# Legendary, apocryphal or just plain untrue stories of celebrities **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270 "2016-10-21T19:47:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/81 "2016-10-25T19:52:58Z")
I don’t know that this quite fits the OP, but it’s close: James Dean died in a car crash with a Donald Turnupseed. Knowing Dean’s penchant for fast living, it’s easy to assume he was at fault, but actually it was Turnupseed. Dean had the right of way. There are varying accounts of exactly how fast Dean was traveling (65 to 150 mph!), so that part is still up for debate. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/82 "2016-10-25T22:09:13Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Stevie Nicks having roadies blow cocaine up her vagina with a straw because she had blown out her septum already. The story is true, except for one thing. Let’s just say that if she couldn’t take her cocaine nasally, she was going to find some OTHER way to take it. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: I’m surprised she didn’t end up with a colostomy. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/83 "2016-10-25T22:12:18Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Gene Simmons has had sex with ONE MILLION women (or whatever the supposed number is). He’s claimed between 1,000 and 2,000. I don’t disbelieve that. I AM doubtful about Wilt Chamberlain’s claim that he had sex with 20,000 women. :rolleyes: It led to a SNL skit called “Remembrances of Love, starring Wilt Chamberlain” which featured MC Hammer with leg extensions. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/84 "2016-10-26T09:45:31Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > I heard that was Angela Bowie. It was Angela (I read her book), although all she claimed she saw was the two of them crashed out on a bed, with what tired each of them a matter for speculation. Relatedly, Keith Richards says in “Life” that the Stones’ song “Angie” was about his daughter Angela, and not, for example, Angela Bowie. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/85 "2016-10-26T11:56:51Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > The story is true, except for one thing. > > Let’s just say that if she couldn’t take her cocaine nasally, she was going to find some OTHER way to take it. > > :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: > > I’m surprised she didn’t end up with a colostomy. Can you provide a cite? Every article I have seen say something like “rumors started to spread…” but then don’t provide any proof. Those same article will have quotes from her that mention a bad drug habit but not taking it in the ass. I know it was in a biography of her but those aren’t always accurate. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/86 "2016-10-26T12:08:57Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > And it did. [Once](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_Priest#Ripper_Owens_.281996.E2.80.932003.29). [Twice.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_(band)#2007.E2.80.93present:_Lead_singer_replaced_again) > [@](#): > > In the summer of 2007, Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon began searching YouTube for a new lead singer. They auditioned Jeremey Hunsicker of the Journey tribute band Frontiers, with whom they co-wrote “Never Walk Away”, for their next album. Ultimately the band hired another YouTube find, Filipino singer Arnel Pineda of the cover band The Zoo. > [@AppallingGael](#): > > [About / Disclaimer | Empire News](http://empirenews.net/about-disclaimer/) > > FWIW, I always doubted the story. Though maybe he was trying to toss it across, _a la_ George Washington. Damn! It should have been true. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/87 "2016-10-26T16:17:57Z")
Bob Keeshan (“Captain Kangaroo”) saved Lee Marvin’s life on Iwo Jima. Not true although Lee Marvin was in the Marine Corps in World War II and was wounded on Saipan, spending a year in hospitals. Keeshan did enlist in the Marine Corps Reserve in 1945 but the war soon ended so he didn’t go overseas. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/88 "2016-10-26T16:32:46Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > And Steve Perry spent years dying of throat cancer. I’ve heard the same thing about Neil Peart for over 30 years. :dubious: I never heard the car wash story; however, at the time he joined the band, he was an IT guy at a farm implement dealership. Yup, an IT guy in the mid 1970s. Someone had to do it. Perry has battled alcoholism for much of his adult life, and that’s why he had to leave Journey. IIRC, his biggest problem has been one he’s shared with Eddie Van Halen - vascular necrosis of the hip joint. ---
**Author:** ![lew\_cody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@lew\_cody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lew_cody)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/89 "2016-10-26T18:54:02Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > There has been an agenda of sorts to exonerate Arbuckle. I don’t believe we will ever know the truth of the matter, and there was probably never enough evidence to convict him. But I take everything I read on the Arbuckle case with a pinch of salt - both the original muckraking newspaper accounts and the more recent attempts to exonerate him. The stories told about Virginia Rappe, the woman who died, have also been pretty spectacular. Some were spread by _Hollywood Babylon_, others by Minta Durfee Arbuckle during the 60s and 70s. They have included: that she was a prostitute, that she had many abortions, that she was prone to stripping off her clothes when she drank alcohol, that she spread pubic lice at the Keystone studio and caused it to be shut down for fumigation, that she had multiple venereal diseases…in essence, that she was a time bomb of disease and promiscuity. None of the verified facts about her life support any of these assertions. (See the book _Room 1219_ for more details on the case.) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/90 "2016-10-26T20:55:16Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I’ve heard the same thing about Neil Peart for over 30 years. :dubious: I never heard the car wash story; however, at the time he joined the band, he was an IT guy at a farm implement dealership. Yup, an IT guy in the mid 1970s. Someone had to do it. > > Perry has battled alcoholism for much of his adult life, and that’s why he had to leave Journey. IIRC, his biggest problem has been one he’s shared with Eddie Van Halen - vascular necrosis of the hip joint. Y’know, it’s hard to believe that Steve Perry and Billy Joel were born within 6 months of each other. ---
**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 26, 2016, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/91 "2016-10-26T21:48:39Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > I heard that was Angela Bowie. Angela herself was the source of that. