# 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:** 26
**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:** [December 1, 2018, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/501 "2018-12-01T02:36:53Z")
Don Newcombe, [“the first pitcher to win the Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and Cy Young award in his career”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Newcombe), also happens to have been [“the first black pitcher to start a World Series game.”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Newcombe) (Got a World Series ring out of the deal, too.) ---
**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:** [December 1, 2018, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/502 "2018-12-01T11:24:27Z")
_Shaun of the Dead_, _Hot Fuzz_, and _The World’s End_ were written and directed by Edgar Wright; each was well-received, though all of ‘em put together recently got outgrossed by his latest written-and-directed project, _Baby Driver_. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/503 "2018-12-02T20:54:35Z")
[Nicknamed “The Prime Minister of the Underworld,”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Costello) Frank Costello [became one of the biggest earners for the Luciano family](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Costello) as Lucky Luciano’s consigliere; once Luciano was behind bars, and underboss Vito Genovese had fled to Italy to avoid prosecution, Costello [enjoyed more political influence than any other mobster in the country](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Costello), testifying before the Senate years later as [the star attraction, being billed as America’s #1 gangster and the de facto leader of Tammany Hall.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Costello) ([When asked by the committee, “What have you done for your country, Mr. Costello?”, the raspy-voiced Costello’s reply evoked a rare laugh at the hearings: “Paid my tax!”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Costello)) ---
**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:** [December 3, 2018, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/504 "2018-12-03T23:57:08Z")
Raphael Lemkin [“is best known for coining the word genocide and initiating the Genocide Convention.”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_Lemkin) > [@](#): > > In 1944, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published Lemkin’s most important work, entitled _Axis Rule in Occupied Europe_, in the United States. This book included an extensive legal analysis of German rule in countries occupied by Nazi Germany during the course of World War II, along with the definition of the term genocide. Lemkin’s idea of genocide as an offense against international law was widely accepted by the international community and was one of the legal bases of the Nuremberg Trials. In 1945 to 1946, Lemkin became an advisor to Supreme Court of the United States Justice and Nuremberg Trial chief counsel Robert H. Jackson … Lemkin presented a draft resolution for a Genocide Convention treaty to a number of countries, in an effort to persuade them to sponsor the resolution. With the support of the United States, the resolution was placed before the General Assembly for consideration. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was formally presented and adopted on December 9, 1948. Now, we could talk about the many ways he was honored in life. For the moment, though, I’ll note that he was granted the Four Freedoms Award posthumously; and, after that, a documentary about him racked up various awards of its own; and after that, “Lemkin’s article _Soviet genocide in Ukraine_ was added to the Russian index of “extremist publications”, whose distribution in Russia is forbidden.” I’m sure he’d rather he _wasn’t_ still relevant; but, well, he is. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/505 "2018-12-04T16:04:08Z")
Jim McKay [“received numerous accolades for his reporting of the Munich hostage crisis (including two Emmy Awards, one for sports and one for news reporting)”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McKay) and [“also hosted from the studio the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. A happier result came when the U.S. hockey team defeated the Soviet Union in the Miracle on Ice.”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McKay) Of course, both of those stints stemmed from his regular job, since he was [“the host of ABC’s influential Wide World of Sports for 37 years.”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McKay) (You know the one: \* “Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport … the thrill of victory … and the agony of defeat … the human drama of athletic competition … This is ABC’s Wide World of Sports!”\*) ---
