Here we make a list of actors who turned politicians.
1. Sonny Bono
Sonny Bono was a American singer and actor who was one half of the popular singing duo Sonny & Cher, with his wife Cher. As a member of the Republican Party, he served as the 16th mayor of Palm Springs, California, from 1988 to 1992, and served as the U.S. representative for California’s 44th district from 1995 until his death in a skiing accident in 1998.
2. Albert Dekker
Albert Dekker was a American actor known for his appearance in movies like Kiss Me Deadly (1955) and The Wild Bunch (1969). As a member of the Democratic Party, he served as the Assemblyman in the California State Assembly for the 57th Assembly District from 1944 to 1946. He was an outspoken critic of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy’s tactics during the McCarthy era, as a result of which he was blacklisted in Hollywood and spent most of this period working away from Hollywood, in Broadway .
3. Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood is a screen legend who is one of the most influential actors of all time. He won election as the nonpartisan mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, where he shot Play Misty for Me (1971) in April 1986.
4. Al Franken
Al Franken is an American actor who first gained fame as a writer and performer on Saturday Night Live, which he left after Norm MacDonald was chosen as the Weekend Update news anchor, instead of him. As a member of the Democratic Party, he served as the senator from Minnesota from 2009 to 2018. He had to resign from his post after several women accused him of sexual misconduct.
5. John Gavin
John Gavin was an American actor who was the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1971 to 1973. His best known films are Imitation of Life (1959), Spartacus (1960), and Psycho (1960). A Republican, Gavin was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Mexico in June 1981 by President Ronald Reagan and served until June 1986.
6. George Murphy
George Murphy was an American actor who was a song-and-dance leading man in many big-budget Hollywood musicals from 1930 to 1952. He was the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1944 to 1946. As a member of the Republican Party, he served as U.S. Senator from California from 1965 to 1971. He is the only United States Senator represented by a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
7. Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Nixon is an American actress known for her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City (1998–2004), for which she won Emmy for Supporting Actress in 2004. She was a candidate in the 2018 New York gubernatorial election as a challenger to Democratic incumbent Andrew Cuomo, which she lost on September 13, 2018, with 34% of the vote to his 66%.
8. Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan was a American actor who was not very successful and was known for his appearances in B-movies. He served as the 9th president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1947 to 1952 and 13th from 1959 to 1960. As a member of Republican party, he was the 33rd governor of California for two terms, the first beginning in 1967 and the second in 1971. He left office in 1975, declining to run for a third term. He finally raised to the absolute top, becoming the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989.
9. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a American movie star who is famous for his appearance in The Terminator’ franchise. As a member of Republican party, he served as the 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011.
10. Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple was a child actress who was Hollywood’s number-one box-office draw from 1934 to 1938. A Republican, she she ran unsuccessfully in a special election in California’s 11th congressional district in 1967. She was appointed United States Ambassador to Ghana by President Gerald R. Ford, where she served from December 1974 to July 1976. Shirley also served as the first female Chief of Protocol of the United States.
11. Ilona Staller
Ilona Staller is a Italian actress who appeared for the most part in adult movies with the stage name Cicciolina. She was in brief marriage to American artist Jeff Koons, who created some of the most expensive sculptures of all time. In 1987 as a member of Partito Radicale, which was a libertarian political party, she was elected to the Italian parliament, with approximately 20,000 votes. While in office, she offered to have sex with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in return for peace in the region, when Gulf War broke out in 1990.
12. Glenda Jackson
Glenda Jackson was an English actress, who has won two Academy Awards, three Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. making her one of the few performers to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting. A member of the Labour Party, she served continuously as a Member of Parliament for 23 years, firstly for Hampstead and Highgate from 1992 to 2010, and Hampstead and Kilburn from 2010 to 2015, following boundary changes.
