Career Adjusted Domestic Box Office
1st John Wayne $11,966,200,000
2nd Clark Gable $11,302,400,000
3rd Harrison Ford $11,088,000,000
4th Gary Cooper $10,606,900,000
5th James Stewart $10,412,000,000
6th Spencer Tracy $9,647,000,000
7th Cary Grant $9,196,800,000
8th Bing Crosby $8,981,500,000
9th Myrna Loy $8,680,000,000
10th Henry Fonda $8,557,300,000
11th Humphrey Bogart $8,498,000,000
12th Fred MacMurray $8,393,000,000
13th Charlton Heston $8,295,600,000
14th Gregory Peck $7,753,900,000
15th Tom Hanks $7,737,600,000
16th Tyrone Power $7,672,800,000
17th William Holden $7,392,000,000
18th Paul Newman $7,386,800,000
19th Barbara Stanwyck $7,323,300,000
20th Robert Mitchum $7,198,800,000
21st Bob Hope $7,170,000,000
22nd Gene Hackman $6,976,800,000
23rd Dustin Hoffman $6,955,000,000
24th Tom Cruise $6,942,600,000
25th Burt Lancaster $6,902,000,000
26th David Niven $6,896,500,000
27th Clint Eastwood $6,835,500,000
28th Sean Connery $6,749,600,000
29th Elizabeth Taylor $6,735,100,000
30th James Cagney $6,696,000,000
31st Joan Crawford $6,661,200,000
32nd Ginger Rogers $6,540,000,000
33rd William Powell $6,409,800,000
34th Michael Caine $6,395,000,000
35th Frank Sinatra $6,382,600,000
36th Robert Redford $6,300,000,000
37th Bette Davis $6,256,800,000
38th Robin Williams $6,154,400,000
39th Marlon Brando $5,783,600,000
40th Fred Astaire $5,760,300,000
41st Judy Garland $5,694,700,000
42nd Jack Nicholson $5,518,200,000
43rd Robert DeNiro $5,514,900,000
44th Katharine Hepburn $5,215,900,000
45th Jack Lemmon $5,085,600,000
46th Doris Day $4,871,100,000
47th Meryl Streep $4,020,500,000
48th Denzel Washington $3,825,000,000
49th Leonardo DiCaprio $3,642,000,000
50th Steve McQueen $3,348,000,000
Chuck Heston at last on a Cogerson list and ranked a high 13th! I had to check my calendar to make sure it was not 1 April [ie the annual All Fools Day on which it is customary to play practical jokes on others over here and in some OTHER European countries – we’re unfortunately still in the EU until April next Steve!] The 9th entry on the list SHOULD be included ONLY ON every April Fool’s day!
Apart from Chuck, a number my other idols have also done well, with the Duke topping the list. It’s good to see him getting his due – a true 4 star box office King [anyone who thinks differently probably believes there are 9 legged mice on Mars.] Probably the nearest to him among the women are Stanwyck, Liz and my Joan, our undisputed “stand-alone” leading ladies. As well Greg, Jimmy, Doris and Sir Maurice [that rhymes well don’t it?] are all featuring strongly to one degree or other.
Ole Mumbles is also excellently placed for just 38 films his numbers having been improved from previous Cogerson lists by that 38th one courtesy of W o C. [Thank goodness the person with most sense in that family also wears the trousers!] The Great Communicator also does very well with average grosses per movie– see Part 2.
Harrison Ford’s ranking has always seemed to me a bit inflated via the Star Wars franchise. That series made him and not vice versa. I consider that he punches his true weight at about 9th place, which is still brilliant because not everyone deserves that 9th place.
Main disappointments: whilst my Deanna made too few films for me to expect her inclusion it’s sad for me not to see Laddie, Widmark and Charlie Bill included. Still as old man Ryker said “There are just so many hands in a deck of cards, Shane.”
CONTINUED PART 2
Another fine and comprehensive Work from this site’s No 1 Worker. The only improvement I would like is the number of movies comprised in each star’s total gross listed beside the box office figure. In that way anyone interested in average grosses per movie could quickly do the sums. It took me 2 hours going through Bruce’s individual pages for the 50 stars in the list to work out their average grosses. Here are the top 15 stars with the highest average gross.
