# Celebrities with the lowest key, most mundane private lives. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337 "2008-12-02T14:40:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/41 "2008-12-03T10:56:41Z")
don’t ask writes: \> I just saw a piece on TV about Bette Midler’s latest show and it occurred to me \> that I have never heard her name associated with anyone of either sex. \> Assuming that she was a lonely woman, and that I could chat her up, I checked \> her out on the net. \> \> Seems she used to go out with her manager who died of cancer and has now \> been married to a member of her support act for about a quarter of a century. \> So I guess I’m out of luck. \> \> When I go back to work I will see how many people have any idea about her \> personal life. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to disagree here. I’ve known quite a fair amount about Bette Midler’s personal life, and I don’t make that all-fired much effort to keep up with celebrity news. I’ve read and watched a number of news stories about her over the past twenty-five years or so. She dated a number of guys in her twenties and thirties, not just her manager. When she was thirty-eight she married Martin von Haselberg and a couple of years later had a daughter. Haselberg wasn’t a “member of her support act.” He was a performance artist whose day job was as a stock broker or some such. At one time he and his partner happened to be the opening act for Midler. After their marriage he hasn’t worked much because he stayed home and took care of their daughter. > **[Bette Midler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bette_Midler)** > > Bette Midler (/bɛt/; born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received numerous accolades, including four Golden Globe Awards, three Grammy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards and a Kennedy Center Honor, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and a British Academy Film Award. > Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Midler began her professional career in several off-off-Broadway pl... Similarly, I’ve read and heard a reasonable amount about the private lives of Sissy Spacek, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, and Clint Eastwood. Eastwood’s private life has been incredibly messy. As someone remarked in an article I read once, it’s hard to understand why Warren Beatty had more of a reputation as a womanizer than Eastwood. Eastwood’s relations with all the women he married, lived with, and had children with is quite convoluted. About all I can say about the people mentioned here is that if you only remember the celebrity stories you’ve read or heard in the past five years, you might not know very much about them. I, however, am cursed to remember those news stories from years ago. The people mentioned in this thread may have had relatively calm personal lives in recent years, but they have had their share of publicity before then. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/42 "2008-12-03T11:28:18Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Sissy Spacek’s been married to Production Designer/Art Director [Jack Fisk](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0279926/) for 34 years. Some of Fisk’s work (in either capacity) include last year’s There Will Be Blood, The New World, Mullholland Drive, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, Heart Beat, Carrie and Badlands, where he first met Sissy. He’s directed two movies, one being… > > This one, which I love! I never hear anybody mention it, so thank you. It’s easy to tell that the man behind the camera loves this character and the woman playing her. It gets kinda weird at the end, turns into somewhat of a thriller, but before that, it’s a beautiful love story, of a woman for her sons, of a regretful husband for his former wife, and of two outsiders who find each other. It’s also a wonderful movie for anyone who wants to see (a very very cute) Eric Roberts in a sympathetic role (along with King of the Gypsies). Wow…someone who has not only seen it, but loves it as much as I do! It truly captured WWII in a small town. I just adore everything about this movie. This is truly Eric Roberts’ shining moment. I love him so much in this that I can never completely hate him, regardless of the depths that his future suckitude may reach. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/43 "2008-12-03T12:24:01Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to disagree here. I’ve known quite a fair amount about Bette Midler’s personal life, and I don’t make that all-fired much effort to keep up with celebrity news. I’ve read and watched a number of news stories about her over the past twenty-five years or so. \ > > Similarly, I’ve read and heard a reasonable amount about the private lives of Sissy Spacek, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, and Clint Eastwood. I guess the rest of us just haven’t read and heard as much about celebrities. Maybe we should take less all-fired interest like you do. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/44 "2008-12-03T14:05:02Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Similarly, I’ve read and heard a reasonable amount about the private lives of Sissy Spacek, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, and Clint Eastwood. Have you read anything about Sissy Spacek counter to what people here have heard? Is she something other than the wholesome farm girl we hear about? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/45 "2008-12-03T15:16:53Z")
