Most Famous Celebrity 2014: Steven Spielberg Topples Oprah as Top Influential Celeb

Oprah is no longer the most influential celebrity in the United States, at least, according to Forbes.

Taking the crown from Oprah in this year's list of Most Influential Celebrities is Steven Spielberg, who was able to get people involved in American political history with his 2012 film, 'Lincoln.'

According to Forbes, the win is "a testament to director Steven Spielberg's skill that his latest movie, 'Lincoln', not only earned 12 Oscar nominations (and two wins) but a healthy $275 million at the box office. A full third of that money came from overseas, where it's even harder to sell an American period political drama."

Following Spielberg on Forbes' Most Influential Celebrities list is Oprah, whose retreat from the spotlight may have caused her to slip to second place. These days, the media mogul is doing more work behind the scenes for her cable network, the 'Oprah Winfrey Network' (OWN) to be a success.

'Star Wars' film director George Lucas placed third on Forbes' list despite very little work in the public eye. News of selling LucasFilm to Disney, and the new 'Star Wars' movie in the works for 2015, however, has kept media attention and the spotlight on Lucas.

Finishing off the list are directors Ron Howard and Martin Scorsese at who land the fourth and the fifth places, respectively, says Forbes.

Forbes says that their list of the Most Influential Celebrities taps on E-Poll Market Research, which ranks over 6,600 celebrities based on polling data of Americans - factoring in 46 different personality attributes including likability and awareness. 

Forbes also notes that the E-Poll Market Research polling revealed an "influential" score of 47 for Spielberg, which means that 47% of the US population believe he is influential.

In the same report by Forbes, the president of E-Poll Market Research, Gerry Philpott explained, "A celebrity's 'Influential' score represents how that person is perceived as influencing the public, their peers, or both."

He also added about Spielberg, "If anyone doubts that Steven Spielberg has greatly influenced the public, think about how many will think for a second before going into the water this summer."