# Celebrities you don't, or can't, recognize **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2025, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755 "2025-05-24T18:53:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/41 "2025-05-26T15:06:12Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Anthony Michael Hall all growed up looks awfully different from his John Hughes movie days > [@SwissMan](#): > > Heck, he looked incredibly different just a few years later when he played the villain in _Edward Scissorhands_ Yeah, he’s gone through at least two such major changes. He was the epitome of “puny geek” in his early movies, but then really hit the gym, and would have been credible in the “Massive jock” type roles. But in his recent turn in the latest season of Reacher, he’s changed again. I’m not sure how I’d classify him now, he’s just kind of “Generic middle aged guy”. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/42 "2025-05-26T15:06:57Z")
Karaoke at a bar with Corday’s mother, when Carter and Lucy were stabbed. That was probably the most memorable episode of ER. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/43 "2025-05-26T15:12:10Z")
Yep. Valentine’s Day and the knife for the cake went missing ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/44 "2025-05-26T15:28:19Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > John Cullum I knew him from _Northern Exposure_ first. I saw _1776_ once, some years later. I don’t remember what Cullum looked like in that, but his voice was unmistakeable. Strangely, he’s someone I could have encountered in real life; I worked for a while in the same office park where _Northern Exposure_ filmed. Jerry Orbach is somewhat similar. I didn’t realize he had been a song-and-dance man in his early days until I saw an old clip of him singing. He looked a bit different, and that wasn’t where I was used to seeing him, but I could still tell it was him. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Sorry to interrupt a fun thread. Not to worry, I tend to like the way threads digress and evolve. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/45 "2025-05-26T16:01:12Z")
We might do a different thread about celebrities who when you see them for the first time in decades don’t look any older than the last time you saw them, as in these examples: [https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/celebrity-photos/celebs-who-just-dont-seem-to-age/image-gallery/b0b2b655f8b52e592084928e980fa2fb](https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/celebrity-photos/celebs-who-just-dont-seem-to-age/image-gallery/b0b2b655f8b52e592084928e980fa2fb) ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/46 "2025-05-26T16:32:45Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I think that Clooney is pretty danged striking, and has a distinctive look. And I think there are at least dozens of other people in the world who look like him. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/47 "2025-05-26T17:41:04Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > We might do a different thread about celebrities who when you see them for the first time in decades don’t look any older than the last time you saw them, as in these examples: These always annoy me because the reason most of them don’t look any older is clearly plastic surgery. > [@PastTense](#): > > > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > > I think that Clooney is pretty danged striking, and has a distinctive look. > > And I think there are at least dozens of other people in the world who look like him. I find him very distinctive. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/48 "2025-05-26T17:43:10Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > [Zooey Deschanel is famous for her trademark bangs.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/Flickr_-_Genevieve719_-_Zooey_Deschanel_%288%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/250px-Flickr_-_Genevieve719_-_Zooey_Deschanel_%288%29_%28cropped%29.jpg) > > [When she adopted a different hairstyle, it was hard to recognize her.](https://cdn01.justjared.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/deschanel-proves/zooey-deschanel-without-bangs-02.jpg) She _really_ is the Clark Kent of actresses. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/49 "2025-05-26T18:18:01Z")
Which reminds me - Michelle Meyrink looked so different in Real Genius > **[Google Image Result for...](https://images.app.goo.gl/TUAwUPNV3GrfmuL2A)** versus “Revenge of the Nerds” > **[Google Image Result for...](https://images.app.goo.gl/EWChg9d3CNZ6yecq6)** That I didn’t even think of the possibility that it could be the same actress ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/50 "2025-05-26T18:35:14Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > And I think there are at least dozens of other people in the world who look like him. Yeah - every time I see a photo of Clooney on the cover of People I think, “Hey, isn’t that Lou from the hardware store?” 😉 ---
**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:** [May 26, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/51 "2025-05-26T18:50:18Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > These always annoy me because the reason most of them don’t look any older is clearly plastic surgery. I find it more surprising when someone looks a lot like they did thirty years (or whatever) ago than when they look very different. Most people change naturally with age. Those that don’t are the exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/52 "2025-05-26T19:35:57Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > But, for someone who does not recognize MOST celebs, I’ll happily accept that Clooney was just chosen off of a near infinite list. I also said i didnt recognize Lucille Ball- who back then was pretty recognizable. Oh well, just something i am not good at. Sorry.. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/53 "2025-05-26T20:16:37Z")
Lorraine Bracco from Goodfellas look nothing like she does today, or even when she was on The Sopranos. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/54 "2025-05-26T20:16:52Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > And I think there are at least dozens of other people in the world who look like him. And my father was a dead ringer for Richard Gere. So what? The chances that anyone would confuse them was minimal; they moved in very different circles. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/55 "2025-05-26T20:27:28Z")
For me it’s James Pickens Jr. I watched _X Files_ regularly back in the late 90s. During the 2010s I watched several episodes of _Gray’s Anatomy_, though mostly as background noise while my wife watched. One day I noticed a James Pickens Jr. in the cast and I though to myself, “that’s weird, I didn’t notice the guy who played Director Kersh in that episode, I wonder which character he played”. It turns out that he plays Dr. Richard Weber. I would never have guessed. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2025, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755/56 "2025-05-27T10:18:52Z")
I remember me and my friends’ collective freakout when we realized that Nigel from Spinal Tap and Count Rugen from Princess Bride were the same person. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-dont-or-cant-recognize/1018755.md?page=2)