# "A List" Celebs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 4, 2007, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-celebs/414466 "2007-08-04T23:59:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-celebs/414466/21 "2007-08-05T04:18:00Z")
Dana Carvey? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-celebs/414466/22 "2007-08-05T04:18:52Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Richard Gere would, I think – he’s still making some fairly major pix. (Plus I’d do him in a hearbeat.) [/QUOTE] If that were the case, then Jenna Jameson and/or Jenny McCarthy would be A-Listers in my mind. Also, with that rationale, two B-Listers would then make an A-Lister, because…well..they’d be all hot and stuff together. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-celebs/414466/23 "2007-08-05T04:20:56Z")
Yes, Dana Carvey was the guy. In case this went over heads, they used to do a skit were he was ran a club and celebs came in. A-Listers were invited in: “Jack Nicholson, you BIG BIG STAR! Go right in,” while others were evaluated on their most recent efforts and given locations suitable to their careers. B-Listers could “Wait at the bar.” Others were just thrown out if I remember correctly. Sir Rhosis EDIT: To remove ^^^ ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-celebs/414466/24 "2007-08-05T04:45:27Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] What is A-List? I’m thinking it means someone who, if you were in the same room with them, you’d be (damn close to literally) awe-struck. So – anyone who’s currently in the tabloids more than they’re onscreen, no. (Disqualifying Brad and Angelina? not sure – but the whole “seen her cooch” crowd is out.) George Clooney, fer sher. [/QUOTE] This is just my understanding but I think the term “A-List” came from casting movies. Whenever a studio or major producer was organizing a project, they’d have a list (either mentally or in writing) of which actors, actresses, and directors they’d pick first for it. Often, these people were the ones who were just coming off a successful movie (or movies) and were viewed as having the ability to “open” a film. This list of first choices came be know as “the A-list.” After that, the studios and producers had a list of second choices who they would pick if their first choices were unavailable or if they turned them down–“the B-list.” Then, of course, there would be “the C-list”, “the D-list”, and so on. Hollywood gossip-mongers soon seized on the terminology and used it to set up a celebrity pecking order. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-celebs/414466/25 "2007-08-05T12:54:48Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] No offense taken – I was throwing her in because she’s been married to Paul Newman forever. Please please please don’t tell me you don’t know who Paul Newman is. [/QUOTE] Of course I know who Paul Newman is. The Hustler has been on my list of movies to watch forever, I’ve just never gotten around to it. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-celebs/414466/26 "2007-08-05T14:02:47Z")
I think “A List” was first used in more a social than a professional sense – people whose appearance at your party proved you were a powerful hostess. (Someone better than I at researching Hollywood history will have to confirm this, I have no idea which cranny of my trivia-stuffed brain this comes from.) So if this is the case, A-list would be people not only of proven star quality in terms of their revenue-generating history, but also people with a certain reticence and class in terms of their discrimination in accepting invitations. Eva Longoria has proven that she will show up at the opening of a deli counter in a supermarket if there are enough cameras around – the stars I mentioned in the OP – Paul Newman, Tom Hanks – have that kind of class and exclusivity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-celebs/414466.md?page=1)