Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime. The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since. So, given those guidelines, it is time to look at all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of May 30th.
Today, we have our penultimate look at the 2 actors that have starred in 26 movies that I have seen.
Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr is a bit of an anomaly as every single one of his appearances have been TV movies where he has played the same character. In 1985, NBC brought back Perry Mason, Raymond Burr’s starring vehicle from the 50s and 60s, for a TV movie. The ratings were high enough to justify a recurring series of films, 26 in fact, over the next several years, ending in 1994 following Burr’s death the previous year.
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage can also point to special circumstances behind his high film total: real estate issues and IRS trouble. After being accused of owing the government over $6.5 million in unpaid taxes and losing millions in bad real estate deals, Cage filed a $20 million lawsuit against his business manager and started taking any and every role offered to him. 6 of his films that I have seen have come since, including 4 in 2010 alone. My first exposure to a starring Cage role was likely 1987’s Raising Arizona. There have been 8 years since where I have seen multiple Cage films. I haven’t seen any Cage vehicles since 2012, when I saw the sparkling duo of Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance and Drive Angry.