Denzel Washington is America`s Favorite Movie Star

Clint Eastwood is Second, followed by John Wayne and Will Smith Tied for Third
ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(Business Wire)--
For the third year in a row, Denzel Washington comes in on top as America`s
favorite movie star. Returning to the list this year at number two, after a one
year absence, is Clint Eastwood. The perennial favorite, John Wayne, who died 30
years ago, is tied with Will Smith at number three.

These are the some of the results of The Harris Poll, a new nationwide survey of
2,388 U.S. adults surveyed online by Harris Interactive® between December 9 and
15, 2008. Other findings include:

* With a return as Indiana Jones this past summer, Harrison Ford leaps from the
number 10 spot in 2006, to off the list last year, to number 5 this year;
* Rounding out the top ten is Julia Roberts at number 6 (down from No. 4 last
year), Tom Hanks at number 7 (down from number 2), Johnny Depp at number 8 (down
from 3 last year), and two new additions to the list tied at number 9 - Angelina
Jolie and Morgan Freeman;
* Four actors have dropped off of the list since last year - Matt Damon, Sean
Connery (last year both were tied for the number 7 spot), Sandra Bullock (number
9), and Bruce Willis (number 10);
* Different groups have their favorite actors. For men, their favorite actor,
Clint Eastwood, really "makes their day" while "Pretty Woman" Julia Roberts is
the favorite for women;
* There are also regional differences as well - those in the East say Indiana
Jones, or rather Harrison Ford, is their favorite movie actor, while
Midwesterners cite Julia Roberts as their favorite. Southerners say that Denzel
Washington is their favorite movie actor and Westerners, perhaps due to the
large number of Westerns he starred in, say John Wayne is their favorite movie
actor;
* Each generation also has a favorite movie actor. For Echo Boomers (those aged
18-31) it is one of the Men in Black, Will Smith. Generation Xers (those aged
32-43) are fans of Lara Croft, or rather Angelina Jolie, who comes in as number
one for them. For Baby Boomers (those aged 44-62), Denzel Washington is number
one and the favorite for Matures (those 63+) is Dirty Harry, or rather Clint
Eastwood; and,
* It is not just politicians and policies that cause differences between
Republicans and Democrats, it`s also movie actors. The favorite for Republicans
is John Wayne and the favorite for Democrats is Denzel Washington. Independents
don`t help break the tie - their favorite actor is Harrison Ford.

One other interesting note as the nation`s first African American president
moves in to the White House is that this new top ten is one of the more diverse.
Three of the actors are African American and two are women.

Methodology

This Harris Poll® was conducted online within the United States December 9 and
15, 2008 among 2,388 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex,
race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where
necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the
population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents`
propensity to be online. Full data tables and methodology are available at
www.harrisinteractive.com.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council
on Public Polls.

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About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and
rich history in multimodal research, powered by our science and technology, we
assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients
globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of
independent market research firms. For more information, please visit
www.harrisinteractive.com.

Harris Interactive
Corporate Communications
585-272-8400
press@harrisinteractive.net

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