return of the bride of the son of something completely different

return of the bride of the son of something completely different

Once again I take a break from my regular topics of space and politics to combine two of my other favorites: movies and anally-retentive list-making. Back in late May, I made up a list of the most bankable actors, based on the casts of the 100 top-grossing films of all time. And of course, that list was not adjusted for inflation. As such, it represented a list of mostly recent actors and actresses. Also, the box-office juggernaught that is Revenge of the Sith had not yet percolated its way onto the top-100 charts, having only been released two weeks before I did the last list.

The other day I ran across the list of the top 100-grossing movies adjusted for inflation to 2005 dollars. So, since it has been a slow week, I thought I'd update my bankable-actors list.

Once again, I did not include thespians whose contributions to top-100 films consisted of a single role even if spread over several movies: Anthony Daniels (C3P0) doesn't make my list, nor does Vivien Leigh (whose only top-100 movie was Gone With the Wind). Nor did I include roles in which an actor played himself (such as Larry King, who played himself in Ghostbusters and Ugly Stepsister in Shrek 2).

There were a few surprises on the new list; some of the people who had done very well on the unadjusted-for-inflation list (such as Liv Tyler and Frank Oz) dropped right off of this list. I also found a few actors and actresses who should have appeared on my first list but were missed.

I went through complete-cast lists for each movie, rather than just the main actors, so I included even bit parts and cameos. I have probably missed a couple of actors, though, since some of these movies had casts numbering in the hundreds (Ben-Hur) or even thousands (Around the World in Eighty Days), and it was just too much to try to cross-reference them all. As near as I can figure, there were only a dozen actresses that appeared in two or more roles in the top-100-grossing movies, and 55 actors.

For the lists below, each actor/actress name is followed by a number in brackets; this number represents the total gross in millions of dollars US, adjusted for inflation, of the top-100-grossing films in which they appeared.

Ladies first:

12) Monica Bellucci (681) played Mary Magdalen in the Passion of the Christ and Persephone in the Matrix Reloaded.

11) Terri Garr (720) played Sandy Lester in Tootsie and Ronnie Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

10) Annie Potts (759) played Bo Peep in Toy Story 2 and Janine Melnitz in Ghostbusters.

9) Whoopi Goldberg (824) played Shenzi in the Lion King and Oda Mae Brown in Ghost.

8) Talia Shire (857) played Adrian in Rocky and Connie in the Godfather.

7) Kiera Knightley (867) played Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl and Sabé (queen's decoy) in Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace.

6) Karen Allen (947) played Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Katy in National Lampoon's Animal House.

5) Anne Bancroft (952) played Mrs. Robinson in the Graduate and (uncredited) an extra in the church congregation in Blazing Saddles.

4) Sofia Coppola (1048) is the queen of the bit-part players. She was Saché in Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace and (uncredited) Michael Francis Rizzi in the Godfather.

3) Sally Field (1204) played Mrs. Gump in Forrest Gump, Miranda Hillard in Mrs. Doubtfire, and Carrie/'Frog' in Smokey and the Bandit.

2) Butterfly McQueen (1620) played Prissy in Gone With the Wind and Vashti in Duel in the Sun.

..... drumroll...

And the top-grossing actress of all time is:

1) Julie Andrews (1866), who played Queen in Shrek 2, Maria von Trapp in the Sound of Music, and the title role in Mary Poppins.


For the men I was considering providing the details for only those actors whose adjusted grosses totalled over a billion dollars. Then I realized that there were a few whose names were not exactly recognizable; and since I'd made up the list anyhow, I thought, to heck with it, I'll list them all. Here goes:

55) Tom Skerritt (648) played Cmdr. Mike 'Viper' Metcalf in Top Gun and Capt. Augustus Bedford 'Duke' Forrest in M*A*S*H.

54) Pat Flaherty (660) played (uncredited) Salvage Foreman in the Best Years of Our Lives and Sgt. Harry Parsons in Sergeant York.

53) Robin Williams (673) was Daniel Hillard/Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire in Mrs. Doubtfire and Genie in Aladdin.

52) Geoffrey Rush (685) played Nigel in Finding Nemo and Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl.

