# Obscure but interesting celebrity trivia. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 1, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392 "2015-06-01T22:16:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [June 1, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/1 "2015-06-01T22:16:00Z")
I don’t care about gossip but do you know any strange or quirky celebrity trivia? Odd coincidences, weird factoids, oddball occurrences? I’ll give two. The first one because I just heard it during an interview on The Nerdist podcast. The second because I was introducing my daughter to Star Wars in anticipation of the new movie coming this year. Prolific character actor Stephen Tobolowsky was one of the credited writers on David Byrne’s movie _True Stories_. Stephen believes that he is psychic. If he is in the way he describes he should march up to James Randi and demand the prize money. But that isn’t important to the story. What is important is he told David Byrne about his ability. Byrne found it so interesting that he wrote a song about it. That song was “Radio Head” which appeared on the Talking Heads album for the movie. The band Radiohead took their name from the song. So the band Radiohead is named after Stephen Tobolowsky. This one probably isn’t that obscure to Star Wars fans. Denis Lawson played the minor character of Wedge in the first three filmed Star Wars movies. I know him more for his more prominent role in the movie _Local Hero_ especially since he is wearing a flight helmet and speaking with an American accent in Star Wars. His sister has a son who happens to be Ewan McGregor. So Wedge Antilles is the uncle of Obi-Wan Kenobi. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/2 "2015-06-01T22:30:00Z")
John Cazale was in only 5 movies, and every one was nominated for best picture oscar > **[John Cazale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cazale)** > > John Holland Cazale (/kəˈzæl/; August 12, 1935 – March 13, 1978): 8  was an American actor. He appeared in five films over seven years, all of which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: The Godfather (1972), The Conversation (1974), The Godfather Part II (1974), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), and The Deer Hunter (1978), with the two Godfather films and The Deer Hunter winning. Cazale started as a theater actor in New York City, ranging from regional, to off-Broadway, to Broadway a ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/3 "2015-06-01T22:57:14Z")
Ariel Winter who plays Alex Dunfy on Modern Family is the sister of Jimmy Workman who played Pugsley in The Addams Family ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/4 "2015-06-01T23:07:48Z")
3 of the 5 Cazale films won best oscar - Godfather, Deer hunter and Godfather II ---
**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:** [June 1, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/5 "2015-06-01T23:21:17Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > 3 of the 5 Cazale films won best oscar - Godfather, Deer hunter and Godfather II And he was engaged to one of the actresses in the Deer Hunter, Meryl Streep. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/6 "2015-06-01T23:26:59Z")
Cazale was dying from cancer and was fired from the Deer hunter but Streep said if you fire him, then I quit so he stayed in the film. She was not a big name when that movie came out. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/7 "2015-06-02T00:01:56Z")
Keith Morrison, the delightfully ghoulish reporter most well-known from **Dateline** , married Suzanne Perry in 1981, which makes him Matthew Perry’s stepfather. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/8 "2015-06-02T00:28:50Z")
OK, here are couple of Canadian celebrity trivial comments which I’ve mentioned before. [Leslie Nielsen’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Nielsen) brother [Erik](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Nielsen) was a politician and once was the deputy Prime Minister of Canada. [Kiefer Sutherland](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiefer_Sutherland) is the son of [Donald Sutherland](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Sutherland) and [Shirley Douglas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Douglas). That’s not such a big deal, but Shirley’s father, [Tommy Douglas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Douglas), was a politician who is responsible for Canada’s universal health care program. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/9 "2015-06-02T00:31:25Z")
