re: Has any movie star ever had the run of John Travolta from 1977-1980?

Sydney Portiers 67

Guess who...
Heat of the..
To Sir...

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Travolta was the lead in all three of his

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I’d say Grease is the definition of an ensemble cast and Travolta was co-billed as lead with Olivia Newton-John.

Star Wars was the #1 grossing film of the 70s and unquestionably a cultural phenomenon. Harrison Ford emerged as the charismatic leading man of the 80s from that ensemble cast.

And Tom Cruise from. Risky Business, Top Gun, Cocktail, RainMan, Born on the 4th of July, Days of Thunder, A Few Good Men, The Firm, Mission Impossible, and Jerry Maguire is a hell of a 12 year run.

Weird hill to die on, but ok. I’m sure generational synchrony is a factor for your choices as well as mine.

I’m old enough to remember watching Grease. Saturday Night Fever and Urban Cowboy were rated R (I believe) so I didn’t see them at the time. All the Grease posters, albums clearly have Travolta and Newton-John as co leads.

I was idly curious and looked up John Wayne's filmography because of this thread. Holy Smokes that's a filmography. And many years with upwards of four movies a year.

Charlie Chaplin also came to mind. He seems like another more lengthy answer. Granted the new medium (and his talent) may have been a good part of him being so dominant.

Robert Redford isn't JW or CC but do consider his peak run between 69 and 76 with:
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Jeremiah Johnson, The Candidate, The Sting, The Way We Were, The Great Gatsby, Three Days of the Condor, All the President's Men

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Fistfull of Dollars
For a Few Dollars More
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

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in America, these were all released in the same year:

FoD: early '67

FAFDM: summer

GTB&TU: Dec

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it's hard to understand the disco craze and the country music craze that followed SNF and UC respectively.

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Were they leading the trend or following it though? Seems like the movies SNF and UC were popularizing existing trends and pushing them more into the “mainstream”. Anyway oddly specific category you created there
Also interesting how Travoltas career fell off a cliff after UC and he was reduced to being the foil in talking baby movies before Quinten Tarantino cast him in Pulp Fiction

Jimmy Stewart:
1938 - You Can’t Take It With You
1939 - Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
1940 - The Shop Around the Corner
1940 - The Philadelphia Story

Then the run comes to an end….because Stewart enlisted to fight in World War 2.

His first movie after returning from military service?
1946 - It’s a Wonderful Life

Chevy Chase (83-85)

Vacation
Fletch
Spies like us
Three amigos

They were such a cultural splash that I've never seen any of them