When you think of Mensa, the high IQ society, you probably think of Steven Hawking or Marilyn vos Savant. There are, however, some unlikely celebrity names associated with Mensa – a group which requires that members have an IQ within the top two per cent of the population. I have compiled a list of some famous smarties, some more surprising than others. I did my best to verify in more than one source that these were in fact members of Mensa. Sharon Stone, for example, is listed as a Mensa member on many websites, however, she confirmed she is not and has never been a member, as is commonly believed. This list is in no particular order, as not all IQ’s were available.
Probably better known as WCW wrestler Raven, Levy studied criminal justice at the University of Delaware and originally wanted to be a lawyer. He has a reported IQ of 143.
Star of over 250 hardcore adult movies, Carrera has an IQ of 156. Before her successful porn career, at the age of 13 she played piano at Carnegie Hall and later attended Rutgers University.
Jeffrey is a young actor who does a lot of voiceover work. At age 6, he was given an IQ test and tested within the 99th percentile, making him a certified genius.
Actress, and wife of John Malkovich, Headly studied drama in NYC and attended the American College of Switzerland on a scholarship.
Violence-loving high school dropout Quentin Tarantino has an IQ of 160.
Martin majored in Philosophy at Cal State and even considered becoming a professor at one time. His IQ is estimated to be about 142.
Davis went to Sweden on a student exchange program and is now fluent in Swedish. Studied drama at Boston University, plays piano, flute, drums and organ and has an IQ of 140.
An English model and actress, she earned an honors degree in chemical engineering from Leeds University. Her reported IQ is 158.
Rachins played a lawyer on the TV show L.A. Law and Dharma’s hippy father on Dharma and Greg. He enrolled at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, ultimately dropping out, but graduated from Empire State College in 1974.
Beauchamp is a footballer for the Oxford United, and is listed on British Mensa’s fact sheet under “famous members,” however they did not list his IQ.
Fluent in five languages with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Harvard, Portman pursued graduate studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
A British DJ, actor and television personality, he is best known for his BBC television show Jim’ll Fix It where he made the wishes of members of the public (mainly children) come true and as both the first and last presenter of Top of the Pops. Savile holds an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) from Leeds University and is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Radiology (FRCR.) In the Mensa entry tests, his IQ was assessed as 149.
Foster graduated as valedictorian from the French-speaking Lycee Francais de Los Angeles, after which she attended Yale and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in literature. Her reported IQ is 132.
Lundgren attended the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. He received a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in 1982, and the next year was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to MIT. IQ score: 160.
Woods aced his SATs, got into MIT (but dropped out to pursue acting) and has a reported IQ of 180.
Lisa has an IQ of 156 and has been a member of Mensa Springfield since 1999.
Contributor: rushfan
I remember seeing somewhere that Marilyn Manson had quite a high IQ
Still some shocking names on here.
A happy rushfan list!!!!
Two per cent? Two per schment! Try top point one seven percent, as certified by an online IQ testing site, so it must be true. So there!
(According to their figures, super-genius starts at point one six percent. That point zero one keeps me humble sumtimes.)
I’ve only heard of six of them. It wasn’t really that shocking to see that they are smart.
Asia Carrera is smart, what about Tera Patrick?
OMG
even ***** stars have high iq’s
Maxi Jazz from Faithless is also a member of MENSA
what about tom morello from ratm?
i believe he went to harvard.. right?
Hey look… A whole list dedicated to an oxy-moron….
Ok… I’m kidding…. I guess that’s not very fair.
Alan Rachins can’t be that smart. He was in Dharma & Greg. LOLOLOLOL.
Anyway, I thought to get into MENSA your IQ had to be at least 140, yet Jodie Foster’s is 132…?
Kinda slobbering all over with all the hot babes, Asia, Geena, and I stopped on Natalie Portman's pic for a while, I mean wow! Hotness personified! I felt my pulse quicken and my skin turned clammy.
Then I scrolled down one more and I saw what can only be described as Dumbledore in a *****ing track suit. Is that the hermit from Led Zeppelin? Jeez, at least you could have warned me. Is that guy Keith Richards' dad or something? My dreamy thoughts of smart hot babes turned to bile filling the back of my throat.
Let's separate out this list into two categories, cute, beautiful little vixens with degrees, and wrinkled ancient duffers with metamucil stained shirts and pee spots who know a thing or two about a thing or two.
Haha hilarious. All the ladies are wearing something revealing (except 1).
Lpve Asia.
*Sniffle* Jim never fixed it for me – utterly cool to see him on Listverse though. Interesting list.
Thought I’d mention Brian May – he quit school to play in Queen but just recently finished his PhD in astrophysics.
Sacha Baron Cohen has a degree from Oxford University in History… so I’m guessing he’s quite bright.
I remember watching this tv program about Asia Cerrera. She’s certainly had an amazing life and plus she’s pretty much an all around good person.
Btw Natalie Portman FTW.
Asia Carrera was an avid Unreal Tournament player as well. sooooooo awesome!
i love Lisa Simpson..ü
Well we always knew that Quentin Tarantino is genius
Didn’t expect to see Jimmy Saville on here tbh
No offence to him x]
Cool
This was interesting
Could we have the IQs of 15 Surprisingly Super Stupid Celebrities next?