**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:** [December 5, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/506 "2018-12-05T21:30:17Z")
Speaking of sports, Yale Lary is in the NFL Hall of Fame (as _“Yale Lary”_, even though his name was _“Robert Yale Lary Sr.”_). But on the off-chance that it’s the real name that counts, I’ll add quick mention of _“Bruiser Kinard”_, (a) who likewise picked up Hall of Fame bona fides, under his (b) real name: _“Frank Kinard”_. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/507 "2018-12-06T19:07:30Z")
On tonight, as always, is _A Charlie Brown Christmas_, with Charlie Brown voiced by Peter Robbins — you know, the child actor who played Dagwood’s son Alexander in the primetime BLONDIE tv series? The one with Jim Backus as J.C. Dithers? Robbins of course wound up distinctively voicing Charlie Brown plenty more times, including the big-screen _A Boy Named Charlie Brown_. ---
**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:** [December 8, 2018, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/508 "2018-12-08T00:37:50Z")
And, speaking of child actors: _Ben Is Back_ hits theaters today, with Julia Roberts as Ben’s mom and Kathryn Newton as Ben’s sister. You might remember Newton from _Blockers_, as Leslie Mann’s daughter who’s really looking forward to losing her virginity at the prom? Or maybe you’d recall her from _Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri_, as Frances McDormand’s kid who kinda sorta drives the plot? Or maybe from _Paranormal Activity 4_, [“which earned her the 2013 Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Newton)? (She’d been nominated for three straight Young Artist Awards before that, at 12 and 13 and 14; but she’s been plenty busy since, including going from a recurring role all the way up to becoming a main castmember in _Big Little Lies_.) ---
**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:** [December 8, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/509 "2018-12-08T22:43:54Z")
Bob Baffert trained Justify, the horse that won the Triple Crown this year. Baffert also trained plenty of other Kentucky Derby champions, but the one that deserves special mention is probably American Pharoah — which is to say, the only _other_ horse to have won the Triple Crown since Jimmy Carter left office. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/510 "2018-12-09T16:05:47Z")
Maurice Stokes made it into the Hall Of Fame despite only playing pro basketball for three years: the first was when he was an All-Star as the Rookie Of The Year who got the most rebounds in a single game; the second was when he was an All-Star who set the NBA’s single-_season_ record for rebounds; and the third was when he (a) was again an All-Star, who (b) famously suffered a career-ending injury on the court. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2018, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/511 "2018-12-11T01:28:11Z")
Mike Conley [“inked a five-year, $153 million deal in July 2016”](https://www.forbes.com/profile/mike-conley/#62d4f395112d) which was, at the time, [“the richest contract in the history of the NBA”](https://www.forbes.com/profile/mike-conley/#62d4f395112d). For bonus points, that’s Mike Conley _Junior_. By contrast, Mike Conley _Senior_ made a name for himself back in the day by winning Olympic gold as a track star. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2018, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/512 "2018-12-12T02:05:12Z")
**Black-ish** is on right now, with Marcus Scribner doing his thing in primetime. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2018, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/513 "2018-12-12T12:16:15Z")
Of course, the heavy lifting there comes from how he’s been at it for going on five years now — which brings me to Greg Garcia, the creator of MY NAME IS EARL and RAISING HOPE, who put his distinctive weirdness out there for years and years and years and years and naturally got himself an Emmy in the process. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2018, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/514 "2018-12-14T00:02:42Z")
Val Lewton [“wrote the best-selling pulp novel _No Bed of Her Own_, which was later used for the film _No Man of Her Own_, with Clark Gable and Carole Lombard.”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_Lewton) And with that intro to Hollywood, [“Lewton was named head of the horror unit at RKO studios”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_Lewton) where [“Lewton’s first production was _Cat People_”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_Lewton), which > [@](#): > > went on to earn nearly US$4 million and was the top moneymaker for RKO that year. This success enabled Lewton to make his next films with relatively little studio interference, allowing him to fulfill his vision despite the sensationalistic film titles he was given, focusing on ominous suggestion and themes of existential ambivalence. Following that, [“Boris Karloff appeared in three films for RKO produced by Lewton: Isle of the Dead, The Body Snatcher, and Bedlam. In a 1946 interview with Louis Berg of the Los Angeles Times, Karloff credited Lewton with saving him from what Karloff saw as the overextended Frankenstein franchise at Universal Pictures. Berg wrote, “Mr. Karloff has great love and respect for Mr. Lewton as the man who rescued him from the living dead and restored, so to speak, his soul.””](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_Lewton) And, decades later: [“A documentary film, _Martin Scorsese Presents: Val Lewton – The Man in the Shadows_, was released in 2007.”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_Lewton) ---
