Top 10 perennials in Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes and personalities
Top 10 perennials in Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes and personalities
The stars of Hollywood commandeer the headlines and command the biggest bucks. Some, like Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, are Top Ten perennials in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes and personalities. This year the third Pirates of the Caribbean film let Johnny Depp bank more in a single year than almost any film actor in Tinseltown history. And Jay-Z, the rapper turned record exec, rejoined the top of the music charts. The view from on high? Green, of course.
#1 Oprah Winfrey
The media queen is poised to conquer prime time this fall with two reality shows for ABC. For those keeping score, the Oprah empire already includes a blockbuster daytime talk show, satellite radio show, magazine and Broadway musical (’The Color Purple’). Oprah also owns stakes in hit talk shows by protégé Dr. Phil McGraw and Rachael Ray. In January, the nation’s richest African American, worth an estimated $1.5 billion, realized a long-held dream when she opened the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.
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#2 Tiger Woods
Woods is the first athlete in history to bank $100 million in a year, thanks in part to a raise he finagled out of long-time endorser Nike. (The sneaker giant’s Tiger-oriented golf division is now a $600 million-a-year business.) He also signed a new deal with Gillette and upped his usual lucrative overseas playing gigs, where he can command, on average, $3 million a pop. Wife Elin is pregnant with the couple’s first child, due this summer.
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#3 Madonna
Madonna crisscrossed the globe last year for her tour, ‘Confessions,’ which drew over 1 million fans and grossed $194 million, making it the top-earning tour by a female artist in history. NBC cut the Material Girl a hefty check to broadcast the ‘Confessions’ tour live last November, though ratings proved disappointing. In March, the always-fashion-forward singer linked up with retailer H&M for her own clothing line, M. (Rhinestones a-plenty, but no cone bras.) Generated a maelstrom of negative publicity last year for her adoption of a baby in Malawi.
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#4 Rolling Stones
Still gathering no moss, the Stones had the highest-grossing tour in North America last year, bringing in $139 million. They doubled that abroad. The ‘Bigger Bang’ tour, which kicked off back in 2005, has grossed $437 million to date, making it the top-generating tour in history. This time around, Keith Richards, not Mick Jagger, dominated headlines thanks to his star turn in the recent Pirates of the Caribbean sequel, in addition to comments made this spring that he once snorted his father’s ashes. (He later recanted.)
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#5 Brad Pitt
The hunky actor monopolized headlines for the last year thanks his new role as proud papa with stunning partner Angelina Jolie. She gave birth to their daughter last May; 10 months later, the pair adopted a Vietnamese boy. Earlier this year, the brood relocated to New Orleans—paparazzi in tow—where Pitt was filming The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This summer, he stars opposite pal George Clooney in Ocean’s 13, followed by this fall’s The Assassination of Jesse James, alongside Ocean’s co-star Casey Affleck.
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#6 Johnny Depp
Never before has a Keith Richards impersonation proved this lucrative. Last summer’s Pirates sequel, Dead Man’s Chest, was the third-highest-grossing film ever, with $1.1 billion worldwide at the box office. Depp’s payout: over $60 million. Next year should prove equally profitable for the low-key actor. The third Pirates sequel, At World’s End, is on its way to at least match its predecessor, having banked $344 million in its opening weekend. Next up: starring role as the blood-thirsty butcher in this winter’s film adaptation of Sweeney Todd.
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#7 Elton John
Between performances of his appropriately flamboyant Las Vegas show, ‘The Red Piano,’ Elton John grossed over $60 million in tickets for worldwide shows. This year, he celebrated his 60th birthday with his 60th concert at Madison Square Garden, a sold-out affair that drew A-listers like Bill Clinton, Jon Bon Jovi and Sharon Stone. Theatergoers still snap up tickets to hear his music in Aida, Billy Elliot and The Lion King. John’s latest release, Rocket Man: Number Ones, debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard charts in April, selling 50,000 copies in its first week.
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#8 Tom Cruise
After being dumped by Paramount last summer, Cruise, who topped last year’s Celebrity 100, plotted his comeback (with longtime producing partner Paula Wagner) as head of United Artists, the moribund studio under MGM. UA’s lineup: Lions for Lambs, directed by Robert Redford, for release this winter; Valkyrie, a World War II thriller, in production now. Cruise stars in both. Word is he’ll join comedy kingpin Ben Stiller in Hardy Men, a send-up of the Hardy Boys series. On the personal front, Cruise enjoyed a decidedly quiet year with his wife, actress Katie Holmes, and their toddler Suri.
