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Monday, July 6, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
The King
Since Michael Jackson aka The King of Pop died last week, I've been wondering who the biggest living American star is now. Of course Jackson was and, quite frankly, nobody even came close. In fact, the other king, Elvis Presley, is perhaps the only American whose celebrity is on the same level, let alone surpasses Jackson's. Considering that Elvis's career began twenty years earlier than Jackson's, that Elvis has sold considerably more records, and that Elvis fame has in no way dwindled, I think it is fair to say that Elvis Presley is The King of American Celebrity. He's the only American to sell over 1 billion records (The Beatles are the only other artists to do so) and the only other person with a chance to do that is Jackson (who has sold somewhere between 500 million and 1 billion).
A better, more interesting, question than who the top living celebrity is, is who is the third biggest of all time, and is that person among the living? I've been thinking about all of the famous Americans from the beginning of the 20th century to the present who could lay claim to that spot. I realized that there really aren't that many people. I wouldn't count politicians of course. Only musicians, singers, actors, athletes...that sort of thing. Whoever it is would have had to have been one of the most famous people in the world at the peak of their fame and someone who is still known and mostly liked/respected.
I will late out a short argument for each of the candidates I feel could potentially lay claim to the title (in alphabetical order):
Muhammad Ali: David Plotz, of slate.com, said, "The Champ, who may be the world's most famous Muslim and the world's most famous American, is certainly the world's most famous Muslim-American." That is almost the entire argument for Ali. He's probably been the most famous American athlete in the world for four decades and almost certainly been the most respected. Which is not to say that he isn't a controversial figure. There's the fact that he is a Muslim and certain associations with Malcolm X and The Nation of Islam certainly dogged him for a good portion of his career. Then there was the whole conscientious objector thing during the Vietnam War. None of this has hurt Ali in the long run though. He is also the forefather of trash-talk and at the very least was always one of our most compelling superstars.
Bing Crosby: He had a 50 year career, in which he was both a singer and an actor. He is one of the few people to have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The only musical artists who have sold more records than he has are The Beatles, Elvis, and MJ however the population of the world (and the U.S.) was less than half of what it is now. He was almost as big a movie star as he was a singer. He ranks number three all time in ticket sales (behind only Clark Gable and John Wayne) and won an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1944 for Going My Way.
Madonna: Biggest female music artist of all time, having sold over 200 million albums. As other female stars have come and gone she has held firm. In addition to having the most fans, she probably has the widest ranging in terms of age, and at 50 years of age herself shows no sign that she's ready to call it quits. She also happens to have been the most influential woman (if not man) in contemporary music the last three decades and is the most significant female sex symbol since Marilyn Monroe. For a decade now she's also become very involved with helping people in undeveloped nations and adopting everyone she can.
Marilyn Monroe: The quintessential American sex symbol. That sounds simple, but it's a big deal. She had a 15 year career as an actress and is possibly the most famous actress ever, but how many of her movies can you name (other than Some Like it Hot)? She was a very good (comedic) actress who worked with some major directors, and yet that's not what she's remembered for. Does anyone even know what she's remembered for? It's just that she was sexy. She has been completely idealized for the last 50 years. She has become the human embodiment of sexiness. Women think she's what men want and they're probably right. Her movies can disappear, but for as long as sex symbols exist she'll always be queen.
John Wayne: Probably the most famous actor ever (who is actually famous for his acting). Wayne has over 170 acting credits and was the star in almost 100 of those. His acting career lasted 50 years and he was in more really popular movies than any of his contemporaries. He's behind only Gable in total ticket sales, but of course Gable is greatly helped by Gone With the Wind. It is likely that more people have gone to the theatre because of John Wayne more than any other actor. Like Monroe, he was also a symbol. Unlike Monroe, he was not a sex symbol. The Duke represented America and all it stood for to people all over the world. No other star comes close in the regard. Some of his movies are still considered among the best of all time. His popularity endures today too. In the annual Harris Poll of America's favorite film stars he is the only person to have made the list every year since it began in 1994, he placed 3rd in the most recent poll and he was the only deceased person on the list.