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/92 "2016-10-26T23:15:51Z")
> [@lew\_cody](#): > > The stories told about Virginia Rappe, the woman who died, have also been pretty spectacular. Some were spread by _Hollywood Babylon_, others by Minta Durfee Arbuckle during the 60s and 70s. They have included: that she was a prostitute, that she had many abortions, that she was prone to stripping off her clothes when she drank alcohol, that she spread pubic lice at the Keystone studio and caused it to be shut down for fumigation, that she had multiple venereal diseases…in essence, that she was a time bomb of disease and promiscuity. None of the verified facts about her life support any of these assertions. (See the book _Room 1219_ for more details on the case.) Even if all of these things were true, she didn’t deserve to be raped, by Arbuckle or anyone else. (Has anyone here seen any of Fatty Arbuckle’s “comedy” films? TCM plays them occasionally; his ENTIRE shtick was falling down. 😕 ) Another Neil Peart urban legend, which has also circulated about as long as the throat cancer thing: He has a Ph.D. No, he doesn’t; he never even graduated from high school and IDK if he ever got a GED. HOWEVER [spoiler]Geddy Lee’s son does. Dr. Julian Weinrib, who is in his 30s, is a professor at the University of Toronto, in their education department. In other words, he’s involved in teaching teachers. [https://ca.linkedin.com/in/julian-weinrib-54758854](https://ca.linkedin.com/in/julian-weinrib-54758854) [/spoiler] 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/93 "2016-10-26T23:27:02Z")
No mention of Led Zeppelin yet? How about the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle, a girl, and a mud shark? What about the one where Ozzy snorted a line of ants instead of cocaine? Some female singer pulled out a dirty tampon and threw it at the audience? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/94 "2016-10-26T23:27:37Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Frank Zappa once won a “gross-out contest” by eating shit on stage. ([False](http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/grossout.asp), of course.) GG Allin did, a number of times. And I’ve heard the same about Mike Patton, but haven’t seen too much evidence. With him, its shit coming _out of his mouth_ when on stage. Worst singer I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/95 "2016-10-26T23:30:53Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > GG Allin did, a number of times. And I’ve heard the same about Mike Patton, but haven’t seen too much evidence. With him, its shit coming _out of his mouth_ when on stage. Worst singer I’ve heard. I read somewhere, a long time ago, that Patton would occasionally give himself enemas onstage. Why would anyone want to do that in public, anyway? ETA: You Tube has videos of people doing that, for any number of reasons. However, you don’t have to pay money to watch those. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/96 "2016-10-27T00:34:42Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I’ve heard the same thing about Neil Peart for over 30 years. :dubious: I never heard the car wash story; however, at the time he joined the band, he was an IT guy at a farm implement dealership. Yup, an IT guy in the mid 1970s. Someone had to do it. Half true. His father owned the farm implement store, and Neil “worked there”. It’s mentioned in the band’s [_Beyond the Lighted Stage_](https://www.amazon.com/Rush-Beyond-Lighted-Sam-Dunn/dp/B00RA37H24/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1477528459&sr=1-2&keywords=beyond+the+lighted+stage) documentary. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/97 "2016-10-27T01:33:58Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > ETA: You Tube has videos of people doing that, for any number of reasons. However, you don’t have to pay money to watch those. :rolleyes: Is subscription free as well, then? ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/98 "2016-10-27T14:29:06Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > No mention of Led Zeppelin yet? How about the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle, a girl, and a mud shark? > > What about the one where Ozzy snorted a line of ants instead of cocaine? > > Some female singer pulled out a dirty tampon and threw it at the audience? Donita Sparks (lead singer of L7) was the tampon thrower. > **[L7 (band)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L7_%28band%29)** > > L7 is an American riot grrrl punk rock band founded in Los Angeles, California, first active from 1985 to 2001 and re-formed in 2014. Their longest standing lineup consists of Suzi Gardner (guitars, vocals), Donita Sparks (vocals, guitars), Jennifer Finch (bass, vocals), and Dee Plakas (drums, vocals). L7 has released seven studio albums and has toured widely in the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, and South America. "Pretend We're Dead" was heavily played on US alternative radio and entered the ... I remember watching an interview with Tommy Lee of Motley Crue where he recounts the Ozzy snorting ants story, stating that he saw it happen. Ozzy evidently says he can’t remember if he ever did this, so I guess “unproved”. R.e. the LZ/mudshark story, Snopes has it as kinda true: > **[Did Members of Led Zeppelin Pleasure a Groupie with a Mud Shark?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/shark-tale/)** > > Did members of Led Zeppelin pleasure a groupie with a mud shark? "So yes, a female groupie was sexually engaged with a fish, but the fish was not a shark (and was presumably dead), it wasn’t “stuffed” inside her, the only member of Led Zeppelin present at the time (John Bonham) was merely an onlooker rather than an active participant, and the woman left the hotel unharmed. " ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/99 "2016-10-27T15:00:59Z")
Never mind mind mind … ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270/100 "2016-10-27T15:17:21Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > I don’t know that this quite fits the OP, but it’s close: > > James Dean died in a car crash with a Donald Turnupseed. Knowing Dean’s penchant for fast living, it’s easy to assume he was at fault, but actually it was Turnupseed. Dean had the right of way. There are varying accounts of exactly how fast Dean was traveling (65 to 150 mph!), so that part is still up for debate. Serious question: why isn’t there massive hatred against Mr Turnupseed? Look at poor Steve Bartman. He’s been assigned total blame for the Cubs failure, and got death threats and had to change his name and go into hiding. But here we have a person factually at fault for the death of a major celebrity, and …nothing. No burning effigies, no hatred, no crazy conspiracy theories. Not even a single comment about his last name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legendary-apocryphal-or-just-plain-untrue-stories-of-celebrities/769270.md?page=6)