I'm sure I saw a version of this that had Rod Steiger at #1, via a very long career as a mostly supporting actor.
replyIt looks like it's very sensitive to the choice of dataset, so I guess there's no one "correct" answer.
Both this new one and the Oracle of Bacon seem a little suspiciously weighted towards living actors, which makes me think their data is skewed towards modern movies. But Hollywood has been around for a long time, so if there were a correct answer I would have thought it would be likely to be somebody very old or dead.
I don't think that's a problem with the Oracle of Bacon data; I think there actually are more newer movies than older ones, because Hollywood has figured out ways to ramp up its production over time.
replyI don't think the site mentions it, but it seems to stop counting actors after they retire. There's no way anyone is within 4 movies of every single actor in history.
replyRIP Tom Skerritt, #589
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