Which American Film Icons Deserve to Have Their Faces on Money?

Over in progressive Sweden, cinema icons Ingmar Bergman and Greta Garbo are among six famous Swedes whose faces will appear on currency in 2014. Garbo, silent film veteran and one of the greatest actresses of the Golden Age of Hollywood, replaces noted 18th century botanist Carl Linnaeus on the 100 kronor bill; Bergman, one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century, gets his own brand-spanking new 200 kronor banknote. But this begs the question: Which influential and iconic American filmmakers similarly deserve to have their faces on dollar bills?

It's worth noting that Bergman, Garbo, and their fellow honorees (including a Nobel Peace Prize-winning former UN Secretary General, an internationally-known opera singer, a well-loved folk musician and poet, and the lady who wrote Pippi Longstocking), all posthumously selected, replace noted 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th century figures on the banknotes. Is it time Americans paid for their lattes with John Waynes instead of George Washingtons?

The central bank of Sweden explains that it selected "people who have made positive and important contributions to Sweden's cultural heritage during the 20th century" who were "popular with the general public and, preferably ... also well-known internationally."

So who among America's illustrious and dearly departed ranks of film icons would be popular and influential enough to warrant similar treatment, should the U.S. Treasury dept. decide to follow suit? Here's a dozen of Hollywood's most iconic filmmaking figures (in no particular order) to start you off. Discuss away!

Walt Disney

John Ford

Judy Garland

Howard Hawks

Katharine Hepburn

John Huston

Buster Keaton

Stanley Kubrick

Marilyn Monroe

Sam Peckinpah

John Wayne

Orson Welles

· Bergman and Garbo on new Swedish banknotes [Swedish Wire]