November 4, 2011

Today's stars and the Hollywood icons they resemble.

12 striking examples. Is any new star as fascinating to look at as the icon he/she reminds us of?

50 comments:

madAsHell said...

It all works out because they re-cycle the stories too!!

Dan said...

Wow, that is freaky!

Paddy O said...

I'll give them George Clooney and James Franco. But the rest of them, especially Scarlett, seems pretty forced. Especially since for some of them "star" seems also pretty forced.

kjbe said...

Paddy O, I'd agree, but I'd add Pitt to that. I kept wanting to factor in their roles and status, not just looks.

traditionalguy said...

Other than Redford and Pitt, I saw no resemblances. Maybe I looked at personality shown in the face and eyes more than bone structure and hair color.

Paddy O said...

You know what we're missing these days is the 'ugly' star. Where are the Walter Matthau and Charles Bronson or even Jack Elam of our era?

Henry said...

I'll give them Clooney as well, but I think his screen presence is more Clark Gable than Cary Grant. But you can't pair him with Clark Gable, because Clark Gable has that mustache.

But the rest of this is claptrap and works only in photographs. Keira Knightly and Audrey Hepburn? Two brunettes with high cheekbones and utterly different screen presence.

Paddy O said...

Kit, Pit is probably right too. That spy movie they were in together played up the similarities, I think.

Hoosier Daddy said...

It must be me but I never found Marilyn Monroe attractive. Can't quite say why.

William said...

Audrey Tautou, more than Keira Knightley, is closer to Audrey Hepburn. She'd be my first pick for a remake of Roman Holiday. In romcoms, Hugh Grant is as effective as Cary Grant, but he could never pull off the cat burglar part of Cary Grant. Scarlett Johannson has even more sex appeal than Marilyn Monroe, but she doesn't have the vulnerability that put so much top spin on Monroe's beauty.....What's interesting are the stars that have disappeared. Who is the equivalent of Ronald Colman and Clark Gable today?

Paddy O said...

And David Beckham is like Errol Flynn?!

Who thought that up? It was like they were playing a match game with preselected lists on both sides and they had to match them up one way or another.

And having Scarlett Johansson be like Marilyn Monroe is like saying Shia LeBeouf is just like Douglas Fairbanks.

MadisonMan said...

I always picture a bunch of drunk people making these lists up.

David said...

Zeta-Jones and Pitt measure up. (They used a crappy picture of Brad Pitt for comparison.) Clooney? He's got the look, but no one else is Cary Grant.

Penelope Cruz is in a class by herself. As is Loren. Why compare them at all.

The rest? Not even close.

Ron said...

Frankly, Clooney is nowhere near as successful as Grant. Grant had many hit films...whereas Clooney, despite his rep, not so much!

edutcher said...

I'll give them Penelope Cruz and Sophia Loren (above the neck, anyway), but the rest (especially Clooney)?

You've gotta be kidding.

Paddy O said...

You know what we're missing these days is the 'ugly' star. Where are the Walter Matthau and Charles Bronson or even Jack Elam of our era?

Keep in mind, they all started out as character actors and, in the case of Bronson and, especially, Elam, bad guys.

rosebud said...

Striking--as in a swing and a miss.

Paul said...

"It must be me but I never found Marilyn Monroe attractive. Can't quite say why."

Yup. It's you.

DADvocate said...

Bruce Willis reminds me of Humphrey Bogart. Not because of looks, but because of some of the roles he plays, the "cool" factor.

Katie Holmes has a strong resemblence to Natalie Wood.

Penelope Cruz to Sophia Loren, NOT.
Nor, many of the other ones.

kjbe said...

January Jones only looks like Grace Kelly because of the ONE role she's known for - in a period piece. That's got to be one of the weakest of the list.

kjbe said...

Ron, from a lady's perspective, Grant and Clooney aren't too far apart.

Psychedelic George said...

How many of the new stars can tap dance?

Zero.

Check out Cagney or even Bob Hope dancing.

Don't make 'em like that no more.

Clearly, all of us here are old...Ask a teenager if he has ever seen any classic black-and-white movie or if he knows who Redford or Paul Newman are. Total blank.

Ron said...

Kit, Grant is far funnier, I think than Clooney!

But I was just talking about the whole "star" thing...there was pushback awhile ago because has not really had a major hit where he's the sole star. (unlike,say, even Tom Hanks)

Grant was a star in at least 3 decades, maybe 4! (if you count "Charade")

edutcher said...

He made pictures well into the 60s. Count it 4.

DADvocate said...

