# How well will today's celebs be remembered? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 24, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433 "2004-12-24T04:15:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/21 "2004-12-25T15:04:40Z")
Comedy lasts. Science Fiction lasts. Cult classics _sell_ and _sell_ and _sell_. Remembered by Dopers: John Belushi and the rest of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players. Tim Curry. Scott Bakula went up a notch when he became the captain of the Enterprise. He may never be Shatner, but he will not be forgotten. Sigourney Weaver goes up to Only Famous. She’s not going anywhere for a while. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/22 "2004-12-25T15:28:44Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Don’t be silly, he meant _Lillian_ Russell. Nipsey Russell?.. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/23 "2004-12-25T15:29:54Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Don’t be silly, he meant _Lillian_ Russell. Leon Russell?.. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/24 "2004-12-25T18:43:16Z")
A lot depends on what you mean by “remembered.” Just to give you an example… Jimmy Durante has been dead for decades, and is still “remembered” in the sense that EVERYBODY knows he was a guy with a big nose and a funny, raspy voice, and almost anybody can do a recognizable Jimmy Durante imitation “(Ah cheh-cheh-cheh-cheh… I got a million of 'em!”). But beyond that, is he really “remembered”? How many people can name a movie he was in or a song he wrote? Most people couldn’t tell you anything Durante ever did, desides narrating the first “Frosty the Snowman” TV cartoon. Many current celebrities will be remembered for particular quirks, mannerisms, catch phrases, expressions, or distinctive voices and body parts… but will they be remembered for anything more than that? - Another thought- whenever you watch an old Warner Brothers cartoon, you’ll see a lot of parodies of then-popular stars. Some of those stars are still icons today (Humphrey Bogart, Bing Crosby, Edward G. Robinson, Peter Lorre, et al.), but some leave a modern viewer scratching his head and saying “WHo the heck is THAT supposed to be?” I mean, who remembers Jerry (“Ahh yesssss… greetings, Gate!”) Colonna any more? That’s one reason I wonder if a movie like Disney’s “Aladdin” will age well? How many of the celebrities Robin Williams imitates will kids in the year 2020 remember or recognize? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/25 "2004-12-25T19:10:46Z")
Keep in mind–many young people cannot identify a picture of Marilyn Monroe. And what we regard as a “great” film, or a “beautiful” woman _does_ and _shall_ change with the passing of the years. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/26 "2004-12-25T23:24:31Z")
> [@Sir Rhosis](#): > > I think six is too young, but I do think well-read, well-informed teenagers (film fans, etc.) fifty years from now will be very aware of who Luke Skywalker is, much the same way I was aware when I was, say sixteen in 1980, of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers (Buster Crabbe versions). > > Sir Rhosis Maybe, but not much. I was born the year the Errol Flynn version of Robin Hood turned 23. I think I saw it the firs time when I was six or seven. I had no idea who Flynn was, but it certainly shaped, to this day, how I perceive Robin Hood. The way Lucas is holding on to the franchise, I’m sure six year olds in 50 years will have been saturated with up-to-date SW cartoons on saturdays mornings. The universe Lucas created has endless possibilities. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/27 "2004-12-25T23:45:56Z")
> [@Martin Hyde](#): > > Clint Eastwood will be remembered in the same vein as John Wayne. > > When people think classic Western actors it’s John Wayne, and then Eastwood. Yes, John Wayne comes first, but Eastwood will ALWAYS be thought of second. The only reason he isn’t considered as big is because he’s trying to compare to someone with as much widespread notoriety as the Duke. > > And on top of it Eastwood has done some pretty good/decent non-Western genre films as well (Dirty Harryesque movies for example.) I was never a big fan of Clint Eastwood’s westerns (particularly the spaghetti westerns) or the Dirty Harry films, but I’ve enjoyed the later films that he directed. I think he may be remembered and respected more as a filmmaker/actor than as an actor. ---
**Author:** ![violacrane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c57346/32.png) [@violacrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/violacrane)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/28 "2004-12-26T01:09:28Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > That’s one reason I wonder if a movie like Disney’s “Aladdin” will age well? How many of the celebrities Robin Williams imitates will kids in the year 2020 remember or recognize? Heh I saw part of this on UK tv this morning and \*I \* didn’t have a clue who he was meant to be sending up most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/29 "2004-12-26T01:54:58Z")
> [@jimmmy](#): > > I think Meyers and Madonna are more likely to slide than grow too) Even if Madonna doesn’t do anything for the rest of her career, she’s Made It. Guinness lists her as the best-selling female solo artist of all time. She was a founding member (automatic inductee) of the [UK Music Hall Of Fame](http://www.endemoluk.com/formats/index.jsp?dyn=showcase.20041203171612), in the illustrious company of U2, Bob Marley, The Beatles and Elvis. If they’re legends, she is too. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/30 "2004-12-26T02:12:28Z")
