CNN  —  Ah, Christmas. The gift giving, the carol singing, the food eating. Presiding over it all is the most perennial of holiday figures, the one and only Santa Claus, who, unsurprisingly, has been portrayed by countless actors over the years (and will soon even be tackled by Arnold Schwarzenegger ). Behold, for your festive perusal, some of the most beloved, cherished and out-there onscreen renditions of dear old Saint Nick. Most wholesome – Edmund Gwenn in ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ (1947)