The 20 Greatest Performances from The Twilight Zone, #5-#1

Although The Twilight Zone is celebrated for the talented group of writers who created such memorable stories for the series, the show excelled in every aspect of production, from direction and Emmy Award-winning cinematography, to unforgettable music, set design, and makeup. The series was also a showcase for some of the finest acting presented on television at the time. This list was created to celebrate what we think are the 20 finest performances from the series. Choosing only 20 performances from 156 episodes was extremely difficult. There were many standout performances which missed the list, especially from ensemble casts, such as in “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” “The Shelter,” and “Five Characters in Search of an Exit,” as well as excellent turns from child actors in episodes such as “The Big Tall Wish,” “It’s a Good Life,” and “Mute.”  If I’ve missed your favorite performance I apologize. Let me know in the comments which are your favorite performances from the series.

Grateful acknowledgement to The Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) for the use of images.

-JP

Now for our Top 5 performances from the series:

 #5 – Robert Duvall, “Miniature” (Season 4)

Duvall’s sympathetic turn as a lonely man who falls in love with a female figure in a doll’s house has been largely overlooked due to the fact that the episode was kept out of syndication for many years, which is a terrible shame since it is one of the more moving performances featured on the series. Duvall’s performance is at once understated and yet fiercely defiant, lending the character an aspect of proud dignity which is ultimately rewarded by the episode’s happy ending. The episode overall is a triumph of acting, writing, and directing and one of the more underrated masterpieces from the series. 

#4 – Agnes Moorehead, “The Invaders” (Season 2)

It is a justly celebrated performance from a legendary actress and it is played almost entirely silent. Moorehead, renowned for her versatile voice on dramatic radio, was tasked with creating a sympathetic character using only mannerisms and facial expressions. She succeeds wildly and gives herself totally to the challenging role of a hermit who is attacked by a tiny invading force from beyond the stars. Read our episode review here.  

#3 – William Shatner, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” (Season 5) 

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then William Shatner’s turn in writer Richard Matheson’s classic nightmare of an episode may be the most influential and celebrated performance from the series. Despite the parodies of Shatner’s performance, he does not allow the performance to go too far over-the-top and manages to bring the audience over to his side very quickly through his convincing portrayal of a man suffering the torment of a recurring nervous breakdown while also battling a gremlin on the wing of an airplane. 

#2 – Burgess Meredith, “The Obsolete Man” (Season 2)

Though Meredith is rightly celebrated by fans of the series for his four lead turns on the show, only Rod Serling’s powerful second season episode allowed him the dramatic reign to showcase his dramatic skills. His other three roles were largely comedic, in “Time Enough at Last,” “Mr. Dingle, the Strong,” and “Printer’s Devil.” Here, Meredith channels all of the doomed heroes of the famous dystopias, from Orwell’s 1984 to Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and he does so through a fierce independence and a proud stance in the face of ignorance and intolerance. Not only is Meredith’s performance a sympathetic one but it is a triumphant one which has the audience cheering in the end for his character’s daring and symbolic revenge. Read our episode review here. 

 #1 – Gladys Cooper, “Nothing in the Dark” (Season 3)

It is difficult to select any single quality of Cooper’s performance for praise as it encompasses so much in so little time. Her performance possesses a poetic, sympathetic, melancholic, and terribly desperate quality before culminating in an exuberant hopefulness. She is greatly aided by George Clayton Johnson’s exceptional script and by Lamont Johnson’s direction but Cooper makes the story her own through her passionate portrayal of a woman kept inside her dilapidated apartment due to a fear of death. The episode is a culmination of many ruminations on aging and dying featured on the series and there is no better performer to illustrate the accompanying complicated emotions than Gladys Cooper. “Nothing in the Dark” is surely one of the finest offerings of the series and Cooper’s performance is nearly in a league of its own. Cooper might well have made the list for her performance in the fifth season episode, “Night Call,” and she was also featured in the fourth season episode, “Passage on the Lady Anne.” Cooper held the distinction of performing for the three core writers for the series not named Rod Serling. Read our full review of “Nothing in the Dark” here. 

Let us know in the comments which are your favorite performances from the series.

The 20 Greatest Performances from The Twilight Zone, #10-#6

Although The Twilight Zone is celebrated for the talented group of writers who created such memorable stories for the series, the show excelled in every aspect of production, from direction and Emmy Award-winning cinematography, to unforgettable music, set design, and makeup. The series was also a showcase for some of the finest acting presented on television at the time. This list was created to celebrate what we think are the 20 finest performances from the series. Choosing only 20 performances from 156 episodes was extremely difficult. There were many standout performances which missed the list, especially from ensemble casts, such as in “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” “The Shelter,” and “Five Characters in Search of an Exit,” as well as excellent turns from child actors in episodes such as “The Big Tall Wish,” “It’s a Good Life,” and “Mute.”  If I’ve missed your favorite performance I apologize. Let me know in the comments which are your favorite performances from the series.

