What A-list celebrities would the U.S. have left if California was thoroughly destroyed tomorrow?

[drastic_quench]

I was reading this thread in which a few biblical-scale disasters were mentioned, http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/...d.php?t=652683, and I wondered, what A-list celebrities would the U.S. have left if California was thoroughly destroyed tomorrow? Surely some are taping in New York or filming in British Columbia. But real A-list, like your mom knows who they are, who's left?

[Fear Itself]

Woodie Allen.

[Shagnasty]

This is kind of a tricky question. Many A-list celebrities have more than one home and lots of them live outside of California at least part of the time even if they have a house here. Sandra Bullock (I don't know if she is still a A-list celebrity) lives or lived in New Orleans. Nicolas Cage does too. There are a bunch of them them like Reese Witherspoon that live in New York. Miami has a bunch of them. Boston has a few as well. California certainly has a lot of them it isn't like they all live there most of the time.

[Nunzio Tavulari]

Donald Trump

[Kobal2]

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

They're the only ones you really need anyway.

[Sampiro]

Doesn't George Clooney live in Italy when he's not shooting?

Johnny Depp lives in France most of the year.

[Stratocaster]

Fred Flintstone. Wait, Bedrock isn't in California, right?

[Rico]

Originally Posted by Stratocaster

Fred Flintstone. Wait, Bedrock isn't in California, right?

Yes, it is.

[guizot]

Originally Posted by Shagnasty

This is kind of a tricky question. . .

It also belies a common presumption: Why is it always California that gets destroyed? Why not Idaho? Or Rhode Island? How many A-list celebrities would the U.S. have left if Rhode Island was thoroughly destroyed next Tuesday?

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by Shagnasty

This is kind of a tricky question. Many A-list celebrities have more than one home and lots of them live outside of California at least part of the time even if they have a house here. Sandra Bullock (I don't know if she is still a A-list celebrity) lives or lived in New Orleans. Nicolas Cage does too. There are a bunch of them them like Reese Witherspoon that live in New York. Miami has a bunch of them. Boston has a few as well. California certainly has a lot of them it isn't like they all live there most of the time.

Harrison Ford lives at his ranch in Wyoming. I think there are some other celebrities living in this area as well.

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by guizot

How many A-list celebrities would the U.S. have left if Rhode Island was thoroughly destroyed next Tuesday?

No! Not Quagmire!

[LurkerInNJ]

Connecticut, New Jersey and New York are full of celebrities. Celebrities also live outside the USA.

[drastic_quench]

Yeah, there are lots of potential responses, but I'm not asking for an exhaustive list.

[Biggirl]

Sarah Jessica Parker and her husband live in Manhattan. Michelle Williams, Spike Lee and Kathleen Turner live in Brooklyn.

[Kobal2]

Originally Posted by guizot

It also belies a common presumption: Why is it always California that gets destroyed? Why not Idaho? Or Rhode Island? How many A-list celebrities would the U.S. have left if Rhode Island was thoroughly destroyed next Tuesday?

Well, hopefully the disintegration ray hits whichever unmentioned US State while the Game of Thrones guys are shooting in Iceland. That waywe at least still have... the Jon Snow storyline... FUCK !

[SmartAleq]

Gus Van Sant -- Portland OR

[silenus]

By definition, anyone living outside LA isn't A-list.

[Biggirl]

Originally Posted by silenus

By definition, anyone living outside LA isn't A-list.

Huh?

[Equipoise]

Meryl Streep lives in NY and she's about as A-list as you can get. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie live in New Orleans but they're often filming elsewhere, and usually not in LA. The UK is full of A-listers, as is Europe. Russell Crowe lives in Australia. Nicole Kidman lives in Nashville. Sissy Spacek lives in Virginia. Julia Roberts lives in New Mexico.

The question might be, what A-listers still live in California full-time (though they might have getaway houses elsewhere)?

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by silenus

By definition, anyone living outside LA isn't A-list.

I disagree. A-list people can live wherever they want to. People making movies will seek them out.

It's people who aren't on the A-list who have to stay in town and keep themselves readily available.

[MPB in Salt Lake]

I can't speak for any of the other actors or actresses mentioned so far, but while Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie do indeed own a home in New Orleans, they typically spend less than 1 month a year in that city, (at the very most) and no more "live there" than I do.

Nicholas Cage's New Orleans home was either lost to foreclosure or sold for a huge monetary loss, (don't remember the details) and like Pitt & Jolie, he was no more of a resident of the Crescent City than anyone else who visits that city a couple of times per year.

Just because a celebrity (or anyone else for that matter) owns property somewhere that they might spend a few weeks at every once in a while doesn't translate in any meaningful way to them actually living there, unless the definition is so stretched to lose all practical meaning.

[Krokodil]

Lots of music celebs in Miami, Nashville and New Orleans.

A loss of California would bump several SNL cast/alumni up to the A-list.

[notfrommensa]

Since we have

David Letterman
Tim Tebow

Who else do we need?

[LurkerInNJ]

Originally Posted by silenus

By definition, anyone living outside LA isn't A-list.

Don't get out much, huh? lol

Meryl Streep lives in both Connecticut and NYC, as do Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick. Ditto for Glenn Close. Julianne Morre, Gwynth Paltrow, Susan Sarandon and Edie Falco all live in NYC.

