# 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:** 20
**Author:** ![CharmaChameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CharmaChameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CharmaChameleon)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/381 "2018-08-04T02:16:32Z")
Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, Sheriff Clarence Strider was in office when Emmitt Till was killed. ---
**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:** [August 4, 2018, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/382 "2018-08-04T12:36:23Z")
At that, I’ll mention Jaap Penraat, who during WWII was [“forging identity papers for Jews, but was discovered and jailed for several months. Later he made over 20 trips smuggling a total of 406 Jewish people to safety from The Netherlands to Spain via France by using his forgery skills to convince the Nazis they were slave laborers for the Atlantic Wall, on France’s Atlantic coast. He lost only one man, who was hit by a train. Penraat was tortured by the Nazis but revealed nothing about his operations. After his release, he continued his activities until 1944 … In subsequent interviews, he insisted he had only “done the decent thing”. Yad Vashem, the official Israeli memorial to victims of the Holocaust, awarded him the designation of Righteous Among the Nations and put him on its honor roll on June 11, 1988.”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaap_Penraat) ---
**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:** [August 5, 2018, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/383 "2018-08-05T05:00:53Z")
And, in a related vein, Tibor Rubin was a concentration-camp survivor who joined the United States Army some years later and earned the Medal of Honor (because, hey, if you make _that_ guy a POW, you better believe he then [“disregarded his own personal safety and immediately began sneaking out of the camp at night in search of food for his comrades. Breaking into enemy food storehouses and gardens, he risked certain torture or death if caught. Corporal Rubin provided not only food to the starving Soldiers, but also desperately needed medical care and moral support for the sick and wounded of the POW camp. His brave, selfless efforts were directly attributed to saving the lives of as many as forty of his fellow prisoners. Corporal Rubin’s gallant actions in close contact with the enemy and unyielding courage and bravery while a prisoner of war are in the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibor_Rubin)) ---
**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:** [August 7, 2018, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/384 "2018-08-07T01:16:38Z")
Baseball Hall of Famer Ed Delahanty — who twice led the league in home runs, once hitting four in one game — presumably counts; but I’m really only mentioning the guy to mention the guy who broke his doubles-in-one-season record, Tris Speaker: also a Hall of Famer, and also a guy who led the league in home runs (and who, to this very day, _still_ holds the record for doubles). But the reason I’m mentioning _him_ is to bring up the rhyme that got paired with his name: S is for Speaker, Swift center-field tender, When the ball saw him coming, It yelled, “I surrender.” …which I figure is worth mentioning since it was penned by Ogden Nash. ---
**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:** [August 7, 2018, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/385 "2018-08-07T10:45:40Z")
[Karl Lueger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Lueger): “mayor of Vienna, and leader and founder of the Austrian Christian Social Party. He is credited with the transformation of the city of Vienna into a modern city. The populist and anti-Semitic politics of his Christian Social Party are sometimes viewed as a model for Hitler’s Nazism … The emperor allegedly loathed Lueger as a person and considered him a dangerous revolutionary. He was also concerned about Lueger’s anti-Semitism. With the support of Prime Minister Kasimir Felix Badeni, Franz Joseph refused to confirm Lueger as mayor. The Christian Socials retained a large majority in the council, and reelected Lueger as mayor three more times, only to have Franz Joseph refuse to confirm him each time. He was elected mayor for a fifth time in 1897, and after a personal intercession by Pope Leo XIII, his election was finally sanctioned later that year.” While he presumably qualifies, I only mention him for a passage closer to the end of his Wiki entry: “For some, the Lueger monuments show that Vienna has neglected its obligations to the victims of the Holocaust in order to keep its nostalgic appeal as the grand Imperial City. For example, when Austrian-born neurobiologist Eric Kandel won the Nobel Prize in 2000, he “stuck it to the Austrians” by saying it was certainly not an Austrian Nobel; it was a Jewish-American Nobel. After that, he got a call from then Austrian president Thomas Klestil asking him, “How can we make things right?” Kandel said that first, Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Ring should be renamed. Kandel was offended that the address of the University of Vienna is on that street. After yearlong debates, the Ring was renamed to Universitätsring in April 2012.” So that’s Eric Kandel, Nobel Prize Winner. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2018, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/386 "2018-08-08T23:51:57Z")
Travis Scott has been nominated for his share of Grammy Awards, and has seen his share of albums go platinum; but what brings him to mind is the news that only just came down today, about how he’ll be performing at the VMAs. (And I guess he also gets extra ‘celebrity’ points for his relationship with Kylie Jenner?) ---
