The History of Actors Turned Politicians

They already have your ticket money. Now they're after your tax money.

Complex Original

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There was a time when politicians were viewed with respect in the eyes of both media members and U.S. citizens. The press wouldn't even report that President Franklin D. Roosevelt (who held the position from 1933-1945) was paralyzed from the waist down, a fact most people didn't find out about until after his death. Same with the affairs of President John F. Kennedy (1961-1963), which were well-known to the press but not the general public. Then, some time within the last four decades, the line between elected official and celebrity began to blur, and tabloids and online gossip sites started covering every aspect of political life, from legislation to sex scandals.

Noticing this, Hollywood actors jumped onto the political bandwagon as a way to keep themselves relevant and stay in the news. Sure, there are some of them with genuine political beliefs, but when you have celebrities demanding gun control one minute and then starring in a big-budget blockbuster that glorifies gun violence the next, chances are that their views start and stop with their paychecks.

That being said, we always love to see Hollywood’s finest run for office. It's usually good for a laugh or two. And this Friday, Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to his big-screen hustle starring in The Last Stand, after an eight-year stint as the Governor of California. We’re not sure who will continue the legacy of celebrities invading Washington now. We selfishly hope rumors are false and phenomenal Argo actor/filmmaker Ben Affleck sticks to directing, but The History of Actors Turned Politicians leads us to believe that we may have to wait a term or two for more cinematic greatness.

Written by Jason Serafino (@serafinoj1)

George Murphy

Notable roles: Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937), For Me and My Gal (1942)
Political position: U.S. Senator, California (1965-1971)

George Murphy was the granddaddy of all actors-turned-politicians. He gained notoriety in the ‘30s by starring in numerous big-budget Hollywood musicals during a time when the genre was bringing record profits to the movies industry. Near the end of his acting career, Murphy served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild, a position that would be held by Ronald Reagan just a few years later.

Murphy then made history by becoming one of the first high-profile actors to successfully transition to politics when he was elected as a senator from California in 1965. He is perhaps best remembered for being the senator who started the Senate's legendary “candy desk," where the senator seated closest to the most heavily-used door keeps his or her desk full of candy for their colleagues to eat throughout the day. Seriously. That's your tax dollars hard at work, folks.

Shirley Temple

Notable roles: Bright Top (1934), Curly Top (1935), Heidi (1937)
Political position: U.S. Ambassador to Ghana (1974-1976), Czechoslovakia (1989-1992)

For those of you too young to remember Shirley Temple, she was like Lindsay Lohan, just without the drugs and court-ordered ankle bracelet. Temple was a child star who raked in millions of dollars for Hollywood in various musicals and feel-good family films before leaving the industry at age 21. Being the top box office draw in the nation wasn’t enough for Temple, who eventually went into politics with an unsuccessful run for a congressional seat in California, where she ran as a Republican.

Despite her initial failure, Temple was eventually appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana by Richard Nixon, and then the Ambassador to Czechoslovakia by George H.W. Bush. Though she never won an election for office, Temple made a name for herself in the political arena and proved that not every child star needs to turn into a pill-popping sob story.

Sonny Bono

Notable roles: The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour (CBS, 1971-1974), The Sonny & Cher Show (1976-1977), Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), Hairspray (1988)
Political position: Mayor of Palm Springs, California (1988-1992), U.S. Representative, California (1995-1998)

It’s easy to forget that Sonny Bono was more than just Cher's hubbie. Amongst many other pursuits, Bono settled into a solid political career after his days as a mustachioed variety act were over. As the former mayor of Palm Springs and a U.S. Republican representative from California, Bono was one of the rare celebrities that didn’t use his political platform to further his own fame. He entered politics after he grew frustrated with government bureaucracy standing in the way of him opening an Italian restaurant.

As most of California's celebrities flaunt their liberal love from the Hollywood Hills, Bono actually went to work for his country. Unfortunately his career was cut short when he died due to injuries sustained during a skiing accident. Coincidentally, that accident took place a week after Michael Kennedy, the son of Robert F. Kennedy, died in the same exact way.

Fred Grandy

Notable roles: Maude (CBS, 1973-1974), The Love Boat (ABC, 1977-1986)
Political position: U.S. Representative, Iowa (1987-1995)

Fred Grandy rose to fame in the late ‘70s when he starred as Gopher on The Love Boat. He basically did whatever Captain Stubing (Gavin MacLeod) ordered him to do and was never seen as being worth anything more than a cheap laugh or two during its nine-season tenure.

After the series was over, Grandy decided to inject a little dignity into his career by winning a seat as a U.S. representative from Iowa in 1987. Grandy remained in the position for four terms, during which he was a part of numerous committees and other dry, congressional duties. Mostly, though, he stayed out of the limelight for his entire tenure.

Once back to a private lifestyle, Grandy made headlines for all of the wrong reasons. In 2010, he was forced to resign from his conservative talk radio show in Washington D.C. due to comments he and his wife made about Islam while on the air.