**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:** [December 15, 2018, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/515 "2018-12-15T00:33:24Z")
Phil Lord and Chris Miller [“are known for directing and writing the animated films _Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs_ (2009) and _The Lego Movie_ (2014), as well as directing the live-action comedy film _21 Jump Street_ (2012) and its sequel (2014).”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Lord_and_Christopher_Miller) And, after being kicked off _Solo_ partway through — which, if anything, I’d figure would _raise_ their stock a little — they’re back in the news today, what with the critically acclaimed _Into The Spider-Verse_ hitting theaters at, apparently, #1. (Also, the name “Phil Lord” maybe grants him an extra measure of “wait, what?” Kinda like how Monty Python would put Ron Obvious or Ken Buddha out there?) ---
**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:** [December 15, 2018, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/516 "2018-12-15T12:47:27Z")
Also a ‘peerage’ name: Earl Lloyd, “the first black player to have played a game in the National Basketball Association.” Wiki says he was the first African-American to win an NBA championship, and “the first African-American assistant coach and was named head coach for the 1971-72 season”; and then the guy who’d led the NBA in various stats promptly made it into the Hall of Fame. ---
**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:** [December 17, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/517 "2018-12-17T00:12:22Z")
And, to continue with the theme for just a moment longer: the King Brothers [“are particularly remembered today for employing a number of blacklisted writers during the Red Scare of the late 1940s and 1950s. Some of their films include _Dillinger_ (1945), _Suspense_ (1946), _Gun Crazy_ (1949), _Carnival Story_ (1954), _The Brave One_ (1956 — which earned writer Dalton Trumbo a Best Screenplay Academy Award), _Gorgo_ (1961), _Captain Sindbad_ (1963), and _Heaven With a Gun_ (1968).”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Brothers_Productions) That bit about Dalton Trumbo and _The Brave One_ and the Oscars should maybe bring to mind the movie _Trumbo_, where Bryan Cranston got an Oscar nomination for playing Trumbo, with John Goodman playing — well, Frank King, which kinda sorta brings this whole post full circle. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2018, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/518 "2018-12-18T01:39:22Z")
And, just to abandon that theme entirely: **Aquaman** , which has already grossed more than a quarter of a billion dollars before it makes its way to theaters hereabouts this week, features Graham McTavish as the King of Atlantis after he’d racked up all that comic-book cred as The Saint Of Killers in all those episodes of **Preacher**. (Or maybe you remember him as Dwalin, in all those **Hobbit** movies? Or maybe as Dougal MacKenzie, in all those episodes of **Outlander**? We could be here for a while; he’s put together a _lot_ of Hey It’s That Guy credits…) ---
**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:** [December 18, 2018, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/519 "2018-12-18T23:32:29Z")
And, speaking of Aquaman: award-winning comic-book artist Nick Cardy earned his place in the Hall Of Fame thanks to a whole bunch of projects — ACTION, BATMAN, CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN, DETECTIVE COMICS — but what clearly did the heavy lifting there is AQUAMAN 1-56. (Okay, that and TEEN TITANS 1-43.) ---
**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:** [December 19, 2018, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912/520 "2018-12-19T22:55:36Z")
Also, one more name from the comics of yesteryear: Martin Nodell, creator of the Green Lantern. (Nodell later [“joined Timely Comics, the 1930s–40s forerunner of Marvel Comics … where he drew postwar stories of Captain America, the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner.”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Nodell) He then [“left comics to work in advertising and later joined the Leo Burnett Agency in Chicago as an art director. In 1965, his design team there developed the long-running flour-company mascot the Pillsbury Doughboy.”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Nodell)) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-vips-luminaries-whose-names-phonetically-join-in-the-middle/808912.md?page=27)