re: who is considered the greatest/biggest movie star of all time?

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Nobody was talking about "acting" or "greatest actress" in this thread. The character actors tend to wipe the floor with the leads in that discussion.

We're talking "movie star" - "film star" - however you want to qualify it - and Marilyn is probably it on the female side. Were Kate and Audrey Hepburn big stars? Yes. Were they great actresses? Kate was, Audrey was okay - I wouldn't say great. Is Meryl Streep a great actress? Certainly. Is she one of the greatest movie stars of all time? Certainly not.

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Okay, so by that definition, Lindsay Lohan is one of the biggest movie stars of the last decade.

The "movie star v. actor/actress" hair splitting goes off the rails quickly when you start talking about star power. Yes, I understand there's a difference when you're comparing John Wayne to Humphrey Bogart, but there's a line there. I'm not kidding when I say that you can go ask most Marilyn Monroe adorers what their favorite movie of hers was and they'll be stupefied. My wife worships MM and had never even heard of The Seven Year Itch until I made her watch it a few years ago.