# Why is Sharon Stone famous? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601 "2006-03-30T21:13:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/1 "2006-03-30T21:13:12Z")
I thought this had been asked before but didn’t find anything when I searched for “Sharon Stone”. My question is: Why is it that Sharon Stone seems to be regarded as such an ‘A’ List player in Hollywood? I don’t want to turn this into a pit thread (possibly it’s more of a IMHO thread), but other than her well known part in Basic Instinct, she really hasn’t done that much. Mostly I see on IMDB a bunch of tv appearances and voice overs. What do you guys think? ---
**Author:** ![Faruiza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@Faruiza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faruiza)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/2 "2006-03-30T21:16:03Z")
Casino?? She was pretty good in that. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/3 "2006-03-30T21:20:26Z")
[QUOTE=Faruiza] Casino?? She was pretty good in that. [/QUOTE] I must confess that I’ve never seen Casino. However she was dreadful in Cat Woman. E3 ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/4 "2006-03-30T21:21:41Z")
She was nominated for an Academy Award for Casino. In addition, she was in a really good movie called The Mighty. She’s also drop-dead gorgeous. The fact that she’s obnoxious as all get-out in interviews does not detract from her acting ability. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/5 "2006-03-30T21:24:01Z")
Basically it is just about that scene in a movie called “Basic Instinct”, where she uncrosses her legs… Yeah, that’s probably about it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/6 "2006-03-30T21:24:54Z")
Total Recall? “Cohnsidah that ah divorce!” It’s because: a) She’s pretty hot b) Has kind of an old time larger than life movie star quality about her c) She’s a decent enough actress d) She’s in a lot of movies ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/7 "2006-03-30T21:32:19Z")
As Jon Stewart said, she’s a “noted vaginist.” 😃 Basically (pun not intended), that was her star-making role, maybe she acted well, but it was more remembered for its shock value than for thespianism. And she’s milked it for all it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/8 "2006-03-30T21:45:58Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > And she’s milked it for all it’s worth Which is the more polite way of saying she’s mastered the [art of fellatio](http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowbizNews.asp?Code=ZX301848R&headline=sharon_stones_oral_sex_tips). ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/9 "2006-03-30T21:46:07Z")
[QUOTE=msmith537] b) Has kind of an old time larger than life movie star quality about her [/QUOTE] That alone is enough to make me worship at her feet. Somewhere, Joan Crawford is smiling . . . ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/10 "2006-03-30T23:24:17Z")
Like her or not, no one has embodied the glamorous tough broad more effectively since, as Eve mentioned, Joan Crawford in her heyday. That Verhoeven brought out in her a post-seventies, pussy-with-teeth quality that out-fataled the fatale-est femmes certainly adds to her, um, mystique. Her Catherine Trammel is Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, Jane Greer, and Gene Tierney, all rolled into one and wearing a [Kali](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Kaligoddess.jpg) mask. She’s Tippi Hedren as the [_Vagina Dentata._](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagina_dentata) ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/11 "2006-03-30T23:38:52Z")
She is willing to do clothed scenes providing they aren’t gratuitous and are tasteful, dignified and serve a legitimate dramatic purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/12 "2006-03-30T23:43:49Z")
She’s 23 different kinds of crazy, and we seem to like our movie stars a little nuts. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/13 "2006-03-30T23:53:08Z")
I never liked Sharon Stone very much until I saw her in Sam Raimi’s oddball western **The Quick and the Dead**. By golly, Sharon Stone isn’t just a life-support system for female genitalia. She can act. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/14 "2006-03-30T23:54:22Z")
Anyone see her Letterman interview this week? She basically came out and said that she did Basic Instinct 2 for the money. She kept repeating that the plot was the same as BI. I liked her when she first came onto the scene. She was smarter than the average bird. Now she just annoys me. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/15 "2006-03-30T23:54:56Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] I never liked Sharon Stone very much until I saw her in Sam Raimi’s oddball western **The Quick and the Dead**. By golly, Sharon Stone isn’t just a life-support system for female genitalia. She can act. :eek: [/QUOTE] That is an AWESOME movie, and it had Leonardo DiCaprio AND Russell Crowe before they were famous household names (plus the always-great Lance Hendricksen and Gene Hackman). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/16 "2006-03-31T00:23:43Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Like her or not, no one has embodied the glamorous tough broad more effectively since, as Eve mentioned, Joan Crawford in her heyday. [/QUOTE] Well, we had Lauren Bacall in there as a stopgap. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/17 "2006-03-31T00:27:11Z")
In her prime, she was luscious perfection. She’s still pretty hot, IMHO. And as others have noted, she’s delivered some good performances. But Christ, she was so gorgeous. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/18 "2006-03-31T01:04:36Z")
Because Kim Basinger turned down “Basic Instinct.” ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/19 "2006-03-31T01:36:23Z")
[QUOTE=Earl Snake-Hips Tucker] Because Kim Basinger turned down “Basic Instinct.” [/QUOTE] Can you imagine how different that role would have turned out with that change? Reportedly the role was also offered to Julia Roberts… now that could have changed a career.. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601/20 "2006-03-31T01:52:47Z")
Well, she was married to probably the only person in Los Angeles to be [attacked by a Komodo Dragon](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1382755.stm)! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sharon-stone-famous/350601.md?page=2)