# Actors who only acted dumb **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799 "2013-01-10T21:26:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/1 "2013-01-10T21:26:48Z")
From some stuff I read recently, the guy who played Joey on “Friends” (Matt LeBlanc) as well as the guy who played Tony on “Taxi” (Tony Danza) are not really so dumb. But they did such a good job of playing bozos that I am embarassed to say I was a little surprised. Yes, I know it’s called ‘acting’; but have any of you ever been thus surprised by the difference between an actor’s on-screen and off-screen personas? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/2 "2013-01-10T21:40:06Z")
An example of the (sort of) opposite. I’ve seen a few interviews with Gillian Anderson (Scully from the X-files) over the years and am always taken aback on how ditzy she seems compared to her most famous character. Which I guess makes her a pretty good actress. Of course, demeanour isn’t everything, and for all I know she publishes astrophysics papers in her spare-time. But she certainly came across as a bubble-head. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/3 "2013-01-10T21:42:37Z")
Dolph Lundgren made a career out of playing lunkheads and tough guys. He holds a Masters in chemical engineering, and would have gone to MIT on a Fulbright scholarship if his career had not taken off. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/4 "2013-01-10T21:43:46Z")
Joey Lawrence graduated high school and attended college, unlike his Blossom character. OTOH, I’ve met Kelsey Grammar, and he is dumber than a box of rocks. Really. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/5 "2013-01-10T21:45:57Z")
I came away from _Boogie Nights_ with the impression that Mark Wahlberg was essentially playing himself and was something of a dimwit in real life. When I heard him interviewed on _Fresh Air_ I was surprised that he came across as a fairly thoughtful guy (notwithstanding whatever attitude/conduct problems he may have; I seem to keep hearing that he’s kind of a dick, but I no longer think he’s an idiot). ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/6 "2013-01-10T21:48:45Z")
Rowan Atkinson has a Masters in electrical engineering from Oxford. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/7 "2013-01-10T21:50:26Z")
Nolan Gould’s character on Modern Family is usually played as kind of a lunkhead, though the writiers occasionally subvert this. In real life he has skipped six grades, earned a high school equivalency, and took college courses at age 13. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/8 "2013-01-10T21:51:09Z")
[Mike Mazurki](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0563417/) was a college graduate. What do I win? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/9 "2013-01-10T22:06:16Z")
Jayne Mansfield spoke five languages and had a reported IQ in the 160 range. But, as she put it, those weren’t the numbers anyone was interested in. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/10 "2013-01-10T22:14:08Z")
Jayne Mansfield had a public persona as a ditzy blond, but she was quite astute and knew exactly what she was doing with her career. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/11 "2013-01-10T22:24:09Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Jayne Mansfield had a public persona as a ditzy blond, but she was quite astute and knew exactly what she was doing with her career. The same could be said for Loni Anderson, who played Jayne in a biopic. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/12 "2013-01-10T22:28:12Z")
Jill St. John allegedly had brains she never showed, too. Jim Nabors is a little smarter than Gomer Pyle. Dick Smothers is just as smart and articulate as his brother Tom. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/13 "2013-01-10T22:49:39Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Rowan Atkinson has a Masters in electrical engineering from Oxford. I don’t think he’s particularly famous for playing dumb, though. He’s most known for Blackadder and Mr Bean - of the 6 characters he’s done in there (Mr Bean, 5 Blackadders) - only 1 (Mr Bean) has been actually dumb - Blackadder I was ineffectual, but about average in the brains department, Blackadders II-IV are quite clever, but suffer bad luck, the ‘aid’ of idiots, overestimating their own intelligence, and occasionally being too clever for their own good. The Blackadder from the Christmas special is quite bright, always seeing how people are using him, just being too good natured to do anything about it (until the end, when he chooses the wrong time to go bad). His stuff outside of that is more likely to be in the Blackadder mode than the Mr Bean, IME - even when he does physical comedy, it’s not that likely to be as an idiot getting himself into trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/14 "2013-01-10T22:54:56Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Dick Smothers is just as smart and articulate as his brother Tom. And the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/15 "2013-01-10T22:55:58Z")
Groucho Marx used to say that they decided Harpo’s character should be mute because when he spoke he sounded too intelligent. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/16 "2013-01-10T23:05:08Z")
Sylvester Stallone earned BA from the University of Miami. Not only was he the lead actor in _Rocky_, but wrote it. He has written 25 movies. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/17 "2013-01-11T00:04:01Z")
Gracie Allen, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/18 "2013-01-11T00:11:33Z")
Lisa Kudrow (mostly know as ditzy blonde Phoebe from _Friends_) has a degree in biology from Vassar and worked in research for a while before she started acting. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/19 "2013-01-11T00:17:53Z")
Walter Matthau was a total dick the one time I met him in real life. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/20 "2013-01-11T00:23:10Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > And the other way around. Which fails to explain why their Mom always liked Tom best. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799.md?page=2)