don’t ask writes: \> Maybe we should take less all-fired interest like you do. As I said, I seem to be cursed to remember every little trivial bit of information I ever read or heard about celebrities, even though it’s mostly things I picked up just half-listening to TV or in flipping through magazines. My point is that the people mentioned in this thread were once significant celebrities who had articles about them in magazines, interviews on TV, and mentions in newspapers. In the OP you said that you never heard anything about their personal lives mentioned in any media. If that’s true, it’s either because you’re too young to remember when they were the hot new celebrities or you’ve forgotten what you’ve read or heard about them. I’m sorry, but having a good memory is _really_ a curse. It’s simply not true that these people have never had their personal lives mentioned in the news. Kalhoun writes: \> Have you read anything about Sissy Spacek counter to what people here have \> heard? Is she something other than the wholesome farm girl we hear about? O.K., without bothering to look up anything about her, I can remember the following: She grew up in Texas. The actor Rip Torn is her cousin and helped her get into acting. She persuaded her parents to support her for up to four years of trying to make it as an actor, since she told them that it would be like paying for college. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/46 "2008-12-03T15:35:11Z")
George Carlin was another example of a celebrity leading a surprisingly low-key personal life. He was married for thirty six years and the first time I heard of this was when his wife died. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/47 "2008-12-03T18:44:10Z")
The only time you ever hear about \*\*Hugh Jackman \*\*is about a week or so before one of his movie promo blitzes ( blitzes?) is there are photos of him at the beach in Australia, topless and having fun. **Vince Vaughan** seems to fly under the radar, except for the Jennifer Anniston thing and knife fight with Steven Buscemi in 2001. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/48 "2008-12-03T18:57:04Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Wow…someone who has not only seen it, but loves it as much as I do! It truly captured WWII in a small town. I just adore everything about this movie. This is truly Eric Roberts’ shining moment. I love him so much in this that I can never completely hate him, regardless of the depths that his future suckitude may reach. Out of many many favorite scenes, my favorite is her simply doing housework. She has the radio on and is sweeping the floor in time to the Andrews Sisters. I could watch that scene over and over again. “Drinking rum and Cocaaaa-Cola…” It’s so adorable! ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/49 "2008-12-03T19:41:05Z")
I never hear anything about Lucy Liu in any type of gossip-y or paparazzi situation. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/50 "2008-12-03T19:47:23Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > I would pay real money to see that. [Here ya go.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEue80pNvM) No charge. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/51 "2008-12-03T21:33:55Z")
Wasn’t it Harrison Ford who had a deal with the photogs about his kids? As long as they didn’t take pictures of his kids, he would give them whatever shots they wanted of himself. I don’t think anyone saw a photo of his kids until after they turned 18. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/52 "2008-12-03T21:47:27Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > As I said, I seem to be cursed to remember every little trivial bit of information I ever read or heard about celebrities, even though it’s mostly things I picked up just half-listening to TV or in flipping through magazines. My point is that the people mentioned in this thread were once significant celebrities who had articles about them in magazines, interviews on TV, and mentions in newspapers. In the OP you said that you never heard anything about their personal lives mentioned in any media. If that’s true, it’s either because you’re too young to remember when they were the hot new celebrities or you’ve forgotten what you’ve read or heard about them. I’m sorry, but having a good memory is _really_ a curse. It’s simply not true that these people have never had their personal lives mentioned in the news. I think you’re being a bit combative here just to talk about your “curse”. Saying that because more than nothing about certain celebs has appeared in the news means their ineligible for this thread is moving the goalposts just a tad. Plenty of “normal people” get written or talked about in the news too. Basically, I just think disqualifying them for rather mundane articles about births or marriages or new houses is taking the question a bit too literal. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/53 "2008-12-03T22:09:20Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > [Here ya go.