Grant is far funnier, I think than Clooney!

Absolutely. Grant could be quite a comic.

One of my favorite stories is when Grant was getting older, someone was writing an article about him and wanted to know his age. He telegraphed Grant, using as few words as possible to save money, "How old Cary Grant?" Grant replied, "Old Cary Grant just fine."

Unknown said...

Believe me zirconiums are as good as diamonds.

Paddy O: that's Archibald Alexander Leach.

Ron said...

Grant told a great story about how he and Jimmy Stewart were talking on the street(!) when they helped a woman who was leaving town get a cab. She was complaining that you never see any stars in Hollywood, while not recognizing them!

Mary Beth said...

It all just reminded me of using a copier to make a copy of a copy of a copy...fuzzy and not nearly as good as the original.

Curious George said...

"Henry said...
I'll give them Clooney as well, but I think his screen presence is more Clark Gable than Cary Grant. But you can't pair him with Clark Gable, because Clark Gable has that mustache."

How about now

Ralph L said...

What an awful picture of Cruz. She looks reptilian.

I always suspected Beckham was a bottle blond.

ndspinelli said...

They forgot David Gregory and Howdy Doody.

I agree w/ Paddyo about Scarlett.

Judith Lown said...

To compare Keira Knightly to Audrey Hepburn is obscene.

ndspinelli said...

Dadvocate, Willis plays cool..Bogart WAS cool.

William said...

@Psychedelic George: I think we can all be grateful that Sean Penn doesn't tap dance.....It wasn't her looks and sex appeal, but her vulnerability that gave Marilyn her mythic qualities. And even her vulnerability had a star quality. There's something about Lindsay Lohan and Brittney Spears that makes you want to turn your head away, but Marilyn's drowning wave had a seductive quality.....If someone like Ronald Colman came along today, he would be typecast as the villain in a British colonial drama.....The young Sean Connery had a leer that was equal to that of Clark Gable. I can think of no others.

Richard Lawrence Cohen said...

Sophia Loren occurred only once during the course of human evolution. Same with Audrey Hepburn. And Cary Grant.

Howard Hawks, when asked who was the best actor in Hollywood, said that there was Cary Grant and then there was everybody else.

edutcher said...

He also said there were only three movie stars - John Wayne, Errol Flynn, and Humnphrey Bogart.

Methadras said...

All this proves is that Hollywood is not original.

Nora said...

These comparisons are quite convoluted. However, they do show that contemporary "stars" luck in a star quality department, as well as in personal carisma. It also shows that modern "stars" are grossly overpaid.

Nora said...

Psychedelic George said...
How many of the new stars can tap dance?

Zeta-Jones can. She is also greatly under employed. I would like to see more of her in the movies

Known Unknown said...

How many of the new stars can tap dance?

Nora beat me to it. Zeta-Jones is quite the hoofer.

Christopher Walken, too.

knox said...

You know what we're missing these days is the 'ugly' star. Where are the Walter Matthau and Charles Bronson or even Jack Elam of our era?

Oh, I think they're out there. Robert Davi, Christopher Walken, and of course, Tommy Lee Jones. You can still be a male actor and be ugly. Female, not so much.

beast said...

I was talking to a friend the other day and we lamented the total lack of the authentic,iconic MALE actor.the good ones are old i.e. Eastwood.And the popular females just don't have that mystique that Loren, Monroe, Hepburn and the others had.The ones that can regain that privacy and tantalize us with their performances lose public quickly.But I still love Bullock, Roberts, and Ormond.

beast said...

Modern males lack maleness.modern females lack mystique.All fail

Freeman Hunt said...

What does David Beckham have to do with movies?

ricpic said...

The saddest comparison is to Audrey Hepburn who was absolutely sui generis.

Mr. D said...

The funniest "separated at birth" comparison I ever saw was Colleen Dewhurst and Dan Rostenkowski. Not sure who should have been more insulted....

Clyde said...

Some of those are downright uncanny!

Curious George said...

"Nora said...
Zeta-Jones can. She is also greatly under employed. I would like to see more of her in the movies"

Me too! All of her.

Revenant said...

George Clooney reminds me more of Clark Gable than Cary Grant. His persona is definitely more Gable than Grant.

Revenant said...

That's a terrible picture of Johanssen.

Anonymous said...

"You know what we're missing these days is the 'ugly' star. Where are the Walter Matthau and Charles Bronson or even Jack Elam of our era?"

I've often wondered what Steve Buschemi looked in the mirror and saw when he decided to become an actor. Although he now seems to be growing into those eyes.