Fan Fare

Actor Vince Vaughn has studios laughing to the bank

Comedian Vince Vaughn has topped a list of Hollywood stars giving studios the best returns on their investments. In an “Entertainment All Stars Special Issue”, Forbes magazine has looked at which actors provide the best payback and Vaughn was No. 1, with his films earning $14.73 for every dollar he was paid. Why? Well, until recently he wasn’t paid the mega-bucks of other Hollywood stars and the films he starred in, like “Wedding Crashers” and “The Break-Up,” had modest budgets but good box office returns.

A-listers Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and George Clooney also looked good in the list because of their work in “Ocean’s Twelve” and “Ocean’s Thirteen”, as they all took pay cuts to appear in the heist movies. 

Forbes said it compiled the list by looking at a star’s last three films that opened wide before Jan.1 2008  and were made in the past five years — and were not animated. It then took half of each film’s box office income and added the first three months of wholesale DVD revenues, subtracted the budget,  and used the star’s gross income to work out payback.                   

 Here is a list of the top payback stars:

1. Vince Vaughn – $14.73                                      2. Tobey Maguire – $13.44

3. Julia Roberts $13.19                                          4. Brad Pitt $12.73

5. Naomi Watts $12.16                                          6. Matt Damon $12.16

Oprah’s gifts to Stanford grads: Self-help books.

Media mogul and talk show host Oprah Winfrey had gifts for Stanford University’s graduates when she spoke at their commencement on Sunday – but they didn’t include new cars.      “I really wanted to give you cars  . . .  just couldn’t pull that off,” said Winfrey. Instead, the roughly 2,600 grads in attendance got two books: Daniel Pink’s “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future” and Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose.”

In, September 2004, Winfrey made headlines and stunned 276 audience members of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” with gifts of Pontiac G6 sports cars donated by General Motors.       O.K., so self-help books aren’t as great as a car — especially for grads. They just finished at least four years of study. More for graduate students. But as far as gifts go, they are less likely to get you in trouble with the tax man.      Winfrey delivered the prestigious university’s commencement address on Sunday and was among friends. Her goddaughter Kirby Bumpus, daughter of her Oprah’s BFF Gayle King, was among the graduates.      Winfrey in June topped Forbes Celebrity 100 Power list after earning $275 million in the past year. And for the longest time, she was not a college grad.      Winfrey, speaking on Father’s Day in the United States, said her dad never let her forget that she was one credit short of a college diploma. Even after she had her own TV show, she remembered him saying, “Oprah Gail, I don’t know what you’re going to do without that degree.”      In 1987, when she was asked to speak during Commencement at her alma mater, Tennessee State University, she finished her course work, turned in her final paper, and earned her degree.      “I know if anything happens that one credit will be my salvation,” she said.

(Reporting by Clare Baldwin)