Jfrater:
You didn’t include Masi Oka.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masi_Oka
He’s a digital artist, part of the TV series Heroes, and was nominated for Emmy. He has an IQ of 189 which is greater than James Wood’s
abcde: not to mention that Masi Oka was one of the best background characters on Scrubs. He played Franklyn, and was there to witness JD finish the statement “A ____ in one’s armor.” He was so funny. “I always suspected.”
Haha, My sister goes “Haha, Tara Reid or something’s gonna be number one”
*giggle snort*
very interesting list. I approve.
How much you need to get into Mensa varies on the scale used. On the most common scale (these days) it is about 132 I believe, although some tests put the entry level to mensa as low as 130 and some as high as 148.
The basic idea is that regardless of the test you are to be among the top 2 percent of the population. So these scores can not be trusted to mean anything really, as we do not know the standard deviation of the particular test taken.
Standard deviation basically means that test 1 might believe normal to be between 85 and 115, while test two (many older tests and online ego-stroking tests) might believe normal to be between 76 and 124. So an IQ of 172 in the second version would be the same as an IQ of 145 in the first one. So James woods score of 180 might well have been on a test that would have given him around 150 by the new rules. Still impressive, but it makes lists like these impossible to order without knowing a lot more.
@frank
“This list is in no particular order, as not all IQ’s were available. ”
Besides, high IQ only means that the person IS MOST LIKELY going to succeed in their academic life. The standard deviation thingy doesn’t have to be neglected, but it is less important compared to their achievements
Dolph Lundgren is really a surprise.
Interesting list Rushfan;
Goes to show you, it’s not what you’re born with that counts, but what you do with it. Although I suppose fuel for countless male fantasies does contribute something to the human condition.
They say genius and madness sometimes go hand in hand. I’ve seen Quentin Tarantino in interviews. Proves the point; the guy is whacked.
You didn’t mention Danica Mckellar from the wonder years, she now has a math formula named after her. And her reported IQ is 154
Wow… Dolph Lundgren. That was the only surprise to me, but really that’s all there really NEEDS to be.
I’ve always been weary of the people who are a part of Mensa, though. I mean, really, you are going to pay an organization just so you can proclaim you are smart? Wouldn’t it be a lot cheaper just to, I don’t know, apply your intelligence? (And yes, I’m aware that not all chapters of Mensa have the membership fee). The last step of initiation should be being posed with a membership fee and denying to pay it. THEN they should let you in.
Then again maybe I’m just bitter because my IQ is high enough to be in, but I’m too broke to pay said fee.
With view to that by definition IQ 100 should mean the overall average of the population, I’m going to think that these values given above are a little bit inflated. Calculated in a different way. Not comparable with IQs of other people.
Opinions?
To be honest only three people really surprised me. I would have been more surprised if Paris Hilton was on there…
TMX (25)
From out of the 15 people listed, I’ve never heard about nine.
Dey brainz is alll big
don’t know if she’s a member of mensa but i know shakira speaks 5 languages fluently, has a PHD and an IQ of 140.
Aishwarya Rai was an A student at the prestigious Ruparel College in India (part of the University of Mumbai). Wanted to study medicine or zoology but ultimately ended up majoring in architecture. She is fluent in several languages including Hindi, Marathi, English and Tamil (her native tongue is Tulu).
Dr. Victoria Zdrok
You may not know her because she’s a playboy bunny but wait here’s her credentials:
Skipped high school and attended college instead. Graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree from West Chester University (Pennsylvania) at age 18. Obtained a JD law degree in 1997 as well as a Ph.D. in psychology from Villanova Law School and Drexel University. She most recently completed post-doctorate work in ***** therapy at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Kate Beckinsale
this Vampire beauty has Attended Oxford University (New College) studying French and Russian literature for 3 years. As a teenager she was a two-time winner of the W.H. Smith Young Writers’ competition for her short stories and poems. Is also fluent in French, German and Russian.
I posted these facts to another forum so i just reposed these.. the source? i can’t remember anymore..
I’m reading a book in which a journalist sets out to read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica. In order to put that knowledge to some use, he wants to join Mensa. From their website he finds out that you don’t need to take the admissions test as long as you have “prior evidence” – IQ tests, GMAT scores, SAT scores. He is accepted on the basis of his SAT score. He later sits the test. They offer to refund his money.
Not that he’s the end-all-be-all of intelligence studies… But, psychologist Howard Gardner’s Categories of Intelligence are: 1.Bodily-Kinesthetic, 2.Interpersonal, 3.Verbal-linguistic, 4.Logical-Mathematical, 5.Naturalistic, 6.Intrapersonal, 7.Visual-Spatial, 8.Musical…From what I can gather, IQ tests assess only a few of these.
i had always heard madonna had an IQ in the 170+ range. i figured we would see her on here.
ALICIA KEYS? ahmm… well, that’s not surprising because, thats alicia… no need to be surprised… she has it all…
every iq will be different depending on the test
Surprised this one isn’t on there because she usually plays dumb in her movie rolls but…
Jennifer Tilly
Jimmy Saville and Dolph Lundgren…..hilarious!! How can someone so smart wear such godawful tracksuits?
