# 'Great' people who were total A-holes **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 7, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867 "2011-10-07T04:22:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/101 "2011-10-12T01:59:56Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > My husband works for NASA and has heard from more than a few people that Stephen Hawking is kind of a jerk. As I understand it he has run off with (or rolled off with) several of his married nurses and aides, breaking up a number of marriages. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/102 "2011-10-12T02:17:57Z")
Dupuytren, a French surgeon who has a couple of diseases named after him, has the fairly catchy moniker: “the greatest of surgeons and the meanest of men.” [http://radiographics.rsna.org/content/20/3/819.full](http://radiographics.rsna.org/content/20/3/819.full) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/103 "2011-10-12T22:46:08Z")
Frank Sinatra is an interesting case. By many accounts he had a near psychotic (if not psychotic) temper- attacked numerous people over the years for real, perceived or trivial offenses- and would carry a grudge for decades. There are numerous accounts of him flying off the handle on everybody from zillionaire studio executives and entertainers to room-service-waiters and restroom attendants. He was a world class bully even to his best friends and of course his friendships with known mobsters and murderers was well known. (One account I read said some of his greatest resentment came from the fact “Frank wanted to be a mob boss, mob bosses wanted to be Dean Martin”.) At the same time he was incredibly generous and often anonymously. He supported many down-on-their-luck friends and acquaintances and some people he didn’t even know and paid for the funerals of several entertainers (Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Bela Lugosi and Redd Foxx among others). He was way ahead of the curve when it came to race: he’d make jokes about Sammy Davis, Jr., when they were performing together that today would get him called every synonym for disrespectful racist you can think of, but he refused to perform at hotels (even mob owned hotels) that wouldn’t allow Sammy Davis, Jr., to stay in the hotel , aand when Sammy was getting death threats from the KKK and even political pressure from the Kennedys for his relationship with Mai Britt Frank basically told everybody against the marriage to fuck themselves (pretty much in those words), served as best man at Sammy and Mai’s wedding and was godfather to their children. On the subject of Sammy Davis & Mai Britt, I read part of a JFK bio recently that is jawdropping. I knew about the Kennedy family pressuring him to postpone his interracial wedding until after the election due to Davis being a known supporter/fundraiser for the Kennedy campaign, but after the election when JFK learned Davis and Britt were attending a White House function for Civil Rights together he became furious, had a “damage control” parley to make sure he wasn’t photographed with them in the picture, and almost refused to go into the same room as the couple. (Jackie, to her credit, was very upset with him for his attitude and shook their hands, though- because of her husband’s handlers- no photographs were made.) ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/104 "2011-10-13T03:07:57Z")
> [@threemae](#): > > Dupuytren, a French surgeon who has a couple of diseases named after him, has the fairly catchy moniker: “the greatest of surgeons and the meanest of men.” > > [http://radiographics.rsna.org/content/20/3/819.full](http://radiographics.rsna.org/content/20/3/819.full) Hee: “The most important of Dupuytren’s writings is his _Treatise on Artificial Anus_…” ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/105 "2011-10-13T04:40:26Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, is widely portrayed as a racist and eugenist by the anti-abortion crowd. Actually, she’s portrayed that way by her writings. But I will hand it to her- as far as I’ve been able to find out, she was anti-abortion & I’ve defended her as such to my fellow anti-abs. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/106 "2011-10-13T20:17:05Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > According to [this](http://xkcd.com/767/), Mr. Rogers was kinda a dick to his wife… _applause_ ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/107 "2011-10-13T21:12:25Z")
Whenever I read this stuff, I think of the suffering spouse. I wish I could be more specific, but I remember reading about a starry-eyed fan arriving at some intellectual author’s house (James Joyce? Eugene O’Neill?) for an interview, and saying to his wife words to the effect of how thrilled he was to actually be there, about to meet The Great Man. The Great Man’s wife said, yes, he’s done some great work, but you don’t have to live with the bloody bastard. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/108 "2011-10-14T15:28:54Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > As I understand it he has run off with (or rolled off with) several of his married nurses and aides, breaking up a number of marriages. How the heck . . . ? I mean, sure, the man’s a genius. And from his public appearances and writing, he clearly has a fine sense of humor - that’ll carry you a fair way. But Dr. Hawking _can’t speak_, absent technological assistance. Or move, more than a very little. I can imagine a lot of vices for a man in that position - some understandable, some less so - but womanizing seems rather a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/109 "2011-10-14T16:12:58Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > How the heck . . . ? > > I mean, sure, the man’s a genius. And from his public appearances and writing, he clearly has a fine sense of humor - that’ll carry you a fair way. But Dr. Hawking _can’t speak_, absent technological assistance. Or move, more than a very little. I can imagine a lot of vices for a man in that position - some understandable, some less so - but womanizing seems rather a stretch. He’s a celebrity, though. I read his ex-wife’s book, and she said that Hawking got a lot of attention from his nurses and assistants. They treated him like a god, and he accepted it as his due. They got a power trip over taking care of, and controlling access to, somebody who is famous and brilliant. He and Jane divorced, and Hawking married one of his nurses. I saw in the news a few years ago that Jane and their children had publicly accused Hawking’s then wife of physically and mentally abusing him. There were some ugly rumors, and there was a police investigation, but Hawking denied all of it. ---
**Author:** ![studmuffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@studmuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/studmuffin)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/110 "2011-10-14T19:31:09Z")
Albert Schweitzer, famous Nobel Peace Prize winner, was known to regard Africans as little more than drones and always depended on White European nurses to work in his Hospitals . ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/111 "2011-10-15T01:49:44Z")
[QUOTE=Eleanor of Aquitaine] I saw in the news a few years ago that Jane and their children had publicly accused Hawking’s then wife of physically and mentally abusing him. There were some ugly rumors, and there was a police investigation, but Hawking denied all of it. [/QUOTE] Though police were very suspicious of his excuse that he got those bruises walking into a door. ---
**Author:** ![JWT\_Kottekoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/112 "2011-10-15T14:37:09Z")
Carl Sagan. William Shockley, Nobel Laureate for invention of the transistor. They say John Bardeen completely changed fields in order to get away from Shockley. It worked out for him, since he went on to win his 2nd Nobel Prize for the theory of superconductivity. Intel and many other companies were started by people escaping from Shockley’s management. ETA: Oops, I didn’t notice many additional posts, apologies if others have mentioned these two. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/113 "2011-10-15T15:50:14Z")
Author and Poet Charles Bukowski had his moments. HIs poetry readings were famous for him getting drunk and then really getting into it with the crowd…altough this is somewhat understandable. Babet Schoeder’s documentary captures him being verbally and physically abusive to his girlfriend about 6 months befoe they were married. I mean stuff like “you stupid cunt” combined with kicking on the couch and what almost looked like it was going to become a nasty fight. Bukowski had a very fucked up childhood, partially revealed in Factotum. He was devoted to his daughter. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/114 "2011-10-16T02:53:07Z")
> [@JWT\_Kottekoe](#): > > Carl Sagan. > > William Shockley, Nobel Laureate for invention of the transistor. They say John Bardeen completely changed fields in order to get away from Shockley. It worked out for him, since he went on to win his 2nd Nobel Prize for the theory of superconductivity. Intel and many other companies were started by people escaping from Shockley’s management. > > ETA: Oops, I didn’t notice many additional posts, apologies if others have mentioned these two. I brought up Schockley, although I don’t mind more specifics about his assholishness. IMO he was _that_ bad. Tell us about Sagan. The complaint that I, as an early career physicist in an entirely different area, heard about Carl was that he’d “gone Hollywood”. I don’t know anyone who worked with him. C’mon, **JWT Kottekoe** , spill! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JWT\_Kottekoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/115 "2011-10-16T04:44:23Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > Tell us about Sagan. The complaint that I, as an early career physicist in an entirely different area, heard about Carl was that he’d “gone Hollywood”. I don’t know anyone who worked with him. C’mon, **JWT Kottekoe** , spill! 😉 I’d like to take back my comment about Sagan, since I cannot support it with a cite and we should give him the benefit of the doubt. I heard this from a colleague who had an unfortunate experience with him, but perhaps that was an isolated incident. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/116 "2011-10-16T05:42:20Z")
This commitment to accuracy gets in the way of a lot of fun gossip. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867/117 "2011-10-17T15:33:36Z")
Probably doesn’t quite reach the level of ‘great’, but Chevy Chase appears by all accounts to be universally hated by his peers. Watching the roast for him was downright uncomfortable at times. Doesn’t change the fact that Fletch was hilarious. The scene where he starts swinging ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ still cracks me up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-people-who-were-total-a-holes/598867.md?page=5)