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#9 Jay-Z
While most of us pine for retirement, the native New Yorker couldn’t stand the view from the sidelines following his 2003 farewell Black Album. Despite a busy schedule as chief of Def Jam, his comeback album, Kingdom Come, debuted at the top of Billboard’s pop and rap charts. Owns a small stake in the New Jersey Nets, plus two locations of his 40/40 clubhouse. In March, he sold his Rocawear apparel label to Iconix for $204 million. Did we mention Beyonce?
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#10 Steven Spielberg
Produced Clint Eastwood’s World War II epics last year, Letters From Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers. The critical hits performed only modestly at the box office, grossing a combined $173 million worldwide. Spielberg’s big take on movie grosses (reportedly up to 50%) insures success with nearly every project he works on. Not that he shouldn’t make a mint off his next films—sequels to Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park. He’s also developing three games for Electronic Arts, and co-produced On the Lot, a reality filmmaking show, with Mark Burnett (Survivor).
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Top 10 perennials in Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes and personalities
The stars of Hollywood commandeer the headlines and command the biggest bucks. Some, like Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, are Top Ten perennials in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes and personalities. This year the third Pirates of the Caribbean film let Johnny Depp bank more in a single year than almost any film actor in Tinseltown history. And Jay-Z, the rapper turned record exec, rejoined the top of the music charts. The view from on high? Green, of course.
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptWife Elin is pregnant with the couple’s first child, due this summer. More on Tiger Woods. #3 Madonna Madonna crisscrossed the globe last year for her tour, ‘Confessions,’ which drew over 1 million fans and grossed $194 million, … [...]
[...] Iflove Entertainment TV wrote an interesting post today on Top 10 perennials in Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes …Here’s a quick excerptMadonna crisscrossed the globe last year for her tour, ‘Confessions,’ which drew over 1 million fans and grossed $194 million, making it the top-earning tour by a female artist in history. NBC cut the Material Girl a hefty check to … [...]
[...] Top 10 perennials in Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes …The hunky actor monopolized headlines for the last year thanks his new role as proud papa with stunning partner Angelina Jolie. She gave birth to their daughter last May; 10 months later, the pair adopted a Vietnamese boy. … [...]
[...] Top 10 perennials in Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes …Some, like Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, are Top Ten perennials in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes and personalities. This year the third Pirates of the Caribbean film let Johnny Depp bank more in a single year … [...]
[...] Top 10 perennials in Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes …And Jay-Z, the rapper turned record exec, rejoined the top of the music charts. The view from on high? Green, of course. Tags: Celebrities Contacts, celebrity gossips, Contact Celebrities, Forbes Celebrity 100 … [...]
[...] Top 10 perennials in Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes …Some, like Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, are Top Ten perennials in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes and personalities. This year the third Pirates of the Caribbean film let Johnny Depp bank more in a single year … [...]
[...] Top 10 perennials in Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes …Some, like Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, are Top Ten perennials in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes and personalities. This year the third Pirates of the Caribbean film let Johnny Depp bank more in a single year … [...]
[...] Top 10 perennials in Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes …Some, like Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, are Top Ten perennials in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes and personalities. This year the third Pirates of the Caribbean film let Johnny Depp bank more in a single year … [...]
[...] Top 10 perennials in Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes …Some, like Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, are Top Ten perennials in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes and personalities. This year the third Pirates of the Caribbean film let Johnny Depp bank more in a single year … [...]
[...] Top 10 perennials in Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes …Some, like Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, are Top Ten perennials in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes and personalities. This year the third Pirates of the Caribbean film let Johnny Depp bank more in a single year … [...]
[...] Top 10 perennials in Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes …The hunky actor monopolized headlines for the last year thanks his new role as proud papa with stunning partner Angelina Jolie. She gave birth to their daughter last May; 10 months later, the pair adopted a Vietnamese boy. … [...]
[...] Top 10 perennials in Forbes Celebrity 100 list of actors, athletes …The hunky actor monopolized headlines for the last year thanks his new role as proud papa with stunning partner Angelina Jolie. She gave birth to their daughter last May; 10 months later, the pair adopted a Vietnamese boy. … [...]