Grateful acknowledgement to The Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) for the use of images.

-JP

Continuing our countdown:

 #10 – Fritz Weaver, “The Obsolete Man” (Season 2)

The first of two performances from this powerful episode to make the list, Weaver’s turn as the manic but ultimately cowardly mouth of a dictatorial society stands as one of the supreme villainous turns on the series. Weaver earlier played a far different, though no less affecting, character in the first season episode, “Third from the Sun.” Read our review of “The Obsolete Man” here.

#9 – Jack Klugman, “In Praise of Pip” (Season 5)

Klugman is one of the signature performers on the series, featured in a lead role in four episodes, including “A Passage for Trumpet,” “A Game of Pool,” and “Death Ship.” It is for his fourth and final appearance on the series that Klugman finds his way onto this list. He presents a devastating portrait of the cruelness of blind circumstance, not the least of which concerns the effect of war, and of the special relationship between a father and a son. He has never been more convincing or compelling as he is here. 

#8 – Gig Young, “Walking Distance” (Season 1)

Rod Serling’s melancholy meditation on childhood and aging is given all of its power by Young’s exceptional performance as an ad executive whose fast life is quickly passing him by. Everything about the episode works to garner the sympathy of the audience and Young’s interactions with Frank Overton, who plays his father, are some of the most powerful and compelling scenes in the entire series. Read our full episode review here.

#7 – Cliff Robertson, “The Dummy” (Season 3)

In perhaps the most frightening episode of the series, Cliff Robertson portrays a tortured ventriloquist who is tormented by his living dummy. Though the story was far from original, Robertson imbues the character of the tormented performer with a pathos that is palpable. The audience shares in his terror and desperation in a way almost unique to the series. Robertson also provided the voice of the ventriloquist dummy and virtually played the episode against himself. Robertson earlier appeared in the second season episode, “A Hundred Yards Over the Rim,” in another excellent performance. 

#6 – James Whitmore, “On Thursday We Leave for Home” (Season 4)

James Whitmore’s turn as Captain Benteen, the desperate leader of a rag-tag band of planetary colonists, is one of the more tragic and humanizing performances from the series. Whitmore's performance ranges the spectrum from heroic figure to violent antagonist to a pitiable broken man who makes a final, tragic decision based on the selfish need to control. It is a heartbreaking turn which elicits great pity from the audience. 

Check back tomorrow for our Top 5 performances from the series. 

The 20 Greatest Performances from The Twilight Zone, #15-#11

Although The Twilight Zone is celebrated for the talented group of writers who created such memorable stories for the series, the show excelled in every aspect of production, from direction and Emmy Award-winning cinematography, to unforgettable music, set design, and makeup. The series was also a showcase for some of the finest acting presented on television at the time. This list was created to celebrate what we think are the 20 finest performances from the series. Choosing only 20 performances from 156 episodes was extremely difficult. There were many standout performances which missed the list, especially from ensemble casts, such as in “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” “The Shelter,” and “Five Characters in Search of an Exit,” as well as excellent turns from child actors in episodes such as “The Big Tall Wish,” “It’s a Good Life,” and “Mute.”  If I’ve missed your favorite performance I apologize. Let me know in the comments which are your favorite performances from the series.

Grateful acknowledgement to The Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) for the use of images.

-JP

Continuing our countdown:

#15 – Joseph Schildkraut, “The Trade-Ins” (Season 3)

Schildkraut was a classically trained actor from a proud acting family who turned in two great performances for the series, first for the third season’s “Deaths-head Revisited” as the ghost of a concentration camp victim, and again later that season for “The Trade-Ins” as a man nearing death who is given the chance to be young again. It is in this second episode that Schildkraut presents his stand-out performance on the series. The empathy his performance elicits is due in part to a real life tragedy the actor was undergoing at the time of filming. His wife died after the first day of filming and Schildkraut proudly kept filming with the pain of the ordeal evident in his performance. It remains a powerful piece of acting captured forever in one of Rod Serling’s most moving scripts. 

#14 – Jack Warden, “The Lonely” (Season 1)

The versatile Warden was one of the bright spots in the otherwise disastrous first season episode, “The Mighty Casey,” but earlier that season presented one of the more moving performances of the series as a prisoner on an isolated planet who becomes emotionally attached to a beautiful female robot. It is a wonderful illustration of the human need for companionship and Warden brings Rod Serling’s story to life wonderfully. Read our full episode review here.

