# Highest Grossing Actor of All Time! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 16, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964 "2011-03-16T21:11:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/1 "2011-03-16T21:11:08Z")
I’m guessing it would be Alan Rickman or John Ratzenberger. No, really. Follow with me here. Rickman has been in every Harry Potter movie, plus a few others that made money (Die Hard, Robin Hood, etc) while Ratzenberger has been in every singe Pixar movie to date (and has a part in, at least, the next one coming out: Cars 2). So I think it’s close: US totals, I think, would favor Ratzenberger and Worldwide totals would favor Rickman. I think. I’m really too lazy to figure it all out. Any other actors you can think of that even come close to these two? (and even if someone was in both Titanic and Avatar, I don’t think they’d be close to these two guys) ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/2 "2011-03-16T21:12:17Z")
> [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](#): > > I’m guessing it would be Alan Rickman or John Ratzenberger. > > No, really. Follow with me here. Rickman has been in every Harry Potter movie, plus a few others that made money (Die Hard, Robin Hood, etc) while Ratzenberger has been in every singe Pixar movie to date (and has a part in, at least, the next one coming out: Cars 2). > > So I think it’s close: US totals, I think, would favor Ratzenberger and Worldwide totals would favor Rickman. I think. I’m really too lazy to figure it all out. > > Any other actors you can think of that even come close to these two? > > (and even if someone was in both Titanic and Avatar, I don’t think they’d be close to these two guys) Actually, it’s [Frank Welker](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Welker). Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/3 "2011-03-16T21:21:55Z")
Harris Glenn Milstead, surely. ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/4 "2011-03-16T21:24:36Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > Actually, it’s [Frank Welker](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Welker). > > Zev Steinhardt I’ve got to believe they’re throwing TV numbers into that somehow, which I don’t want. Just movies. And Samuel Jackson at number two?!? I’m thinking they need to update their numbers. I’m not buying it. He was only in, what, three Star Wars movies (as his big money movies)? And…The Incredibles…almost forgot about that one. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/5 "2011-03-16T21:26:03Z")
Here’s the Top 10: ```auto Name Movies Total Box Office Average 1 Frank Welker 93 $5,724,519,102 $61,553,969 2 Samuel L. Jackson 82 $4,911,613,885 $59,897,730 3 Tom Hanks 43 $4,408,353,320 $102,519,845 4 John Ratzenberger 31 $3,722,836,596 $120,091,503 5 Eddie Murphy 36 $3,710,539,654 $103,070,546 6 Harrison Ford 40 $3,685,688,633 $92,142,216 7 Tom Cruise 35 $3,354,684,263 $95,848,122 8 Jack Angel 28 $3,317,891,129 $118,496,112 9 Morgan Freeman 51 $3,266,186,791 $64,042,878 10 Robin Williams 58 $3,234,364,996 $55,764,914 ``` Your guess of Ratzinberger wasn’t bad (he’s #4). Rickman is on [the list](http://www.the-numbers.com/people/records/) at #15. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/6 "2011-03-16T21:26:14Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Harris Glenn Milstead, surely. Divine? I don’t get it… ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/7 "2011-03-16T21:27:15Z")
Warwick Davis would probably be on the short list (no pun intended). He’s been in the Harry Potter movies, at least a couple of the Star Wars movies, and some other big budget productions. If Christopher Lee’s post 2000 work only were counted he’d be on the list, but he’s done so many hundreds of low-budget/low-gross projects in the past it would take him way down. ETA: Warwick Davis is #13 on the list that Zev posted. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/8 "2011-03-16T21:27:37Z")
> [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](#): > > Divine? > > I don’t get it… (joke explainer) It depends on your definition of grossing… (/joke explainer) ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/9 "2011-03-16T21:28:43Z")
> [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](#): > > I’ve got to believe they’re throwing TV numbers into that somehow, which I don’t want. Just movies. > > And Samuel Jackson at number two?!? I’m thinking they need to update their numbers. I’m not buying it. He was only in, what, three Star Wars movies (as his big money movies)? And…The Incredibles…almost forgot about that one. Go to the site and click on Welker’s name. It will show you the 93 movies he’s done. There are no TV shows (such as Animaniacs) in there. Jackson was in 10 movies with over $100M – many of which were actually $300M+ Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/10 "2011-03-16T21:29:45Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > Here’s the Top 10: > > ```auto > > Name Movies Total Box Office Average > 1 Frank Welker 93 $5,724,519,102 $61,553,969 > 2 Samuel L. Jackson 82 $4,911,613,885 $59,897,730 > 3 Tom Hanks 43 $4,408,353,320 $102,519,845 > 4 John Ratzenberger 31 $3,722,836,596 $120,091,503 > 5 Eddie Murphy 36 $3,710,539,654 $103,070,546 > 6 Harrison Ford 40 $3,685,688,633 $92,142,216 > 7 Tom Cruise 35 $3,354,684,263 $95,848,122 > 8 Jack Angel 28 $3,317,891,129 $118,496,112 > 9 Morgan Freeman 51 $3,266,186,791 $64,042,878 > 10 Robin Williams 58 $3,234,364,996 $55,764,914 > > ``` > > Your guess of Ratzinberger wasn’t bad (he’s #4). Rickman is on [the list](http://www.the-numbers.com/people/records/) at #15. > > Zev Steinhardt Yeah, those look old. [This site here](http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/) shows Toy Story 3 and Finding Nemo at almost 2 billion by themselves. The other 8 Pixar movies had to more than equal that. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/11 "2011-03-16T21:32:16Z")
