dying is easy, comedy is hard: great comedic performances

alphabetically and chronologically by actor:

Jean Arthur (Easy Living)
Anne Bancroft (The Graduate)
John Barrymore (Twentieth Century)
Jack Benny (To Be or Not to Be)
Jim Broadbent (Topsy-Turvy)
Joe E. Brown (Some Like It Hot)
Michael Caine (Alfie)
Charles Chaplin (The Gold Rush)
Charles Chaplin (City Lights)
Charles Chaplin (Modern Times)
Charles Chaplin (The Great Dictator)
Charles Chaplin (Monsieur Verdoux)
Chris Cooper (Adaptation)
Ina Claire (The Greeks Had a Word For Them)
Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Eva Dahlbeck (Smiles of a...