# Famous people who went to your otherwise unheralded school **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 19, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050 "2003-02-19T03:02:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/61 "2003-02-19T22:03:37Z")
**Kyla** , Camryn Mannheim (sp?) of The Practice graduated from UC Santa Cruz (Porter College, I think). ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/62 "2003-02-19T22:30:43Z")
Well, I went to college at USC and FSU (at the latter college, I was a TA and had Sebastian Janikowski and Corey Simon, both now pro football players, in Freshman English), so they’re not really “unheralded.” However, I went to Iolani School, a fairly old and prestigious private K-12 school in Hawaii, and Dr. Sun Yat-Sen attended school there back in the late 1800’s. Still have a statue of him there to this day. ---
**Author:** ![coyasicanbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bcef8e/32.png) [@coyasicanbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coyasicanbe)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/63 "2003-02-19T22:30:52Z")
Dan Doornick went to my high school…and if you know who Dan Doornick is, you probably went to my high school as well. ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/64 "2003-02-19T23:00:16Z")
Well, [The American University](http://www.american.edu) has Willard Scott, Barry McAffrey (drug czar and current burr-up-his ass talk show dude, as well as retired Army general), and Goldie Hawn went there for a little while, but got kicked out for coke. Adrian Cronauer went there, and is pretty good about doing appearances. Currently, the most famous recent alum is Chris Wylde, who hosts “Taboo” on TBS, and was in some commercials and a short-lived series on Comedy Central. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/65 "2003-02-20T00:07:20Z")
I went to University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX. Our famous alumni include: Sean Patrick Flanery (of TV’s “Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” and movies like The Boondock Saints) WWE wrestler The Undertaker Conservative commentator Barbara Olson (killed on one of the planes in the 9/11 attacks) Marshall Applewhite, leader of the Heaven’s Gate suicide cult, was a professor for awhile in the 1970s. I think he was in the music department. Yikes! ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/66 "2003-02-20T00:10:25Z")
[Capt. Scott O’Grady](http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/bookrev/kelly.html) went to my college (Embry Riddle, AZ) and graduated about 7 years before I got there. Nobody famous graduated from my high school, but give it time. . . Tripler _I’m_ gonna be famous someday. Trust me. :dubious: [sub]MWAAAAHAAA HA HA HAAA![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/67 "2003-02-20T00:38:21Z")
The most famous person from my HS would probably have to be porn star Seka. I don’t know her personally, but she’s a friend of a friend. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/68 "2003-02-20T00:53:52Z")
I went to a community college with **Marlee Matlin**. In fact I nearly failed one class because I was so fascinated with watching her sign language interpreter that I forgot to pay attention to anything else. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/69 "2003-02-20T00:54:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Robot Arm \* > \*\* > And WNBA player Kate Starbird went to the same high school I did. \*\* My first wife went to Lakes High School too. Many years before Ms. Starbird though. The most famous of my high school’s alumnus include a former state attorney general and a couple of guys that had short major league baseball careers. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/70 "2003-02-20T01:20:20Z")
I went to two high schools, nobody famous went to one of my high schools, although I mentioned in another thread that they seemed to do pretty well at producing Playboy models for a while, so perhaps you’ve seen some of their work? The other school I used to play pickup basketball and hang out a bit with Wally Joyner who was a good (but not Hall of Fame material) first baseman in the majors. Neither of us graduated from that school. For my university, Gallagher (of the single name and smashed items), Lauren Hutton (model/actress), Elaine Boosler (comedian), Tony LaRussa (baseball manager). There were a couple of soap actors and a Miss America listed on their site, plus the odd author, Pulitzer winner, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/71 "2003-02-20T01:26:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Robot Arm \* > **Well, naturally. Isn’t that how you become Prime Minister of Australia?** Well, not exactly, grasshopper. True, prowess at beer drinking is _part_ of the selection process. But it’s important not to overlook the BBQ cook-off; the air guitar play-off; the stubbies-and-thongs beauty contest; the kangaroo riding; the gumboot throwing; and the sheep shearing duels. It’s all very complicated, but it’s important that the electoral process remains true to the roots of the country. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/72 "2003-02-20T01:47:06Z")
Adam Sandler was a year behind me in high school. Peter Jurasik (Londo from B5) went to my college. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/73 "2003-02-20T02:18:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Why A Duck \* > \*\*Adam Sandler was a year behind me in high school. > \*\* In NH? I think my friend Kate said she went there (of course, it’s been years since she made this theoretical comment, so I could be remembering incorrectly). She would have been several years behind him though. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/74 "2003-02-20T02:24:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Narrad \* > \*\*My university is distinguished in Australia, but hardly well-known outside this country, so I guess it counts as “unheralded”. > > Anyway, Bob Hawke, former Prime Minister of Australia, attended my uni. He is reputed to have set a record in yard glass drinking (that’s beer drinking from a _very_ long glass with a big bulb at the end) at the uni tavern. \*\* Obviously a good Uni for drinkers as Rod Marsh is a graduate. I started a similar thread some months ago when I discovered that Jackie Chan went to my high school in Canberra for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/75 "2003-02-20T02:28:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lsura \* > **In NH?** Yup. I gradumacated in '83, Sandler in '84. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/76 "2003-02-20T03:13:12Z")
Bebe Neuwirth went to my grammar school, but not at the same time as me. We had the same music teacher, though. ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/77 "2003-02-20T03:54:43Z")
Conrad Hilton, Sam Donaldson, Roger Staubach, Owen Wilson. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/78 "2003-02-20T04:02:27Z")
Farrah Fawcett and Charles Whitman (Tower sniper) preceded me by a few years, and Janis Joplin preceded them by a few. While I was there, Earl Campbell contributed to much revelry and Berke Breathed entertained us with his strip in the student newspaper. I had (Tachyon Man) George Sudarshan for a physics prof. and Stirling Morrison (Velvet Underground guitarist) taught English. After my time, Michael Dell came and went. Other names I know that preceded me are journalist Liz Carpenter, Sam Rayburn, Lady Bird Johnson, Walter Cronkite, Jayne Mansfield, Ben Crenshaw and Eli Wallach. I was friends in high school with Olympic miler Paul Geiss and ISTR that Dan Rather went to the high school from which I graduated, but I could not verify that. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/79 "2003-02-20T04:26:12Z")
George “Goober” Lindsey of _Andy Griffith Show_ fame graduated from my college when it was still called Florence State Teachers College (now called the University of North Alabama). Every spring the school hosts a small film festival named after him. Goober was a football teammate with Harlon Hill who was a decent pro football player for the Chicago Bears in the 1950s before he destroyed his playing career with booze. Hill was later principal of my high school. Former US Senator and occasional actor Fred Thompson is supposed to have attended UNA for a couple of semesters. Pulitizer Prize winning author T.S. Stribling is also supposed to have attended the school many many years ago. ---
**Author:** ![HerMajestyLorna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7cd45c/32.png) [@HerMajestyLorna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HerMajestyLorna)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/80 "2003-02-20T04:38:14Z")
Dave Barry graduated from my future alma mater. I think that’s pretty nifty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050.md?page=5)