Guess Who’s the Third Most Popular Movie Star in America Today?

bighollywood.breitbart.com ^ | March 18, 2009 | John Nolte

[Free ThinkerNY]

No, it’s not any of those celebrities we’re told are stars. DiCaprio and George Clooney didn’t even make the top 10. Neither did Ashton Kutcher, Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, Seth Rogen, Matt Damon, Will Farrell, or Tom Cruise.

Every year for about 15 years now, Harris Interactive has conducted a nationwide poll and asked a very simple question: “Who is your favorite movie star?” And every year since the taking of the poll one particular individual has placed in the top ten — 13 of those years in the top 3.

This year, 2,388 U.S. adults were surveyed and this star rose three places to tie Will Smith for third. Only Denzel Washington and Clint Eastwood rank as more popular.

One last hint before the reveal: This star is the only actor in the history of the poll to rank posthumously:

Here’s the 2009 rundown:

Denzel Washington

Clint Eastwood

John Wayne

Will Smith

Harrison Ford

Julia Roberts

Tom Hanks

Johnny Depp

Angelina Jolie

Morgan Freeman

In 2007, Time Magazine’s Richard Corliss (a film writer I respect) got it kinda wrong when Wayne ranked #3 back in 2007:

Nothing radical there, except that Pitt, Jolie and, oh, Tom Cruise were among the missing. …

Forget the youthquake. What America really loves is… old. Whatever Wayne represents - the Old Testament God, a Mount Rushmore face with a permanent scowl, the craggy soul of Frontier or Sunbelt America[.] …

Will Hollywood take any lessons from this poll - say, to make movies with, and for, older people. Nah. The moguls have read the small print in the Harris poll, and noted that it was weighted for many variables, but not to mirror the average age of moviegoers.

[ansel12]

Good catch, I love the movie but had not thought to start mentioning it in terms like that but you are right and that is what is happening with Wayne, his work is being recognized in a critical sense by less biased Hollywood critics.

I think most Americans have always been baffled by the claim that he wasn’t a good actor, we would watch Wayne’s great classic movies that we knew would endure for generations and then pick up our TIME magazine and read that he was not a quality actor.

A lot of doubts about media honesty came from that dichotomy.

[Paved Paradise]

Oh, I totally agree with you about the comments on Mr. Wayne. Definitely, an American icon - a classic and a gentleman. I just wasn’t crazy about his acting abilities. Another great, in my humble op, was Mr. Heston.

My daddy, God rest his soul, LOVED John Wayne.

[Scythian]

[matt1234]

“The Searchers continues to be widely regarded as perhaps Wayne’s finest and most complex performance. In 2006 Premiere Magazine ran an industry poll in which Wayne’s portrayal of Ethan Edwards was rated the 87th greatest performance in film history.”

Yep. The Searchers is my fav movie. Wayne is very good. The cinematography and directing are excellent. The story is pure Americanism.