Eve)
9. Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
10. Mickey Rooney (The Black Stallion)

1) Shoreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog) She came out of nowhere and has gained status as being a superb actress!

2) Janet McTeer (Tumbleweeds) Very authentic southern accent for a British woman, her accent could have gone the way of Maggie Smith in Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisters and been horrible!

3) Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River) That end scene with her walking down the sidewalk at the parade and exchanging glances with a very chilling Laura Linney brings goosebumps to my arms!

4) Alec Baldwin (The Cooler) Just a fantastic performance! The Man can do anything!

5) Daniel Day Lewis (My Left Foot) This performance continually inspires me, but really anything Day Lewis does inspires me.

6) Frances McDormand (Fargo) You betcha!

7) Beah Richards (Guess Whose Coming to Dinner) Held her own in that movie against Poitier, Hepurn, and Tracey.

8) Sally Kirkland (Anna)

9) Spencer Tracey (Guess Whose Coming to Dinner) End speech should have won him the Oscar over Steiger

10) Bette Davis (All About Eve) The role of Margo Channing was a huge plus for Davis to have when her career went flat, it proved that she could play any role, god I love that woman

I have to give honerable mention to the OP for placing Anne Ramsey on there. She was a very good character actress and that movie cracks me up everytime I see it. "OWEN!!!!"

Top Five Men
1.)Gregory Peck, To Kill a Mockingbird(winner): A very subtle, but powerful performance. His courtroom speech is incredible, but what makes him #1 for me is that he is so realtable. I always thought he'd be a great dad to have.
2.)Richard Burton, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?(nominee): How he lost is beyond me! He's very weak and self conscious, but his skills in manipulation make up for that (as you see in the film). His "get the guests" speech is brillant!
3.)Brad Dourif, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest(nominee): Absolutely heartbreaking! His final scenes where Nurse Ratched threatens to tell his mother that he had sex brings me to tears.
4.)Edward Norton, Primal Fear(nominee): Amazing portrayl of a sociopath. You feel for him because of the "trauma" he endured. His final scenes leave you breathless.
5.)Clive Owen, Closer(nominee): A cold, barbaric, horny basterd: and he's captivating. Owen becomes Larry. Though Freeman was very good, Owen was better imo.
**Almost Made List: Tom Hanks, Philadelphia(winner): Incrdible portrayl of a gay man facing societal injustice. A tear-jerking performance.**

Top Five Women
1.)Elizabeth Taylor, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?(winner): The best winner for best actress imo. Bitchy, seductive, and strangly loving. She is forced to go to dark emotional regions and does so with such acting ease. Actors/actresses need to study this performance.
2.)Geraldine Page, Sweet Bird of Youth(nominee): A bozey, self-centered, vain actress--but Page makes you love to see her on screen. Big mistake not giving her the oscar. One of Tennessee William's best characters!
3.)Natalie Portman, Closer(nominee): It's hard to take your eyes off of Alice--she is beautiful, mysterious and witty, but has a full heart ready to love. The scene b/t her and Owen at the strip club is the best scene in the film. "Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off--but it's better if you do".
4.)Stockard Channing, Six Degrees of Seperation(nominee): A complete transformation of a person. Channing's character is reborn with a new perspective on life. Her speech at the end of the film where she shines a light on the ugliness of the upper-class lifestyle is heartwrenching and inspiring. Should have won over Hunter!
5.)Catherine Burns, Last Summer(nominee): By far the best performance of the year! Her monologue where she talks about her mother's senseless death is the best I've ever seen. How did she lose to Hawn?
**Almost Made List: Julianne Moore, The Hours(nominee): Moore makes you experience the suffocation she endures living a life she has no wish to lead. Her speech at the end of the film where she explains why she left her family is breathtaking!**

Norton should have won the Oscar that year.

i will put my top 10 actors........who got robbed for an oscar for a certain movie....leo decaprio in gilbert grape, tommy lee jones winning that year was a joke!........robert deniro in deer hunter.......joe peshi raging bull.....burt reynolds in boogie nights , hands down the best sup role performance of 1997, warren beatty bonnie and clyde......tom cruise born on the forth of july....djuman hansu blood diamond....john travolta sat night fever, a role nobody else could have done, and a character that is timeless and will hold up forever, and it was not all dancing .....robert deniro in awakenings ....morgan freeman the shawshank redemption