I’m not implying heroes. Movie stars aren’t heroes (at least for their work). Firefighters are heroes. But what celebrity do you admire for the things you know about them?
I admire Drew Barrymore. Not only is she a marvelous actor, she’s had a very public tumultous childhood, and yet by all accounts, she’s pulled herself together and seems to truly like herself. I believe she is someone I could genuinely like were I to meet her.
She’d probably bring her husband with her, if you were hanging out. Be ready to get annoyed.
I admire Paul Newman. He’s a talented actor, I enjoy his food products, and he’s charitable.
In every interview I’ve seen with Drew Barrymore, she seems like a really genuinely happy person (finally) who’s just “into” life in general. Dumber than a bag of hammers, but happy. She backs interesting projects, too. I can admire that.
I read on one of those slideshows they show before movies that Edward Norton is fluent in Japanese. I haven’t been able to pick up Japanese, and I also haven’t been in as many interesting movies as he has (not counting that unfortunate Ben Stiller/Jenna Elfman priest & rabbi movie). So I guess he’s as good a pick as any.
all the big rich movie people who’ve found a way to dodge taxes through Scientology.
Of course, my whole theory on the real reason for the founding of Scientology depends on a Twix commcercial, so I must ask and see if TV lied to me. If it did, my theory is false.
Do cults or members of cults have to pay taxes?
Chris Reeve.
And someone else mentioned Ed Norton being fluent in Japanese, so I’ll also mention Mira Sorvino. Mira is fluent in Mandarin Chinese (I believe), she’s smart (I think she went to Harvard) and I have a crush on her.
Paul Newman. Hands down. Sells food at zero profit and promotes conservation and other Thoreau-ly natural and organic enterprises. 
Doris Day. She should have been the poster woman for women’s lib. Starts off as a promising dancer but is in a car accident at 14. At 16 discovers she can sing. Becomes one of the great female band singers of her era. Becomes one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Retires, discovers husband has bankrupted her. Returns, becomes one of TV’s biggest stars. Retires and works for animal rights, retains all her friends. She even had a good quote “The really frightening thing about middle age is the knowledge that you’ll grow out of it.” Round of applause.
I’m fond of George Segal, because he’s been in big classic movies, like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and Where’s Papa, Death of a Salesman, and Blume in Love. Yet he will appear on talk show with his banjo and get silly.
Garry Trudeau and “Weird Al” Yankovic.
Both have been plugging away at their chosen field for an incredibly length of time, and are extremely well respected. In both of their cases, if they didn’t exist, you wouldn’t imagine that they could.
Harry Chapin started his own feed the children charity, lobbied President Carter for more money to fight world hunger, and gave half his profits from every concert to charity. And he did it in the Selfish 70s. Yet Rolling Stone gave him no end of grief for always being a cornball sap.
He was eventually awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, I believe. And well, you can see what happened to Rolling Stone. Thank you, History.
Michael Stipe. Despite all his success, he won’t forget where he (well, kinda) came from–Athens, Georgia. He’s been known to attend city council meetings along with other members of R.E.M., who really do live there too (although I think Peter spends most of his time in Seattle). He helped them save the railroad trestle from the back of Murmur. He’s active in charities and causes without being preachy.
And I can’t argue with 20 years of kick-ass music, either.
I’m pretty sure Michael Stipe is the only REM’r who still lives in Athens. Pete Buck lives in Seattle and Mike Mills in Atlanta.
But yeah, they’re still interested in Athens politics, and whoever they support for mayor (Chief Exective Officer of the combined city/county government, actually) tends to win.
I admire Michael Landon, even though I think most of his TV work was awful. When it’s my time to go (assuming it ever comes), I hope I can face it with as much class and dignity as he did.
Tina Turner. I don’t even like most of her music, but I really admire her. She was married to a physically abusive man who controlled her music career and told her she couldn’t make it without him.
But she had the courage to divorce him, asking for nothing in the settlement, and went on to build quite a career. I can’t help but admire that kind of courage.
Yeah, Tina Turner makes my list too. Same reasons. That’s one hard-working and tough broad.
Paul McCartney is high up there for me. Good musician, smart businessman, loyal family man. His kids are even normal, apparently.
Jeff Daniels. Still very involved in the small town he grew up in and still lives in (15 miles from me, way far from Hollywood). Started a cool local theatre here, does a lot of good-guy things without expecting fanfare. And I love his acting range. I mean, come on, Dumb & Dumber and Gettysburg?
Ben Stiller. I think he’s pretty savvy, yet so incredibly good at acting otherwise. Self-confidence to allow himself to look stupid. Talent beyond his years.
I just finished watching Margaret Cho’s “I’m the One that I Want” video which just came out this week. God, she totally rocks. She is just so amazing, funny, and talented. And I just felt so… proud of her, and proud of being Asian-American. She talked about all the things she went through, her failed t.v. show, her “weight problems”, her experiences as an A.A., and I was just awed by her, her experiences, and her outlook on those situations. I mean I just connected with everything (well mostly everything) she talked about, especially the whole Asian mother/daughter relationship angst. All through it I was like, “Hey my mom does/says that!”
And she is funnier than hell. She’s my role model now!
That particular award only goes to military personel who do something extremely heroic. To the best of my knowledge the CMH has never been awarded to a civilian in the 20th century. There are other awards that go out to civilians who do good deeds.
I guess two celebrities I admire are Martha Stewart and Oprah Winfry. I know a lot of people like to take shots at Oprah and especially Martha. But these two women worked very hard and managed to build themselves media empires.
Marc
Mr. T
What can I say? I love the guy. Through the height of his celebrity, he never stopped working with street children. He’s down to earth in a strange way that only he could pull off.
Plus, it would be a blast just to talk with the guy for an hour.
I’d like to nominate:
Audrey Hepburn. Ran errands for the Resistance as a teenager and spent much of her time and money, and the last six years of her life, helping the poor in the third world. Always
Jerry Lewis. He’s been doing that stupid telethon for so long you hardly notice it anymore, but has anyone ever done as much for one charity as he has? He works hard at it and he’s probably responsible for half the research ever done towards curing MD - the telethons have raised almost a billion dollars or so and he isn’t paid a nickel. And that’s not the only charity work he does - he’s done all kinds of other stuff and never asks for anything in return. He never seems to get any credit for it, at least not for a long time now.
Ted Williams. While many other ballplayers drafted during World War II basically played baseball during their service, Ted Williams was a fighter pilot in the Navy. And then during Korea, he went back, and flew combat missions. His F-80 was shot all to hell at least once. He never complained once that I can remember about spending all those years away from baseball. He worked tirelessly in local charities, especially the Jimmy Fund, which has been raising money for kids with cancer for more than fifty years, and which he actively worked in until his health would allow it no longer.
Y’know, I would of agreed with Drew Barrymore as a choice right up until the point where she married Tom Green. For the love of God, why? Oh, the humanity! Won’t anyone please think of the children?!?
Tommy Lee Jones. Harvard Grad. Football hero. Great actor. During the questionnaire section of his “Bravo” interview (that James Lipton thing) his response to “my favorite sound”: children playing. I though that this was a lovely answer.