Using data from 75 years of Quigley Publishing Company’s annual Top Ten Money-Making Star Poll of motion picture exhibitors, John Wayne has been named the All-Time Top Money- Maker. The Quigley Poll, conducted every year since 1932, is an annual survey of motion picture exhibitors, which asks them to vote for the ten stars that generated the most box-office revenue in the preceding year for their theatres. Long regarded as one of the most reliable indicators of a Star’s box-office draw, the Quigley Poll has been cited in hundreds of publications and appears annually in Quigley Publishing Company’s International Motion Picture Almanac. During this motion picture awards season, it is interesting to see who theatre owners and operators believe really have meant something at their box-office. During his 50-year career John Wayne appeared in over 150 films, including classics such as, The Quiet Man, The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but only won one Academy Award for True Grit.
To come up with a weighted score, an actor received 10 points for a first place finish, nine for a second place finish, etc. The total score was determined by adding up the weighted scores from each year that the actor was voted on the list. A weighted value for number of times a star was voted into the poll, combined with how they placed in the poll yielded the All Time Top Money Makers list. John Wayne’s appearance 25 times in the poll survey from 1949 to 1974 yielded 172 points versus 165 points for second place Clint Eastwood, who has been on the list 21 times. Tom Cruise placed third with 143.5 points combining seven first place finishes with 18 appearances on the QP poll.
The rest of the Quigley Top Ten All-Time Money Makers are Bing Crosby #4, Gary Cooper #5, Clark Gable #6 and Burt Reynolds & Tom Hanks tie at #7, Bob Hope is #9 and Paul Newman was #10.
Of the current active stars, it appears that only Clint Eastwood and Tom Cruise have a reasonable chance of overtaking John Wayne in the future.
Perhaps reflecting shorter careers in Hollywood than men, no women made it into the Top Ten but Doris Day #11, Julia Roberts #13, Betty Grable #16 and Elizabeth Taylor #25 all were in the Top Twenty FIve. |
|
| QP All Time Weighted Top Ten Stars |
| Position |
|
Score
|
| 1 |
John Wayne |
172 |
| 2 |
Clint Eastwood |
165 |
| 3 |
Tom Cruise |
150.5 |
| 4 |
Bing Crosby |
111 |
| 5 |
Gary Cooper |
106.5 |
| 6 |
Tom Hanks |
96 |
| 7 |
Clark Gable |
95 |
| 8 |
Burt Reynolds |
90 |
| 9 |
Bob Hope |
83 |
| 10 |
Paul Newman |
76 |
| 11 |
Doris Day |
72 |
| 12 |
Rock Hudson |
69 |
| 13 |
Jerry Lewis (Tie) |
68 |
| |
Julia Roberts (Tie) |
68 |
| 15 |
Eddie Murphy |
67 |
| 16 |
Betty Grable |
66 |
| 17 |
Cary Grant (Tie) |
62 |
| |
Harrison Ford (Tie) |
62 |
| 19 |
Dean Martin |
58 |
| 20 |
Abbott & Costello |
57 |
| 21 |
James Stewart |
56 |
| 22 |
Mel Gibson |
55.5 |
| 23 |
Robert Redford |
55 |
| 24 |
Arnold Schwarzenegger |
53 |
| 25 |
Elizabeth Taylor |
52 |
| 26 |
Sylvester Stallone |
50 |
| 27 |
Jim Carrey (Tie) |
49 |
| |
Shirley Temple (Tie) |
49 |
| |
Will Smith (Tie) |
49 |
| 30 |
Barbra Streisand (Tie) |
48 |
| |
Robin Williams (Tie) |
48 |
| |
Johnny Depp (Tie) |
48 |
| 33 |
Spencer Tracy (Tie) |
47 |
| |
Steve McQueen (Tie) |
47 |
| 35 |
Mickey Rooney |
46 |
| |
George Clooney |
45 |
| 37 |
Dustin Hoffman (Tie) |
42 |
| |
Jack Nicholson (Tie) |
42 |
| 39 |
Jack Lemmon |
40 |
| |
Leonardo DiCaprio (Tie) |
39 |
| 41 |
John Travolta |
37 |
| 42 |
Sean Connery |
36 |
| 43 |
Julie Andrews |
35 |
| 44 |
Humphrey Bogart |
33.5 |
| 45 |
William Holden |
33 |
| 46 |
Kevin Costner |
32.5 |
| 47 |
Will Rogers |
30 |
| 48 |
Elvis Presley |
29 |
| 49 |
Jane Fonda |
28 |
| 50 |
