Move Over, Elon: 5 Unlikely Celebrities Who Served On Corporate Boards

While the arrival of Elon Musk on the board of directors of Twitter TWTR has created a surplus amount of media attention, the spotlight on the Tesla TSLA chief executive’s appointment pales in comparison to the attention given to several legendary celebrities who somehow found themselves serving on boards of directors, with results that spanned all possible definitions of “amazing.”

For the star-struck members of our reading office, here are five unlikely celebrities who transitioned from the stage and screen stardom to the corporate boardroom.

Joan Crawford: The glamorous Oscar-winning star became involved with the Pepsi-Cola Company, the forerunner of PepsiCo Inc. PEP in 1955 when she married the company’s president, Alfred Steele. Upon Steele’s death in 1959, she was elected to fill his seat on the corporate board.

While some people might associate Crawford’s board service with the crass low-comedy depiction from the infamous film “Mommie Dearest,” in reality Crawford was one of the hardest working directors in the company’s history, traveling extensively to promote the Pepsi product line and making endless appearances at the company’s offices and facilities around the country while appearing in promotional films. Crawford’s celebrity would generate extensive media coverage on her Pepsi-based travels, bringing an extraordinary wave of free publicity for the company’s beverages.

Cary Grant: After retiring from movies in 1966, the debonair actor was hired as a creative consultant to Rayette-Fabergé, a cosmetics and toiletries company. In 1968, he was elected to the company’s board of directors.

Grant made numerous appearances at the company’s sales conventions and facilities, but unlike Crawford at Pepsi he preferred not to be in the media spotlight and avoided making promotional films highlighting the product line. Grant freely acknowledged that he took the director’s position because it gave him free access to the company’s private aircraft, which he used frequently for personal trips.

See Also: How Elon Musk May Have Just Reignited His War With The SEC

Beverly Sills: When the great opera singer retired in 1980, she found herself in demand from another audience — corporations and nonprofits that were eager to have her on their corporate boards. Sills embarked on a second career with stints on the boards of American Express AXP, Macy’s M, Time-Warner Communications, Human Genome Sciences and the March of Dimes — she became chairwoman of the latter organization.

Sills also served on the boards of the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera and Lincoln Center Theater. In 1994, she made history as the first woman to become chairwoman of Lincoln Center, where her understanding of the business side of show business helped the arts organization thrive. In 2002, she stepped down to chair the Metropolitan Opera, a position she held through 2005.

O.J. Simpson: The football great parlayed his sports career into the entertainment realm, gaining wider exposure as a celebrity spokesperson and an actor. He also displayed a significant business savvy that led to his being invited to join the boards of Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, Cyrk Inc., Forschner Group and Kuschner-Locke Co.

In 1994, Simpson became the prime suspect in the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. Even after his arrest for double murder, the companies did not immediately demand Simpson’s resignation. He voluntarily stepped down for these roles — and, perhaps not surprisingly, he has yet to make a comeback in this realm.

Frank Sinatra: One of the strangest cases of a celebrity board member involved Frank Sinatra’s presence on the board of Berkshire Downs, a horse racing track in Massachusetts.

In August 1962, Sinatra invested $55,000 in the racetrack and encouraged fellow Rat Pack singer Dean Martin to make a matching investment. The following year, both men were named vice presidents and directors in that operation.

However, a federal investigation into Berkshire Downs raised the possibility that Sinatra's was serving as a front for Raymond Patriarca, the reputed head of New England’s Mafia operations. But when Sinatra was called to testify before a House of Representatives hearing, he angrily stated that his investment had no Mafia ties, that he was named a director without his approval, and he received his investment back after learning about the director appointment that he never sought. Sinatra added that he had been named as director of other companies without his permission, including a baseball operation in California.

“Listen to the gall of this man,” he said. “A man I never met in my life named me president of a hokey humpty‐dumpty baseball team and then sent his bills to me.”

Photo: O.J. Simpson, courtesy of Charles LeBlanc / Flickr Creative Commons