by Bob Sparrow
Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony – known in ‘the industry’ as EGOT!
I like a good story well told, but I’ve never been a big fan of Hollywood types, so I don’t look forward to this time of year when our entertainers/celebrities practically break their arms patting themselves on the back while red carpet hosts comment on ‘who’ they are wearing. Yes, it’s ‘Awards Season’ and here are a few you’re probably familiar with, but believe me, there’s lots more: Screen Actors Guild Awards, Critics Choice Award, GLAAD, NAACP Image Award, People’s Choice, Golden Globes, Emmy, Tony, Grammy and Oscar.
But, instead of taking the ‘easy pot shots’ at this group of thespians for being self-centered snobs, which many of them are, I thought I’d look for the smart, the charitable and the less self-centered of the group. And surprise, I found some..
I first looked for actors/actresses who are on the high end of the intelligence scale; so first, just in case you’re like me and not on the genius side of IQs, here’s the general rankings:
120 -140 – Very Superior intelligence 110 -120 – Superior intelligence 90 – 110 – Normal, or average intelligence 80 – 90 – Dullness, rarely classifiable as feeble-minded (typically where our politicians fall)
So, here’s what I found . . .
Natalie Portman graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Psychology. She speaks five languages fluently and has co-authored 2 technical research papers in neuroscience, which were published in reputable journals
Natalie Portman
Sharon Stone is reputed to have an IQ of around 150. Sharon was considered academically gifted as a child and entered the 2nd grade when she was five years old. She was admitted to University of Pennsylvania on a creative writing scholarship at age 15.
Cindy Crawford has an IQ of about 150; studied chemical engineering on scholarship at Northwestern University.
OK, let’s let some guys into this club . . .
David Duchovny has an IQ around 150 and a degree in English literature from Princeton University and an M.A. in English literature from Yale University
Ashton Kutcher has an IQ of 160 and was offered a scholarship to attend MIT, but didn’t. He once said, “The sexiest thing in the entire world is being really smart.”
James Wood has an IQ of somewhere between 160 – 180; he dropped out of MIT one semester short of graduating. He was going to be a surgeon before acting got in the way.
Ken Jeong
Ken Jeong was pre-med at Duke University before getting into acting, and then completed his medical degree at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995.
Conan O’Brian has an IQ of 160; he graduated from high school as valedictorian. He went to Harvard where he graduated magna cum laude in History & Literature.
Not an actor, but a rock star, who typically have similar personalities, Brian May, lead guitarist for the rock band Queen, has an IQ of around 170 and has a PhD in astrophysics.
OK, so there are some smart entertainers, actually a lot more than I thought, but who’s doing some good with their celebrity?
Top of the list has to go to Taylor Swift; it’s hard to pin down all that she donates, as it’s $100,000 here and $1,000,000 there, and amounts she doesn’t disclose for causes she believes in that need financial help. Class act!!!
Taylor Swift
Oprah Winfrey, another noted ‘giver’ who has donated more than 40 million dollars through her Oprah Winfrey Foundation, to help women and children with education and health care around the world.
Mel Gibson has given 10 million dollars to reimburse hospitals for health care given to children, as well as his contributions to Holy Family Catholic Church in the sum of over 15 million dollars.
George Clooney is known for donating generously to charity. He has given away millions of dollars to various causes, most notably to the Not On Our Watch charity, which works to prevent and stop genocide. He has given a total of more than $14 million to the organization.
Of course, there’s more, actually lots more, but I came away from this ‘research project’ with a little different attitude; yes there are still lots of egotistical, selfish entertainers, but as noted here, there are some really good and smart ones too.