Denzel Washington |
27 |
| 51 |
Janet Gaynor |
25 |
| 52 |
Michael Douglas |
24.5 |
| 53 |
Greer Garson (Tie) |
24 |
| |
Joan Crawford (Tie) |
24 |
| 54 |
Wallace Beery (Tie) |
23 |
| |
Brad Pitt (Tie) |
23 |
| 56 |
Marie Dressler (Tie) |
22 |
| |
Woody Allen (Tie) |
22 |
| |
Russell Crowe (Tie) |
22 |
| |
Sandra Bullock |
22 |
| 60 |
Glenn Ford |
21 |
| 61 |
Lee Marvin (Tie) |
20 |
| |
Michael J. Fox (Tie) |
20 |
| |
Nicole Kidman (Tie) |
20 |
| |
Paul Hogan (Tie) |
20 |
| |
Robert Taylor (Tie) |
20 |
| |
Adam Sandler |
20 |
| 67 |
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (Tie) |
19 |
| |
Marlon Brando (Tie) |
19 |
| |
Sidney Poitier (Tie) |
19 |
| 70 |
Frank Sinatra (Tie) |
18 |
| |
Ingrid Bergman (Tie) |
18 |
| |
James Cagney (Tie) |
18 |
| 73 |
Al Pacino (Tie) |
17 |
| |
Van Johnson (Tie) |
17 |
| 75 |
Gene Autry (Tie) |
16 |
| |
Tyrone Power (Tie) |
16 |
| 77 |
Bruce Willis (Tie) |
15 |
| |
Charles Bronson (Tie) |
15 |
| |
Dudley Moore (Tie) |
15 |
| |
George C. Scott (Tie) |
15 |
| |
Matt Damon (Tie) |
15 |
| |
Robert Downey, Jr. (Tie) |
15 |
| 83 |
Marilyn Monroe |
14 |
| |
Mike Myers |
14 |
| |
Sandra Dee |
14 |
| |
Reese Witherspoon |
14 |
| 87 |
Alan Ladd |
13 |
| 88 |
Debbie Reynolds (Tie) |
12 |
| |
Dolly Parton (Tie) |
12 |
| |
Macaulay Culkin (Tie) |
12 |
| |
Sonja Henie (Tie) |
12 |
| 92 |
Bette Davis (Tie) |
11 |
| |
Mel Brooks (Tie) |
11 |
| 94 |
Bette Midler (Tie) |
10 |
| |
Bill Murray (Tie) |
10 |
| |
Claudette Colbert (Tie) |
10 |
| |
Sally Field (Tie) |
10 |
| |
Whoopi Goldberg (Tie) |
10 |
| |
Nicholas Cage (Tie) |
10 |
| |
Angelina Jolie (Tie) |
10 |
| 101 |
Dick Powell |
9 |
| |
Gene Hackman |
9 |
| |
Grace Kelly |
9 |
| |
Joe E. Brown |
9 |
| |
Mae West |
9 |
| |
Richard Burton |
9 |
| |
Ryan O’Neal |
9 |
| |
Shia La Beouf |
9 |
| 109 |
Burt Lancaster |
8 |
| |
Chevy Chase |
8 |
| |
Jane Withers |
8 |
| |
Jodie Foster |
8 |
| |
Meg Ryan |
8 |
| |
Norma Shearer |
8 |
| |
Pat Boone |
8 |
| |
Richard Dreyfuss |
8 |
| |
Christian Bale |
8 |
| |
Will Ferrell |
8 |
| 119 |
Charles Farrell |
7 |
| |
Eddie Cantor |
7 |
| |
Randolph Scott |
7 |
| |
Richard Gere |
7 |
| |
Rodney Dangerfield |
7 |
| |
Tony Curtis |
7 |
| |
Warren Beatty |
7 |
| 126 |
Alice Faye |
6 |
| |
Diane Keaton |
6 |
| |
Elliott Gould |
6 |
| |
Esther Williams |
6 |
| |
Gregory Peck |
6 |
| |
Greta Garbo |
6 |
| |
Richard Pryor |
6 |
| |
Vince Vaughn |
6 |
| |
William Powell |
6 |
| |
Meryl Streep |
6 |
| 136 |
Danny De Vito |
5 |
| |
Jean Harlow |
5 |
| |
Myrna Loy |
5 |
| |
Susan Hayward |
5 |
| |
Tim Allen |
5 |
| |
Walter Matthau |
5 |
| 142 |
Alan Alda |
4 |
| |
Billy Crystal |
4 |
| |
Bridgitte Bardot |
4 |
| |
Catherine Zeta-Jones |
4 |
| |
Chuck Norris |
4 |
| |
Clifton Webb |
4 |
| |
Glenn Close |
4 |
| |
Judy Garland |
4 |
| |
Margaret O’Brien |
4 |
| |
Martin Lawrence |
4 |
| |
Patrick Swayze |
4 |
| |
Shirley MacLaine |
4 |
| |
Yul Brynner |
4 |
| 155 |
Ali MacGraw |
3 |
| |
Ann-Margret |
3 |
| |
Bo Derek |
3 |
| |
Demi Moore |
3 |
| |
Errol Flynn |
3 |
| |
Goldie Hawn |
3 |
| |
Jill Clayburgh |
3 |
| |
Kathleen Turner |
3 |
| |
Prince |
3 |
| |
Robert De Niro |
3 |
| |
Sissy Spacek |
3 |
| |
Tatum O’Neal |
3 |
| 167 |
Ben Affleck |
2 |
| |
Cameron Diaz |
2 |
| |
Cher |
2 |
| |
Dakota Fanning |
2 |
| |
Dan Aykroyd |
2 |
| |
Jane Wyman |
2 |
| |
Jeanette MacDonald |
2 |
| |
June Allyson |
2 |
| |
Katharine Hepburn |
2 |
| |
Kim Novak |
2 |
| |
Peter Sellers |
2 |
| |
Roger Moore |
2 |
| |
Steven Seagal |
2 |
| |
Tom Selleck |
2 |
| |
Tommy Lee Jones |
2 |
| 182 |
Jackie Chan |
1 |
| |
Michelle Pfeiffer |
1 |
| |
Renee Zellweger |
1 |
| |
Roy Rogers |
1 |
| |
Sacha Baron Cohen |
1 |
| |
Steve Martin |
1 |
| |
Vin Diesel |
1 |
| |
Daniel Craig |
1 |
|
