Vankv, thanks for reviving this thread. I want to go back in time and list who were my fav actors then (I was born in 1973, to give you the maths).

in the
70s - too young, no TV in house, mostly Tamizh movies if dad brings us out. He mentioned that he got us watching Eastwood, Bronson, and McQueen (The Great Escape his favourite, I got a VCD as gift years ago).
80s - theatres shut down nearby, but got TV. Became fans of the TV series guys, like Tom Selleck, Lee Majors, George Preppard, Richard Dean Anderson. On Movie front, thanks to pirated VHS, Stallone, Norris, Bud Spenser and Terence Hill, then catching any James Bond films on TV, became a confirmed Sean Connery fan, and Dalton though I never seen his Bond films until....
90s. Film student era. Like on my own, not college film student. Grabbing anything I could get, Brando, Newman, Lemmon, and all the Bond films on VHS before, became dedicated to Tim Dalton, and more, got to know about the 70s movement, and "I love you" I said to De Niro, Pacino, Hackman, Hoffman, Beatty, oh man. Then, for contemporary finding, there was Crowe, who I swore is the actual next Brando.
00s. Getting jaded. Started appreciating the ones I missed, like Moore, Schwarzenegger, Willis, started feeling that Crowe is not the next Brando, accepted Craig as Bond, but hated second outing, truly appreciated Day-Lewis...but really losing focus now.