# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/121 "2010-06-01T03:34:08Z")
I’m somewhat embarrassed (although not quite as embarrassed as **pbbth** (you know I love you, girl!)) to admit that I thought Eminem was black. Which is particularly silly since he sounds more like a white rapper in the first song I ever heard of his (“My Name Is”) than any other song of his I’ve heard since. ETA: Oh, and I agree with **Lamia** about Catherine Zeta-Jones. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/122 "2010-06-01T13:45:43Z")
I still think of Samuel R Delany as a white guy, even having met him. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/123 "2010-06-01T14:04:01Z")
Just listening to his voice, I thought Kermit The Frog was white and then a friend set me straight. “Haven’t you ever heard his song, ‘It’s Not Easy Being Green’,?” And I accepted he was not white. Then I heard Frank Sinatra do the song. I’m confused again. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/124 "2010-06-01T22:41:24Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Zachary Levi, most famous for playing Chuck Bartowski, is apparently not even the littlest bit Jewish. No, and he’s decidedly Christian in beliefs, too. Levi is his middle name. “Pugh” I guess was just too hard to pronounce and invited too many jokes to keep in the stage name. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/125 "2010-06-01T22:56:46Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > Just listening to his voice, I thought Kermit The Frog was white and then a friend set me straight. “Haven’t you ever heard his song, ‘It’s Not Easy Being Green’,?” And I accepted he was not white. > > Then I heard Frank Sinatra do the song. I’m confused again. I bet when Ray Charles recorded it, it really confused you. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/126 "2010-06-01T22:57:13Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I bet when Ray Charles recorded it, it really confused you. Of course, Ray might not have known any differently… ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/127 "2010-06-01T23:46:50Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > Before I tell you who my celebrity mix-up is you have to promise not to laugh. You promise? Good. > > Up until about a year ago I thought that Neil Armstrong was black. stop laughing What do you mean? [He _was_!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6xJzAYYrX8) It was a different time you understand. ---
**Author:** ![jrbor76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9e8a1a/32.png) [@jrbor76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrbor76)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/128 "2010-06-02T18:43:09Z")
I always assumed Grant Fuhr from the Edmonton Oilers was white. Actually biracial. Ditto Johnny Mathis. And not a case of “different race” per se, but watching Family Feud when I was a kid, I always assumed Richard Dawson was a Texan. No idea why. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2010, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/129 "2010-06-03T06:33:13Z")
While this isn’t quite as bad as thinking that Neil Armstrong was black, for some stupid reason when I was young I thought that Chekov on Star Trek had an Irish accent. I had no idea that Chekov was a Russian name, and I just heard his accent as being Irish. When I grew up and heard it, I was shocked at how I ever could have thought it was Irish. Well, maybe it is as bad as thinking Neil Armstrong was black. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2010, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931/130 "2010-06-03T06:59:20Z")
I only recently found out on this board that Paula Abdul wasn’t black, but Jewish - Syrian Jewish from her father’s side. I guess I just don’t expect to find many Sephardic Jews in America (Hank Azaria is another one who surprised me). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-you-had-assumed-were-of-a-different-race/540931.md?page=6)