<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=796&ncid=787&e=5&u=/eo/20021230/en_celeb_eo/11042" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=796&ncid=787&e=5&u=/eo/20021230/en_celeb_eo/11042</a>
I want to know who these people are polling!
Quote:
| American audiences apparently like their actors middle aged or older--and in some cases, dead helps, too. That's the verdict from the annual Harris Poll that tracks the nation's favorite movie stars. The average age of the top 10 is 55, including the very dead John Wayne, who would have been 95 this year. Hollywood everyman Tom Hanks, 46, is the country's most beloved movie star, though the honor probably has little to do with Hanks' role in Road to Perdition, a disappointment at the box office. Given the apparent lack of judging criteria, it's impossible to tell if the current success of Catch Me If You Can will make the Oscar-winning thespian a shoo-in next year. Hanks' coronation bumps America's Sweetheart Julia Roberts back to third place behind perennial favorite Mel Gibson, 46, who starred in the summer megahit Signs. Despite a busy social life, which kept her name in the news, Roberts' presence in low-budget Full Frontal didn't exactly draw 'em into theaters this year. No matter. The 35-year-old Roberts, who was the first woman to make the list three years ago (Harris began tracking public taste in 1993), is still tops with women and people age 18 to 29. Meanwhile, fellow female thespian and relative youngster Sandra Bullock, 38, retains her spot at number 10, helped perhaps by Two Weeks Notice (though given the list's seemingly random choices, it seems just as likely that viewers caught Bullock on cable in Speed). At the opposite end of the age spectrum are three actors who had little or no on-screen presence this year: Harrison Ford, 60, (number four); Sean Connery, 72, (number five); and Clint Eastwood, 72, (number eight). Ford starred in the disastrous submarine disaster movie K-19, while Eastwood made the quickly disappearing Blood Work. Connery took the year off. According to the people at Harris, the poll was conducted online between November 22 and December 2 "among a nationwide cross section of 2,221 adults" over the age of 18. Given the list's propensity for old fogies and romantic comedy leads, we're guessing senior citizens with time on their hands and lovelorn women were a large part of the respondents who answered the online survey. How else to explain the inclusion of the late John Wayne? According to Harris, the Duke is our sixth favorite movie star. Never mind that the man passed away in 1979, or that he hasn't made a movie since 1976. The actor has consistently made the top 10 since the poll was created. No other dead performer has made the list. Having three movies at the multiplex this year, including Insomnia, Death to Smoochy and One Hour Photo, didn't seem to make any difference for Robin Williams. The comedian was bumped off the list by Tom Cruise. The Minority Report star, who came in at number nine, hadn't made the list in the past three years. Meanwhile list veteran Denzel Washington, 48, jumped one spot to seventh place this year. The Antwone Fisher director came in first with African American and Hispanic voters. Think we're making this stuff up? Here's the complete list of 2002's favorite movie stars, per the Harris Poll: 1. Tom Hanks 2. Mel Gibson 3. Julia Roberts 4. Harrison Ford 5. Sean Connery 6. John Wayne 7. Denzel Washington 8. Clint Eastwood 9. Tom Cruise 10. Sandra Bullock |
