individuals who have at some point been the biggest movie star

burt reynolds

jerry lewis

tom cruise

tom hanks

jodie foster?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Ten_Money_Making_Stars_Poll

john wayne

Marie Dressler
Mickey Rooney
Joan Crawford

Clint Eastwood

Charles Chaplin

Would it be Johnny Depp these days?

Click the wiki link above and all shall be revealed....

nicole

Will Smith? Johnny Depp's massive hitters are limited really to PotC franchise, aren't they?

Would Julia Roberts have been an answer to this at one time?

yes

oh, have just clicked that link. ah well, least I know I was right about Will Smith.

I think the Gish sisters were famous before Chaplin?

Marilyn Monroe

i'm also interested in people who may have not been the biggest star, but who were mysteriously popular and ubiquitous for a brief period of time and yet really never made a decent film and were never that good, dudes like chris o'donnell and william baldwin. i think josh hartnett is the latest version of this. that's for another thread though.

Rob Lowe was kind of an O'Donnell.

I was just reminded of how awful a movie St. Elmo's Fire was, so his name came up. I guess just about everyone in that movie falls into that category to one degree or another.

fucking love that movie

Can we just pause for a moment and ponder the fact that Marie Dressler was the number-one box-office attraction of 1932 and 1933? Marie Dressler??

http://www.cobourghistory.ca/assets/photos/marie_dressler2.jpg

And who's been to the Marie Dressler museum in Cobourg, Ontario?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Ten_Money_Making_Stars_Poll

― Kevin John Bozelka, Saturday, October 17, 2009 4:43 PM (34 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

eh no offense not a great metric imo

No offense but it's the metric.

Stardom isn't just about box office.

actually it is, pretty much

http://static.amctv.com/img/originals/am_cin/juliaroberts/julia_roberts_425x300.jpg

i just felt that was necessary

actually it is, pretty much

You're telling me Marie Dressler was a "bigger star" in 1932 than Jean Harlow or Greta Garbo? Come on.

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/9967/gifbin1240588892juliaro.gif

lol ridiculous theres a lot of other things that go into making a movie successful besides the star - really think people were flocking to lord of the rings to see elijah wood - to the phantom menace to see whoever the fuck is in that

it does nothing to measure the grip on the public imagination - if tom hanks releases just one movie in 2009 and its some weirdo art house oscar bait that grosse only the 50th most but gets him the oscar is he then the 50th most popular star

What does moviestar_prospectus.com have to say about this? What was Dressler's VORA?

luckily now we can just check tmz hits

You're telling me Marie Dressler was a "bigger star" in 1932 than Jean Harlow or Greta Garbo?

Yes, she was.

lol ridiculous theres a lot of other things that go into making a movie successful besides the star

Of course. But the thread is about the biggest movie star, not what goes into making a movie successful.

you are incorrect

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1SBqFueoJQo/Sd_vAA02wDI/AAAAAAAABCc/_eC8CXp9ZX0/s320/John+Travolta+hottie.jpg

brad pitt

Really? Brad Pitt has at some point been the world's biggest movie star?

Norma Talmadge
Colleen Moore

I mean, I'd say his frequent co-star, George Clooney. But Brad Pitt . . .?

george!

brad pitt's the world's biggest SEX ICON. different

Clooney and Travolta are v. good actors, too (not just movie stars, e.g., Tom Cruise)

Eddie Murphy? Jim Carrey?

http://www.merilstreep.com/images/pictures/large/meryl-streep7.jpg

right now if someone has to construct a sentence containing a generic male movie star they are more likely imo to insert brad pitts name than any other

yeah this guy is huge over there he's like the nigerian _________

i go to that place they treat my like im ___________ or something, they love me, seriously

no fuck that im not talking abt jude law or aome shit im talking super famous ____________ famous obama famous

BRAD PITT

"Jude Law is one of our finest actors." - Angry Sean Penn

mmm point taken, xp

but his fame is just kind of general, not so much about his movies. right?

yeah i mean i didnt intend for this to be a what is a movie star thread - but srsly what is a movie star after all

But Hoffman was the established star in Kramer, it was only Streep's second noticed role! (third if you count her 5 mins in Manhattan)

I'd forgotten about that, but yeah, Hoffman was clearly the Star (at the time).

