# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/41 "2013-01-11T03:07:54Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > 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. He’s who first came to mind. When I found out that this tall, ripped, good looking guy was also a braniac, I couldn’t decide if that made me love him or hate him. Lucky bastard. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/42 "2013-01-11T03:09:46Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I don’t know if Hedy Lamarr (“Hedley!”) was seen as dumb, per se. But the roles she often took aren’t known to require much intellectual capacity. But she invented the precursor to spread-spectrum communication, used in many of the devices you probably have in your pants. Hedy Lamarr invented the vibrating butt plug??? ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/43 "2013-01-11T03:20:10Z")
**Tony** , I think that was just a little too much personal detail about what you expect to be in your pockets that might be oscillating rapidly. The things you learn on the Dope! ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/44 "2013-01-11T03:28:59Z")
Elizabeth Berkeley ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/45 "2013-01-11T03:29:10Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Hedy Lamarr invented the vibrating butt plug??? No, _Hedley_ Lamarr invented the vibrating butt plug, but it’s a common mistake. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/46 "2013-01-11T03:34:53Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > **Tony** , I think that was just a little too much personal detail about what you expect to be in your pockets that might be oscillating rapidly These aren’t my pants. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/47 "2013-01-11T03:41:50Z")
I’ve heard rumours that Jennifer Tilly is surprisingly smart - I have no proof for this, though. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/48 "2013-01-11T03:50:02Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’ve heard rumours that Jennifer Tilly is surprisingly smart - I have no proof for this, though. But Mom always liked Meg better. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/49 "2013-01-11T04:08:33Z")
Ashton Kutcher is reported to be a genius. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/50 "2013-01-11T06:32:20Z")
Cindy Crawford. She had done some modeling as a teenager but didn’t expect to make a career out of it. She won an academic scholarship to college and was studying to be an engineer when she started getting serious modeling offers. She basically decided the money was too good to ignore so she dropped out of college. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/51 "2013-01-11T06:34:36Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > 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. I’ve read that the cast of _Friends_ jointly agreed to have Kudrow represent all of them because they felt she was the most business savvy. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/52 "2013-01-11T06:37:40Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > 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. David Duchovny, on the other hand, has a legitimate academic background. He has a BA from Princeton and a MA from Yale and was working on his PhD when his acting career took off. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/53 "2013-01-11T06:38:28Z")
Brooke Shields went to Princeton. (fairly sure she actually graduated) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/54 "2013-01-11T06:40:15Z")
Ron Jeremy (aka Ron Hyatt) has a master’s degree in Special Education and worked as a teacher before starting his career in adult movies. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/55 "2013-01-11T06:49:58Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > That’s often the case with comedy teams; the one playing the clown/dummy is usually the brains and driving force of the duo IRL. Laurel, Costello, Lewis, Chong, etc. You can probably add the short blond guy of the Penn and Teller duo to that - he’s reported to be the brains of the duo, although in their act it’s jsut the opposit ---
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/56 "2013-01-11T09:45:34Z")
I think [Jim Varney](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Varney) qualifies. KnoWhutImean, Vern? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/57 "2013-01-11T10:01:59Z")
William Smith, an actor most famous for playing bikers and gangsters, > [@](#): > > from [William Smith (actor) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Smith_(actor)) > Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts from Syracuse and a Master’s degree in Russian Studies from UCLA. He taught Russian at UCLA before abandoning his Ph.D. studies for an MGM contract. He also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Munich while learning languages through the military. Smith is fluent in Russian, Serbo-Croatian, French and German. During the Korean War he was a Russian Intercept Interrogator and flew secret ferret missions over Russia. I once read an article about _the X-files_ that gave the impression that, in real life, David Duchovny is the skeptic, and Gillian Anderson is into woo. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/58 "2013-01-11T10:11:05Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > 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. Since LeBlanc started doing pub for **Episodes** I’ve seen him interviewed a lot and he seems pretty savvy (much like his character “Matt LeBlanc”). As someone pointed out below, I think the consensus among the cast was that Kudrow was the brightest, though I’ve always had the impression Schwimmer disagreed with that. Keanu Reeves…Not a total airhead, but just a guy. He’s kind of sensitive on the issue, though. I’ve always been impressed with Stallone and Schwarzenegger’s brains and business savvy. In my 20s, I’d worked myself up to Ahnold’s off-season size, so I know how people are when someone with muscles is also brainy (it never got old, btw). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/59 "2013-01-11T12:44:01Z")
The pro wrestler known as George “The Animal” Steele was not only dumb, he could only speak about 5 words of English to include “Break” and “Backlund.” In real life he was a high school teacher and has a masters degree. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799/60 "2013-01-11T13:01:47Z")
**Erland van Lidthe de Jeude** , best known for playing Grossberger, the huge bald geek that Richard Pryoy and Gene Wilder got stuvck in a cell with in _Stir Crazy_, and who played “Terror”, the leader of the Fordham Baldies in Phili Kaufman’s film _The Wanderers_, played big, mean, and apparently dumb criminal types in his movies, but he had a master’s from MIT. I know – i appeared in two stage musicals with him as an undergrad. In _Stir Crazy_ you can even (if you look) see him wearing his Brass Rat, the MIT class ring. Little Erland wasn’t bald – they made him shave his head for the Kaufman film, where he played the leader of a gang of shaved-head baddies in the 1950s (based on a real gang), but subsequent directors liked the look, and he’s bald in a;ll his movies. I’ve seen him in the dressing room – ironically, his head is about the only place on his body he had hair. he could also sing with an unbelievably powerful voice. But he didn’t get to use it onscreen. That’s not him singing in \* Stir Crazy – I know his voice. He ran afoul of some union thing (he wasn’t a member). He finally did a chance to sing in _The Running Man_ (his last movie , released after his untimely death), but it’s hard to hear over all the explosions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-only-acted-dumb/646799.md?page=4)