[LurkerInNJ]

Originally Posted by silenus

By definition, anyone living outside LA isn't A-list.

Don't get out much, huh? lol

Meryl Streep lives in both Connecticut and NYC, as do Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick. Ditto for Glenn Close. Julianne Morre, Gwynth Paltrow, Susan Sarandon and Edie Falco all live in NYC.

[jz78817]

What A-list celebrities would the U.S. have left if California was thoroughly destroyed tomorrow?

Still too many of them.

[NDP]

Originally Posted by LurkerInNJ

Don't get out much, huh? lol

Meryl Streep lives in both Connecticut and NYC, as do Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick. Ditto for Glenn Close.

And David Letterman.

[Equipoise]

Originally Posted by jz78817

Still too many of them.

You would wish death on all the people mentioned in this thread who don't live in LA? What the hell do you have against Meryl Streep? Sissy Spacek? Nicole Kidman?

[fiddlesticks]

The Cannes Film Festival and the Monaco Grand Prix are going on this weekend, a bunch would be safe from the Great California Annihilation in the South of France.

[Quercus alba]

Snooki

[not what you'd expect]

Deniro lives in New York too. Is he still A-list?

[JuliaSqueezer]

Don't know if he's considered A-list, but I appreciate him: Jeff Daniels. Lives in Chelsea, Michigan.

[Equipoise]

Originally Posted by not what you'd expect

Deniro lives in New York too. Is he still A-list?

Robert De Niro will always be A-list. He's one of a handful of actors who will die on the A-list. Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Daniel Day Lewis among them.

Jeff Daniels is solid B, B+ list.

Snooki is nowhere near A-list and never ever ever will be. D, at best.

[Toxgoddess]

Slight hijack: Is there an actual "A List" or is it just a figure of speech, shorthand for most accomplishdled or popular actors? If so, who compiles it?

[postcards]

Originally Posted by Equipoise

Snooki is nowhere near A-list and never ever ever will be. D, at best.

More like double D.

Alec Baldwin lives in Manhattan and Amagansett, LI.

[Kolak of Twilo]

Tina Fey lives in NYC.

[JRDelirious]

However a lot of the entertainment A-listers may become temporarily unemployed A-listers if Cali gets entirely obliterated, until the industry regroups. (SNL did a sketch on that once... the last thing to be heard from California was Charlton Heston on his cel phone floating away on top of his car, telling other survivors to keep their stinking hands off him...)

OTOH the IT world would take a severe hit with the HQ of HP, Xerox, Apple, Pixar and others of the like getting it, and some of those execs are probably A-listers themselves...

[Equipoise]

postcards, I was going to say it, but changed my mind at the last minute. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Toxgoddess

Slight hijack: Is there an actual "A List" or is it just a figure of speech, shorthand for most accomplished or popular actors? If so, who compiles it?

I first remember reading about the "lists" in Premiere magazine many years ago. It's an informal list, not really compiled by anybody in particular. IIRC it started as a party guest list thing. Who would you most want at your party if you were hosting a Hollywood party? Obviously there are some people who would prefer Snooki and Lindsey Lohan rather than Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep at their party, but those types of people (the ones who would prefer low-class celebrities) are likely to be low on the list themselves.

Now, besides guest lists, it's an indication of how much influence the celebrity has, as well as accomplished and popular. Not always, but usually.

It can be a nebulous and fluid list. Hot celebrities can be A-list for awhile, then drop down, then spring back up. I'd imagine Robert Downey Jr. has experienced every letter of the alphabet. He's solidly A-list now and will stay there as long as he keeps away from the drugs and alcohol.

Originally Posted by JRDelirious

OTOH the IT world would take a severe hit with the HQ of HP, Xerox, Apple, Pixar and others of the like getting it, and some of those execs are probably A-listers themselves...

Yep. It doesn't always have to be "everybody-knows-their-name" celebrities. Top executives, CEOs, directors, and producers, to name other occupations, can be just as A-list as famous actors.

[Equipoise]

Ah, I should have looked on Wikipedia before answering blindly.

A-list is a term that alludes to major movie stars, or the most bankable in the Hollywood film industry.

The A-list is part of a larger guide called The Hot List that has become an industry-standard guide in Hollywood. James Ulmer has also developed a Hot List of directors.

It includes the "Ulmer scale" definition,

Developed in 1997 by entertainment journalist James Ulmer, the Ulmer Scale is a 100-point rating that aims to quantify a star's value to a film production.[2] The scale predicts value in terms of getting a movie financed and in production based solely on an actor's attachment to the project; score is based on their historical box office success, versatility, professional demeanor, and ability and willingness to travel and promote movies.


...

as well as the popular usage definition.

In popular usage outside the film industry, an "A-list celebrity" simply refers to any person with an admired or desirable social status.[4] In recent times, the term has given rise to any person, regardless of profession, in the limelight.

...

I do not agree that the Kardashians and Paris Hilton are A-list, but if they are, then I guess Snooki is too. This thread has just turned sour for me. Those no-talent people, on the same level as De Niro, Streep, Pacino, Nicholson, etc.? Ugh. No. Just...no. The low-lifes have poisoned everything.

[Raskolnikov]

Originally Posted by NDP

And David Letterman.

no, he lives in NY state now, not CT (in addition to having an apt. in NYC)