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Mark Hamill -

Hamill became a huge celebrity after he played Luke Skywalker in the early 'Star Wars' movies. But did you know that the actor made a young fan's dying wish come true?

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Mark Hamill -

Screenwriter Ed Solomon shared the story of a friend's dying son who wanted to meet the actor. Not only did Hamill spend time with the boy, he did so in character as Luke Skywalker! "He was compassionate, kind, and patient. And it literally meant the world to this kid and his family," wrote Solomon.

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Roger Moore -

Moore will always be remembered as James Bond. But agent 007 quit the franchise when he was 58, after starring in seven films from 1973 to 1985. One of the reasons was that he was getting older, and Bond girls were just too young for him.

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Roger Moore -

"[...]the leading ladies were young enough to be my grand-daughter and it becomes disgusting," Moore said. Adding that he was too old to be "hanging around women in their early twenties without it appearing creepy."

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Sylvester Stallone -

Sylvester Stallone established himself as a Hollywood heavyweight ever since the first 'Rocky' movie in 1976. But before he found fame, he had to sell his dog Butkus for US$40, just so that he could afford some food. 

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Sylvester Stallone -

But Stallone would never leave his best friend with someone else. The actor later bought his beloved dog back for US$15,000, and according to Stallone, "He was worth every penny!"

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Robert Redford -

Robert Redford was indeed a handsome man, but being so cool actually cost him a big role. Director Mike Nichols rejected Redford for the lead role in 'The Graduate' (1967) because he didn't believe the actor could play a loser.

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Robert Redford -

The director recalled the conversation: "I said, "You can’t play it. You can never play a loser." And Redford said, "What do you mean? Of course I can play a loser." And I said, "OK, have you ever struck out with a girl?" and he said, "What do you mean?" And he wasn’t joking."

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Christopher Reeve -

Christopher Reeve is best known for playing Superman. However, when the actor was first cast for the role, he was just a "skinny little kid," according to director D i c k Donner. 

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Christopher Reeve -

To turn the "skinny little kid" into a buff superhero, they got him to train with David Prowse (the actor/bodybuilder who played Darth Vader)! "He was fantastic. He was a very lovely person... We were like brothers, we got along so well together. And during the course of the period I had him, I took him from 170 pounds when we started and he was 212 [pounds] when he went into the suit," recalled Prowse.

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Burt Reynolds -

Not many actors can claim to be an American icon, but it's safe to say Burt Reynolds achieved that status in the '70s. He's not a man who takes bs from anyone, including the tabloid magazine National Enquirer. They got a lot of crap from Reynolds after saying some nasty things about him. (Literally). 

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Burt Reynolds -

"I had about 100 horses at the time, and that’s a lot of horse crap. I got two huge nets and I filled them both. And about 3:00 in the morning, my ranch foreman took my helicopter down to the wonderful National Enquirer, which is just down the street here from me...I just didn’t think it was right that they had the largest Christmas tree in the entire United States. It wasn’t right. So, I dumped it on top of the tree, and it just cascaded down. It was a beautiful sight," recalled the actor.

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Kurt Russell -

Not only was Kurt Russell one of the biggest heartthrobs in the '70s, he also had a unique quality: "zero unlikeability." The producers of the 1994 film 'Stargate' ran a survey to find out which actors were the most likeable because they desperately needed someone sympathetic and charismatic for the leading role. 

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Kurt Russell -

When the results came in, there was only one actor who scored a zero in unlikeability: Kurt Russell. The producers ended up paying Russell twice his normal rate just to get him to appear in their movie! 

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Clint Eastwood -

The ultimate tough guy of the '70s is best known for making his fans' hearts skip a beat in his 'Dirty Harry' movies and Westerns. But in 1986, the actor turned to politics for a very important cause: ice cream. 

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Clint Eastwood -

In Carmel, California, there was a 1929 zoning law that banned the sale of ice cream cones (yes, really!). So what did Clint Eastwood do? He ran for mayor, won, and changed the law!

