#7. Jeff Spicoli
For a non-existent person, the character played by Sean Penn in Fast Times at Ridgemont High has had a larger influence on how the non-surfing public views surfers than any other person, real or fake. Jeff Spicoli‘s role in the hugely successful Fast Times single-handedly threw the surfer-stoner blanket over the heads of everyone that stepped on a surfboard, which to the chagrin of many, is still something pervasive today.
Released in 1982 by Cameron Crowe, Fast Times at Ridgemont High became somewhat of a defining film for many surfers. It increased the numbers in one of surfing’s sub-cliques, and through its popularity in the American masses, did almost as much for the perception of surfers as Gidget. Fast Times at Ridgemont High was selected by the U.S. National Film Registry for preservation in 2005, being deemed ”culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”