# "Do James Lipton have to Julienne a chienne?" , or, That James Lipton was once a Paris pimp **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683 "2013-05-30T04:07:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/1 "2013-05-30T04:07:07Z")
James Lipton has revealed that he worked as a pimp in Paris in the 1950s. > [@](#): > > “It was only a few years after the war. Paris was different then, still poor. …“Young women desperately needed money for various reasons. They were beautiful and young and extraordinary. There was no opprobrium because it was completely regulated.” He apparently had long lasting friendships with some of the ladies. It’s interesting to imagine him with his ladies: ## “I’m going to end tonight with a poll devised by the greatest French pimp of all time, Marquis Marc Ande Fonque-Bunch… 'What is your favorite position? What sound or noise do you hate? And why ain’t your butt on the street making me some money, heaux! Do James Lipton have to Julienne a chienne?” What other celebrities have been associated with the World’s Oldest profession? Snoop [del]Dogg[/del]Lion and Malcolm X were both pimps; are there any other celebrities who were? I know that Maya Angelou has discussed selling herself as a prostitute (which she said she found far less degrading than many legal things she did for money). Rupert Everett was a rent boy for a time. I’m guessing there were more famous actors and actresses who had sex for money directly or indirectly than will ever admit it, but have any admitted to it? ---
**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:** [May 30, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/2 "2013-05-30T04:16:12Z")
Ice-T was/is a pimp. Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction) worked as a male prostitute/escort. Xaviera Hollander (author) was a prostitute before she bought a madam’s client list and became a madam herself. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/3 "2013-05-30T04:59:36Z")
I bet James Lipton had to have at least once cut a bitch… a check. It was the 50’s yo. I bet he had a real fun time. Especially when his safe word was something like “The fifth word of the first soliloquy in King Lear”. **Snowboarder Bo** …a few otha brothas have a say in the matter it seems > [@](#): > > Even saw the lights of the Goodyear Blimp > And it read, “Ice Cube’s a pimp” (yeah) It never ceases to amaze me how much pull the Compton area gangsters have with the Goodyear company. Goodyear makes tires, and promotes local sporting events at times, but why tell the greater Los Angeles area that Ice Cube is a pimp? I just don’t get it. Did your investors sign off on this shit? It used to all be about bitches and hoes, it really did. Now that farming dream of (primarily female) dogs plowing fields with basic farming tools is over. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/4 "2013-05-30T11:35:49Z")
I saw this and thought about starting a thread, too. The juxtaposition of “James Lipton” and “pimp” still makes me do that cartoon head shake, complete with Mel Blanc sound effects. I can’t help but think of Will Ferrell as James Lipton in the role of the Pimp Idiot… Also - I love the fact that we have the phrases “James Lipton” and “sometimes you need to cut a bitch” in the same sentence… Can you imagine him getting one of his girls to fill out his Proust questionnaire? Also - some folks recall that he wrote a book on “collective nouns” - e.g., a “crash” of rhinos, a “murder” of crows, etc. - I wonder what his words for pimps and ho’s might be? ---
**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:** [May 30, 2013, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/5 "2013-05-30T12:08:42Z")
The most amazing thing about James Lipton is that he’s 86 years old. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2013, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/6 "2013-05-30T12:10:52Z")
Isn’t this old news? I heard about this at least two or three years ago when it was making the rounds the first time, maybe when an autobiography was released? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/7 "2013-05-30T12:50:40Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Isn’t this old news? I heard about this at least two or three years ago when it was making the rounds the first time, maybe when an autobiography was released? I believe he did mention it then. About 2 months ago he did a pretty long and good interview on the Opie and Anthony Show on Sirius XM in which he went into detail on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/8 "2013-05-30T12:55:34Z")
Lipton is in the new _Arrested Development_ episodes, reprising his role as a warden who wants to be a screenwriter. I didn’t realize until seeing him walking with Jason Bateman and other actors in one scene how tiny he is (and also frail). He’s a really good sport with age jokes (e.g. “This iPhone was a gift from my granddaughter so I could use it to take pictures at her daughter’s graduation from college”). ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/9 "2013-05-30T13:40:00Z")
