Article
20th Century Box-Office Champs
Written by Patrick
First Posted: January 27th, 2002
Every year since 1933 Quigley Publishing has polled more than 500 theatre owners nationwide in order to rank the top ten box-office stars. I have taken their lists and ranked the stars by decade, by awarding points on a descending scale of ten. In other words a star receives 10 points when ranked number one and one point when ranked number ten and so on for the in-between positions. I have also included a ranking of the most enduring stars of the Twentieth Century based on how many years they made the list. Ties were broken by which star had the greater span of years between first and last appearance.
1930s
- Clark Gable
- Shirley Temple
- Will Rogers
- Robert Taylor
- Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers
- Mickey Rooney
- Janet Gaynor
- Wallace Beery
- Joan Crawford
- Spencer Tracy
1940s
- Bing Crosby
- Bob Hope
- Gary Cooper
- Betty Grable
- Abbott & Costello
- Clark Gable
- Humphrey Bogart
- Mickey Rooney
- Spencer Tracy
- Greer Garson
1950s
- John Wayne
- Jerry Lewis
- James Stewart
- Dean Martin
- Gary Cooper
- William Holden
- Bing Crosby
- Rock Hudson
- Bob Hope
- Glenn Ford
1960s
- John Wayne
- Doris Day
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Rock Hudson
- Cary Grant
- Jack Lemmon
- Julie Andrews
- Paul Newman
- Sean Connery
- Elvis Presley
1970s
- Clint Eastwood
- Burt Reynolds
- Barbra Streisand
- Robert Redford
- Paul Newman
- Steve McQueen
- John Wayne
- Woody Allen
- Dustin Hoffman
- Al Pacino
1980s
- Clint Eastwood
- Eddie Murphy
- Burt Reynolds
- Tom Cruise
- Sylvester Stallone
- Harrison Ford
- Michael J. Fox
- Paul Hogan
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Michael Douglas
1990s
- Tom Cruise
- Mel Gibson
- Tom Hanks
- Julia Roberts
- Robin Williams
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Harrison Ford
- Kevin Costner
- Jim Carrey
- Bruce Willis
|
Number of years on list
|
First & last year
|
Highest rank
|
|
|
1) John Wayne
|
25
|
1949-1974
|
1 (4)
|
|
2) Clint Eastwood
|
21
|
1968-1993
|
1 (5)
|
|
3) Gary Cooper
|
18
|
1936-1957
|
1 (1)
|
|
4) Bing Crosby
|
15
|
1934-1954
|
1 (5)
|
|
5) Clark Gable
|
15
|
1933-1955
|
2
|
|
6) Paul Newman
|
14
|
1963-1986
|
1 (2)
|
|
7) Jerry Lewis
|
13
|
1951-1964
|
1 (1)
|
|
8) Bob Hope
|
13
|
1941-1953
|
1 (1)
|
|
9) Tom Cruise
|
12
|
1983-1999
|
1 (4)
|
|
10) Burt Reynolds
|
12
|
1973-1984
|
1 (5)
|
|
11) Cary Grant
|
11
|
1944-1966
|
2
|
|
12) Harrison Ford
|
11
|
1981-1997
|
1 (1)
|
|
13) Doris Day
|
10
|
1951-1966
|
1 (4)
|
|
14) James Stewart
|
10
|
1950-1965
|
1 (1)
|
|
15) Spencer Tracy
|
10
|
1938-1951
|
2
|
|
16) Mel Gibson
|
10
|
1987-1999
|
1 (1)
|
|
17) Barbra Streisand
|
10
|
1969-1980
|
2
|
|
18) Betty Grable
|
10
|
1942-1951
|
1 (1)
|
|
19) Dustin Hoffman
|
9
|
1969-1991
|
3
|
|
20) Elizabeth Taylor
|
9
|
1958-1968
|
1 (1)
|
|
21) Robin Williams
|
9
|
1988-1998
|
3
|
|
22) Steve McQueen
|
9
|
1967-1975
|
3
|
|
23) Dean Martin
|
8
|
1951-1968
|
1 (1)
|
|
24) Eddie Murphy
|
8
|
1983-1998
|
1 (1)
|
|
25) Humphrey Bogart
|
8
|
1943-1955
|
5
|
|
26) Abbott & Costello
|
8
|
1941-1951
|
1 (1)
|
|
27) Jack Lemmon
|
8
|
1960-1970
|
2
|
|
28) Rock Hudson
|
8
|
1957-1964
|
1(2)
|
|
29) Sean Connery
|
7
|
1965-1996
|
1 (1)
|
Sean Connery, though only on the list seven times has the distinction of the longest span of years, 31. He is also, along with John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Dustin Hoffman the only star to make the list in four different decades.