Known for: Driving Miss Daisy and Shawshank Redemption
Net worth: $200 million
Seated high on the pantheon of Hollywood greats is the revered Morgan Freeman. Immortalized as a film legend in Driving Miss Daisy , his heartwarming performance as Miss Daisy’s gentle chauffeur earned him an Academy Award nomination.
Freeman’s dream was to be an actor. He moved to N.Y.C. to follow it. Working odd jobs and doing some dancing and musical theatre, he gradually made it in showbiz. It took decades of dreaming before he hit it big in 1987 with Street Smart. The acclaim for his role Fast Black was phenomenal, and he considers it his breakthrough part. Some of Freeman’s charity work is dedicated to disaster aid, especially in Grenada after the 2004 hurricane. He’s concerned about environmental issues and raises awareness. One issue is the declining bee problem. Beekeeping is a way he helps give back to help solve the problem.
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.
Jean Simmons
Known for: The Happy Ending
Net worth: $12 million
British film star, Jean Simmons, found fame in 1946 starring in a film version of Great Expectations . Her role as young Estella invited rave reviews. It opened doors. After several roles in decent movies, she hit the big one—playing Ophelia in Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet . It earned her an Oscar nomination.
Voted fourth-most popular star in Britain, she became a 1950s Golden Age Hollywood star with King Solomon’s Mines. It scored her an MGM contract. Relocating to L.A., she hooked up with Howard Hughes who acquired her contract. Androcles and the Lion was her first Hollywood production. Hughes could have treated Simmons better. She extricated herself from his contract after a court case. With 20th Century Fox she found leads in box-office hits The Robe and Désirée. She starred with Marlon Brando as Napoleon Bonaparte. Simmons received her second Oscar nomination for The Happy Ending (1969). She’s remembered in Guys and Dolls and Spartacus. The actress struggled with addiction and spoke out publicly to support others. She became a patron of the British drugs and human rights charity. Just days before her 81st birthday in January 2010, Simmons died from lung cancer.
Lynda Carter
Known for: Wonder Woman
Net worth: $10 million
The Seventies would not have been the Seventies without Wonder Woman. Lynda Carter brought the D.C. Comic title to life playing the first-ever female superhero on TV. Her original performance of the character captivated audiences for three glorious seasons. Advancement for women? Yes! As a mythical enforcer of justice, Wonder Woman was not only beautiful but important too. Secretly known as Diana Prince, Wonder Woman was the embodiment of goodness as well.
Life before Wonder Woman found Lynda Carter struggling to make it in showbiz. Winning Miss World USA helped. Music was her first interest. She toured with a band playing quite a few gigs until she became disenchanted with the idea. She won beauty contests instead. Today she has a multi-million-dollar net worth. Then, however, she had only $25 left in her bank account when she got the call that landed the Wonder Woman role. Carter is a spokesman for irritable bowel syndrome due to her mom’s affliction, a staunch advocate for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a Pro-Choice rights activist for women, a backer for legal equality for LGBT people, and she advocates for alcoholism recovery. She has been sober for 20 years.
Anjelica Huston
Known for: Prizzi’s Honor and Witches
Net worth: $50 million
As a deity of the Hollywood pantheon, Anjelica Huston was born and raised into stardom, Santa Monica, California, to be specific, the heart of it all. She is the daughter of ballerina Enrica Soma and actor John Huston. Her career would find her in a long-term relationship with the singular Jack Nicholson and married to renowned sculptor Robert Graham until he died in 2008. But it’s her distinctively striking beauty—severe and self-confident—with raven-black hair that sets her apart.
Winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Prizzi’s Honor (1985) made her a third-generation Oscar-winner in the Huston family. The film was directed by her father and starred Jack Nicholson. She received BAFTA nominations for Crimes and Misdemeanors and Manhattan Murder Mystery, both Woody Allen films. And in Witches, portraying the Grand High Witch from Roald Dahl’s well-loved children’s book, earned her another round of acclaim. She was also loved in The Addams Family as Monica Addams.