Jews Dominate ‘Most Valuable Comedians’ List
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By Talya Zax November 23, 2015
Four comedians with Jewish roots – Amy Schumer, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and Jason Segel – have been named to Vulture’s list of .
The list was released Thursday as a follow-up list to Vulture’s annual ranking of the 100 most valuable Hollywood stars, published last week. Stars who made the list were ranked based on a number of factors including box-office numbers (domestic and foreign), critical respect, and likability.
Schumer, at number 3, was the highest ranked of the Jewish comedians on the list. Rogen was next at number 5, followed by Hill at 7 and Segel at 10.
Jesse David Fox, who authored the list of comic actors for Vulture, concluded the article with some thoughts on the state of the comic actor.
“Of the ten actors on the list, only three haven’t done a drama or a dramedy as one of their last two films,” Fox wrote. “Just as we increasingly expect traditional movie stars to do comedy, we also want our comic stars to play it straight at times.”
Fox pointed out that Hill’s only movie of 2015, “True Story,” was a drama, and Segel’s place on the list was primarily a result of his buzz-producing turn as David Foster Wallace in “End of the Tour.”
Fox ended by pointing out that the demographic makeup of the top ten most valuable comic actors, based on the Vulture rankings, has changed remarkably in the past three years. “The top 3 in 2012 were [Steve] Carell, [Adam] Sandler, and [Ben] Stiller. Now it’s [Melissa] McCarthy, [Kevin] Hart, and [Amy] Schumer. Sure, half the list is still white men, but that top three is a sign of progress,” he wrote.
It’s worth noting that of the Jewish comedians that made the cut for Vulture’s Most Valuable 10, only Schumer breaks the white man mold. Here’s hoping that in years to come, more female Jewish comedians and Jewish comedians of color will make the list.
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