> [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](#): > > Any other actors you can think of that even come close to these two? Hugo Weaving. LOTR trilogy= $2.9 billion The Matrix trilogy= $1.63 billion Transformers movies= $1.54 billion Plus an additional $800 million for his other big (but not as massive) movies , gives a total of just under $6.9 billion. (Which blows away the previously linked Frank Welker.) And just this summer he’ll be in the 3rd Transformers as well as Captain America, (not to mention the upcoming Hobbit films) so that total is going to get much larger soon. Wait, do you mean total gross, or just US? The figures I posted are the worldwide box office totals. Wow, looking at the link Zev posted, his totals are even higher than that! **$7.2 billion** total for worldwide box office! ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/12 "2011-03-16T21:34:00Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > Go to the site and click on Welker’s name. It will show you the 93 movies he’s done. There are no TV shows (such as Animaniacs) in there. > > Zev Steinhardt I have to admit, there are some movies on his list I wouldn’t have guessed in a million years! -Raiders of the Lost Ark -Transformers -The Little Mermaid Nice! ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/13 "2011-03-16T21:34:17Z")
> [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](#): > > Yeah, those look old. [This site here](http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/) shows Toy Story 3 and Finding Nemo at almost 2 billion by themselves. The other 8 Pixar movies had to more than equal that. That site is using Worldwide gross. The site I linked to uses US Gross for that list (although they have worldwide gross available). Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/14 "2011-03-16T21:35:32Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Hugo Weaving. > LOTR trilogy= $2.9 billion > The Matrix trilogy= $1.63 billion > Transformers movies= $1.54 billion > > Plus an additional $800 million for his other big (but not as massive) movies , gives a total of just under $6.9 billion. (Which blows away the previously linked Frank Welker.) > > And just this summer he’ll be in the 3rd Transformers as well as Captain America, (not to mention the upcoming Hobbit films) so that total is going to get much larger soon. I was thinking about LOTR, but I didn’t know he was in the Transformers movies as well…never seen 'em, never will! ---
**Author:** ![Sakuma\_Drops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sakuma\_Drops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakuma_Drops)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/15 "2011-03-16T21:37:06Z")
> [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](#): > > And Samuel Jackson at number two?!? I’m thinking they need to update their numbers. I’m not buying it. He was only in, what, three Star Wars movies (as his big money movies)? And…The Incredibles…almost forgot about that one. Samuel L. was in \*Jurassic Park \*as well. I don’t know how much that one made but I’m guessing it was quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/16 "2011-03-16T22:49:48Z")
If you adjusted for inflation, would it be character actor Ward Bond? He was in a lot of movies from the late 1930s to 1950s. Apparently he was in the most number of movies nominated for Academy Awards with 11. Which doesn’t necessarily translate to sales but the Academy Awards likes movies that are reasonably successful at the box ofhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward\_Bondfice. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/17 "2011-03-16T23:16:02Z")
Surely it’s whoever recorded the [Wilhelm scream](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_scream). ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/18 "2011-03-16T23:20:01Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Surely it’s whoever recorded the [Wilhelm scream](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_scream). At over 200 movies, I’m sure the poor sap wishes he got some kind of residuals. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/19 "2011-03-16T23:23:16Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Hugo Weaving. Hugo Weaving’s worldwide gross is $7.2, while Frank Welker comes in at $11.2 (when comparing apples to apples). ---
**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 17, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964/20 "2011-03-17T03:14:59Z")
Here’s the top thirty all time grossing actors according to Box Office Mojo: Tom Hanks $3,977.3 Eddie Murphy $3,713.9 Harrison Ford $3,455.6 Robin Williams $2,962.6 Morgan Freeman $2,880.6 Tom Cruise $2,871.8 Samuel L. Jackson $2,812.9 Bruce Willis $2,728.6 Cameron Diaz $2,663.7 Johnny Depp $2,596.6 Will Smith $2,520.9 Julia Roberts $2,503.3 Robert DeNiro $2,465.2 John Travolta $2,351.0 Jim Carrey $2,339.4 Matt Damon $2,305.3 Ben Stiller $2,288.8 Orlando Bloom $2,279.6 Mike Myers $2,211.4 Nicolas Cage $2,133.1 Sigourney Weaver $2,103.8 Michael Caine $2,075.9 Mel Gibson $2,065.6 Emma Watson $2,058.7 Gary Oldman $2,055.0 Kathy Bates $2,049.4 Brad Pitt $2,035.0 Ian McKellen $2,009.8 Rupert Grint $2,008.2 Daniel Radcliffe $2,007.9 (All figures are in millions. They don’t count cameo or voice roles.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-grossing-actor-of-all-time/574964.md?page=2)