# Creative types who have no equivalents **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761 "2010-10-29T13:56:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/21 "2010-10-29T20:10:41Z")
Matt Groenig. The Simpson. Futurama. Life in Hell. Three utterly original works, each very successful (not saying AS successful as the Simpson, but successful on their own terms. You have to have some Grade-A smarts to be that funny, that consistently, in that many different ways. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/22 "2010-10-29T20:27:46Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I vote Stephen Fry. I keep trying to think who might be the American equivalent of Fry but can never come up with anyone. An actor with comedic and dramatic chops, a very good fiction writer, a seemingly affable fellow (who admits his foibles) topped off with an eloquent writing style backed by intelligent opinions. I think Jon Stewart is getting there. He’s not going to have the acting resume at the end of it (especially not the dramatic stuff), but the rest of it fits very well. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/23 "2010-10-29T20:33:32Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I vote Stephen Fry. I keep trying to think who might be the American equivalent of Fry but can never come up with anyone. An actor with comedic and dramatic chops, a very good fiction writer, a seemingly affable fellow (who admits his foibles) topped off with an eloquent writing style backed by intelligent opinions. Steve Martin. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/24 "2010-10-29T20:36:26Z")
Jim Henson. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/25 "2010-10-29T20:41:22Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Steve Martin. Cool, **Miller** - I’m not familiar with his stuff outside of acting. Now that I think of it, I seem to recall he had a couple of popular novels… How is Martin when it comes to stuff like political opinion? Does he do op ed much? Do people who are fans of his (not just fans of _The Jerk_ and SNL) sort of revere him as a super-intelligent guy? Seems like if you asked anyone in England who they thought the smartest comedic actor was, they’d say Stephen Fry. I don’t know if I’d pick Steve Martin but I’d love to know more! ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/26 "2010-10-29T20:45:36Z")
Elvis Costello. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/27 "2010-10-29T21:24:45Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Cool, **Miller** - I’m not familiar with his stuff outside of acting. Now that I think of it, I seem to recall he had a couple of popular novels… > > How is Martin when it comes to stuff like political opinion? Does he do op ed much? > > Do people who are fans of his (not just fans of _The Jerk_ and SNL) sort of revere him as a super-intelligent guy? > > Seems like if you asked anyone in England who they thought the smartest comedic actor was, they’d say Stephen Fry. I don’t know if I’d pick Steve Martin but I’d love to know more! His novels have been pretty well received, and he’s done some good dramatic turns in films. The book and movie of _Shopgirl_ are both pretty good, and he his comedy has taken a much more overtly cerebral turn since his “wild and crazy guy” stand-up period of the '70s and '80s. He’s not particularly political that I’m aware of, so Fry has that over him. On the other hand, he did [teach himself how to play the banjo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jn3KCZEqxc), so I think that balances out. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/28 "2010-10-29T23:50:20Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > For me, it is Barbara Stanwyck. > > She never won an Oscar. Yet she portrayed innocent and demure as easily as she played the seductress vamp. She could play high drama as easily as low comedy. She went beyond film for a very successful television career. And she looked damn fine until the end, with class and sophistication. The amazing thing is that she gave the audience the impression that she was a great beauty . . . in spite of her long, pointy nose and an overbight. It takes a class act to pull that off. My vote goes for Jackson Pollack. I think almost every art student in the last 50 years has attempted to do a Pollack, thinking that it’s something anyone can do. They are wrong. Oh, and thank god there’s only one Thomas Kinkaid (stretching the term “creative type”). ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/29 "2010-10-30T01:12:19Z")
Williams S. Burroughs. Frank Zappa. Jandek. Alejandro Jodorowsky. And of course, me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/30 "2010-10-30T02:04:19Z")
Eminem. The man has some crazy-ass talent. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/31 "2010-10-30T02:45:32Z")
In the spirit of Halloween, I give you: Vincent Price Boris Karloff Peter Lorre Bela Lugosi Horror movies will never again be as cool as they were when those guys were around. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/32 "2010-10-30T03:16:16Z")
I think that’s less the actors as it is the change in what constitutes horror these days. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/33 "2010-10-30T03:16:51Z")
The Three Stooges Mike Royko Luciano Pavarotti Love 'em all. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/34 "2010-10-30T03:55:26Z")
Michael Jackson. Love him or hate him, there was nobody in his field who could compare to the sales/popularity/media saturation, and then there’s talent, which is subjective. Elvis is another who got to similar phenomenal heights, but I feel he was more on the rock side of things while Michael was more pop, meaning neither was really the equivalent of the other because they were too different. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/35 "2010-10-30T04:47:37Z")
Kate Bush is unique. No one even comes close to her brand of talent and originality\*. A genius without peer. - In my not at all humble opinion, the only female artists who even belongs on the same shelf are Bjork and Happy Rhodes, her because she made 11 brilliant, original albums, the kind of albums that can be heard a thousand times and they never grow old, never get boring, all on a miniscule, skinny shoestring budget. Imagining what she could have done with the money and resources Kate had/has at her disposal is both mind-boggling and heartbreaking. Certain periods of Tori Amos come next after Happy. But Kate was first and paved the way. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/36 "2010-10-30T05:00:09Z")
Todd Rundgren himself is, I think, unequaled. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/37 "2010-10-30T05:02:55Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Todd Rundgren himself is, I think, unequaled. Todd totally fucking rocks. I mean, he’s no Buckaroo Banzai, but then, who is? ---
**Author:** ![deadindays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@deadindays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deadindays)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/38 "2010-10-30T05:59:07Z")
Sinatra. Aretha Franklin. Sex Pistols. Marlon Brando. George Carlin. ---
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@Short\_Guy\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy_1)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/39 "2010-10-30T10:55:15Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Tom Waits Seconded. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/40 "2010-10-30T12:42:49Z")
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