Actors who only acted dumb

[Loach]

@Loach

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.

Oh forgot to add, if you don’t consider wrestlers actors, he played Tor Johnson in the movie Ed Wood.

[Wheelz]

@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.

I thought the same thing the first time I saw janine Turner (Maggie from Northern Exposure) interviewed out of character. She came across as a complete airhead.

@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.

No, I’m just happy to see you.

@Loach

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.

I met him once, and I’ll add that he’s also a super-nice guy.

[Chefguy]

Jim Nabors (Gomer Pyle) graduated from the University of Alabama and was a member of Delta Tau Delta, the fightin’ Delts!

Larry Fine of the Three Stooges was an accomplished violinist.

Walter Brennan, the eternal sidekick and probably best known as Grandpa McCoy in the TV series The Real McCoys (and other crotchety old guy roles), was an accomplished actor and WWI veteran. He was also a savvy businessman. From Wiki:

Following the war, he moved to Guatemala and raised pineapples, before settling in Los Angeles, California. During the 1920s, he became involved in the real estate market, in which he made a fortune, but he lost most of his money when the market took a sudden downturn in the Great Depression.

[Freddy_the_Pig]

Fred Grandy played the dimwitted Gopher in Love Boat, but graduated from Harvard and later served in Congress.

[Stranger_On_A_Train]

@Sevencl

I really, really hope Keanu Reeves was just acting.

I’ve never met him, but I do know a screenwriter who (back when he was just a production assistant) worked on a movie with Keanu Reeves and interacted with him on a daily basis. He said that Reeves was extremely professional, well-organized, and very polite. I don’t know that this qualifies him as being in the upper crust of celebrity intellect, but the stoner/surfer dude persona is just an act.

John Cazale (Fredo from The Godfather films, Sal in Dog Day Afternoon) is known for playing characters that are missing a few bulbs from their intellectual Christmas tree, but had a reputation for being actually quite intelligent.

Stranger

[Agent_Foxtrot]

Not actors, but some musicians who act dumb:

PSY (of Gangnam Style fame) was accepted to both Boston University and Berklee School of Music.

Flava Flav is an incredibly talented pianist, as is Charles Baker (the meth addict/dealer Skinny Pete in Breaking Bad).

[Fear_Itself]

@Freddy_the_Pig

Fred Grandy played the dimwitted Gopher in Love Boat, but graduated from Harvard and later served in Congress.

Some would argue that serving in Congress is not a substantial difference from any sort of dimwit.

[ducati]

I grew up knowing most of the cast of Hee Haw. I can tell you these were actually some pretty smart people. Except for Junior Samples. He was always nice to me, but he weren’t the sharpest tool in the shed. And at 15, I had eyes for Marianne Gordon, but she went and married that bastard Kenny Rogers! He’s almost as old as my mom! Eww.

[Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker]

Speaking of Junior Samples, here’s one bit that I don’t think ever appeared on “Hee-Haw.” (A poem about a chamber pot!)

[TreacherousCretin]

@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.

“I read somewhere” that her role in the development of that technology is greatly overstated. Anybody know the details of the story?

[CalMeacham]

@TreacherousCretin

“I read somewhere” that her role in the development of that technology is greatly overstated. Anybody know the details of the story?

Doesn’t seem likely – it’s her name (disguised as her married name) on the patent. They don’t put names on patents just for show:

Avant garde composer George Antheil, a son of German immigrants and neighbor of Lamarr, had experimented with automated control of musical instruments, including his music for Ballet Mécanique, originally written for Fernand Léger’s 1924 abstract film. This score involved multiple player pianos playing simultaneously.