51) Jimmy Stewart (706) played Buttons in The Greatest Show on Earth and L.B. Jefferies in Rear Window.

50) Carl Weathers (708) played MP in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Apollo in Rocky.

49) Gene Hackman (718) played Lex Luthor in Superman and Rev. Frank Scott in the Poseidon Adventure.

48) Christopher Lloyd (721) played Dr. Emmett Brown in Back to the Future and Taber in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

47) Donald Sutherland (727) played Captain Benjamin Franklin 'Hawkeye' Pierce in M*A*S*H and Prof. Dave Jennings in National Lampoon's Animal House.

46) Jack Nicholson (747) played Randle Patrick McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Joker/Jack Napier in Batman.

45) Roddy McDowall (781) played Acres in the Poseidon Adventure and Caeser Augustus (Octavian) in Cleopatra.

44) Bing Crosby (786) was Father Chuck O'Malley in The Bells of Saint Mary's and an uncredited spectator in The Greatest Show On Earth.

43) Roberts Blossom (789) played a farmer in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Marley in Home Alone.

42) Will Smith (793) The Fresh Prince played Agent J in Men in Black and Captain Steven 'Steve' Hiller in Independence Day.

41) Dan Aykroyd (795) was Dr. Raymond Stantz in Ghostbusters and Weber in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

40) Tommy Lee Jones (796) played Agent K in Men in Black and Hank Simpson in Love Story.

39) John Cleese (812) played King in Shrek 2 and Nearly Headless Nick in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

38) Bill Murray (817) was Dr. Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters and Jeff Slater in Tootsie.

36) (tie) Richard Burton (849) played Marc Antony in Cleopatra and Marcellus Gallio in the Robe.

36) (tie) Robert Duvall (849) played Tom Hagen in the Godfather and Major Frank Burns in M*A*S*H.

35) Wayne Knight (858) played Al in Toy Story 2 and Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park.

34) Haley Joel Osment (861), easily the youngest actor on the list, played Cole Sear in the Sixth Sense and Forrest Gump Jr. in Forrest Gump. He should have been on my original list.

33) Marlon Brando (872) played Don Vito Corleone in the Godfather and Jor-El in Superman.

32) Norman Fell (892) Yep, Mr. Roper was a movie star. He appeared in over 60 films, including playing Mr. McCleery in the Graduate and a detective at Grogan's crash site in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

31) Dustin Hoffman (912) played Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels in Tootsie and was seduced by Anne Bancroft as Benjamin Braddock in the Graduate.

30) Charles Durning (935) was Lt. William Snyder in the Sting and Les Nichols in Tootsie.

29) Robert Redford (1022) played Johnny Hooker aka Kelly in the Sting and the Sundance Kid in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

28) Tom Hanks (1101) I was really surprised he didn't end up closer to the top of this list; when adjusted for inflation, his only top-100 appearances were as Forrest Gump in Forrest Gump, Sheriff Woody in Toy Story 2, and Captain Miller in Saving Private Ryan.

27) Omar Sharif (1149) The world-renowned Bridge expert did a star turn as Dr. Yuri Zhivago in Dr. Zhivago and played Sherif Ali ibn el Kharish in Lawrence of Arabia.

26) Vincent Price (1162) the spooky veteran of more than 100 movies had his biggest hits playing Prof. Henry Jarrod in House of Wax and Baka in the Ten Commandments.

25) Bill Paxton (1171) played Brock Lovett in Titanic and William Harding in Twister.

24) Eddie Murphy (1187) played Donkey in Shrek and Shrek 2 and Detective Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop.

23) Willem Dafoe (1190) played Norman Osborn/Green Goblin in Spider-man and Spider-man 2 and Gill in Finding Nemo. Willem Dafoe should have been on my original list, but I missed seeing that he was in Finding Nemo.

22) Sean Connery (1219) the best James Bond of all in Goldfinger and Thunderball, and Indiana Jones' dad Professor Henry Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

21) John Carradine (1252) played Col. Proctor Stamp in Around the World in Eighty Days and Aaron in the Ten Commandments. For a guy whose career spanned 251 movies and 65 years, it's funny that both of those movies were released back-to-back in 1956.

