I was hoping someone else would step in and do this part because organization is one of my weak points but here goes:
Accepted: Johnny Depp
Lee Marvin
Pierce Brosnan
Roger Moore
Red Skelton
Danny Kaye
Helen Hunt
Patrick Stewart
Will Smith
Lorretta Young
Robert Montgomery
Ann Southern
George Burns and Gracie Allen
Ben Lyon and Bebe Danials
William Shatner (although I hate to admit it)
Ryan O’Neal
Tom Hanks
John Travolta
Bruce Willis
Eddie Murphy
Tom Selleck (but just barely)
Clint Eastwood
Sally Field
Steve McQueen
James Garner
Burt Reynolds
Kyle MacLachlan (maybe niche successful?)
Robin Williams
George Clooney
Rejected Ron Howard - While a good, possibly great director this is calling for actors in the films. Alfred Hitchcock (see Ron Howard) - yes he appeared in them but he was not carrying them as an actor). Danny Devito - Never really a “starring” actor, always featured or supporting.
Need more information:
Dick Van Dyke - Was he a star who could carry a successful movie? Chitty, Chitty Bang, Bang yes, but he was definitely a supporting player in Mary Poppins and were any of his other big screen films really successful? Bill Cosby - I have much the same criticism of Mr. Cosby as I had of Van Dyke. Except did he even have a Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang? or Mary Poppins? Carrol O’Conner - I could be way wrong on this but he never carried or even co-carried a successful feature film, did he?. Craig T. Nelson TV show definitely, and maybe Poltergeist and possibly he was the “star” of Devil’s Advocate, but anything else of note?
That still only brings Van Dyke to a starring role in two successful films. I don’t begruge him joining our elite group but I have to check his credentials.
By the way, I should have listed:
Accepted:
Michael J. Fox
Billy Crystal
Woody Harrelson
Mike Meyers
Jack Benny
I dunno, I might quibble with the conditions of this exercize. I think the move to movies is only significant if most people consider the actor to be a movie star now.
Bruce Willis was a TV star but he’s really considered a movie star now. So he makes the cut. Ditto Hanks and Travolta.
Tom Selleck may have starred in more than three movies, but he’s still Magnum. Quigley Down Under not withstanding.
Kirk and Picard are mere TV stars. Not even. They’re Trek stars. Their only significant movies were based on the their respective Trek shows. Plus Kirk has TJ Hooker to further skew the scales towards TV Actor. Picard might make the cut in a Star of both TV and Legitimate Stage thread though…
I mean French freaking Stewart meets the requirements of the OP (Major TV role: 3rd Rock, Major movie roles: Love Stinks, Clockstoppers and, god help us, Inspector Gadget 2), but we’re not including him are we?
Does Maura Tierney count? She was in Newsradio, then she did Liar, Liar, and Primary Colors, then went to ER, but then starred in Scotland, PA. It’s like she has her feet in both boats.
I guess the dad from Fox’s “Grounded For Life” doesn’t count either. He has some secondary roles in “The Patriot” and “Blade”. Keifer Sutherland TV: 24 Movies: Take your pick.
Au contraire. Frenchie plays the male lead in Love Stinks, the main villain in Clockstoppers and none other than Inspector Gadget in Inspector Gadget 2.
'fraid you’ll hafta make room for Frenchie amongst that illustrious list of movie stars. Get James Lipton on the phone.
I obviously have been falling down in my job of taking my nephew and niece to the movies. I wasn’t even certain there was an Inspector Gadget 2. Although lately they seem more interested in Brittany Speers than Inspector Gadget. You don’t suppose they are growing up, do you?
additions
French Stewart
John Lithgow (I am uncomfortable with this. He is usually the second lead or featured heavy, but in most cases he is more memorable than the lead so I guess he carries the film…) Jim Carrey
Shirley Jones
Rejected: Keifer Sutherland - His TV show has yet to run the required amount of time (although, I think there is little doubt it will).
Need more information: Doris Day - I will have to check if her TV show lasted more than a single year.
I was thinking of the short-lived Doris Day’s Best Friends and not The Doris Day Show. So clearly, Miss Doris Mary Ann Von Kappelhof (Doris Day) deserves to be on the list.
Most people have named TV stars who went on to have big movie careers. 'll go the other way, and name successful movie stars who moved to the small screen:
Barbara Stanwyk made lots of movies ( like “Sorry, Wrong Number”), then starred on TV’s “The Big Valley”
Jane Wyman won an Osar for “Johnny Belinda,” then later starred on “Falcon Crest”
Rock Hudson went from the big screen to “Macmillan & Wife”
Ernest Borgnine won an Oscar for “Marty,” then starred in “McHale’s Navy”
Martin Sheen starred in films lik “Apocalypse Now” before becoming Presiden on “The West Wing”
Sam Waterston starred in several movies, like “The Killing Fields” before taking over as prosecutor on “Law & Order”
I’m guessing Danny would be surprised to learn that he wasn’t the star of Tin Men, Ruthless People, Throw Momma From the Train, Twins, Other People’s Money, Jack the Bear, and even Batman Returns.
Forgot to throw in my pick – the prolific and multi-talented Judi Dench, who stars in three major movies this year (Iris, The Shipping News, and The Importance of Being Earnest) and next month will begin filming the ninth season of her sitcom As Time Goes By. She also had a previous successful T.V. series (A Fine Romance), and of course numerous other movies.
Denzel Washington was on “St. Elsewhere” as a doctore for several years before becoming a movie star.
I don’t know how long “Max Bickford” will last, but there’s Richard Dreyfuss.
Shirley Jones starred in several musicals, and won an Oscar for “Elmer Gantry” before starring on “The Partridge Family”
In addition to his many movies, OScar winner Lee Marvin played a detective on the TV series “M Squad” (later the mosel for the Zucker Brothers’ “Naked Gun” movies and “Police Squad” series