Entertainment Records

Record holders and places are Canadian unless noted.

Movies Television Music Literature Theatre Gambling Media

Movies

Highest Opening Weekend Box-Office Gross For A Comedy
Austin Powers In Goldmember starring Mike Myers (who is from Canada) opened at 3,613 cinemas in USA taking $71.5 million over its first three days. (GWR 2004)

Oldest Actress
Jeanne Louise Calment of France was 114 when she played herself in the 1990 Canadian movie Vincent and Me. (GWR 2003)

Oldest No. 1 Box-Office Star
Marie Dressler was 64 when she became a number one box-office star in 1933. (GWR 1998)

Highest Freefall By A Stuntman
Dar Robinson freefell from the height of 335 m (1,100 ft.) off the ledge at the summit of the CN Tower for the Canadian film Highpoint in 1979. He opened his parachute six seconds into the fall at 91.4 m (300 ft.) from the ground. (GWR 2002)

Only Non-Professional Oscar Winners
War veteran Harold Russell is only one of two people to win an Oscar. Russell. who had his arms blown off in combat, received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the handless ex-soldier in the 1946 American film The Best Years Of Our Lives. (GWR 1998)

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Highest Paid TV Guest Star
Matthew Perry was paid $765,900 to appear on an episode of Ally McBeal. (GWR 2004)

Most TV Episodes Sold
Granada Television (UK) sold 1,144 episodes of Coronation Street to CBKST Saskatoon on May 31, 1971. (GWR 2002)

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Youngest Female To Top UK Album Chart
Avril Lavigne topped the UK album chart on January 11, 2003 at the age of 18 years and 106 days with her debut album Let Go reaching no. 1 in its 18th week. (GWR 2004)

Longest Stay at No. 1 in US Rock Singles Chart
Nickelback's single Too Bad held on the Us Mainstream Rock chart for 20 weeks between January and May 2002. (GWR 2004)

Best Selling US Album By A Female Solo Artist
Highest Annual Tour Earnings By A Country Music Artist
Shania Twain's album Come On Over has sold a total of 19 million copies in the US and 30 million worldwide since its release on November 4, 1997. Her 1999 US tours grossed $36.6 million US. (GWR 2003)

Highest-Earning Pop Star
According to Forbes magazine in 1998, Celine Dion ranked 12th of the top 40 richest entertainers with an income of $55.5 million in a single year. (GWR 2001)

Most Successful Rock Single
Everything I Do (I Do It For You) by Bryan Adams spent 16 consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the UK and seven week at No. 1 in the US in 1991. It also reached No. 1 in 16 countries including Canada, France, Germany, Belgium and Australia. (GWR 2000)

Biggest-Selling Debut Album
Best Selling US Album By A Female Rock Artist
Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill has sold more than 27 million copies worldwide and placed 5th on the 1998 best-selling US albums of all-time. (GWR 1998)

Most Continents Played In A Day
UK heavy metal band Def Leppard staged shows in Tanigers, Morocco; London, England; and Vancouver on October 24, 1995. (GWR 2000)

Longest Running US R&B No. 1
Nobody's Supposed To Be Here by Deborah Cox was No.1 on the US R&B charts for 14 weeks from October 24, 1998, to February 6, 1999. (GWR 2000)

Largest Orchestra
6,452 student and professional musicians assembled at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver to play "Ten Minutes Of Nine" on May 15, 2000. (GWR 2003)

Biggest Jazz Festival
The Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, which lasts 11 days, attracts over 1.5 million people to watch around 400 concerts. (GWR 2001)

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Largest Reading By An Author
Along with J.K. Rowling, Kenneth Oppel and Tim Wynne-Jones read to 20,264 people at SkyDome in Toronto on October 24, 2000, as part of Harbourfront Center's International Festival of Authors. (GWR 2002)

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Most Costume Changes In a Live Operatic Performance
On November 2, 1997, Natalie Choquette wore 15 costumes during a recital at the Wilfred-Pelletier Hall in Montreal. (GWR 2004)

Biggest Circus Cast Without Animal Performers
Cirque du Soliel's show Fascination had a cast of 61 people for its tour of Japan in 1992. (GWR 2001)

Longest Time In Bed Together On Stage
In October 1951, Hume Cronyn and his wife, Jessica Tandy (US), opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, USA, in The Fourposter and played the bed-bound characters on Broadway and on tour for the next two years (GWR 1998)

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Gambling

Biggest Game Of Bingo
Biggest One-Game Bingo Payout
15,756 people played bingo at the Canadian National Exhibition on August 19, 1983. The Variety Club of Ontario organized the event and offered a total prize money of $167,723 and a one-game payout of $67,089. (GWR 2001)

Largest Poker Pot
$4.5 million US was accrued in a poker tournament for the final hand of the 31st World Series of Poker between T.J. Cloutier and, the winner, American Chris Ferguson. (GWR 2002)

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Earliest Broadcast
Prof Reginald Aubrey Fesssenden made the first advertised broadcast from the mast of the National Electric Signalling Company at Brant Rock, Mass., US on December 24, 1906. (GWR 2003)

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