Billed Above the Title: Difference between revisions

When an actor -- usuallyactor—usually the lead, but occasionally [[One-Scene Wonder|someone with a prominent and memorable supporting role]] -- and—and (almost) always the most famous person involved in a production -- isproduction—is listed more prominently in the credits and all promotional material than even the title of the work itself.

A trope mostly associated with [[Film|the cinema]], but actually dating back at least as far as [[Older Than Radio|19th-century theatre]]. Very often, the project in which our actor is appearing is a "star vehicle" -- crafted—crafted specifically with him or her in mind. This is especially true in television, where the show itself will likely be named after our star. This is a classic litmus test as to whether the actor is a bona-fide A-lister, or just a prolific [[Hey, It's That Guy!|character actor]] or product of the [[Hollywood Hype Machine]].

Compare [[And Starring]]. When multiple actors are [['''Billed Above the Title]]''', it's also an example of [[All-Star Cast]]. Actors who fall under this trope may also be guilty of [[I Am Not Leonard Nimoy]]. [[Billing Displacement]] can result in someone being [['''Billed Above the Title]]''' in later releases even when they weren't originally. Also compare [[In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It]], which is when the ''author'' of a work which is being adapted receives top billing.

* [[Stan Lee]], whenever he deigns to release a new "project" (like, say, ''[[Atop the Fourth Wall (Web Video)|Nightcat]]'').

* Likewise, [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] in many of his movies. He is often billed simply as "SCHWARZENEGGER", because it looks really good on a poster. The late, great [[Don La FontaineLaFontaine]] once said that Schwarzenegger's name was his favorite to say with The Voice.

* [[Marlon Brando]] in ''[[Superman (Filmfilm)|Superman]]'', who took the role of Jor-El in exchange for both this trope and [[Money, Dear Boy]], and infamously provided one of the laziest, most wooden performances of his career.

** Similarly, [[Jack Nicholson]] in ''[[Batman (Filmfilm)|Batman]]'', for whom top billing was a small price to pay: He is the highest-paid actor in history for a single film (his estimated payday in lump sum plus grosses plus merchandising was ''$60 million'', and that's ''not'' adjusted for inflation). To his credit, though, he does put in a much better performance than Brando.

* On the''[[The Daily Show]]'', [[JohnJon Stewart]] pointed out to Bill O'Reilly that he should consider getting a new cover designer because the title of his book reads, "Bill O'Reilly Killing Lincoln."

* "Elizabeth Montgomery in... ''[[Bewitched (TV)|Bewitched]]!''" This one had the extra prominence of being spoken aloud by an announcer.

* "[[Angela Lansbury]] in ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]''."

* In classic ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'', the Doctor's face (from partway through the Second Doctor's tenure) was always shown ahead of the title -- arguablytitle—arguably billing for the actor since (per usual BBC policy at the time) actors were never credited in the opening titles.

* [[Chuck Norris]] is [[Walker, Texas Ranger]]

* [[Mark Hamill]] in ''[[Wing Commander (Videovideo Gamegame)|Wing Commander]] IV'', though not in ''Wing Commander III''. Both games had an [[All-Star Cast]], but Hamill was the lead (and, technically, the [[Star Wars|most famous actor]]).

* Almost everything [[Sid Meier (Creator)|Sid Meier]] has ever worked on since at least the mid '90s has borne a title starting with ''[[In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It|Sid Meier's]] [Whatever]''.

[[Category:Billed Above Thethe Title]]