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEue80pNvM) > > No charge. That’s totally a planned joke. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/54 "2008-12-03T23:04:48Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > **Vince Vaughan** seems to fly under the radar, except for the Jennifer Anniston thing and knife fight with Steven Buscemi in 2001. Correct me if I have the details wrong or misread your post, but Vaughan and Buscemi did not fight each other. What I thought happened was both were at a bar in North Carolina when some local drunk picked a fight with them just to see how tough a couple movie stars could be. He found out soon enough. As for the topic of this thread, I think part of the reason why some celebrities seem live fairly low key private lives is that the tabloid media does not regard them as being that interesting to their target audience. People like Sissy Spacek and Meryl Streep are publicly well-known and highly regarded for their thespian skills but they don’t sell magazines if you put them on the cover. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/55 "2008-12-04T01:55:10Z")
Meryl Streep is on the cover of _Entertainment Weekly_ this week (the issue of December 5, 2008). So at least occasionally she does get major publicity, even now. What the OP said was “I have never heard [Bette Midler’s] name associated with anyone of either sex.” No mention was made of a time frame. No mention was made of whether the news was mundane. Back a few years ago, there was a lot of entertainment news about Bette Midler. So why isn’t there any now? Because she’s too old. Remember, to most entertainment reporters, anyone over 30 is a little boring. Yeah, they occasionally mention such people, but it’s clear that consider them over the hill. Anyone over 40 is dead as far as they are concerned. When they have articles about someone like Meryl Streep, it’s a career retrospective. They’re gasping in awe that somehow she hasn’t died. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/56 "2008-12-04T02:03:53Z")
\*\*William H. Macy \*\*and **Felicity Huffman** come to mind. Married since 1997 w/ two daughters. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Punkyova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@The\_Punkyova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Punkyova)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/57 "2008-12-04T02:55:28Z")
I agree with **Wendell Wagner** on this one. Years ago, there were articles about these people, including their private lives. I remember when Bette Midler got married and had a baby. She was on all the talk shows, discussing it. There were pictures and everything! She said that she wanted to name the little girl “Fifi Trixiebelle,” like some other rock star had done. Her husband said that when she was 50 and a CPA she would not appreciate FiFi Trixibelle, so they gave her a more mundane name. There was a lot of stuff about Clint Eastwood’s private life when his former lover sued him and his studio - something about how in lieu of palimony they set her up with a production company, and then cheated her out of all the proceeds (so she claimed). I remember these things, and I’m not one who watches a lot of TV, buys gossip magazines, or makes any effort to keep up with this. I do get the sense that the OP is significantly younger than WW and I, and simply wasn’t around or old enough to notice when these things made headlines. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/58 "2008-12-04T04:51:18Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > [Here ya go.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEue80pNvM) > > No charge. I realize that I probably shouldn’t be, but I am astonished that a 26 year old clip from a crank-em-out-every-night late show is available for my viewing pleasure. Thanks a ton. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/59 "2008-12-04T05:28:29Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Meryl Streep is on the cover of _Entertainment Weekly_ this week (the issue of December 5, 2008). So at least occasionally she does get major publicity, even now… When they have articles about someone like Meryl Streep, it’s a career retrospective. They’re gasping in awe that somehow she hasn’t died. Not hardly. Streep is still one of our finest actors, and holds the record for most Academy Award nominations, and she has a new movie coming out, the highly-anticipated **Doubt** , with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. Streep’s a legend, totally beloved by everyone in the entertainment industry, and she has a huge fan base who are willing to let her alone and live her life until she has a movie to promote. I think she’s one of the few celebrities who even the paparazzi deem way too classy to bother, not because people aren’t interested. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337/60 "2008-12-04T05:47:47Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > [Here ya go.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEue80pNvM) > > No charge. Of the three of them, I’d have to say that Letterman has the weirdest hair of the lot. It’s a close competition, but seriously, Dave, it looks like you’re wearing some kind of varnished rugby helmet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-the-lowest-key-most-mundane-private-lives/475337.md?page=4)