Yes, I realize Mensa membership is not the only way or even the best way to know who’s smart, but I thought it would be a fun way to list how smart some celebrities are. And yes, I saw that Shakira and Alicia Keys and Madonna are smart, but I decided to narrow it down to Mensa members because it’s really just an interesting but of trivia. Will Smith is another smarty, and it turns out he was not accepted to MIT but turned it down, as is often reported. He didn’t even apply to MIT.
* bit of trivia
I have been a member of MENSA for 5 years but, well, I can’t really confirm that we are smart people….
I’d like to see a follow up list or two on this one. High IQs are not uncommon. The thing is IQ tests only measure certain types of intelligence and are highly biased by communication skills. (The things you learn when dealing with special needs and communication disorders.)
When it comes right down to it, intelligence isn’t everything. A willingness to work hard makes a lot more practical difference in people’s lives. I suspect most of these actors put a lot of effort into their careers.
36. mowi, I’m afraid you are incorrect. A margin of error does apply, so anything within that margin of error is considered the same score. Also, some disorders drastically effect what the score will be. Believe it or not, ADD will artificially lower the test score. I think it is only by a half dozen points or some such, it’s been a while since I took a test. Autism drastically effects the score because of the communications problems with the disorder. Being a non-native speaker taking the test can also cause an artificially low score.
Most intelligence testing has everything to do with communication skills. Basic vocabulary, receptive and expressive language skills make up most of the intelligence tests. What do you do when the kid you are testing can barely talk? The kid is still able to understand a good bit, but can’t verbally express himself? You get an artificially low score on the standard IQ tests and then you move on to the less accurate non-verbal testing to get more of a ball park figure.
Quentin Tarantino has said that he hated violence(even though his movies are full of it)
Menza is not all it’s cracked up to be.Received a newsletter about an upcoming conference being touted as a great place to meet other like minded people. If it had stopped there it might not have been so bad. But it went on to expound on the possibilities of finding a mate at one of these conferences in the hopes of superior genes inter-breeding (even though that has never been proven to be a factor in any child’s intelligence)to produce a superior species.
ummmmmmmm,is it just me, or does that strike anyone as not only pompous, but bone chilling
I recall the last group that held to that ideal……run by lil’ fella you might remember as Hitler.
I think too much importance is put on “IQ” as a measure of one’s intellect. I was given the Stanford-Binet version of the test as a child and scored exceptionally well. Does that mean I’m a genius? Not in my opinion. It only means that as a child I had good problem solving skills. It does not measure “what you know”, it measures one’s ability to process information. You still have to be exposed to the information…..argh.sorry.I could go on and on.
Well Dolph should have stuck with his Fulbright Scholarship; outside Rocky IV his acting wasn’t really good
One glaring omission is Sylvester Stallone, whose IQ is reportedly 160. I thought for sure he would be number one.
I was surprised no Marilyn Manson or even Rivers Cuomo (Weezer frontman who briefly left the band after they made it big in order to finish out his years at Harvard). I don’t know their specific IQs but they should’ve been included
to telosphilos: you said “highly biased by communication skills”.
when I took my test, there was not a single word or number. everything was about logical stuff (pictures and sequences and similar stuff)
Violence-loving Quentin Tarantino? I think its only fair you rephrase that…
I am getting convinced, these high IQ values are just PR tricks.
Why should we be surprised by anyone on this list? The fact that they are entainers, ***** stars or athletes? They are smart enough to be doing what they want in life and making a lot of money doing it. Thats alone shows they are smarter than the average person.
I think Quentin Tarantino “claims” he has an IQ of 160. He was once in the Howard Stern’s show. Howard Stern asked him questions from a typical IQ test, and he couldn’t answer any of them.
I am also surprised that you didn’t mention Danica Mckellar from the wonder years. She was the first celebrity I thought of when I read the title of this list.
I’ve always felt that a good EQ (Emotional Quotient)is just as important as a high IQ. Maybe even more important. I’ve know SO MANY smart people who make the dumbest decisions. (In high school I tricked our valedictorian into letting me handcuff him to his desk.)
Asia Carrera is probably a good example of EQ vs IQ. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eza2alSBm0g
what? no Masi Oka?
The thing about IQ test or any kind of test is that you answer the ones you know right. The others, you guess on and have a probability of getting them right. So your score is actually higher than your actual intelligence.
Also I notice a lot of “smart” people I know don’t have a lick of common sense.
I can see tarantinos genius in his earlier films but not of his career of late. Just make another mob movie dammit.
IQs are not a good way to assess intelligence. They were meant solely to assess children’s intelligence and whether or not they were in the right class. Also, 120 is no longer the threshold for genius as IQ averages have been rising about 10 points every 25 years.
Dexter Holland, the lead singer from the band The Offspring, Dropped out of college will pursuing his PHD in Molecular Biology to focus on the band.
This begs the question. Why are they wasting their intelligence by being actors and actresses? If you don’t think that’s a waste, then YOUR IQ will never be in the 3 digit range.