# Bakers Dozen **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [August 4, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173 "2010-08-04T17:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 510
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10182 "2012-03-23T04:19:51Z")
Box office superstars before the era of film (any era, any place) 1. Sarah Bernhardt 2. Jenny Lind 3. [Le Pétomane](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A9tomane) 4. Lillian Russell 5. Edmund Kean 6. Edwin Booth 7. Lillie Langtry ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10183 "2012-03-23T04:43:52Z")
Box office superstars before the era of film (any era, any place) 1. Sarah Bernhardt 2. Jenny Lind 3. Le Pétomane 4. Lillian Russell 5. Edmund Kean 6. Edwin Booth 7. Lillie Langtry 8. George Grossmith ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10184 "2012-03-23T05:23:12Z")
Box office superstars before the era of film (any era, any place) 1. Sarah Bernhardt 2. Jenny Lind 3. Le Pétomane 4. Lillian Russell 5. Edmund Kean 6. Edwin Booth 7. Lillie Langtry 8. George Grossmith 9. Niccolò Paganini ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10185 "2012-03-23T05:26:56Z")
Box office superstars before the era of film (any era, any place) 1. Sarah Bernhardt 2. Jenny Lind 3. Le Pétomane 4. Lillian Russell 5. Edmund Kean 6. Edwin Booth 7. Lillie Langtry 8. George Grossmith 9. Niccolò Paganini 10. Harry Houdini ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10186 "2012-03-23T15:13:48Z")
Box office superstars before the era of film (any era, any place) 1. Sarah Bernhardt 2. Jenny Lind 3. Le Pétomane 4. Lillian Russell 5. Edmund Kean 6. Edwin Booth 7. Lillie Langtry 8. George Grossmith 9. Niccolò Paganini 10. Harry Houdini 11. Franz Liszt In addition to composing, he sold out the biggest music houses in Europe as a performer. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10187 "2012-03-23T16:14:33Z")
Box office superstars before the era of film (any era, any place) 1. Sarah Bernhardt 2. Jenny Lind 3. Le Pétomane 4. Lillian Russell 5. Edmund Kean 6. Edwin Booth 7. Lillie Langtry 8. George Grossmith 9. Niccolò Paganini 10. Harry Houdini 11. Franz Liszt 12. Sarasate Sherlock Holmes was a fan: [Pablo de Sarasate - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarasate) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10188 "2012-03-23T16:37:08Z")
Box office superstars before the era of film (any era, any place) 1. Sarah Bernhardt 2. Jenny Lind 3. Le Pétomane 4. Lillian Russell 5. Edmund Kean 6. Edwin Booth 7. Lillie Langtry 8. George Grossmith 9. Niccolò Paganini 10. Harry Houdini 11. Franz Liszt 12. Sarasate 13. Buffalo Bill Cody New category: Celebrity Scientologists 1. Jason Lee ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10189 "2012-03-23T16:40:30Z")
Celebrity Scientologists 1. Jason Lee 2. Tom Cruise ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10190 "2012-03-23T16:49:53Z")
Celebrity Scientologists 1. Jason Lee 2. Tom Cruise 3. John Travolta ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10191 "2012-03-23T17:01:33Z")
Celebrity Scientologists 1. Jason Lee 2. Tom Cruise 3. John Travolta 4. Nicole Kidman For awhile, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10192 "2012-03-23T17:37:23Z")
Celebrity Scientologists 1. Jason Lee 2. Tom Cruise 3. John Travolta 4. Nicole Kidman 5. Kirstie Alley ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10193 "2012-03-23T19:58:05Z")
Celebrity Scientologists 1. Jason Lee 2. Tom Cruise 3. John Travolta 4. Nicole Kidman 5. Kirstie Alley 6. Nancy Cartwright ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10194 "2012-03-23T20:08:41Z")
Celebrity Scientologists 1. Jason Lee 2. Tom Cruise 3. John Travolta 4. Nicole Kidman 5. Kirstie Alley 6. Nancy Cartwright 7. Isaac Hayes ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10195 "2012-03-24T00:24:35Z")
Celebrity Scientologists 1. Jason Lee 2. Tom Cruise 3. John Travolta 4. Nicole Kidman 5. Kirstie Alley 6. Nancy Cartwright 7. Isaac Hayes 8. Laura Prepon ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10196 "2012-03-24T00:27:39Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > 1. Nicole Kidman > > For awhile, anyway. I thought that was one of the reasons she and Tom Cruise got divorced. Kidman’s a Catholic and wouldn’t convert to Scientology. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10197 "2012-03-24T04:03:10Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I thought that was one of the reasons she and Tom Cruise got divorced. Kidman’s a Catholic and wouldn’t convert to Scientology. I thought she did, but then dropped it when they divorced. Take this FWIW: [http://www.primechoice.com/philosophy/shelp/cruise.htm](http://www.primechoice.com/philosophy/shelp/cruise.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10198 "2012-03-24T05:00:50Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I thought she did, but then dropped it when they divorced. Nothing I love more than a chance to spread unsubstantiated rumors about celebrities. The supposed story is that the Cruise-Kidman marriage was essentially a fake. It was set up to squash rumors that Cruise is gay. Kidman agreed in order to advance her career (she was a pretty minor star in 1990). Part of the deal was that Kidman had to pretend, at least in public, that she was a Scientologist. ---
**Author:** ![JessMagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@JessMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessMagic)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10199 "2012-03-24T07:44:20Z")
Celebrity Scientologists 1. Jason Lee 2. Tom Cruise 3. John Travolta 4. Nicole Kidman 5. Kirstie Alley 6. Nancy Cartwright 7. Isaac Hayes 8. Laura Prepon 9. Beck ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10200 "2012-03-24T09:24:26Z")
Celebrity Scientologists 1. Jason Lee 2. Tom Cruise 3. John Travolta 4. Nicole Kidman 5. Kirstie Alley 6. Nancy Cartwright 7. Isaac Hayes 8. Laura Prepon 9. Beck 10. Greta Van Susteren ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/10201 "2012-03-24T14:53:16Z")
Celebrity Scientologists 1. Jason Lee 2. Tom Cruise 3. John Travolta 4. Nicole Kidman 5. Kirstie Alley 6. Nancy Cartwright 7. Isaac Hayes 8. Laura Prepon 9. Beck 10. Greta Van Susteren 11. Karen Black I’m going old-school. Yes, there was a time back in the seventies - before Travolta and Cruise - when Black was the Scientologist celebrity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173.md?page=509) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173.md?page=511)