10 Best Monkeys at the Movies

10. Peggy the Chimp Key Role: Bonzo in Bedtime for Bonzo (1951). Oscar-worthy Moment: Playing a chimp raised as a human child by an anthropologist (Ronald Reagan), Peggy gives a surprisingly understated performance that doesn't upstage the future president's. After the Limelight: Peggy starred in a sequel, Bonzo Goes to College (1953). But unlike other California cronies of Reagan's, she failed to land a White House job in 1981. 9. "Sieg Heil" the Capuchin Key Role: The perfidious monkey spy in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Oscar-worthy Moment: The primate offers a convincing Nazi salute. And it dies memorably after eating a poisoned date meant for Indy (Harrison Ford). After the Limelight: The capuchin (whose real name has been lost to history) earned the ire of producer Frank Marshall, who complained that it didn't get along with the human actors—and that it had to be tied to wires to get it to run in the right direction. No wonder it's never eaten dates in this town again. 8. Sam...