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Every year at this time, since 1993, Harris Interactive(R) asks a cross section of adults to tell us who is their favorite movie star. This year, Tom Hanks moves up to the #1 slot for the first time. Last year he was #2 behind Julia Roberts, who slips back to third place, behind Tom Hanks and Mel Gibson. Nine of the stars in this year's top ten were also in the top-ten list last year. However, Tom Cruise moves back in to the top-ten list at #9; while he was in the top-ten for most of the 90's he did not make the list in the last three years.

Tom Hanks' rise to head the list of favorite stars presumably owes a lot to his performance in "Road to Perdition." Mel Gibson was probably helped by "Signs." Unlike Tom Hanks and Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts did not have a big hit in 2002, which may explain why she slipped to third in the list.

The rest of the top ten list is made up of:
-- Harrison Ford, who drops from third to fourth position;
-- Sean Connery who retains his fifth place;
-- John Wayne, who died in 1979, still holds his sixth place in the list, a truly astounding performance. No other dead star has ever made the top-ten list.
-- Denzel Washington comes in seventh, compared to eighth place last year.
-- Clint Eastwood slips from seventh to eighth place.
-- Sandra Bullock retains her tenth place on the list.

These are the results of The Harris Poll(R) conducted online between November 22 and December 2, 2002 among a national sample of 2,221 adults aged 18 or over. This survey uses the same methodology that was used by Harris Interactive to predict the 2000 presidential election with great accuracy.

Different groups have different favorites:
-- While Tom Hanks is the clear favorite among men, Julia Roberts still holds the #1 position among women;
-- Julia Roberts is also the favorite of people aged 18 to 29, who of course go to the movies far more often than people who are older.
-- While Tom Hanks is the favorite of white Americans, Denzel Washington is the favorite star of African-Americans and Hispanics.

SOURCE: Harris Interactive