Known for: Nashville and The Incredible Shrinking Woman
Net worth: $15 million
Lily Tomlin’s stand-up gig paved the way for a career as a fantastic comedic actress. Her talents shine brightly in Nashville playing a gospel-singing mother of two deaf kids. The stellar performance garnered a Best Actress Academy Award nomination.
Tomlin starred with Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda in the beloved office comedy 9 to 5. An alternative title might have been: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. It’s rip-roaring fun as the three women spar futilely with their sexist boss. Tomlin won accolades for The Late Show with nominations for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. She was also recognized at the Berlin Film Festival. A Tony Award greeted her performance in The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe when it hit Broadway in 1985. Tomlin was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.
Johnny Depp
Known for: 21 Jump Street and Edward Scissorhands
Net worth: $200 million
The 1980s made Johnny Depp famous. By the 2000s he was the highest-grossing actor in the world. His versatility and staying-power make him a unique Hollywood legend. In the 1980s, the TV show 21 Jump Street was all-the-rage. Depp played a wildly popular undercover cop. The role made him a sexy teen idol. He was recognized for the role after appearing in the horror movie, A Nightmare on Elm Street .
His first love was music and playing the lead in garage bands. However, a chance meeting with Nicolas Cage-led him to an acting career. After the Freddy Krueger flick, he landed the greatest gig ever (the one only Depp could make great) playing the title role in Edward Scissorhands . It kicked off a long and wonderful collaboration with director Tim Burton. He shined in the Hunter S. Thompson biopic, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and he raked in the treasure with the Pirates franchise. Depp made a wonderful Willy Wonka in the Chocolate Factory . In total, Depp received three Oscar nominations, ten Golden Globe nominations, and a SAG win for Pirates .
Rae Dawn Chong
Known for: American Flyers and The Color Purple
Net worth: $4 million
Rae Dawn Chong is the first daughter of our favorite stoner and actor/comedian Tommy Chong. Born in Canada, she’s a part-Chinese, part-Scots-Irish and part Black-Canadian. On-screen, she’s known for Quest for Fire and Choose Me . Other popular 1980s films include The Color Purple , Commando and Beat Street .
Mick Jagger chose Chong for the lead in his music video, “Just Another Night.” She has actively supported many charitable organizations. Two of her preferences are Habitat for Humanity and Byron Katie’s work with prison inmates.
Sigourney Weaver
Known for: Ghostbuster and Queen of Sci-FI
Net worth: $50 million
Though not an official member of the “Brat Pack,” Sigourney Weaver was a hot ’80s movie star with a sizzling following. Back in the late-Seventies, Woody Allen set her up in a role in Annie Hall . It was a small part, all of six seconds on screen, but it got her noticed! Before long, Sigourney co-starred with Mel Gibson in The Year of Living Dangerously It received a Palme d’Or-nomination at Cannes. Ghostbusters wasn’t far behind. In 1983, it took over the nation, a monster-blockbuster. That summer, N.Y.C. looked like an unofficial movie tie-in gift shop, vendors on every corner peddling Ghostbuster merch.
Since then, Weaver’s become a royal deity of the sci-fi genre. She’s the destroyer of aliens, reptilian humanoid warlords, and the Carpathians. She’s survived every alien assault, including being cloned eight times in Alien Resurrection. She’s a gorilla lover. Weaver is an honorary chairperson to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. She’s also into helping those in extreme poverty and protecting the environment. Women’s, and other people’s rights are also a focus of her charitable side.
Sissy Spacek
Known for: Coal Miner’s Daughter
Net worth: $15 million
Sissy Spacek was born Mary Elizbeth, but her brothers called her “Sissy,” and the name stuck. She hoped for a career in the music business but settled for film instead, after the music gig sputtered out. She enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and found her way into Andy Warhol’s Factory as an extra. At that point, small film parts began rolling in.
She played the teenage girlfriend of Charlie Sheen’s mass murderer character in Badlands. But it was the supernatural horror movie Carrie that gained her enough praise to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. In Coal Miner’s Daughter, she truly nailed it with an Jennifer Greyscar win playing Lorretta Lynn. Loretta Lynn personally approved the role, and Sissy got to do some singing. Other popular films she starred in are JFK, In the Bedroom and Crimes of the Heart.