# Anyone else get celebrities confused? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183 "2010-06-14T19:12:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/21 "2010-06-15T02:25:26Z")
Ellen Burstyn and Ellen Barkin. Also there’s Howard Stern [the sleazebag radio host](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Stern), and Howard K. Stern, [Anna Nicole Smith’s sleazebag attorney](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_K._Stern). ---
**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:** [June 15, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/22 "2010-06-15T02:25:32Z")
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**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/23 "2010-06-15T02:27:16Z")
Jim Gaffigan once made a joke that sometimes people will walk up to him smiling until they realize that he isn’t Philip Seymour Hoffman. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/24 "2010-06-15T02:33:01Z")
Are we just talking about similar names, or are we also talking about similar appearance? Because appearance-wise I just learned last night that for many years someone I thought was one actress was actually someone else. I had DVR’ed “Amadeus” when TCM had it on a couple weeks ago, and last nigtht I sat down to watch it. I had always thought that the actress who played Mozart’s wife was **Olivia Barash** , who also played Emilio Estevez’s girlfriend in “Repo Man”. Except it wasn’t. Mozart’s wife was played by another actress named **Elizabeth Berridge**. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/25 "2010-06-15T03:10:38Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > [My rage burns with the fire of a million suns](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=62082) Best. OP. Ever. My god it’s been 9 years and I still sometimes think of that thread. Especially for the line “_Great balls of hey laaaaady!_” ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/26 "2010-06-15T04:56:57Z")
People think I’m so weird, but I often get Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and Dustin Hoffman confused. The fact that Robert DeNiro played young Vito Corleone in the Godfather II doesn’t help. I can usually sort out Dustin Hoffman because I associate him with the Graduate, but De Niro and Pacino I associate with The Godfather, so then I have to remember that Al Pacino is the one from Meet The Parents. Then Dustin Hoffman played Ben Stiller’s father in the sequel and I got all confused again. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/27 "2010-06-15T06:40:43Z")
Until fairly recently, I kept getting Anna Faris and Anna Friel mixed up. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/28 "2010-06-15T07:51:47Z")
Earlier in thier careers I used to get **Paul Newman** and **Steve McQueen** mixed up, also **Dustin Hoffman** and **Al Pacino**. I used to think **Det. Stabler** (L&O:SVU) was **Elias Koteas** for the longest time Did you know **Christopher Meloni** (Stabler) played Freakshow and the Grand Wizard in the Harold and Kumar movies? ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/29 "2010-06-15T11:17:12Z")
> [@](#): > > I used to get Paul Newman and Steve McQueen mixed up, Me too. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/30 "2010-06-15T12:43:15Z")
> [@torie](#): > > People think I’m so weird, but I often get Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and Dustin Hoffman confused. The fact that Robert DeNiro played young Vito Corleone in the Godfather II doesn’t help. I can usually sort out Dustin Hoffman because I associate him with the Graduate, but De Niro and Pacino I associate with The Godfather, so then I have to remember that Al Pacino is the one from Meet The Parents. Then Dustin Hoffman played Ben Stiller’s father in the sequel and I got all confused again. You just did it again! (That was DeNiro in “Meet the Parents”.) Or did I just get whooshed? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/31 "2010-06-15T12:51:29Z")
> [@torie](#): > > People think I’m so weird, but I often get Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and Dustin Hoffman confused. The fact that Robert DeNiro played young Vito Corleone in the Godfather II doesn’t help. I can usually sort out Dustin Hoffman because I associate him with the Graduate, but De Niro and Pacino I associate with The Godfather, so then I have to remember that Al Pacino is the one from Meet The Parents. Then Dustin Hoffman played Ben Stiller’s father in the sequel and I got all confused again. DeNiro and Pacino are two I always get wrong. > [@outlierrn](#): > > Earlier in thier careers I used to get **Paul Newman** and **Steve McQueen** mixed up, And them two too. I also have to remind myself frequently that Adam is not one of the Baldwin brothers - and he’s one of my favourite actors, too. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/32 "2010-06-15T12:51:51Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Dylan McDermott and Dermot Mulroney. You stole my answer. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/33 "2010-06-15T12:56:59Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > I also have to remind myself frequently that Adam is not one of the Baldwin brothers - and he’s one of my favourite actors, too. Wait, he’s not? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/34 "2010-06-15T13:04:18Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Wait, he’s not? Nope! It’s the first ‘trivia’ entry in his [IMDB listing](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000284/bio). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/35 "2010-06-15T16:15:33Z")
Name-wise, I always get Elias Koteas and Adreas Katsulas (the “one armed man”) mixed up. Now that one of them is dead, it’s getting a little easier to keep them straight. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/36 "2010-06-15T16:22:06Z")
I’m embarrassed to say that I get Richard Gere and Warren Beatty mixed up (although I can eventually figure out which is which if I think about it for a while). They must share the same neuron in my brain or something. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/37 "2010-06-15T17:24:26Z")
If we’re not going by similar names then in the 80’s I’d sometimes confuse Stevie Wonder with Ray Charles and Madonna with Cindi Lauper. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/38 "2010-06-15T18:32:15Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > There’s also Michael Douglas the actor and Mike Douglas the talk show host. Not quite on topic, but for some reason I was convinced for years that Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin were brothers, to the extent that I was very surprised none of his obituaries mentioned it. It took me a few years to sort out who was Daniel Craig and who was Clive Owen, I guess because they’re both British white guys of roughly the same age who sometimes do action movies. I could swear there’s someone out there with a name very similar to Jason Statham that’s always causing me great confusion, but IMDb’s not helping me. > [@torie](#): > > People think I’m so weird, but I often get Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and Dustin Hoffman confused. Oh yeah, I used to confuse DeNiro and Pacino, and Pacino and Hoffman, but never DeNiro and Hoffman. But it seems to me they’ve each gotten more distinctive with age. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/39 "2010-06-15T18:34:52Z")
There’s Dave Thomas the actor and Dave Thomas the Wendy’s founder. The actor even kind of looks like a younger version of the Wendy’s guy so when I first saw him I thought he might have been related. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183/40 "2010-06-15T18:38:17Z")
Here’s my favorite [Keith David](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0202966/) [David Keith](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001418/) I want to cast them together in something… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-celebrities-confused/543183.md?page=3)