Susan Saint James

box office my ass

anyone in their right mind knows meryl streep is the greatest living star of an american actress. fuck millions of dollars.

If you're an avid Entertainment Weekly/Access Hollywood devotee, sure.

but again her star power has more to do with talent and clout than, i dunno, sex and money

no, if you're just alive, in america. i'm not saying it's true, but that is the widespread belief

she's not a star like julia robers once was, but in terms of like CHOPS, she has the star nailed.

Snark aside, I suspect Streep has a better chance of being a star now. The public has always seemed wary of her -- who is she? why does she fuck around with accents? Now that she's learned how to "do" comedy and accepting good comedic parts, she's been rewarded with a couple of hits (The Devil Wears Prada was a massive hit, and Julie and Julia a smaller one).

*accepted

Did anyone say Mel Gibson?

like, when people think "american actress," people think meryl streep. that's just the way it is.

mel gibson otm

yes, Streep is more "money" now that she makes mostly terrible films. And let's not forget the middlebrow shit like Sophie's Choice that made her name as a GREAT ACTRESS (bow head).

A "movie star" is someone who rakes in the bucks. Like Elizabeth Taylor in the '50s and most of the '60s.

"Now" that she makes terrible films? Most of her films are unwatchable Oscar crap!

well it's impossible to have an interesting conversation based on 2 different definitions. but at the risk of revisiting a boring conversation, i don't think that's what a movie star is. it can be, but it's not limited to that.

ooh challops alfred!

Julie and Julia >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The French Lieutenant's Woman, Music From the Heart, Postcards From the Edge, Sophie's Choice.

Good films in which Streep has also been good to great: Silkwood, Plenty, A Cry in the Dark, One True Thing, Julie & Julia, ummmmmm I can't think of others.

she's fine in A Cry in the Dark and Ironweed (both big box-office bombs). And very funny in the Albert Brooks movie, and Death Becomes Her.

Silkwood is her best film, yeah, as I said re that Onion parody.

The Entire Cast of Dick Tracy

basically what i'm saying is that it's impossible to argue that streep is not a massive star in terms of popularity, recognition and industry power

also will rep for Postcards from the Edge, perhaps her most *likeable* role?

she's not "fine" in cry in the dark. she's wonderful in it.

death becomes her will forever be wonderful as well

and by the way the idea that "one true thing" is a "good film" is kind of funny

she does NOT enjoy MASSIVE popularity, compared to someone like your gf Julia. The average middle-aged American man will go to one of her films if his wife drags him.

surm i watched death becomes her this week <3

and by the way the idea that "one true thing" is a "good film" is kind of funny

On paper it looks like twaddle, but it's a better than average soaper. William Hurt is excellent playing one of his usual repressed WASPs.

i guess it depends on the crowd you hang out with. i don't hang out with the average middle-aged american man, and from my perspective, and the media i am exposed to, i definitely see her popularity as MASSIVE

yes it's a better than average soaper alfred but "good film" might be a stretch

lol gayz :)

xp

Ha, yeah, for me "good" often means "not as bad as I expected."

Meryl Streep is pretty much the Debra Winger of her generation

and WOMEN, morbs

most of my girlfriends hate julia roberts and love meryl streep

waaaaht. debra winger never did what meryl has done.

Meryl Streep is pretty much the Debra Winger of her generation

Debra Winger never managed to be the Debra Winger of her generation, alas.

In defense of gays, they go kicking and screaming to Streep Oscarbait too.

Winger in her three Oscar nom performances, The Sheltering Sky, and Rachel Getting Married justifies her reputation -- and justifies her reputation for stupidity in holding out for "better" roles.

but yes i think we can all agree on this
http://www.geocities.com/elizabethtaylor3/elizabeth_taylor.jpg

Arnold Schwarzenegger circa 1991?

Streep's film-star career has been about 4x longer than Winger's -- Rachel doesn't count until she does something else.

surm i watched death becomes her this week <3

― elmo leonard (elmo argonaut), Sunday, October 18, 2009 7:21 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark

:D

isabella!

isabella yelled at me on the phone the other day

rossellini or billingham?

rossy

kinda awesome. story?

ohh it was just a stupid work thing and she was like THIS IS A PRIVATE NUMBER, I DO NOT WANT TO BE CALLED

she was like all upset. i was very polite