In a recent survey, John Wayne was selected as the most durable star in American history, even though he had died in 1979. Wayne was followed by Clint Eastwood (number two), but well ahead of Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Paul Newman, and Rock Hudson.

Aug 10, 2005–Barbara Bel Geddes, who played Miss Ellie Ewing in the long-running TV series “Dallas,” died Monday of lung cancer in Northeast Harbor, Maine. She was 82. Bel Geddes was nominated for an Oscar Award for best supporting actress for the 1948 drama “I Remember Mama.” She was the original Maggie the Cat on Broadway in Tennessee Williams' “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” a role that went to Liz Taylor in the 1958 movie version.

Formal professional training, like education, appears to be less important for movie stars than for other elites. Less than half of the film stars have studied acting in a formal organizational setting. But once again, more men than women have studied acting. Consistent with the data on educational attainment, this difference in training probably derives from the same reason: women start to perform much earlier than men and subsequently tend to learn their necessary skills on the job, rather than in schools.

Social class has played a selective role in the recruitment of movie stars. None of the stars has been drawn from the upper-upper class and only one tenth from the upper-middle classes. Most performers have come from the middle (46 percent) or lower-middle (24 percent) classes. However, the percentage of stars from lower-lower classes has also been considerable: one fifth.