April 26, 2012

Samuel L. Jackson Not Really the Highest Grossing Actor Ever

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I love me some Samuel L. Jackson, but this nonsense bugs me:

It’s all but impossible to turn on a TV set any night of the week without happening on one of his movies (and sometimes two or three). Hence his anointment by Guinness World Records as “the highest-grossing film actor” of all time.

Yeah, yeah. His films have grossed $7.4 billion. But more than a third of that, $2.5 billion, was thanks to an essentially bit part in the three Star Wars sequels. And do those Nick Fury cameos count too? Give me a break. Jackson’s a great actor, but he just doesn’t drive box office grosses the way this factoid suggests. Profile writers should drop it.

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“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

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