Dana Carvey?
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.
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 ^^^
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.
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.
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.