Since then, Grandy has made numerous remarks that can be seen as anti-Islam, like stating that the Occupy Wall Street movement was being supported by the Council on American-Islam Relations at a 2011 Tea Party event. With offensive rants like that, Grandy is entertaining people (albeit for all the wrong reasons) more now than he ever did while on The Love Boat. Unfortunately, he’s also scaring us more too.

Ronald Reagan

Notable roles: Knute Rockne, All American (1940), Bedtime for Bonzo (1951), The Killers (1964)
Political position: Governor of California (1967-1975), President of the United States (1980-1988)

Though he was never a Hollywood heavyweight, Ronald Reagan was still a fixture in show business during the ‘30s and ‘40s after starring in movies like Knute Rockne, All American and Bedtime for Bonzo. But as his star began to fade, he slowly transitioned to a political career, where he actually began as a Democrat. Soon after switching to a Republican, Reagan became the governor of California in 1967, where he vowed to “send the welfare bums back to work” and began the ball rolling on a conservative movement that would shape the next four decades.

After eight years as governor, he built up enough good will and political capital to make an unsuccessful first run at the White House in 1976, before finally winning the job in 1980. While the other actors on this list mostly remained mayors or congressmen, Reagan is the only one to reach the big prize. And, love him or hate him, he became one of the most influential presidents in history. His focus on big business and small government made the ‘80s a prosperous time for many Americans on Wall Street. You would get a much different reaction from the working and middle-class, though, who usually got the raw end of his “Reaganomics” package.

Political preferences aside, you have to give a guy props for beginning his career acting opposite a chimpanzee, becoming the head of the Screen Actor’s Guild, and then, ironically, almost tearing down unions altogether as a big-business president. He’s deplored by liberals, canonized by conservatives, and is the most successful example of an actor turned politician that the United States has ever seen.

Clint Eastwood

Notable roles: A Fistful of Dollars (1964), The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), Dirty Harry (1971)
Political position: Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California (1986-1988)

At this point, Clint Eastwood’s political beliefs are well documented, especially after his run-in with a chair at the 2012 RNC. But what most people don’t remember is that he was actually the mayor of the artsy California city Carmel in the late ‘80s. He was responsible for overturning some of the city’s notoriously strict laws, such as it being illegal for anyone to eat from an ice cream cone on a public street.

We’re serious—the man who made a name for himself by gunning down criminals and chumming with orangutans in movies was relegated to dealing with ice cream legislation during his two-year stint in Carmel. This big win for novelty confections might have been impressive at one point, but, unfortunately, it took place as another former actor, Ronald Reagan, was demanding that Gorbachev tear down to Berlin Wall, thus changing world history. You can see why Eastwood didn’t make another foray into politics after this.

He's one of the rare actors brave enough to flaunt his libertarian views to the public. While a generation of Daily Show fans only think of him as the crazed old dude who yells at furniture, he also had his brief time to shine as an elected official.

Ben L. Jones

Notable roles: The Dukes of Hazzard (CBS, 1979-1985)
Political position: U.S. Representative, Georgia (1989-1993)

After watching him play the oil-splattered mechanic Cooter on The Dukes of Hazzard, the American public had pretty much made peace with the fact that they would never see Ben Jones again. But in 1989, Jones re-emerged again when he made a successful run to become a congressman for Georgia’s Fourth District after a surprising win on his second attempt at the seat.

He was even popular enough to get elected for a second term, but he hasn’t held an office since then. Still, for someone that became famous solely for playing a character named Cooter, what Jones did is admirable.

Jesse “The Body” Ventura

Notable roles: Predator (1987), The Running Man (1987), Demolition Man (1993)
Political position: Mayor of Brooklyn park, Minnesota (1991-1995); Governor of Minnesota (1999-2003)

From pile-drivers to Predator and politics, Jesse “The Body” Ventura is one of America’s underrated gems.

He started out in the ‘70s and ‘80s as a flamboyant professional wrestler known for his garish ring attire and hulking physique. But after being plagued with injuries, Ventura turned to the silver screen where he appeared in movies like The Running Man, Demolition Man, and Batman & Robin. He was no Clark Gable, yet ‘80s cinema basically just required rippling muscles and a plethora of manliness. Thus, Ventura managed to fit right in.

Then something strange happened. The man who, at one point, was an icon for wearing feather boas and tie-dyed tights to the wrestling ring suddenly entered the political ring. Ventura stunned governmental junkies everywhere when he successfully served as the mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota for four years, and then shocked the entire nation when he was voted governor of Minnesota in 1998. Even more surprising than that is the fact that Ventura won the seat while running for the Reform Party, which is rare in a country that dogmatically clings to its two-party system.

Because of Ventura’s combative nature, his tenure as governor was filled with controversy, and he refused to seek a second term. For a man who made a name for himself by handing out body slams and headlocks, though, becoming a United States governor for any length of time is impressive.

Even ven though Ventura is currently enjoying small screen success as the host of Conspiracy Theory on TruTV, he has stated that if he gets enough support, he’ll consider running for president in 2016 as an independent. This might be one sequel actually worth watching.

