I'm a lifelong fan of "the Boge." You say the American Film Institute named him the best actor of all time? I know nothing about that, just that in my opinion he had the strongest screen presence of any actor I've ever seen. When he was on screen, he absolutely owned it. Regarding his tough-guy image, I recall a scene from "High Sierra, " in which he stuck up the people in a hotel lobby, and once their hands were in the air, he placed the gun in his waist band and casually went about robbing them. And, you know what? It worked! I think we all fully bought into it, that this man could indeed pull such a thing off! I mean, I couldn't imagine anyone doubting him then, and I still can't to this day. This relatively small and non-muscled man presented the strongest, toughest on screen presence perhaps of any actor of all time. You say he seems an odd choice to play a tough guy, but not so if you actually see him on screen. So do yourself a big favor, Larry, and actually watch some of his films. And find out for yourself.