> [@kung fu lola](#): > > Even if Madonna doesn’t do anything for the rest of her career, she’s Made It. Guinness lists her as the best-selling female solo artist of all time. Yep, in 100 years she’ll be as well-remembered as Eva Tanguay, the most popular and highest-paid singer in vaudeville. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/31 "2004-12-26T02:18:30Z")
I was trying to think of just such a name to compare Madonna to. Music is so… fleeting these days, so many choices, and in the end, I think you have to be even bigger than a “superstar” to be remembered. You have to be an icon who changed the course of music to gain that sort of immortality. One hundred years from now people will remember Frankie, Elvis and The Beatles. I can’t think of a single other name that will survive (other than those who already have–Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Berlin). Or so I think… Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/32 "2004-12-26T03:05:18Z")
It _really_ is hard to judge what will be popular 100 years from now. I wonder if some of the vauldvillians of yesteryear would have a more lasting legacy if they had been able to record their work for future generations. I think in 100 years, there is a chance that no one will remember Elvis, the Beatles or any modern act. Cultures change dramatically in a century. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/33 "2004-12-26T03:11:24Z")
> [@watsonwil](#): > > I think in 100 years, there is a chance that no one will remember Elvis, the Beatles or any modern act. They’ll remember it. I don’t think they’ll big fans, outside the doper community. Elvis has been dead for almost 28 years - yet the icon survives. The Beatles will survive, the Stones will be a footnote. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/34 "2004-12-26T04:10:17Z")
I think Elvis will be remembered as long as Vegas exists, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/35 "2004-12-26T04:33:29Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@kung fu lola](#): > > > > Even if Madonna doesn’t do anything for the rest of her career, she’s Made It. Guinness lists her as the best-selling female solo artist of all time. > > > [@Eve](#): > > > > Yep, in 100 years she’ll be as well-remembered as Eva Tanguay, the most popular and highest-paid singer in vaudeville. For me, the question of whether Madonna will be well remembered is a puzzle. On one hand, she’s a hugely popular singer whose records have sold hundreds of millions and has managed to sustain her popularity for over 20 years in the extremely fickle world of popular music. Yet, on the other hand, I can’t think of anybody in music who has sustained such a high level of popularity for such a long period of time without producing anything that’s truly memorable. The quality of her music is an entirely secondary basis of her fame. If you examine her discography, you’ll find it doesn’t have any albums like _Highway 61 Revisited, Sticky Fingers, Abbey Road_, or _In the Wee Small Hours_ or any singles like “Jailhouse Rock”, “Respect”, or even “White Christmas” that people kept coming back to again and again. If she’s remembered for anything, it will be for her continually changing public personas and her effortlessly ability to have people always talking about her. Unlike people like Elvis, the Beatles, Dylan, or Sinatra, her music doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/36 "2004-12-26T06:49:33Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Though I am tickled to be a “category” (what, no one else remembers Lyda Roberti, Vernon Castle or Helen Kane?!). Raises hand: I do remember Helen Kane, but this has to do with my training as an animator: She was the inspiration of Betty Boop! The Flapper sued Paramount because the animated star was an obvious caricature of Helen, citizen Kane lost the case. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/37 "2004-12-26T09:03:50Z")
Of all the entertainers of this century, I think the ones most likely to achieve legendary status are **The Beatles**. Wait until the Beatles catalog enters the public domain. There will be a huge resurgence in their music then, in my opinion. Five Hundred Years from now, people will know of the Beatles the way we know of Bach and Beethoven. Most everyone else will be forgotten. > [@](#): > > Even if Madonna doesn’t do anything for the rest of her career, she’s Made It. Guinness lists her as the best-selling female solo artist of all time. Didn’t Shania Twain pass her? And anyone best-selling doesn’t equate to longevity. Her music didn’t break new ground, and it’s not special in any way. I think she’s already beginning to fade from the scene, and 100 years from now she’ll be a footnote or an answer in trivia contests. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433/38 "2004-12-26T12:22:43Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > I was never a big fan of Clint Eastwood’s westerns (particularly the spaghetti westerns) or the Dirty Harry films, but I’ve enjoyed the later films that he directed. I think he may be remembered and respected more as a filmmaker/actor than as an actor. Spaghetti westerns define what is best about westerns imo. To me they represent a big change in the genre, westerns go from being really popular but mostly poured out of the can to being works of art. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-will-todays-celebs-be-remembered/281433.md?page=1)