20) Sam Harris (1298) This guy was King of the Extras. Nearly 250 movies to his credit, almost all of them uncredited bit parts. He was an extra in Around the World in Eighty Days, a Citizen in Mary Poppins, and Guest at Ball in My Fair Lady.

19) Jeff Goldblum (1315) played Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and David Levinson in Independence Day.

18) Robert Shaw (1390) was Quint in Jaws and Doyle Lonnegan in the Sting.

17) Paul Newman (1415) played Henry Gondorff aka Shaw in the Sting, Doug Roberts in the Towering Inferno, and Butch Cassidy in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

16) Orlando Bloom (1437) played Legolas in the Fellowship of the Ring, the Two Towers, and the Return of the King, and Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl.

15) Warwick Davis (1503) played Wicket in Return of the Jedi, Wald/Pod Race Spectator/Mos Espa citizen in the Phantom Menace, and Professor Flitwick/Goblin Bank Teller in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Warwick Davis is another actor that should have been on my original list.

14) J. Pat O'Malley (1611) Never heard of him? Well, the folks at Disney sure did. He was the voice of Colonel/Jasper in One Hundred and One Dalmations, Horseman (uncredited) in Mary Poppins, and Colonel Hathi/Buzzie in The Jungle Book.

13) Billy Dee Williams (1633) played Harvey Dent in Batman and Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He is yet another actor who should have been on my original list but was overlooked.

12) Michael Ensign (1641) played Benjamin Guggenheim in Titanic, Hotel Manager in Ghostbusters, and Newscaster in Superman.

11) John Ratzenberger (1662) Cliff Claven has done very well for himself in movies, particularly in recent years as voice talent. He was Fish School in Finding Nemo, Hamm in Toy Story 2, Major Bren Derlin in the Empire Strikes Back, and 1st Controller in Superman.

10) Samuel L. Jackson (1815) played Mace Windu in the Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith, and Ray Arnold in Jurassic Park.

9) Christopher Lee (1833) an actor who has made over 200 movies spanning nearly six decades, he has really only come into his own over the last four years, playing Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus in Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith, and Saruman in the Fellowship of the Ring, the Two Towers, and the Return of the King.

8) Charlton Heston (1850) played Judah Ben-Hur in Ben-Hur, Moses in the Ten Commandments, and Brad Braden in the Greatest Show on Earth.

7) Thurl Ravenscroft (1962) might not be particularly famous by name, but oh what a voice. Besides being Tony the Tiger in the Frosted Flakes commercials and singing "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch" in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, he lent his voice to Al the Alligator/Dog in Lady and the Tramp, Singer in Sleeping Beauty, Captain in One Hundred and One Dalmations, and (uncredited) as Pig in Mary Poppins.

6) John Rhys-Davies (1993) played Sallah in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Gimli in the Fellowship of the Ring, Gimli and Treebeard in the Two Towers, and Gimli in the Return of the King.

5) Richard Dreyfuss (2153) played Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Matt Hooper in Jaws, Curt Henderson in American Graffiti, and (uncredited) apartment house resident in the Graduate.

4) Peter Diamond (2934) who? He was a stuntman, appearing in over 70 movies. He also had bit parts in several movies, playing (uncredited) Stormtrooper/Tusken Raider/Death Star Trooper/Garouf Lafoe in Star Wars, (uncredited) Snowtrooper gunner in the Empire Strikes Back, (uncredited) German Soldier in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and (uncredited) Gamorrean Guard in Return of the Jedi.

3) James Earl Jones (3241) Most famous for the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars, the Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and Revenge of the Sith, he was also the voice of Mufasa in the Lion King.

2) Alec Guiness (3767) played Obi-wan Kenobi in Star Wars, the Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, General Yevgraf Zhivago in Dr. Zhivago, Prince Feisal in Lawrence of Arabia, and Colonel Nicholson in the Bridge on the River Kwai.

...drumroll... and the number one most bankable actor of all time is, once again,

1) Harrison Ford (4013) who played Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Han Solo in Star Wars, the Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, and Bob Falfa in American Graffiti. The guy is just box-office gold.

Okay, so now that I have a list adjusted for inflation, I don't think I'll have to do this again for ... oh... ever. Hope you enjoyed the show.

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