# Celebrities you had assumed were of a different race. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2010, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931 "2010-05-27T11:26:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/61 "2010-05-28T07:16:51Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > The moon landing was long before I was born and as a child learning about the whole thing I only saw the pictures of men in space suits, never of their faces. I just decided as a child that **obviously** Neil Armstrong would be black. It made sense in my mind for some reason (not related to Louis Armstrong as I was about 5 and not familiar with Jazz…my dad was a big Rush fan and my mom listened to Billy Joel so I didn’t get a whole lot of other music exposure.) I don’t know if it was because the moon landing thing was around the same time as the civil rights movement or if it was because my teacher was black or what, but I totally thought that Neil Armstrong was black for the first 26 years of my life. Wow. Not having a go or anything, but wouldn’t you think they’d talk about MLK, George Washington Carver, and Neil Armstrong every February if he was Black? I’m not easily fooled, but I thought after hearing their first single, Ali Campbell from UB40 was Black. I saw them on Top of the Pops in the early 80s and thought one of the horn players was the lead singer. Then this little white dude starts singing… and I was quite confused. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/62 "2010-05-28T09:44:18Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > I’m still trying to decide about the great Mississippi blues musician [Charlie Patton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Patton) > > Audio and visual accounts conflict. Where’s the conflict? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/63 "2010-05-28T09:51:39Z")
Norah Jones didn’t surprise me. I’ve noticed that a lot of South Asian/white mixes often come out looking more like the white parent. Re: Wentworth Miller, when he did \*The Human Stain \*I remember some misguided movie critic protesting that the mixed race character played by Miller and Anthony Hopkins was played “by two white guys”. Forgetting, y’know, that Miller is legitimately mixed race. A lot of people are still shocked that Jennifer Beals of _Flashdance_ is half-black. ---
**Author:** ![deadindays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@deadindays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deadindays)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/64 "2010-05-28T10:04:53Z")
Terry Callier. Thought he was a white hippie. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/65 "2010-05-28T10:59:02Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I wasnt sure about Mariah Carey’s race , she is 1/2 black. I remember reading that she identifies herself as black. But I’ll admit she doesn’t look nearly as black as our President. In fact, I think her skin has a more olive complexion, and I thought she was Puerto Rican, or of other Latin American decent. > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Elmo (of Sesame Street) is a black guy 🙂 I had forgotten that. Yes, I was surprised by that, too, but, in an odd way, it fit. It really surprised me that it was the same guy all that time, as well. (While the puppet was used, it didn’t portray the Elmo character until Clash took it.) ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/66 "2010-05-28T10:59:58Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Where’s the conflict? 😕 Patton’s ancestry was about evenly divided between black, white and Choctah. His voice definitely sounds black, but people usually think he looks white in his one known photo. Blues singer Howlin Wolf knew him and said he looked Puerto Rican. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/67 "2010-05-28T11:31:37Z")
> [@campp](#): > > I took a date to see Boz Scaggs. She was shocked he was white. I thought Boz Scaggs was a skin disease, maybe a less sever form of Vitas Gerulaitis. ---
**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:** [May 28, 2010, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/68 "2010-05-28T11:59:16Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I thought Boz Scaggs was a skin disease, maybe a less sever form of Vitas Gerulaitis. Glad I’m not the only one. I thought Tiger Woods was either a large carnivorous feline mammal or a tree. Apparently he is neither. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/69 "2010-05-28T13:25:13Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I thought Boz Scaggs was a skin disease, maybe a less sever form of Vitas Gerulaitis. and Gore Vidal was an intestinal condition. - ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/70 "2010-05-28T15:40:53Z")
Yeah, once I found out about Freddie Mercury, I decided I was claiming him for India. So…no one else thought that [Kid Rock](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kid_rock) was black and the same guy as [Chris Rock](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Rock)? Like, Kid Rock was his stage name or something? I swear I only discovered this when I started listening to Chris Rock’s stand-up avidly - about 3 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/71 "2010-05-28T15:51:56Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > Patton’s ancestry was about evenly divided between black, white and Choctah. His voice definitely sounds black, but people usually think he looks white in his one known photo. Blues singer Howlin Wolf knew him and said he looked Puerto Rican. Well, that’s interesting, I didn’t know that. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/72 "2010-05-28T18:35:18Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I remember reading that she identifies herself as black. But I’ll admit she doesn’t look nearly as black as our President. In fact, I think her skin has a more olive complexion, and I thought she was Puerto Rican, or of other Latin American decent. Mariah Carey’s paternal grandfather was from Venezuela. She is Irish, African, and Venezuelan in ancestry; you can see her ancestry detailed [here](http://www.wargs.com/other/carey.html). ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/73 "2010-05-28T19:22:19Z")
The first time I heard “Holiday” by that new group, Madonna, I assumed they had a Black lead singer. Also, I still refuse to believe that Mariah Carey is any more Black than Celine Dion. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/74 "2010-05-28T19:37:29Z")
I think most of the world assumed Wolfman Jack was black until he ‘came out’ in the 1970’s. [Here’s a less cropped version of the one photo of Charley Patton.](http://web.ukonline.co.uk/pdcmusic/bestofcharleypatton.jpg) If you’ve ever heard him sing, it’s the most bass, gravelly voice ever. Like James Earl Jones smoking for 3 weeks straight, then singing. Then again, his guitar doesn’t look right either. How could he get those sounds out of that overgrown ukulele? ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/75 "2010-05-28T19:51:09Z")
David Carradine confused the crap out of me when i was a kid. also finding out the native american with the tear coming down in the litter ads was ethnically italian tripped me out too. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/76 "2010-05-28T19:57:00Z")
The Rascals sounded like a black group to me for a good long while. Ditto the aforementioned Michael McDonald. Both were a bit before my time, so I was a bit late seeing footage. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/77 "2010-05-28T19:58:23Z")
Cheryl Burke. I thought she was mixed African American, she’s actually a mix of Irish, Filipino, & Russian. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/78 "2010-05-28T19:58:46Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > also finding out the native american with the tear coming down in the litter ads was ethnically italian tripped me out too. That, I think, is the only one that ever fooled me. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/79 "2010-05-28T20:28:52Z")
When I first heard their songs, I thought that Sophie B. Hawkins and G. Love were black, and Ben Harper and Jack Johnson were white. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/80 "2010-05-28T20:59:04Z")
For years, I thought Louis Prima was black. I was only recently set straight when I saw footage of him and his girl singer partner and girlfriend. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931.md?page=5)