It would be a familiar fictional character if you were American and now in your fifties.
Familiar since we read about him in high school. I don’t recall which grade, so somewhere in the 1976 - 1980 era.
Mid-50s and I’ve known the character since childhood, from the James Thurber short story. Then there is the classic 1947 Danny Kaye movie, which I’ve never seen but by all accounts runs rings around the latest version. (Has anyone mentioned the Danny Kaye movie yet?)
I loved that show!
And if it’s any consolation to the OP, I don’t think an unfamiliarity with Walter Mitty is anywhere near as odd as not knowing what an Amazon is, which is the topic of another thread.
I’m 43. I’ve known about the story and the Danny Kaye movie since childhood.
I think that I was familiar with Billy Liar first, though, from the 1970s UK TV show.
I’m British, aged 65. Came across the story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty in childhood – my parents, who were quite fans of the USA, had the book The Thurber Carnival.
I understand that “Walter Mitty” is quite a widely-employed expression in the British armed forces: used to refer to those who make a big production of telling stories, of doubtful veracity, of their own supposed military derring-do.
I’m not American, and for some reason I was under the impression that Walter Mitty was a gangster like Al Capone. I have no idea where that came from.
Fortymumble and American. Despite being a Thurber fan I’ve never read the story but love the Danny Kaye movie (indeed, I’m also a Danny Kaye fan).
The new version looks suspiciously like a “we’ll remake it with a bigger effects budget because that will make it better!” deal, which virtually always sucks so I’ll probably avoid it.
American, Fourtysomething. I’m pretty sure I’ve read Thurber in school, but not Walter Mitty.
I knew the name, and it was a story possibly about a dreamer, but not anything specific.
Brian
I discovered Thurber in high school, we must have read one of his stories, The Night the Bed Fell probably, but I went on to read and enjoy several of his books. I think it was a memoir he wrote about his childhood in Columbus Ohio in which he talks about his dog, a bull dog? who would drag home various items. How often does one *really *laugh out loud when reading? I did reading that story.
*That’s my first wife up there and this is the *present Mrs Harris.
I’m 40, and was assigned the story in 8th grade. I thought Walter Mitty was well-known–sort of a comic twist on T. S. Eliot’s J. Alfred Prufrock–but my best friend was unfamiliar with the story and assumed it was a novel. We both have Masters degrees in English lit. Maybe it’s become one of those “if you weren’t assigned it in school, you probably missed it” sort of works.
Come to think of it, I wonder if maybe we here in South Carolina keep Thurber around more because of his famous slightly risque Springmaid advertisements? Just a thought.
Here’s that cartoon:
I certainly remember reading the Walter Mitty story in high school and seeing the movie on TV (and I even remember watching the TV show, “My World and Welcome To It”); but I’ll admit that until the recent movie, I hadn’t thought about Walter Mitty or James Thurber in years.
I’m 36 and familiar enough with “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” to know the basic plot of the short story, but no real specifics.
I didn’t realise that it was a Thurber work. I’ve read quite a few of his essays, mainly dealing the dogs that have been a part of his life, and I have to say that many are laugh out loud funny. One in particular, featuring an airdale that was a biter more or less on general principle, actually had me in tears.
“The Dog Who Bit People.” And I agree, that one is hilarious.
Possibly one of his daydreams? It’s been so long that I don’t recall any specifics of his daydreaming.
Yes.
Navy pilot, surgeon, marksman, revolutionary facing a firing squad… No gangsters.
Lol, I loved that show! I remember the (live action) cat would be in some scenario and would project himself into animated adventures–versions of Tarzan, the Lone Ranger, Star Trek, etc., all populated by felines (good guys) and canines (bad guys)–that would render a solution for him. I rarely ever see it referenced these days and don’t think it lasted more than one season, but I enjoyed it a lot as a kid on Saturday mornings.