Brad wrote:Variety includes Jack as one of the 20th Century's top 100 entertainment icons.
I must say that I'm very struck by this list, and agree with most of it. Someone really knew their stuff to bring out some of the names on it (e.g., D.W. Griffith). Names I don't know (e.g., Tupac Shakur) are in fields I don't know (e.g., rap), and I don't have enough information to disagree with their inclusion. They well may have been as important to their genre as Griffith was to pictures (ironic juxtaposition).
And to note that many of them were active in the first part of the century. Seems like most of the time that I hear about the greatest whatever, it's more like the latest whatever. A documentary on standup comedy a few years ago had multiple people saying things like, "It all began with Woody Allen, Richard Pryor, and Lenny Bruce. They defined the genre." No denying that Allen (one of my favorite standups), Pryor, and Bruce were all Great and revolutionary, but come on...that's like saying the Beatles invented music.
And what's up with that strange pic of Jack? Looks like he's trying to kiss the microphone.
Bravo to Variety!