1/Harrison Ford – $226.3million
2/Judy Garland – $183 7
3/Clark Gable-$176.6
4/Tyrone Power -$166.8
5/Tom Cruise – $165.3
6/Bing Crosby -$163.3
7/Tom Hanks – $161.2
8/Spencer Tracy -$155.6
9/Marlon Brando -$152.2
10/Fred Astaire – $147.7
11/Gregory Peck -$146.3
12/Leo DiCaprio – $145.7
13/Gary Cooper – $145.3
14/Cary Grant – $143.7
15/Liz Taylor – $143.3
By my calculations Judy is obviously the female with the highest average gross among the 50 stars listed, which pleases me enormously because medical problems undoubtedly reduced the number of films she could ultimately make. Lowest average grossing female is Meryl Streep [$71.8 million]. Lowest average grossing star OVERALL is DeNiro [$59.3 million] with sadly from my viewpoint Sir Maurice Micklewhite 2nd with $65.3. I think though Sir M made the most movies [98] among the 50 stars on the table Anyway “Voted Up!” Plus.
Bob, you might be happy to note Joan Crawford has the 4th biggest box office for an actress on Bruce’s chart on this page. Beating her rival Bette Davis, and Katharine Hepburn too.
Hmmm Hepburn has appeared in quite a few crowd pleasers in her time. I find it hard to believe drama queen Crawford (and Bette) was bigger box office. Something went awry here. Doris Day was a big draw too.
Hey Steve….Hepburn made about half the movies that Joan did….so when looking at Crawford’s totals the career total is bigger….but when looking at the average gross per movie….the Great Kate destroys Loy and Crawford.
As for Joan and Bette..yet another example of how these actresses always get put in the same category…we have almost the same exact amount of movies for both…79 for Joan 80 for Bette…..their average gross is 85 million to 80 million….with Joan having the edge….both are all-time greats.
My “my project” is taking up all of my time these days…but luckily I see the end coming…..it is something completely new for UMR. As always thanks for the feedback.
Interesting list of box office giants, John Wayne at the top, no arguements there.
Charlton Heston 13th, beaten by Fred MacMurray?
Myrna Loy no.1 actress, well she was the leading lady in most of the films she was in so it makes sense, plus she was already labeled box office queen decades ago.. [Bob snarls]
Tom Cruise is a lot lower than expected but there are some heavy hitters above him.
Hey Steve. Glad you like this list….it is a fun one to look at. There is a company list to this one….and Samuel L. Jackson sits on top….with Wayne in 2nd place…..but that is another story.
Fred made a lot more movies than Mr. Heston did….so Fred gets the edge on the list….but Chuck was way more of a star than Fred.
As for Loy….like Fred….she is so high up due to the amount of movies she made….and yes some were supporting….but here awesome 10 year run as the most popular actress working got here on the list…….though some will argue she does not belong on the list.
As for Tom …..great per average gross….but such a small amount of movies compared to some of these Hollywood legends…Tom’s total movies has not even reached 50 yet….and that is with almost 40 years of movie making…..back in the day…a star would make 40 to 50 movies a decade.
Good stuff.
Fascinating look at the top 50 Career Adjusted Box Office quotes. Glad to see plenty of my favourites on the list like Clark Gable, James Stewart, Gregory Peck, Myra Loy, Frank Sinatra, Humphrey Bogart, Henry Fonda, Judy Garland and Steve McQueen among other favourites on the list.
Interesting that Myrna Loy is the highest ranking female at number 9. I counted 10 females on this list.
Hey Flora…I like looking at the list too. Maybe Bob will not notice M. Loy’s position in the rankings….lol. 20% are actresses?…..good stat. Wayne’s massive movie total helped him top the charts…but he is not alone….as Bogart, Caine, Stewart and others brought 70 plus movies to the party…lol. Thanks for stopping by.
Interesting. Took me a minute to realize how big these numbers are. No Samuel L. Jackson? Makes me wonder what this future project is.
Hey In The Shadows….for this list and for the “project” supporting actors like Samuel L. Jackson were excluded. As for the future project….it is something I have been thinking about for a few years now…..I will give details when it is completed. Thanks for the feedback.