# Celebrities with Remarkable IQ's **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314 "2010-09-10T18:15:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/1 "2010-09-10T18:15:40Z")
Yahoo! had a link to a search list that led to [The IQ of Famous People No. 1](http://www.kids-iq-tests.com/famous-people.html) which has additional lists to link to. I was most astonished with Muhammad Ali (IQ = 78) but there are others there as frightening in the other direction. Whose IQ (that you can more or less verify as accurate) is at least as surprising to you? ---
**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:** [September 10, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/2 "2010-09-10T18:29:52Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Yahoo! had a link to a search list that led to [The IQ of Famous People No. 1](http://www.kids-iq-tests.com/famous-people.html) which has additional lists to link to. > > I was most astonished with Muhammad Ali (IQ = 78) but there are others there as frightening in the other direction. Ali was dyslexic so I’m guessing his score had a lot to do with that. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/3 "2010-09-10T18:38:30Z")
I’m pretty sure that’s an ad. I’m almost positive that I’ve seen that list other places, and never with the same IQ totals for the same people. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/4 "2010-09-10T18:38:48Z")
That website says that they got the IQ scores from Catherine Cox Miles. She died in 1984. The site also lists the IQ of Ellen Muth, who was born in 1981. The site also lists tons of celebrities and politicians who no one had probably heard of until well after Ms Miles joined the eternally slumbering. Anyone else see a problem with this? I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the website is complete BS. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/5 "2010-09-10T19:57:08Z")
Worse than that, her book was published in 1926. Further, the book is not taken very seriously by modern psychologists. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/6 "2010-09-10T21:14:47Z")
Ali’s appears to be from his 1964 Armed Forces qualifying test. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/7 "2010-09-10T21:20:25Z")
Jayne Mansfield claimed to have a 140+ IQ. Maybe she did, and maybe not. But the only evidence for it is her word. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/8 "2010-09-10T21:24:30Z")
I never knew the source – probably less reliable than this one 😃 – but long ago I heard that Joe DiMaggio and Perry Como and maybe even Sinatra were in the double-digit zone. It always bugged me. ---
**Author:** ![Kelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a587f6/32.png) [@Kelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelby)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/9 "2010-09-10T21:29:53Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Yahoo! had a link to a search list that led to [The IQ of Famous People No. 1](http://www.kids-iq-tests.com/famous-people.html) which has additional lists to link to. > > I was most astonished with **Muhammad Ali (IQ = 78)** but there are others there as frightening in the other direction. > > Whose IQ (that you can more or less verify as accurate) is at least as surprising to you? Hard to believe. Ali held his own in verbal sparring with Howard Cosell as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/10 "2010-09-10T21:31:43Z")
James Woods and Sharon Stone supposedly both have genius level IQs. Source: James Woods and Sharon Stone. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/11 "2010-09-10T21:32:35Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > I never knew the source – probably less reliable than this one 😃 – but long ago I heard that Joe DiMaggio and Perry Como and maybe even Sinatra were in the double-digit zone. It always bugged me. Isn’t half the population in the double-digit zone by definition? Shrewdness and street smarts may be correlated to IQ. Or may not. IQ works a lot better for saying how well you’ll do in school than for anything else. I’d bet lots of money that most people have never been formally tested to get an IQ score that is meaningfully comparable to anybody else’s for these purposes. Real IQ tests take hours to administer. I’m not sure that Army IQ tests are the same as those for the general population either. I’d say that any IQ score you’ve ever heard about for a celebrity is BS. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/12 "2010-09-10T21:32:37Z")
> [@Kelby](#): > > > [@Zeldar](#): > > > > Yahoo! had a link to a search list that led to [The IQ of Famous People No. 1](http://www.kids-iq-tests.com/famous-people.html) which has additional lists to link to. > > > > I was most astonished with **Muhammad Ali (IQ = 78)** but there are others there as frightening in the other direction. > > > > Whose IQ (that you can more or less verify as accurate) is at least as surprising to you? > > Hard to believe. Ali held his own in verbal sparring with Howard Cosell as I recall. Yeah! And he demonstrated a great deal of mental agility up until his disability took over. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/13 "2010-09-10T21:33:38Z")
Ali is a very intelligent man. The score of 78 is either wrong or an indicator that IQ scores are not reliable measures of intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/14 "2010-09-10T21:36:43Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I’d say that any IQ score you’ve ever heard about for a celebrity is BS. I’m not about to argue. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/15 "2010-09-10T21:51:09Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Ali is a very intelligent man. The score of 78 is either wrong or an indicator that IQ scores are not reliable measures of intelligence. Wiki says Ali was initially refused by Armed Forces due to abysmal spelling so **NDP** is probably right about the dyslexia. Assuming the 78 and its source are both correct. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/16 "2010-09-10T21:55:12Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > > [@Contrapuntal](#): > > > > Ali is a very intelligent man. The score of 78 is either wrong or an indicator that IQ scores are not reliable measures of intelligence. > > Wiki says Ali was initially refused by Armed Forces due to abysmal spelling so **NDP** is probably right about the dyslexia. Assuming the 78 and its source are both correct. It wouldn’t surprise me if he tanked it. He didn’t have nothin’ against no Viet Congs, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/17 "2010-09-10T22:35:45Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Ali is a very intelligent man. The score of 78 is either wrong or an indicator that IQ scores are not reliable measures of intelligence. Maybe it’s missing a digit. All the others on the page are allegedly high IQs, and he’s the only one with a low IQ listed. It seems out of place. Perhaps it should be 178. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/18 "2010-09-10T22:51:32Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Maybe it’s missing a digit. All the others on the page are allegedly high IQs, and he’s the only one with a low IQ listed. Andy Warhol is listed as 86. On multiple pages. They seem to have something against Warhol. There are also a rather remarkable number of people listed as 200+. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/19 "2010-09-10T22:58:11Z")
I went to the page in the OP’s link, then clicked on list no. 4, and saw Copernicus listed with an IQ of 160. Go Copernicus! Not bad for a 16th century dude. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314/20 "2010-09-10T23:37:25Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > I went to the page in the OP’s link, then clicked on list no. 4, and saw Copernicus listed with an IQ of 160. Go Copernicus! Not bad for a 16th century dude. Tied with Stephen Hawking… and Reggie Jackson. Anybody know what Copernicus’s career batting average was? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-remarkable-iqs/553314.md?page=2)