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John Travolta -

John Travolta was huge in the '70s thanks to movies such as 'Saturday Night Fever' (1977). However, in 1994 he turned down a big role in 'Forest Gump.' Luckily, he went on to play Vincent Vega in 'Pulp Fiction' that same year.

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John Travolta -

Tom Hanks took the role instead, and both Travolta and Hanks were actually nominated for an Oscar. "If I didn't do something Tom Hanks did, then I did something else that was equally interesting or fun... Or if I didn't do something Richard Gere did, I did something equally well. But I feel good about some I gave up because other careers were created," said the actor.

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Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte -

Both the actor Sidney Poitier and singer Harry Belafonte were huge legends in their own right. But when the two first met in their twenties, they weren't huge stars just yet and money was tight. Poitier and Belafonte used to go to the cinema together back then, but shared one ticket.

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Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte -

"You kept the stub... You walked in and one of us saw the first half. We'd give each other an update about what we just saw, and the lucky one got to see the second half. It was called "sharing the burden and the joy," recalled Belafonte. The two remained close friends until Poitier passed away on January 6, 2022. Belafonte died the following year on April 25. 

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Calvin Lockhart -

The actor became famous after the 1975 film, 'Let's Do It Again' where he played gangster Biggie Smalls. Years later, a rapper named Christopher Wallace started using Biggie Smalls as a stage name, and Lockhart wasn't happy about it. 

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Calvin Lockhart -

Calvin Lockhart went on to sue the rapper, who went on to change his stage name to The Notorious B.I.G. Despite the official name change, Wallace is still associated with the name Biggie. 

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Harrison Ford -

Harrison Ford stole the show in the early 'Star Wars' movies and became a huge Hollywood heartthrob. But when he came to shoot 'Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark' (1981), things got a bit crazy during a scene involving his character's whip.

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Harrison Ford -

The scene was supposed to be an epic battle between whip and sword. But Ford had been suffering from dysentery, so instead, he ended up just shooting the swordman in the scene. "The poor guy was a wonderful British stuntman who had practiced his sword skills for months in order to do this job, and was quite surprised by the idea that we would dispatch him in 5 minutes. But he flourished his sword, I pulled out my gun and shot him, and then we went back to England," recalled the actor.

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Rick Springfield -

The Australian musician is best known for his hit song 'Jessie's Girl,' but he was also known for being mistaken for another music star: Bruce Springsteen.

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Rick Springfield -

So much so, that Springfield wrote a song called 'Bruce' about it! The lyrics go: "She said, 'Let's make love, your place or mine' / And in the middle of the passion / I was on the borderline / When she called out a name but it wasn't mine She called me Bruce (Bruce), Bruce (Bruce)."

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Lee Major -

The actor is known for starring in movies and shows such as 'The Six Million Dollar Man,' but what you might not know about him is that he might have accidentally set his wife up with his friend, leading to his own divorce. 

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Lee Major -

Major's friend, actor Ryan O'Neal, started to spend a lot of time with Major's wife, Farrah Fawcett—oddly, at Major's request. He wanted his good friend to keep his wife company while he was out of town shooting. Fawcett and O'Neal fell in love and ended up spending the rest of their lives together. 

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Burt Reynolds -

Yes, it's Burt Reynolds again. He's such a pain that, despite the director's insistence, he refused to use a stuntman to do the dangerous waterfall scene in 'Deliverance' (1972).

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Burt Reynolds -

Norm MacDonald, who met Reynolds, retold the story "[Reynolds] said his shoulder immediately hit a rock, and his head hit another rock. And then he said the next thing he remembered was he was way down stream, all of his clothes had been torn off...Next thing he remembers, he's waking up in the hospital, John Frankenheimer's at his bedside. And he goes, "I said to John, how'd it look... on the dailies?" And John Frankenheimer said, "It looked like a dummy falling over a waterfall."

Sources: (Ranker)

See also: Stars who risk their lives to film their own stunts

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