Harrison Ford ousts Samuel L Jackson as Hollywood's highest grossing actor

Harrison Ford was all smiles at the Golden Globe Awards held on Sunday, and why not. The actor may have not taken home any awards, but he was recently named Hollywood's highest grossing actor.

According to BoxOfficeMojo, the 73-year old star who has 41 movies under his belt grossed a total of $4.7bn (£3.23bn), knocking down Samuel L Jackson who's 68 films made a total of $4.6bn, from the top spot. Contributing a large chunk to his numbers is Ford's latest movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, that has already grossed $812m at the box office.

Ford owes much of his success to George Lucas who cast him in the role of Han Solo in Star Wars, Return of the Jedi and the Empire Strikes Back. He also gained onscreen immortality as the dare devil adventurer Indiana Jones in Lucas' Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade and Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.

Coincidently, Jackson also played a role in the Star War franchise, as the Jedi Master Mace Windu in the prequels The Phantom Menace, Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith. Meanwhile, Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman and Eddie Murphy rounded up the top five on the list.

In an industry that continues to have issues with sparseness of roles for people of colour, it was a pleasant surprise to find three of the top five spots taken by black actors.

Cameron Diaz, at 17<sup>th spot grossed a total of $3bn from her 34 films and is the top female actress on the current list. She was followed by Cate Blanchett at 24, Dame Helen Mirren at 26 and Emma Watson at 27.