**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:** [August 9, 2018, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/387 "2018-08-09T22:46:02Z")
In 1971, THE FRENCH CONNECTION hit the big screen, earning an Oscar (and an Edgar, and a WGA Award from the Writers Guild of America) for Ernest Tidyman. 1971 is also when SHAFT hit the big screen; and, for “creating the Shaft books, he became one of the few white individuals to win an NAACP Image Award.” That’s a _heck_ of a one-two punch even without considering the rest of his work. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2018, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/388 "2018-08-10T23:46:48Z")
I figure Emmy nominee Sam McMurray hit “hey it’s that guy” status at some point, since he’s racked up _tons_ of credits; even leaving aside times he’s been top billed, how many actors have appeared on THE JEFFERSONS and THE SOPRANOS — and on MIAMI VICE and on THE KING OF QUEENS, and on KOJAK and on CRISTELA, and on BREAKING BAD and on MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE? Okay, that last bit there comes with a wink. Still, to me — and, I expect, to many — McMurray will forever be the tall guy playing off young Dan Castellaneta on Tracey Ullman’s show back when. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2018, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/389 "2018-08-11T10:44:03Z")
Until resigning over Iran-Contra, Caspar Weinberger was Secretary of Defense under Reagan — which is when the job passed to Frank Carlucci, who’d been serving as the National Security Advisor (which is when _that_ job passed to Colin Powell, sure as Carlucci got followed as Secretary of Defense by Dick Cheney). Before that, Carlucci was all over the place — an ambassador, the Deputy Director of the CIA, and so on — but figure that, by ‘87 and ‘88 and ‘89, he qualified. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2018, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/390 "2018-08-12T06:23:41Z")
Walter Raleigh ---
**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:** [August 13, 2018, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/391 "2018-08-13T10:16:29Z")
Jim Miklaszewski ---
**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:** [August 14, 2018, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/392 "2018-08-14T04:32:02Z")
Wayne Newton ---
**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:** [August 15, 2018, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/393 "2018-08-15T10:02:16Z")
Tim Montgomery got Olympic gold for America and spent years being acclaimed as the fastest man alive, holding the world record in the hundred-meter dash. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2018, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/394 "2018-08-16T09:30:12Z")
Award-winning Broadway actress Mildred Dunnock, who originated the ‘Big Mama’ role in _Cat On A Hot Tin Roof_ and the ‘Linda Loman’ role in _Death of a Salesman_, wound up getting nominated for a couple of Oscars. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2018, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/395 "2018-08-17T16:47:45Z")
William McRaven is getting a whoooole lot of headlines today. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2018, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/396 "2018-08-18T11:43:37Z")
Abe Burrows of course already had his own radio show (“The Abe Burrows Show”) on CBS, as well as his own TV show (“Abe Burrows’ Almanac”) on CBS, before some of the guy’s name-on-the-poster work for Broadway [“was apparently selected as the winner for the Pulitzer Prize in Letters. However, because of Burrows’ troubles with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), no Pulitzer for Letters was awarded in 1951, as the Trustees of Columbia University had the right of veto.”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abe_Burrows) He still got a Tony that year, though, because “Guys And Dolls” was just that good; and, years later, he got that Pulitzer — and yet _more_ Tony Awards — by following up with “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying”. ---
**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:** [August 19, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/397 "2018-08-19T04:36:25Z")
Bruce Sutter is the first pitcher to be inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame without ever even starting a game, because, hey, how many _other_ guys have managed to lead the National League in saves year after year after year after year after year? (The answer, of course, is: _none_; just this guy who earned a championship ring by recording the final six outs for his team in the World Series, and no one else.) ---
**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:** [August 20, 2018, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/398 "2018-08-20T11:16:41Z")
John Newton captained slave ships in the 1700s until he saw the error of his ways and became an abolitionist. _“It will always be a subject of humiliating reflection to me, that I was once an active instrument in a business at which my heart now shudders”,_ he wrote in the influential pamphlet **Thoughts Upon the Slave Trade**. More to the point, he also wrote **Amazing Grace**. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/399 "2018-08-21T04:34:11Z")
The WBA lightweight title has been held by lots of memorable boxers, ranging from Roberto Durán to Julio César Chávez to Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini; and, at present, it’s held by two-time Olympic gold medalist [Vasyl Lomachenko](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasyl_Lomachenko#Lomachenko_vs._TBA). ---
**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:** [August 22, 2018, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/400 "2018-08-22T10:18:31Z")
Stand-up comic (and writer/director/producer/actress) Carol Leifer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912.md?page=21)