Ernest Tubb had a number of Billboard Top 40 hits (and it’s even more impressive than that; after all, various folks respectably top out there — but Tubb had various songs reach #1 on the country chart, and even landed himself a starring role up on the big screen in Hollywood Barn Dance). Also, his writeup at the Country Music Hall of Fame notes that he “was the first to bring a Grand Ole Opry show into Carnegie Hall”.
Former NJ governor and gay American Jim McGreevey (also the last person to shock me by coming out).
Duke Cunningham was a Congressman for over two decades, as was Jim Moran.
So, first off: “In 1995, Moran and California Republican Duke Cunningham had to be restrained by the Capitol Police after a shoving match on the house floor over President Bill Clinton’s decision to send U.S. troops to Bosnia.” And, second: “In June 2005, a story appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune by Marcus Stern and Jerry Kammer, who would later receive a Pulitzer Prize for their reporting. The story revealed that a defense contractor, Mitchell Wade, founder of the defense contracting firm MZM Inc. (since renamed Athena Innovative Solutions Inc.), bought Cunningham’s house in Del Mar in 2003 for $1,675,000. A month later, Wade placed it back on the market where it remained unsold for 8 months until the price was reduced to $975,000. Cunningham was a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee at the time. Soon after the purchase, Wade’s company began to receive tens of millions of dollars worth of defense and intelligence contracts.”
So figure that, as a Congressman, he got enough status to qualify for the thread in general; but figure he also got an extra measure of notoriety for two separate things, each of which involved someone else with a name that joins in the middle.
I’m not 100% sure whether Julius Caesar would count. Or, come to think of it, whether Augustus Caesar would count. I will, though, note that Caesar Rodney “was an officer of the Delaware militia during the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, a Continental Congressman from Delaware, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and President of Delaware during most of the American Revolution.”
Maya Angelou
Figure skater Elvis Stojko: two-time Olympic medalist, three-time world champion, and the first person to land a quadruple-double jump combination.
Andrew Wiles got tons of headlines and awards by proving Fermat’s Last Theorem.
In his twenties, Rex Smith hit full-on teen idol status: on the strength of his role in Sooner or Later, he got a hit single with “You Take My Breath Away” — and he parlayed that into an award-winning run as Frederic in Pirates of Penzance on Broadway with Linda Ronstadt and Kevin Kline, which in turn is why all of them naturally did the movie together — and then, top billing on TV in Street Hawk.
Desmond Doss, the only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor for his actions during WWII, recently got a lot of press thanks to Hacksaw Ridge.
…and, so long as I’m talking about Hacksaw Ridge, let me make quick mention of one of its actors: he was Agent Smith, he was the Red Skull, he was Elrond, he was Megatron, he was V, and I figure he qualifies for this thread as Hugo Weaving.
Beatrice Straight got an Oscar and a Tony, but also got plenty of TV work — she was Wonder Woman’s mom, on Paradise Island, on Wonder Woman; and Robert Kennedy’s mom, in Robert Kennedy And His Times; and King Lear’s daughter, with Orson Welles as Lear, on Omnibus; and she got nominated for a trifecta Emmy for The Dain Curse, with James Coburn doing the whole private-eye thing; and so on.
(Of course, for some folks all of that pales in comparison to her memorable turn as the paranormal investigator in the Poltergeist blockbuster — but you get the idea.)
Mac King, who memorably pairs the affable patter of a stand-up comic with the hands of a stage magician, has of course made TV appearances on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, and on Just For Laughs and The World’s Greatest Magic (and II and III and IV and V); and you may have seen him on Letterman, or on Comic Strip Live; and et cetera.
He’s currently in the Top Ten, but year after year after year has actually seen him at #1 when it comes to moneymoneymoney: Carlos Slim.
8-time Olympic medalist Apolo Ohno has done various TV commercials, and seasons of Dancing With The Stars, and a stint as a game-show host, you name it.
Lawrence Summers went from serving as a Cabinet Secretary to making headlines as the President of Harvard. (I’m not saying they were good headlines; I’m just saying they were headlines. Remember his speech about why women are underrepresented in the sciences? He, uh, had some ideas he wanted to share.)
The Jack Carson Show was on radio for years before The Jack Carson Show hit TV, which helps explain why Carson has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He also did tons of films: billed second to Joan Crawford, in Mildred Pierce; and to Ginger Rogers, in The Groom Wore Spurs; and to Rosemary Clooney, in Red Garters; and to Rosalind Russell, in Roughly Speaking; and so on.
The day came when post-WWII Brits turned to Winston Churchill and said, yeah, so, you’re out, as Prime Minister; and it’s Anthony Eden’s time, now.
Jake Kasdan got an Emmy nomination for directing New Girl in between directing a couple of Cameron Diaz movies, after picking up a Golden Globe nomination (and a Grammy nomination) for his work on Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story — but what I figure is worth mentioning right now is, he just directed that Jumanji blockbuster: they gave him a $90 million budget, and it’s grossed more than $900 million.
I figure that Walter Reed distinguished himself in a number of ways, and that he got rather a lot of things named after him for doing so.
In the news this week: Jes Staley, the JP Morgan CEO turned Barclay’s CEO, who’s been making headlines for a scandal involving Tim Main.
But as that’s maybe not enough in the way of ‘celebrity’ bona fides for the thread, I’ll mention two-time Tony nominee (and two-time Olivier winner) Tim Minchin, who makes the rounds on talk shows and puts out records and performs stand-up and is playing Friar Tuck in that ROBIN HOOD movie that hits theaters later this year.