# Most prolific movie star? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 18, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933 "2003-11-18T17:32:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933/1 "2003-11-18T17:32:40Z")
Seems to me Gene Hackman is setting a torrid pace: [http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000432/](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000432/) ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933/2 "2003-11-18T17:38:56Z")
Sine you know about IMDB, why not check out [http://www.imdb.com/Prolific/](http://www.imdb.com/Prolific/) ?? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933/3 "2003-11-18T17:43:31Z")
Of currently working actors the you have heard off Gene has to bow down before [Chhristopher Lee](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000489/). 221 films beats 81 by a long way. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933/4 "2003-11-18T17:45:23Z")
Mel Blanc is the most prolific actor? ehhh … what’s up doc? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933/5 "2003-11-18T17:50:13Z")
Gene’s first film was in '61, Lee’s in '42. Let’s give Gene another 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933/6 "2003-11-18T17:54:05Z")
Gene Hackman’s appeared in, what, about 80 films? Feh. Florence Lawrence appeared in 292 films, Max Linder in 184, Henry B. Walthall in 298, Kate Bruce in 252 . . . ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933/7 "2003-11-18T18:00:34Z")
This reminds me of the [Caine-Hackman](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0110759/quotes) theory. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933/8 "2003-11-18T18:12:28Z")
What about Ron Jeremy? ---
**Author:** ![MrSarcasticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@MrSarcasticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSarcasticus)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933/9 "2003-11-18T18:51:09Z")
John Carradine has to be way, way up there: When he died his obit says he had been in more than 500 movies, so IMDB seems to be missing about half of them: [http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0001017/](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0001017/) ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933/10 "2003-11-18T19:19:46Z")
Ron Jeremy is listed as appearing in 748 “films” on IMDB, which would put him 2nd only to Mel Blanc on their “prolific” list. They must not list pron stars, cause I’m sure they would dominate that list. Course, when it only takes 3-4 days to film, you’ve got the edge. I read somewhere that John Holmes did over 2000 films, but the IMDB lists him at ~200. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933/11 "2003-11-18T19:34:17Z")
You may want to consider whether you mean “any kind of film” (porno loops, short subjects, etc.), and whether you mean “any kind of appearance” (voice-over, bit parts, extra work). If you want to know the Hollywood actor who _starred_ in the most _features_, that would be John Wayne. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933/12 "2003-11-18T19:34:47Z")
Great IMDb list - I wish they’d gone deeper! Mae Questel did HOW many?!? It would be nice if you could put filters on those lists, such as eliminating people who appeared in shorts only (or eliminating shorts from the tally), or who did voices - such as Frank Welker and Mel Blanc. I thought I had read somewhere that John Wayne had appeared as the leading man the most times - well over a 100. Old-time horror greats probably would be high up on a “mainstream” list, because they did so many el cheapos that could be filmed quickly or films that needed them for only a short time (say, a scene or two) - such as Carradine, Price, Karloff, Lee, Cushing… ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933/13 "2003-11-18T19:36:00Z")
Oops, no wonder Questel did so many. I forgot she was the voice of Betty Boop. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933/14 "2003-11-18T19:38:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PeterWiggen \* > \*\*What about Ron Jeremy? \*\* Well, if you’re talkin’ pornos, then without a doubt, the most prolific woodsman is none other than Peter North. Oh. Wait. You mean acting credits, not… umm… oh. Never mind. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-movie-star/213933/15 "2003-11-18T21:47:15Z")
Ask Yahoo! [http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20030905.html](http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20030905.html)