Fred Thompson

Notable roles: Die Hard 2 (1990), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Law & Order: SVU (NBC, 2003-2006)
Political position: U.S. Senator, Tennessee (1994-2003)

Fred Thompson was an under-the-radar character actor for most of his show biz career. Still, he managed to carve a niche out for himself in TV shows and movies like Die Hard 2 and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. After spending nine years as a professional actor, Thompson turned his sights to a political career when he made a successful bid for the two remaining years on Al Gore’s expiring senate seat in Tennessee in 1994 as a Republican.

But it was in 2007 when Thompson really made headlines, when he decided to run for the President of the United States, a part he played previously when he took on the role of Ulysses S. Grant in the TV version of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Like many people expected, Thompson gained very little support and withdrew from the race after just a few months. Yet it was the most screen time he'd seen in years, and any publicity is good publicity, right?

Alan Autry

Notable roles: In the Heat of the Night (NBC, 1988-1992; CBS, 1992-1995), Grace Under Fire (ABC, 1995-1996)
Political position: Mayor of Fresno, California (2001-2009)

Alan Autry originally tried to make it as a quarterback in the NFL, but once he was cut by the Green Bay Packers after one season, he traveled to Hollywood to try to break into acting. His first notable role was on the small-screen cop drama In the Heat of the Night.

After that, Autry found odd jobs and guest spots wherever he could, but it was clear that acting was never going to be his long-term career choice. So he did what every Hollywood star thinks they can do—he switched over to politics. Autry was elected the mayor of Fresno, California in 2000 as a Republican. He served two terms in Fresno before having to stop due to a law prohibiting a third.

Autry’s most high-profile political decision was to support a ban on gay marriage in California; he even went as far as to host a heterosexual-only “Marriage Commitment Day” at City Hall in 2004. Thankfully, since his second term ended in 2009, Autry has been absent from the political scene and Hollywood, so we don’t have to be subjected to any more of his beliefs.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Notable roles: The Terminator (1984), Total Recall (1990), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), True Lies (1994)
Political position: Governor of California (2003-2011)

It’s still surreal to us that the man who was famous for his testosterone-laden one-liners and rippling pecs managed to muscle his way into the governor’s mansion. The American populace is obsessed with all things celebrity, so Arnold's victory really was a no-brainer from the second he announced his candidacy.

What Schwarzenegger lacked in an impressive education or political experience, he more than made up for in a small fortune and a metric-ton of charisma. The craziness surrounding the 2003 California recall election helped his chances considerably, as Arnold was pitted against 134 candidates that were a mix of no-name citizens and Z-list notables like Gary Coleman and Larry Flynt.

Legitimate politicians got lost in an avalanche of candidates that swarmed the ballot as Arnold’s larger-than-life personality managed to rise above the madness for an easy victory. This is a man who came to this country from Austria without being able to speak fluent English, became the biggest actor of the ‘90s, and eventually landed a high-profile political position without really having to try too hard. Whether you agree with his beliefs or not, it’s impossible to deny that the man is one of the biggest success stories that the country has ever seen.

And like most politicians living the dream, his whole world came crashing down around him towards the end of his tenure as allegations of adultery and the existence of an illegitimate lovechild lit up tabloid headlines everywhere. Then again, is there anything more American than a little controversy?

Al Franken

Notable roles: Saturday Night Live (NBC, 1975-1995)
Political position: U.S. Senator, Minnesota (2009-present)

Of all of the actors (and we use that term loosely in this case) who have turned to politics on this list, Al Franken is perhaps the most unsurpising example.

After working as a writer and occasional performer on Saturday Night Live, Franken shifted to an acting career that didn’t exactly take off. So instead of trying over and over at a profession that just wasn’t popping, Franken turned to political talk radio and writing that brought his career into a new direction. His liberal slant and sharp tongue helped him gain political power among party members, and Franken soon tried his hand at a U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota.

Following a contentious election where he ran against Republican incumbent Norm Coleman, and months of trials and vote recounts, Franken officially won the seat in July of 2009. In typical Franken fashion, he has since been criticized for some of his remarks and actions, like rolling his eyes and making faces behind an opposing politician’s back during a speech. You can take the man out of the comedy, but not the comedy out of the man.

Kal Penn

Notable Roles: Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004), The Namesake (2006), How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 2011-2012)
Political position: Associate Director of the Office of Engagement (2009-present)

Many presidents, from George Washington to Barack Obama, have been known to either grow or smoke a little weed at one time or another. So when Kal Penn—one half of Harold and Kumar's stoner movie duo—made his first steps into civil service in 2009, no one really stood opposed because the political pot precedent had already been established decades prior. Penn never ran for office or took part in election, but hes still part of the political machine as the Associate Director of the Office of Engagement for the Obama administration.

What does the position mean, exactly? Basically, Penn reaches out to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to ensure that their voices are being heard. He also has the same job for the arts community as well. On top of that, Penn served as a co-chair on the 2012 Obama re-election campaign, where he helped rally the young vote.

The job forced him to drop out of the TV show House and put his other projects on hold while he fulfilled the duties of his White House gig. We wouldn’t be surprised if Penn attempts to reach a higher position in government after Obama’s second term is up.