Fictional Teachers in Movies: The Top Ten

In movies, most teachers get a bad rap. It makes sense when you consider the target demographic of most movies consists of 18-24 year olds. With this in mind, the celebrity teachers on the top ten movie teachers list aren't necessarily the ones you wanted for homeroom - these are the teachers that really stand out in movies.

10. Professor Snape - Harry Potter
Okay, first you hate him, then you like him, then you hate him, then you don't trust him, then he seems all right, then he winds up being a good guy after all, maybe. Professor Snape has the distinction of being the most ambiguous celebrity teacher on this list - it's gotta be the hair.

9. Mrs. Darbus - High School Musical
She makes the list simply because I had a teacher just like her in high school. And who says these things aren't biased?

8. Ms. Norbury - Mean Girls
Tina Fey (who also wrote the Mean Girls script) plays Ms. Norbury to perfection. Mathletes of the world unite!

7. Arnold Schwarzenegger - Kindergarten Cop
So his real name is John Kimble, but let's face it - Arnold plays Arnold in every movie. And if you put Arnold in a classroom full of kindergarteners who speak better English than he does - hilarity is bound to ensue. By the way, just for the record - It's not a tumor.

6. Ben Stein - Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Simply billed as the Economics Teacher, Ben Stein turns in his most energetic performance to date. Stein, whose father was also an economist, used his economics background in this celebrity teacher role to ad lib the lecture he delivers to the students. Bueller? Bueller?

5. Robin Williams - Dead Poets Society
O Captain! My Captain! As English teacher John Keating in Dead Poets Society, Williams plays the English professor I always wanted.

4. Mr. Hand - Fast Times At Ridgemont High
It's difficult to write about Mr. Hand on my time. Convinced everyone was on dope, and digging into Jeff Spicoli's pizza, Mr. Hand, played by Ray Walston, was passionate about two things - truancy and history. On the flip side, this celebrity teacher went above the call of duty to teach Spicoli just enough to graduate, on his own time after class - sounds like Teacher of the Year material to me.

3. Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff - Horse Feathers
You have to go way back to 1932 for this celebrity teacher. In Horse Feathers Groucho Marx plays Professor Wagstaff, president of Huxley college (all right, so technically he's an administrator). But just seeing Groucho and a bunch of professors in a song and dance routine earns this celebrity teacher the coveted number three spot. The song Groucho sings is my current mantra - "Whatever it is, I'm against it." Okay, I'm not doing the song justice. If you don't believe me, you can watch the movie Horse Feathers in its entirety by clicking HERE.

2. Mr. Holland - Mr. Holland's Opus
If I write about this I'll start crying, so let's just say that Richard Dreyfus could have been the next Mozart.

1. Professor Terguson - Back to School
He didn't get a lot of screen time, but neither did Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. The late, great Sam Kinison brings to life this history professor who really cares - about what I have no idea.

To see what kind of quality teaching earns the number one spot on the celebrity teachers list, click HERE. Warning: this clip contains profanity.

So there you have it, the top ten celebrity teachers in movie history. I know, there are many others. The jerky principal from Breakfast Club, Julia Roberts in Mona Lisa Smile, Jack Black, Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Minds. But everyone has there own favorite teachers.