Who is more famous: Bette Davis …

Let’s see whether there are other popular icons of the golden Hollywood era, listed by the American Film Institute, that can break the fame level attained by Monroe and Wayne.

Let’s also see how these compare to modern time actors and actresses.

Six iconic actresses and actors

Some of the actresses and actors listed on the top of the American Film Institute list are (in parentheses the year of first movie):

• Katharine Hepburn (1932)
• Bette Davis (1931)
• Ingrid Bergman (1935)
• Humphrey Bogart (1930)
• Cary Grant (1932)
• Marlon Brando (1950).

Their fame

The appearance of all six actresses and actors in the English books, as revealed by the use of the Ngram tool, generally coincides with their first movie. The appearance of Brando’s name in the books somewhat earlier, in the mid 1940s, might be related to his first appearance on the stage.

In the last years, all six actresses and actors attain fame levels between 10 (Bergman) and 20 famons (Brando, Grant). This is:

• much lower than those of Wayne and Monroe (about 50 famons)
• somewhat lower than that of Schwarzenegger (about 25 famons)
• similar to those of Willis and Stallone (10 famons)
• much higher than those of Seagal and Van Damme (about 2 famons).

But again, what about the fame of Greta Garbo, Fred Astaire, etc? Or what about the fame of the European iconic stars Alain Delon, Jean-Paul Belmondo, or Jean Gabin?

Stay tuned.