#13 – Earl Holliman, “Where is Everybody?” (Season 1)

Holliman’s performance in the pilot episode of the series set an acting standard for the entire show. It is easy to underestimate the enormous task set for Holliman, not only in terms of his episode-carrying performance as an amnesiac who finds himself alone in the world, but also in terms of selling the series to the network and potential sponsors. It is Holliman’s convincing and sympathetic performance which by-and-large sold the series and established the tone and content which was to follow. Find our episode review here.  

#12 – Inger Stevens, “The Hitch-Hiker” (Season 1)

Like Holliman, Stevens is largely given the task of carrying an entire episode alone, and one which features an adaptation of a famous and beloved radio play at that. Stevens carries it off brilliantly, as a sunny young woman drawn into the darkest depths of despair and realization. The final scene in which Stevens phones home and learns of her fate remains one of the most affecting and melancholy scenes form any episode. Stevens later appeared in the second season episode, “The Lateness of the Hour.” Read our full review of “The Hitch-Hiker” here.

#11 – Rod Taylor, “And When the Sky Was Opened” (Season 1)

The strongest aspect of Taylor’s excellent performance in this episode is his restraint. He could easily have taken the performance over-the-top but instead chose to play it as a man desperately trying to hold onto his sanity against all odds and the performance is all the better for it. Taylor was a criminally underrated actor in general and his sole contribution to the series was a gem. Read our review here.

Check back tomorrow for our picks for #s 10-6. 

The 20 Greatest Performances from The Twilight Zone, #20-#16

Although The Twilight Zone is celebrated for the talented group of writers who created such memorable stories for the series, the show excelled in every aspect of production, from direction and Emmy Award-winning cinematography, to unforgettable music, set design, and makeup. The series was also a showcase for some of the finest acting presented on television at the time. This list was created to celebrate what we think are the 20 finest performances from the series. Choosing only 20 performances from 156 episodes was extremely difficult. There were many standout performances which missed the list, especially from ensemble casts, such as in “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” “The Shelter,” and “Five Characters in Search of an Exit,” as well as excellent turns from child actors in episodes such as “The Big Tall Wish,” “It’s a Good Life,” and “Mute.”  If I’ve missed your favorite performance I apologize. Let me know in the comments which are your favorite performances from the series.

Grateful acknowledgement to The Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) for the use of images.

-JP

First, a few Honorable Mentions that just missed the Top 20:

Nehemiah Persoff, “Judgment Night”

Vera Miles, “Mirror Image”

Robert Cummings, “King Nine Will Not Return”

Art Carney, “The Night of the Meek”

Dennis Weaver, “Shadow Play”

Elizabeth Montgomery, “Two”

Jonathan Winters, “A Game of Pool”

Martin Balsam, "The New Exhibit"

Now, on to the countdown:

#20 – George Grizzard, “In His Image” (Season 4)

Grizzard earlier appeared in the entertaining first season episode, “The Chaser,” but here is given room to stretch his acting muscles as he takes on the dual role of an inventor and the automaton he creates in his image. Grizzard largely carries the episode through his emotional performance, bolstered by an excellent Charles Beaumont script. 

#19 – Ross Martin, “Death Ship” (Season 4)

In one of the more emotional, and emotionally affecting, performances from the entire series, Martin portrays an astronaut who is denied an idyllic afterlife with his family due to his Captain’s stubborn refusal to accept their fate. Though it is only a supporting role, Martin walks away with the episode and lends the story its intrinsic tragedy. Martin earlier appeared in the excellent ensemble cast episode from the first season, “The Four of Us Are Dying.” 

#18 – Donald Pleasence, “The Changing of the Guard” (Season 3)

Aged by makeup and affecting a tired, melancholy performance style, Pleasence hits all the right notes in this rather grim tale of an aging teacher who contemplates suicide because he believes he has not made a difference in the lives of his students. It is one of the many episodes which approaches aging and dying from a compassionate and sympathetic angle. 

#17 – Anne Francis, “The After Hours” (Season 1)

In one of the scariest episodes of the series, Francis runs the gamut from angry and confused to terrified and ultimately understanding of her position of existence. Though Francis’s performance is somewhat overshadowed by the more theatrical aspects of the episode, it remains one of the more understated yet complex performances from the series. Francis would later appear in another excellent performance in the fourth season episode, “Jess-Belle.” Read our review of “The After Hours” here.

#16 – Lee Marvin, “Steel” (Season 5)

Marvin excelled at playing tough-guy sorts who are ultimately more than outward appearances indicate. Although he was fine in the spooky third season episode, “The Grave,” for his second appearance on the series Marvin presented a run-down former boxer who remains incredibly proud and defiant in the face of impossible odds. It is a powerful performance that is painful to watch due to the sympathy elicited by the character Marvin creates. Although Marvin had his share of problems off-camera, he was always professional on-screen and here delivers one of his finest performances. 

Check back tomorrow for our picks for #s 15-11.