Known for: The Silence of the Lambs
Net worth: $160 million
Sir Anthony Hopkins, knighted in 1993 by the late Queen Elizabeth, yet terrifies us by his horrifying portrayal of Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Decades on, a mere thought of the psychological mastermind sends shudders of fright down one’s spine. Hopkins’ depiction of that mad serial slayer (or is it “splayer”?) is an immortal fixture in the halls of American cinema, never mind that it was brought to us by a man from Wales. His accent only made him sound more terrifying. Suffice it to say he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Hopkins’ acting career began many years before he starred with Jodie Foster in that iconic 1991 horror film. He studied stage acting under the renowned Sir Laurence Oliver until he transitioned to television in 1967. He played an impressive Richard I in a 1968 movie called The Lion in Winter. It was nominated for Best Picture and starred Katherine Hepburn as well. It got him noticed. He starred in The Remains of the Day, The Elephant Man and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Elton John
Known for: “Rocket Man” Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, “Tiny Dancer,” “Candle in the WInd” and Lion King
Net worth: $500 million
The Seventies and Eighties unofficial mascot, Elton John, defined the era with his songs, by the clothes he wore and with his flamboyant array of eyeglasses. At age four he picked up piano. By the 1970s the pop music icon released seven consecutive No. 1 albums in the United States. It’s practically unprecedented. Sir Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin met through a weekly newspaper ad. They were 20 and 17 when they met, respectively, and their union of piano and lyric created almost 400 songs in the decades since. Before the serendipitously epic collaboration, John played in a band called Bluesology.
He’s won every major award: A Grammy, a Tony, an Academy and a Golden Globe. His song “Circle of Life” in The Lion King film won him an Academy Award for Best Original Song. The soundtrack included other sensational hits like “Hakuna Matata” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” making him a smash hit of the 1990s as well. He produced Gnomeo & Juliet, the precious animated kids' film featuring his tunes. Of all the iconic media the 1980s produced, one element of the decade stands out in a terrible contrast, the AIDS epidemic. People were dying, mysteriously at first. When the epidemic came into its full, terrifying light, the research was shocking. Having unprotected sex and other fluid transfer causes it, and there is no cure. The diagnosis was a death sentence. Elton John says he risked having unprotected sex in the ’80s and realizes now he is lucky to be alive. With friends dying around him, he lived to support the cause of AIDS eradication. After his friend Freddie Mercury died in 1991, John founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Sally Kellerman
Known for: M*A*S*H*. and Major “Hot Lips”
Net worth: $2 million
M*A*S*H is an Indispensable 1970s television series. But without the award-winning1970 film about the medical personnel who manned the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in the Korean War, there may never have been that decade-long bestowal to television.
Sally Kellerman dazzled audiences as Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan, a severe Korean War nurse in M*A*S*H*. Her performance as head nurse of the 4077th earned an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In other awards, she won the Golden Laurel for Best Comedy Performance. The film jump-started her career, although she turned down a bulk of the roles in order to focus on her singing career. She signed a contract with Verve Records and dated Grand Funk Railroad rocker Mark Farner, but we remember her best in movies like Welcome to L.A., The Player, Prêt-à-Porter and in her Twilight Zone roles.
Kevin Bacon
Known for: Footloose
Net worth: $30 million
Kevin Bacon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When he was a kid, he wanted to be a pop star. At age 17 he left home for the Big Apple looking to make it there (because if you make it there, you can make it anywhere). As a high school student, he developed a passion for the arts and wanted to become a serious actor. In N.Y.C. he found some theatre gigs and a big role in the slasher horror flick Friday the 13th . Things were picking up. He debuted on Broadway with Sean Penn and Val Kilmer. He played “Chip” in the classic frat house comedy, National Lampoon’s Animal House . Soon, he landed the monster smash hit, Footloose and became a pop star.
He’s starred in JFK, A Few Good Men, Apollo 13, and Mystic River, to name a few blockbusters. He won a Golden Globe Award and a SAG for Taking Chance, an HBO original movie. In 2007 he founded a charitable organization called SIxDegrees.org, based on the trivia game and subsequent meme, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
John Kapelos
Known for: The Breakfast Club
Net worth: $1.1 million
John Kapelos played Carl, the shady but comical school janitor in The Breakfast Club . It’s not the only John Hughes movie we remember him from. He also appeared in Sixteen Candles and Weird Science .
The 1980s character-actor appeared in 1990s movies as well. One of his best was The Deep End of the Ocean (1999) which received acclaim from Roger Ebert and The New York Times. He starred in Roxanne with Daryl Hannah and Steve Martin and Nothing in Common with Tom Hanks. In television, he’s appeared on Miami Vice, Queer as Folk, Desperate Housewives and The X-Files. Currently, he teaches acting and improv classes at the AIA Studios. He also manages his independent record label, Carpuzi Records.