# Celebrities/VIPs/Luminaries whose names phonetically join in the middle **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [February 16, 2018, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912 "2018-02-16T03:47:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/201 "2018-03-29T22:51:43Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Reginald Denny - truck driver beaten in Rodney King riots Oh, well, then: Reginald Denny, the Broadway actor who did a ton of flicks back when: lots of supporting roles, and more than a few top-billed screen performances. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/202 "2018-03-30T22:14:25Z")
Thanks to WALKING IN MEMPHIS, singer-songwriter Mark Cohn won a Grammy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/203 "2018-03-31T14:01:26Z")
Édgar Ramírez was top-billed on the small screen as Carlos the Jackal in CARLOS; and top-billed, on the big screen, as Roberto Duran in HANDS OF STONE; and in between, he was top-billed in that remake of POINT BREAK; and, so far this year, he’s been busy with top-billed work for this season of American Crime Story — since you need an interesting Gianni Versace if you’re doing “The Assassination Of Gianni Versace”. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/204 "2018-03-31T19:26:33Z")
filmmaker Howard Deutch. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/205 "2018-03-31T20:43:07Z")
Jonathan Nolan got an Oscar nomination for the MEMENTO screenplay, and then picked up writing-and-directing-and-producing Emmy nominations for WESTWORLD, and in between he and Christopher Nolan brought us THE PRESTIGE and INTERSTELLAR and various of Christian Bale’s blockbuster outings as Batman… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/206 "2018-04-01T19:32:38Z")
The Bryan Brothers have won a record 16 Grand Slam Doubles championships, and they set a separate record by simultaneously holding all four as the reigning Olympic gold medalists — and while Mike Bryan doesn’t count, I figure Bob Bryan does. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/207 "2018-04-02T05:55:29Z")
Which I could lob back with everybody’s favourite “should-be-trillions-better-if-he-just-put-his-dang-head-to-it” Nick Kyrgios. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/208 "2018-04-02T09:51:49Z")
Speaking of sports — sort of — “Razor Ramon” was the name Scott Hall wrestled under when he won the WWF Intercontinental Championship four times. And if he’s to be listed as “Scott Hall”, then I’ll add that Hall lost that title to, and then won it back from, Diesel — aka Kevin Nash — who promptly went on to wrestle under his own name, alongside Hall and a _No-Longer-A-Face-But-Now-A-Heel-Can-You-Believe-It_ Hulk Hogan, who proclaimed themselves to be the New World Order. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/209 "2018-04-02T16:53:10Z")
American actor Robert Taylor ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/210 "2018-04-02T23:14:24Z")
American socialite Wallis Simpson ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/211 "2018-04-03T20:47:22Z")
Jack Kruschen was an Oscar-nominated actor, which I figure qualifies him even before mentioning his Hey It’s That Guy status from when Americans had like three networks to watch: he’s the _real_ villain pitting Anne Baxter against Adam West on BATMAN, he’s the amiable chess grandmaster who gets murdered by Laurence Harvey on COLUMBO, he’s the go-to guy if you need someone to do his thing on I SPY or THE ROCKFORD FILES or BARNEY MILLER or THE INCREDIBLE HULK or whatever. (I mean, yeah, he got name-on-the-poster roles in plenty of memorable flicks, too: McCLINTOCK and CAPE FEAR and THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN and so on — from a Rock-Hudson-And-Doris-Day flick like LOVER COME BACK to being the common enemy James Caan and Alan Arkin team up with in FREEBIE AND THE BEAN — and so, y’know, figure that at _some_ point, he gets in there.) ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/212 "2018-04-03T22:56:28Z")
Dominick Cruz - MMA fighter ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2018, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/213 "2018-04-04T00:36:34Z")
Hall of Fame golfer Byron Nelson won the US Open and the Masters Tournament, was twice named “Athlete of the Year” by the Associated Press, and, near as I can tell, still holds the record for Longest PGA Tour Win Streak (with Tiger Woods at #2). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2018, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/214 "2018-04-04T12:29:01Z")
Chiwetel Ejiofor — who, y’know, doesn’t count — picked up an Oscar nomination for starring in 12 YEARS A SLAVE, which in turn _won_ the Oscar for Best Picture. But the man Ejiofor played — Solomon Northup, who famously _wrote_ the bestselling autobiography 12 YEARS A SLAVE — yeah, he counts. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2018, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/215 "2018-04-04T12:49:28Z")
Speaking of which: superhero Harriet Tubman. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/216 "2018-04-04T19:39:38Z")
Tom Cruise of course doesn’t qualify, because the movie star sensibly bills himself as “Tom Cruise” instead of as Tom Mapother IV. But, having said that, I’d argue that his cousin, _William_ Mapother, has done enough recognizable work to count. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/217 "2018-04-05T10:45:04Z")
Emmy-winning television personality Edwin Newman [“was a regular on the Today show and was its news anchor from July 24 to December 22, 1961, then a contributor and guest host. On Meet the Press, he was a frequent panelist and moderator … In 1963, he made the first announcement on NBC Radio of President John F. Kennedy’s death. He anchored the television coverage of the 1967 Six-Day Arab-Israeli War, the 1968 assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy and the 1973 Vietnam ceasefire. In 1981, immediately after the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, he was chosen to anchor NBC’s television coverage until full news teams were mustered. Newman was the only journalist to interview Emperor Hirohito (Emperor Shōwa) of Japan. The interview took place in September 1975 at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, shortly before Hirohito’s diplomatically-delicate visit to the United States. For his program Speaking Freely, he conducted more than 250 hour-long interviews with leading figures of the day between 1967 and 1976.”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Newman) And, with that running start, he started doing all sorts of other stuff — moderating presidential debates, hosting SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, authoring a book and watching it reach #1 on the New York Times bestseller list — and he [“was in demand to play himself in films and on television. Among his film credits were The Pelican Brief, Spies Like Us, and My Fellow Americans; television appearances included episodes of Newhart, Mr. Belvedere, The Golden Girls, Wings, and Murphy Brown.”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Newman) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/218 "2018-04-05T17:43:33Z")
New York Congresswoman Bella Abzug ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/219 "2018-04-05T20:26:19Z")
Silent-movie star Jane Novak: [“The third film performer to earn more than $1000 for a single picture, following Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.”](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0636857/bio?ref_=nm_dyk_trv_sm#trivia) ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/220 "2018-04-05T21:17:28Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > New York Congresswoman Bella Abzug Hate to be a bad news bear again - the “uh” of Bella and the short vowel “a” of Abzug have agreed to a divorce. Alexis Smith - Canadian actor in films like _Age of Innocence, Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane,_ and _Once is Not Enough_. (Edwin Newman was a major hero of mine, and did a nifty late 70s docu called _Land of Hype and Glory_, looking at goofy American trends and fads. Unfortunately all the internet has of this gem is this [Kiss](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEX-Py86zRU)excerpt.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912.md?page=12)