So those are the top five candidates I could think of. I can see the case for every one of them and can't really chose between the five of them. There are obviously huge stars that did not make the top five too such as Michael Jordan and Frank Sinatra. While the argument could be made for a dozen other people, I feel that the five I've chosen are the ones that had the greatest peak popularity as well as the most enduring legacies.
A better, more interesting, question than who the top living celebrity is, is who is the third biggest of all time, and is that person among the living? I've been thinking about all of the famous Americans from the beginning of the 20th century to the present who could lay claim to that spot. I realized that there really aren't that many people. I wouldn't count politicians of course. Only musicians, singers, actors, athletes...that sort of thing. Whoever it is would have had to have been one of the most famous people in the world at the peak of their fame and someone who is still known and mostly liked/respected.
I will late out a short argument for each of the candidates I feel could potentially lay claim to the title (in alphabetical order):
Muhammad Ali: David Plotz, of slate.com, said, "The Champ, who may be the world's most famous Muslim and the world's most famous American, is certainly the world's most famous Muslim-American." That is almost the entire argument for Ali. He's probably been the most famous American athlete in the world for four decades and almost certainly been the most respected. Which is not to say that he isn't a controversial figure. There's the fact that he is a Muslim and certain associations with Malcolm X and The Nation of Islam certainly dogged him for a good portion of his career. Then there was the whole conscientious objector thing during the Vietnam War. None of this has hurt Ali in the long run though. He is also the forefather of trash-talk and at the very least was always one of our most compelling superstars.
Bing Crosby: He had a 50 year career, in which he was both a singer and an actor. He is one of the few people to have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The only musical artists who have sold more records than he has are The Beatles, Elvis, and MJ however the population of the world (and the U.S.) was less than half of what it is now. He was almost as big a movie star as he was a singer. He ranks number three all time in ticket sales (behind only Clark Gable and John Wayne) and won an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1944 for Going My Way.
Madonna: Biggest female music artist of all time, having sold over 200 million albums. As other female stars have come and gone she has held firm. In addition to having the most fans, she probably has the widest ranging in terms of age, and at 50 years of age herself shows no sign that she's ready to call it quits. She also happens to have been the most influential woman (if not man) in contemporary music the last three decades and is the most significant female sex symbol since Marilyn Monroe. For a decade now she's also become very involved with helping people in undeveloped nations and adopting everyone she can.
Marilyn Monroe: The quintessential American sex symbol. That sounds simple, but it's a big deal. She had a 15 year career as an actress and is possibly the most famous actress ever, but how many of her movies can you name (other than Some Like it Hot)? She was a very good (comedic) actress who worked with some major directors, and yet that's not what she's remembered for. Does anyone even know what she's remembered for? It's just that she was sexy. She has been completely idealized for the last 50 years. She has become the human embodiment of sexiness. Women think she's what men want and they're probably right. Her movies can disappear, but for as long as sex symbols exist she'll always be queen.
John Wayne: Probably the most famous actor ever (who is actually famous for his acting). Wayne has over 170 acting credits and was the star in almost 100 of those. His acting career lasted 50 years and he was in more really popular movies than any of his contemporaries. He's behind only Gable in total ticket sales, but of course Gable is greatly helped by Gone With the Wind. It is likely that more people have gone to the theatre because of John Wayne more than any other actor. Like Monroe, he was also a symbol. Unlike Monroe, he was not a sex symbol. The Duke represented America and all it stood for to people all over the world. No other star comes close in the regard. Some of his movies are still considered among the best of all time. His popularity endures today too. In the annual Harris Poll of America's favorite film stars he is the only person to have made the list every year since it began in 1994, he placed 3rd in the most recent poll and he was the only deceased person on the list.
So those are the top five candidates I could think of. I can see the case for every one of them and can't really chose between the five of them. There are obviously huge stars that did not make the top five too such as Michael Jordan and Frank Sinatra. While the argument could be made for a dozen other people, I feel that the five I've chosen are the ones that had the greatest peak popularity as well as the most enduring legacies.
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