Believe or not, my late aunt dated James Lipton for a few months. She said that he was nothing less than a complete gentleman and a hell of a nice guy. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/10 "2013-05-30T13:44:34Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Believe or not, my late aunt dated James Lipton for a few months. She said that he was nothing less than a complete gentleman and a hell of a nice guy. Was this in Paris in the '50s by any chance? Because if it was, I hate to tell you but it might not have been exactly dates… > [@Loach](#): > > I believe he did mention it then. About 2 months ago he did a pretty long and good interview on the Opie and Anthony Show on Sirius XM in which he went into detail on the subject. It’s weird how sometimes “news” will do this, almost like cicadas. The whole “Abercrombie & Fitch hates fat people” uproar that started a few weeks ago is from a years old interview that hibernated then became widespread. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/11 "2013-05-30T14:23:26Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Isn’t this old news? I heard about this at least two or three years ago when it was making the rounds the first time, maybe when an autobiography was released? Yeah, I’ve known about this for a long time. He revealed it and discussed it on “The View” a few years ago as well. I don’t even think it was secret before that. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/12 "2013-05-31T00:09:50Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > It’s weird how sometimes “news” will do this, almost like cicadas. The whole “Abercrombie & Fitch hates fat people” uproar that started a few weeks ago is from a years old interview that hibernated then became widespread. Twice in the last few weeks I saw requiems going around Twitter for people who’d been gone a couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/13 "2013-05-31T00:29:46Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Also - some folks recall that he wrote a book on “collective nouns” - e.g., a “crash” of rhinos, a “murder” of crows, etc. - I wonder what his words for pimps and ho’s might be? There was a joke about this very thing. A group of Oxford dons was discussing collective nouns when they passed a group of, shall we say, ladies of the evening. One of the professors asked the others what such a group should be called, and the others came up with: [ul]A jam of tarts.[/ul] [ul] [li]An essay of Trollope’s.[/li][/ul][ul] [li]A flourish of strumpets.[/li][/ul][ul] [li]A frost of hoars.[/li][/ul] [ul] [li]An anthology of pros.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/14 "2013-05-31T00:31:22Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > What other celebrities have been associated with the World’s Oldest profession? When I read **Close-up on Sunset Boulevard** (about the making of the classic film), I was a little creeped out when I read this quote from William Holden: “I’m a whore. All actors are whores. We sell our bodies to the highest bidder. I had practice being a whore. When I was a young actor starting out in Hollywood, I used to service actresses who were older than me.” Now, it’s clear from the context of the quote that the author didn’t hear Holden say that himself, and there’s no footnote. But if it is true, talk about life imitating art. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/15 "2013-05-31T00:51:12Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction) worked as a male prostitute/escort. The late Douglas Colvin ( née **Dee Dee Ramone** ) purportedly prostituted himself to support his drug habit in the days before he had other sources of steady income. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/16 "2013-05-31T01:12:01Z")
Honestly, I thought this was common knowledge, though I can’t remember where I heard it first. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/17 "2013-05-31T02:17:19Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > The late Douglas Colvin ( née **Dee Dee Ramone** ) purportedly prostituted himself to support his drug habit in the days before he had other sources of steady income. IIRC Dee Dee himself put paid to that notion in interviews. I’m in Austin right now banging my head, but when I get home I’ll have to watch the movie again to see if I am in fact remembering correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/18 "2013-05-31T03:17:46Z")
Such a shame Tarantino didn’t choose him for [Esteban Viejo](http://youtu.be/flpxujAPNYE?t=45s). ---
**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:** [May 31, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/19 "2013-05-31T03:28:42Z")
Does anyone have Joni Mitchell’s “[Free Man In Paris](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbq4TFa9Zd4)” running through their head as they read this thread? ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683/20 "2013-05-31T04:49:35Z")
If James Lipton, pimp, had crossed the channel for business and wound up in a knife fight with Vidal Sassoon, violent anti-fascist, my world would be complete. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-james-lipton-have-to-julienne-a-chienne-or-that-james-lipton-was-once-a-paris-pimp/659683.md?page=2)