http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=631

 

The Harris Poll^® #7, January 19, 2006

Tom Hanks Again Reigns as America’s Favorite Movie Star

Johnny Depp jumps to #2 and John Wayne is #3

Once again we have asked U.S. adults to choose their favorite movie stars, and for the second year in a row, Tom Hanks has emerged as America’s favorite. Johnny Depp moves up from #4 to #2 this year, while John Wayne, who died over 25 years ago, and Harrison Ford are tied at #3. Rounding out the top five is Julia Roberts (#5).

These are the results of a nationwide poll of 1,001 U.S. adults surveyed online by Harris Interactive^® between December 8 and 14, 2005.

Consistency in the top 10 seems to be the rule of thumb for this year’s list, as nine of the 10 stars in this year’s list were also on last year’s list, though their rankings have been shuffled a bit. Some of these changes include:

• Mel Gibson drops five places this year from #2 to #7. This excludes him from the top five for the first time since 1994.
• John Wayne continues to have a large and loyal fan base, as he moves up four places, from #7 to tied for #3.
• Julia Roberts drops two places from #3 to #5. This year she is not the only woman in the top 10 as Sandra Bullock, who last appeared on the list in 2002, returns at #10.
• George Clooney and Clint Eastwood both moved up two places this year - Eastwood from #8 to #6 and Clooney from #10 to #8.

Aside from Tom Hanks remaining at #1, the only other movie star to retain their position from 2004 is Sean Connery, who remains at #9.

Gender and race appear to play a role in deciding a favorite. John Wayne is tops among men, while women choose Tom Hanks. Denzel Washington retains his #1 position among African Americans, while Hispanics are divided between Mel Gibson and Katherine Hepburn as their favorite.

Political ideology also appears to be a factor in choosing a favorite movie star. Conservatives pick Tom Hanks and John Wayne as their favorites, while liberals choose Johnny Depp. Region is another factor. While those in the East, Midwest and West all stick with Tom Hanks as their favorite movie star, Southerners go outside of the top 10, choosing Brad Pitt (who comes in at #11 overall) as their favorite.

TABLE 1

FAVORITE MOVIE STAR

"Who is your favorite movie star?"

Unprompted responses

Base: All adults

	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Tom Hanks	5	6	7	*	*	=5	6	2	1	4	1	1
Johnny Depp	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	10	4	2
John Wayne	2	1	2	4	2	2	2	6	6	7	7	=3
Harrison Ford	4	*	*	5	1	1	1	3	4	=5	5	=3
Julia Roberts	*	*	*	*	*	8	4	1	3	2	3	5
Clint Eastwood	1	2	4	1	=4	4	5	7	8	8	8	6
Mel Gibson	3	3	1	2	3	3	3	4	2	1	2	7
George Clooney	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	10	8
Sean Connery	*	*	*	=7	=8	7	=10	5	5	3	9	9
Sandra Bullock	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	10	10	*	*	10

*Not in top 10.

 DROPPED OUT OF TOP 10 THIS YEAR

Denzel Washington (#6 in 2004)

TABLE 2

WHICH MOVIE STAR IS #1 AMONG DIFFERENT GROUPS?

Bases/Groups as listed below:	Favorite Movie Star
Men	John Wayne
Women	Tom Hanks
Whites	Tom Hanks
African Americans	Denzel Washington
Hispanics	Mel Gibson/Katherine Hepburn (tie)
Conservatives	Tom Hanks/John Wayne (tie)
Liberals	Johnny Depp
Moderates	Tom Hanks
Post-graduates	Harrison Ford
Southerners	Brad Pitt

Methodology

The Harris Poll

^® was conducted online within the United States between December 8 and 14, 2005 among a nationwide cross section of 1,001 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This online sample was not a probability sample.