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And with that magic moment approaching, The Wolf Files called on Hofstede to help honor Ape alumni.

Note to Helena Bonham Carter and Mark Wahlberg — stars of the new flick — you're in good company. At least seven Oscar-winning actors, writers and directors have engaged in monkey business.

Ape Alumni

Claude Akins — A fine veteran of the simian theater. As the evil gorilla General Aldo in Battle for the Planet of the Apes, he murdered Roddy McDowall's son. Later, TV audiences loved him as the bumbling Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo in B.J. and the Bear. Akins came along late in the Apes saga, and apparently saved producers money because he didn't need much gorilla makeup.

Pierre Boulle — The French author who wrote Monkey Planet, which eventually became Planet of the Apes. He wrote the book Bridge Over the River Kwai, and won an Oscar for the screenplay.

James Gregory — The rumpled inspector Frank Luger from Barney Miller played the diabolical gorilla General Ursus from Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Memorable line: "The only good human is a dead human."

Linda Harrison — Charlton Heston's cage mate in the first two ape films didn't disappear off the face of the earth. She was last seen in the Julia Roberts/Richard Gere romantic comedy The Runaway Bride.

Phil Hartman — Troy McClure character on The Simpson's stars in the musical adaptation Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off. Inspired lyric: "I hate every ape I see, From chimpan-A, to chimpan-Z, But you'll never make a monkey out of me." Charlton Heston — Need a good laugh? Consider Heston's best line from Planet of the Apes: "Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!" Now picture some of the other actors considered for that role: Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster, Paul Newman, Jack Lemmon and Rock Hudson.

Kim Hunter — Hunter, who plays Dr. Zira in three Ape movies, won an Oscar for her portrayal of Stella Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. Memorable line: To Charlton Heston: "You're so damn ugly."

John Huston — It's unclear why this multiple Oscar-winner donned an orangutan outfit in the last and least of the original Ape movies. Around the same time, he acted in Roman Polanski's Chinatown, which seemed much more suited to his distinguished career.