# Famous people we don't know the identities of **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 8, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386 "2013-03-08T15:18:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/121 "2013-03-14T02:20:13Z")
> [@Tess](#): > > Thanks for the links, **MichaelQRiley** and **Sarabellum**! I hadn’t seen either before. > > Now I’m off to wonder if the source of that ID card had anything to do with the case. I hadn’t heard about the ID. I certainly looks like him though. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/122 "2013-03-14T02:56:34Z")
The little girl who died in the Hartford Circus Fire was finally identified in 1991 as Eleanor Cook.[http://articles.latimes.com/1991-03-24/news/mn-1291\_1Circus-Fire](http://articles.latimes.com/1991-03-24/news/mn-1291_1Circus-Fire) Link is broken but you can find her by googling “ID Hartford Circus Fire Victim.” How about the artists who painted on the caves at Lascaux? The paintings are famous so if we knew them wouldn’t they also be so? ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/123 "2013-03-14T04:36:21Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Funny the absolute bullshit that some people are stupid enough to believe nowadays. Care to elaborate? She said he was a stranger and the kiss was unwelcome… Is that concept beyond your grasp? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/124 "2013-03-14T05:53:17Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > The little girl who died in the Hartford Circus Fire was finally identified in 1991 as Eleanor Cook.[http://articles.latimes.com/1991-03-24/news/mn-1291\_1Circus-Fire](http://articles.latimes.com/1991-03-24/news/mn-1291_1Circus-Fire) Link is broken but you can find her by googling “ID Hartford Circus Fire Victim.” True, but I think her family disputed it. And from the description, it seems likely that another body belonged to Cook, but was too badly burned to tell for certain. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/125 "2013-03-14T06:20:22Z")
The [Crying Frenchman](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=596178) comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/126 "2013-03-14T06:45:22Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > The [Crying Frenchman](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=596178) comes to mind. The wiki linked in that thread claims his name is M. Jerôme Barzetti and that the footage was taken in Marseille, not Paris as is commonly thought. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/127 "2013-03-14T13:00:15Z")
[Peter the Painter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_the_Painter) - we have various namsed but are not sure he even existed. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/128 "2013-03-14T13:55:18Z")
I was going to suggest the mute “Piano Man” who turned up on a beach in England a few years back, but apparently he was [identified](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Grassl) after a few months. I must have missed that! ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/129 "2013-03-14T14:19:43Z")
The person responsible for Toynbee Tiles. > **[Toynbee tiles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toynbee_tiles)** > > The Toynbee tiles, also called Toynbee plaques, are messages of unknown origin found embedded in asphalt of streets in about two dozen major cities in the United States and four South American cities. Since the 1980s, several hundred tiles have been discovered. They are generally about the size of an American license plate (roughly 30 by 15 cm or 12 by 6 in), but sometimes considerably larger. They contain some variation of the following inscription: > TOYNBEE IDEA > IN MOViE '2001 > RESURRECT DEAD > ... The makers of the documentary **Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles** name who they believe it is but it’s not 100% conclusive. > **[Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles (2011) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1787791/?mode=desktop)** > > Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles: Directed by Jon Foy. With Justin Duerr, Marc Duerr, Kevin Riley, Abby Miller. An urban mystery unfurls as one man pieces together the surreal meaning of hundreds of cryptic tiled messages that have... ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/130 "2013-03-14T14:37:06Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > The person responsible for Toynbee Tiles. > [Toynbee tiles - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toynbee_tiles) > The makers of the documentary **Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles** name who they believe it is but it’s not 100% conclusive. > [Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles (2011) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1787791/?mode=desktop) Good stuff - I liked that movie. That reminds me - aren’t the people behind the [may day mysteries](http://www.maydaymystery.org/mayday/) still anonymous? ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/131 "2013-03-14T15:08:35Z")
> [@Meatros](#): > > Good stuff - I liked that movie. > > That reminds me - aren’t the people behind the [may day mysteries](http://www.maydaymystery.org/mayday/) still anonymous? I was thinking about the Mayday Mystery too. I’ve read a bit about it over the years but I don’t know a lot about it. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/132 "2013-03-14T16:14:52Z")
Who’s that guy that turned up sleeping behind a Burger King with severe amnesia? I think he took a name with the initials BK. ETA: Found it.[Benjaman Kyle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjaman_Kyle). > [@](#): > > Benjaman Kyle is the pseudonym adopted by a man who has dissociative amnesia. He was discovered unconscious on August 31, 2004, in Richmond Hill, Georgia[1][2] and is believed to be about 64 years old.[3] He had been unable to obtain employment without a Social Security number.[4] He is the only American citizen officially listed as missing despite his whereabouts being known. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/133 "2013-03-14T16:39:28Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > The [Crying Frenchman](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=596178) comes to mind. Well, you’ve sent me out on a reading excursion and I reluctantly thank you. It would be so much more satisfying to know that they were sure. The story is heartwrenching and there’s something about at least naming her that would help me and perhaps others feel she was properly acknowledged in her untimely death. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/134 "2013-03-14T16:46:00Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Care to elaborate? She said he was a stranger and the kiss was unwelcome… Is that concept beyond your grasp? I have never read anything suggesting that the woman in the picture said the kiss was unwelcome. Is there a cite you can link to? ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/135 "2013-03-14T17:04:47Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > You might not know it, and he had (still has possibly, hence me not stating it) good reason for keeping his real name secret, but it is fairly widely-known now. But until a few years ago I’d say that was a good one. Certainly by the number of people in Bristol pubs who claim to know Banksy’s identity, it would seem to be common knowledge. Though they also tend to imply that they are personal friends with him, sadly. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/136 "2013-03-14T17:43:36Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I have never read anything suggesting that the woman in the picture said the kiss was unwelcome. Is there a cite you can link to? From [here](http://militarytimes.com/blogs/scoopdeck/2012/10/09/blogger-calls-kissing-sailor-sexual-assault/): > [@](#): > > “It wasn’t my choice to be kissed,” said Greta Zimmer Friedman, identified as the woman in the photo. “The guy just came over and grabbed!” She has said that she wasn’t really bothered by it, but that it was a complete surprise. Technically, yes, it was some form of assault or battery (I don’t know the exact legal term). Which strikes me funny because it’s such an iconic photo. I had seen that picture all my life and just assumed they were a couple. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/137 "2013-03-14T18:26:51Z")
The killer of Lizzie Borden’s parents. The killer of Nichole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The killer of JonBenet Ramsey. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/138 "2013-03-14T18:28:54Z")
[\*\*QUOTE=Tethered Kite;16097613]Well, you’ve sent me out on a reading excursion and I reluctantly thank you. It would be so much more satisfying to know that they were sure. The story is heartwrenching and there’s something about at least naming her that would help me and perhaps others feel she was properly acknowledged in her untimely death. [/QUOTE] My error in quoting. I was addressing **Guinastasia.** ---
**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:** [March 14, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/139 "2013-03-14T18:52:26Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > The killer of Lizzie Borden’s parents. > > The killer of Nichole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. > > The killer of JonBenet Ramsey. Two of those anyway. ---
**Author:** ![palacheck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e57/32.png) [@palacheck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palacheck)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/140 "2013-03-14T18:52:26Z")
The identity of Ares, one of the [Robinson Crusoes of Warsaw](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_Crusoes_of_Warsaw) that spent his time ambushing German soldiers. By himself. Read under “Living conditions” in the wiki I linked. Famous? Maybe not. Should be! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386.md?page=8)