I can’t understand the almost unanimous hatred for Carrot Top on this board. I mean, have you guys really seen the guy? He’s freakin’ hilarious. Come on, the phoneless cord?
Ok, ok, I can see how the phoneless cord can go either way but I present to you one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen someone do on live tv. The one thing Carrot Top did that NONE OF YOU can deny was funny…
He went on Leno and, live, in person, handed Shaquelle O’Neal a basketball with a motherfucking scope on it.
I can’t believe we’ve gotten to 85 posts with only one brief mention of Zsa Zsa Gabor, the original person famous for being famous, and no mention of George Hamilton, who followed in her footsteps.
I’ll second Adam Sandler, see your David Spade, and raise you practically every other member of the cast of SNL in the last decade except the late Phil Hartman.
Actually, by many accounts, Victor Mature himself agreed with you. An old Hollywood anecdote says that he tried to join an exclusive golf/country club, and was told by a member “They really don’t want actors as members.” Supposedly, Mature laughed, “I’m NOT an actor, and I’ve got 60 movies that prove it.”
Mature seemed to get a lot of “Gladiator”-type, sword-and-sandal flicks and a lot of Biblical epics. He joked that he had a talent for “making with the holy look.”
In any event, even if Mature was no great actor, and even if his best-known work hasn’t aged very well, it’s hard to begrudge him the fame and fortune he had. He knew he was a lucky and not-particularly-talented stiff, and didn’t mind admitting it.
Harland Williams and the guy who played Larry “Bud” Melman on Letterman are two of the most unfunny people I’ve ever seen trying to make a living in comedy.
And Rick Dees! He’s legendary for being a big dork. Lots and lots of talented, funny actors and DJs went jobless while he racked up a career for being as smarmy and embarrassing as possible.
It goes without saying that Whoopee Goldberg is not funny. More to the point, how did she ever become the “Sage/Wise Woman/Earth Mother” of Hollywood? They even played on this perception by casting her as the oracle-like “Guinan” on “Star Trek: Generations.” <barf>
Still, in her defense, I must say that she has found her true role as the center square on “The Hollywood Squares.” No one deserves it more.
I’ll nominate most of the people from The Real World. Out of all those, I think Puck is probably the worst. Why can’t he just go away? He was only on for half a season and that was back in 1994!!!
Mature had a couple of decent parts, mostly in toga dramas. His “Sampson” was pretty good, and he was quite good as Demetrius in “The Robe”, an underated flick…
Julia Roberts
She’s had huge success and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. She can’t act, her Oscar for Erin Brockovich was one of the least deserved awards in the istory of the show, and that’s too bad because Brockovich really deserved a better rendering of her story with a real actress. Roberts has no range and no chops of any kind that I can fathom. I’ve never seen her disappear into a character and even her “acting” scenes are always incredibly clunky and unconvincing.
On top of that, she’s not even hot. I don’t know a single guy who thinks she’s any better than average looking. Personally, I find her on the homely side and she’s also too skinny for my taste. She has a completely vaccuous personality as well, which is also a turn off for me.
I don’t have a clue why this woman is regarded as some sort of superstar. I wouldn’t cast her in dinner theater.
I’ll have to stand up for Whoopi as one of the worst used talents in Hollywood. And yes, she is remarkably talented, but has rarely been given the chance to use those skills.
The first time I saw her was about 20 years ago in a TV broadcast of a one-woman show she did on Broadway. She played about half a dozen different characters – an old Jamaican woman, a small child, a disabled woman, a (male) street pimp, etc. – in short sketches she had written herself. Her transformation into these characters was complete and amazing, and the writing was astounding. The sketches were funny, but each had a powerful undercurrent of sorrow and depth. It was simply one of the most amazing performances I have ever seen. And at the end she had a little closing speech to the audience in which she slowly and subtly switched from one accent to another: Cockney, French, American Southern, etc. (And back then she was thin and pretty sexy!)
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as though that show is available on tape or DVD, at least according to IMDB. (But I’ve just found out that she’s reprising the show on Broadway starting next month!)
Her first big role in Hollywood was in The Color Purple, which I thought was an absolutely stunning performance (and won her an Oscar), but since then she has gone from one dog to the next. I’ve always hoped to see something else that really used her talents, and I’ve almost always been disappointed.
I think Hollywood has had a hard time figuring out how to use the acting skill, intelligence, and sense of humor displayed in that one-woman show, and sadly, she has allowed herself to appear in too many things that were waaaaay beneath her abilities.
So I don’t blame people who have only seen the crap she has done for thinking there’s nothing there, but believe me, she is as talented as anyone appearing on TV or in the movies. Whoopi is a tragic case (IMO) of unfulfilled potential.