Lamarr took her idea to Antheil and together, Antheil and Lamarr submitted the idea of a secret communication system in June 1941. On August 11, 1942, US Patent 2,292,387 was granted to Antheil and “Hedy Kiesler Markey,” Lamarr’s married name at the time. This early version of frequency hopping used a piano roll to change between 88 frequencies and was intended to make radio-guided torpedoes harder for enemies to detect or jam. Although a presentation of the technique was soon made to the U.S. Navy, it met with opposition and was not adopted.[23]

The idea was not implemented in the USA until 1962, when it was used by U.S. military ships during a blockade of Cuba after the patent had expired. Perhaps owing to this lag in development, the patent was little-known until 1997, when the Electronic Frontier Foundation gave Lamarr an award for this contribution.[6] It is reported that, in 1998, Ottawa wireless technology developer Wi-LAN, Inc. “acquired a 49 percent claim to the patent from Lamarr for an undisclosed amount of stock” (Eliza Schmidkunz, Inside GNSS),[24] although expired patents have no economic value. Antheil had died in 1959.

Lamarr’s and Antheil’s frequency-hopping idea serves as a basis for modern spread-spectrum communication technology, such as Bluetooth, COFDM used in Wi-Fi network connections, and CDMA used in some cordless and wireless telephones.[25] Blackwell, Martin, and Vernam’s 1920 patent Secrecy Communication System (1598673) seems to lay the communications groundwork for Kiesler and Antheil’s patent, which employed the techniques in the autonomous control of torpedoes.

Lamarr wanted to join the National Inventors Council, but was reportedly told by NIC member Charles F. Kettering and others that she could better help the war effort by using her celebrity status to sell War Bonds.

Hedy Lamarr

[etv78]

PSY said he was a freshman for 4 years.

[ElvisL1ves]

@TreacherousCretin

“I read somewhere” that her role in the development of that technology is greatly overstated. Anybody know the details of the story?

More to the point, she may have simply gotten the idea from her first husband, Friedrich Mandl, a Jewish munitions manufacturer in Austria, whose company had been working on something similar. But Lamarr had to be smart enough to understand it and explain it to Antheil. The dinner conversation that started it reportedly began with Antheil, a crackpot amateur endocrinologist (!), offering to use his knowledge to help her enhance her assets.

[buddha_david]

Christina Applegate is the poster child for this question. Her character on Married…with Children, Kelly Bundy, was a vacuum-headed ditsy blonde, but she’s actually very cogent and intelligent in real life.

[Cat_Whisperer]

@Stranger_On_A_Train

I’ve never met him, but I do know a screenwriter who (back when he was just a production assistant) worked on a movie with Keanu Reeves and interacted with him on a daily basis. He said that Reeves was extremely professional, well-organized, and very polite. I don’t know that this qualifies him as being in the upper crust of celebrity intellect, but the stoner/surfer dude persona is just an act.<snip>

You could also argue that he has made some very astute career choices - making a very successful career out of a less than stellar talent.

[Crafter_Man]

Victoria Jackson always acts dumb. But I do not think she’s dumb.

And guitarist Joe Walsh always acts drunk. But I do not think he’s drunk most of the time (if at all).

[Loach]

@bengangmo

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

Teller taught English and Latin at Lawrence High School in Lawrenceville NJ. The same high school that Jon Stewart ( then Liebowitz) graduated. I have no idea if they were the there the same time.

@Crafter_Man

Victoria Jackson always acts dumb. But I do not think she’s dumb.

If anything she is dumber than what she plays. And a total wackjob.

[Apocalypso]

I’ve heard that Jessica Simpson is supposed to be much more intelligent than is commonly perceived. She certainly has some business sense, much more than her acting ability (I think she is a terrible actress but apparently she has made a good bit of money off of various business ventures)

[Ann_Hedonia]

A little off-topic but Kevin James, who plays Doug Heffernan on “King of Queens” is actually very disciplined, incredibly physically fit and has some advanced martial arts training.

Occasionally it comes through. There is an episode where his wife takes up pole-dancing and can’t really get the hang of it so he jumps on the pole to show her how it’s done – It’s an amazing few minutes.

[Dan_Norder]

@ioioio

Ashton Kutcher is reported to be a genius.

Does anyone other than Ashton Kutcher himself actually report this?