I used to have a magazine addiction. I would collect magazines with my favorite actors on the cover (Kate Winslet, Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, etc. I have a 'Movieline' with Kate on the cover from 1998) or that had a cover story with a list of say the 30 greatest actors under the age of 30. When I moved out of my dorm in college, I had two suitcases. One with clothes, the other with magazines. Luckily I have weened myself off of the need to collect magazines. (Perhaps because no one really buys magazines anymore and everything is online.) Luckily, my parents- understanding my need to hoard-have safely kept my magazines waiting for me in the garage. Thank god they did because there's nothing like taking out a 12-year-old magazine and seeing how wrong we were.I came across an 'Entertainment Weekly' dated Winter 1999. It's The 100 Greatest Entertainers 1950-2000. The list itself still holds up pretty well. The Top 10 were:
The Beatles
Elvis
Marilyn Monroe
Steven Spielberg
Madonna
Frank Sinatra
The Cast of SNL
Michael Jackson
Lucille Ball
The Simpsons
Nothing stands out as being especially ridiculous. Probably because they went pretty classic and stuck with iconic people that everyone knows. The only ones I would argue now are SNL and The Simpsons. Not that they don't belong on the list somewhere. It's just that in the past 12 years since the list came out, both shows have still been on the air and its diminished their impact on society. There is certainly something to be said for longevity. But, watching the shows today makes you long for it's glory days. Neither is really a part of the public awareness anymore nor do they hold the same importance as they once did.
But my favorite part was a section in the middle in which an online poll (they did those in 1999?) asked who were the next greatest entertainers of the next millennium. Such greats as The Dave Matthews Band and Seth Green took the number one spot for best musical group and television actor. But, since I always tend to gravitate to the cinematic, let's take a look at the Actor and Actress. Actress first:
