Live Poll: Actors With Academic Degrees

I'm kind of not surprised by Shaq having a doctorate, because he is the farthest thing from being a tool like LeBron James is. While I don't agree with the "shut up and dribble" sentiment, I can very clearly see that James either has disingenuous political motives or is largely ignorant of civics, while very much willing to bend over backwards in order to retain a market share in the People's Republic of China.

@cinephile​ Yeah, I did not expect that.

@urbanemovies​ 

Thanks for the contributions.

Point 1: Corrected

Point 2: Not everyone has the money or the time or the interest to have a degree.

An academic degree is an award conferred by a college or university signifying that the recipient has satisfactorily completed a course of study. That person dedicates a lot of effort, time and dedication to a subject that they are passionate about.
All academic degrees are always worthy of surprise and admiration.

Point 3: Corrected: In the introduction I clarify that the list is made up of some popular actors.

Point 4: In this list I did not include actors who have passed away and I did not include women because I was planning to do another poll only of actresses with the same topic.

@GabrielFox​ It is not my intention to diminish the accomplishment. But, I think it requires just as much grit and hard work to complete and be confered an academic degree after 12 years of primary and secondary education, yet I don't see you authoring a poll about how "surprised" you are. My suggestion is to pick a better word that honors the achievement, if that is the goal. My point is an achievement or its pursuit isn't surprising at all, when more than half of the general population takes part in some form. As written, I was before and I am still confused by the "who surprised you more?" question. As I am unsure what I am suppose to find have been surprised by. If you want to use the use the word, then explain to poll takers how they should be "surprised". I disagree that ...

All academic degrees are always worthy of surprise ....

Yeah, but primary and secondary education are compulsory, in addition to there existing somewhat strict child labor restrictions, in just about every jurisdiction within most industrialized nations. The minimum age for dropping out is usually sixteen years or perhaps alternately completion of the ninth grade for students who have not yet attained adulthood. That's all just to say that there are a lot of measures in place to discourage willful disregard for acquisition of a secondary school diploma. Somebody abandoning pre-tertiary education to devote more effort into founding a business is tricky if not unusual, but there probably is a fair share of hobbyists who didn't complete the twelfth grade, never earned a general educational development (GED) certification and managed to secure a career throughout early adulthood.

@jeorj_euler​

Again, my point is not the value or legality of education, it is the assumed premise(w/out explanation) that I should find this education list surprising (that people graduated with a degree. Plus, I don't know of a country in the world, where one is legally required to graduate from high school or college, so neither should be assumed.

I actually find the opposite more surprising with the number of notable people who didn't graduate high school (not a value judgment). It is probably proof that there is "no one size fits all solution", when it comes to education. The long list includes Peter Jennings, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Richard Branson, Joe Lewis (Tavistock), Kirk Kerkorian, Marlon Brando, Jennifer Lawrence, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Ryan Gosling and thousands (too many to list) of other billionaires and celebrities, who carved their own path without a high school diploma or the need for a "formal" education.

I would agree that the more recent ones are surprising, e.g. Jennifer Lawrence, Katy Perry, Rihanna and Ryan Gosling. Whereas the matter of the ones born in the nineteenth century is a whole other story, and I wouldn't be surprised at all with how many self-educated pioneers from that time and prior there were. Unlikely that we will see a trillionaire high school dropout in the next four decades. Another interesting thing about John D. Rockefeller is that he was the wealthiest non-monarch to ever live, as estimated by adjusting for currency inflation.

@rubyfruit76​ 

Thanks.

Franco corrected.

Lundgren and Atkinson included in the list.

Some actresses included in my other poll.

Actresses with College Degrees: https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdb-poll/poll-suggestion-actresses-with-college-degrees/63ae4f749bb80c1cea25d0cc 

@rubyfruit76​ 
Natalie Portman and other psychologists do not surprise me. The psychology is pretty close to what actors do. But the fact that Dolph Lundgren: B.S. and M.S.!!! in the field of chemical engineering is shocking. His roles and image are so far from this. My regards! I was not so good at school, sometimes I had to buy an essay paper online, it's good that now it's easy to find such help. Some of the actors are also expert writers for their films. Although a degree is not so important for an actor, it shows that talent and intelligence are not limited to one field of activity.

@urbanemovies​ Done.

@urbanemovies​ 

As I told you before, this list is made up of some popular actors and I did not include deceased actors.

You were right about Sandler. I corrected it.

@GabrielFox​

Sorry, I missed that. So, that eliminates four, what about the others?

Dead: Harold Gould, Fred Thompson, Graham Chapman,

Robert Vaughn

Living: Bill Cosby, William Sanderson, Peter Weller, Daniel Grimaldi, Brian May (musician)

@urbanemovies​ 

In response to your comments:

You assume right, there are more than 19 popular actors who have academic degrees, however, I won't quote all of them, my list is just this 19 actors.

@Pencho15​

You are right. 

Done.

@dan_dassow​ Done.

@dan_dassow​ Thanks.