Sigourney Weaver’s uncle is Winstead Sheffield Glenndenning Dixon (known professionally as “Doodles”) Weaver, an actor and vocalist with Spike Jones and His City Slickers. > [@Loach](#): > > This one probably isn’t that obscure to Star Wars fans. Denis Lawson played the minor character of Wedge in the first three filmed Star Wars movies. I know him more for his more prominent role in the movie _Local Hero_ especially since he is wearing a flight helmet and speaking with an American accent in Star Wars. His sister has a son who happens to be Ewan McGregor. So Wedge Antilles is the uncle of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The rebel general on Hoth at the beginning of _The Empire Strikes Back_ is played by Bruce Boa. I recognize him as the demanding American guest who arrives late and bribes Basil to keep the kitchen open in the “Waldorf Salad” episode of _Fawlty Towers_. He also plays military roles in _Full Metal Jacket_ (“Son, all I’ve ever asked of my marines is that they obey my orders as they would the word of God.”) and _Octopussy_. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/10 "2015-06-02T01:01:21Z")
Former Detroit Pistons star Bill Laimbeer played a Sleestak on _Land of the Lost_. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/11 "2015-06-02T01:18:49Z")
The two most famous American newspaper advice columnists from the mid-1950’s to the early 2000’s were identical twin sisters: > **[Dear Abby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Abby)** > > Dear Abby is an American advice column founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pen name "Abigail Van Buren" and carried on today by her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, who now owns the legal rights to the pen name. > According to Pauline Phillips, she came up with the pen name Abigail Van Buren by combining the name of Biblical figure Abigail in the Book of Samuel, with the last name of former US president Martin Van Buren. > The column was syndicated by the McNaught Syndicate from 1956 until 19... > **[Ask Ann Landers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ask_Ann_Landers)** > > Ann Landers was a pen name created by Chicago Sun-Times advice columnist Ruth Crowley in 1943 and taken over by Esther Pauline "Eppie" Lederer (July 4, 1918 – June 22, 2002) in 1955. For 56 years, the Ask Ann Landers syndicated advice column was a regular feature in many newspapers across North America. Owing to this popularity, "Ann Landers", though fictional, became something of a national institution and cultural icon. > The creator of the "Ann Landers" pseudonym was Ruth Crowley, a Chicago n... After his death, left-over footage from the first two Godfather films with John Cazale was used in _The Godfather Part III_, which also was nominated for Best Picture. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/12 "2015-06-02T01:45:06Z")
This is how Tom Hanks signs copies of Toy Story. He’s hilarious. [Tom Hanks Toy Story autograph](http://cdn-www.i-am-bored.com/media/tom-hanks-toy-story-sig.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/13 "2015-06-02T01:51:01Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Sigourney Weaver’s uncle is Winstead Sheffield Glenndenning Dixon (known professionally as “Doodles”) Weaver, an actor and vocalist with Spike Jones and His City Slickers. And her father, Sylvester ‘Pat’ Weaver, was the president of NBC who created ‘Today’ and ‘The Tonight Show.’ ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/14 "2015-06-02T01:54:07Z")
A lot of people don’t know that Neil Young and Rick James used to be in a band together called The Mynah Birds. [https://www.google.com/search?q=neil+young+mynah+birds&biw=1600&bih=787&tbm=isch&imgil=e0uwCNunDswfKM%253A%253BNFlHvJrGqYZBpM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.youtube.com%25252Fwatch%25253Fv%2525253Dx29oJCS2r20&source=iu&pf=m&fir=e0uwCNunDswfKM%253A%252CNFlHvJrGqYZBpM%252C\_&usg=\_\_g\_f9NMwk2Oa2DiuEkzVtmhljGUo%3D&ved=0CEIQyjc&ei=FgxtVe6PJ8XAsAWQ1YKIBQ#imgrc=oGA2aTNAKT6NdM%253A%3BX1135DysPiIrNM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fderekvaz.com%252Ftts%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2008%252F12%252F1965-the-mynah-birds-the-lost-recordings.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fderekvaz.com%252Ftts%252F2008%252F12%252F23%252Frick-james-neil-young-and-npr%252F%3B317%3B320](https://www.google.com/search?q=neil+young+mynah+birds&biw=1600&bih=787&tbm=isch&imgil=e0uwCNunDswfKM%253A%253BNFlHvJrGqYZBpM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.youtube.com%25252Fwatch%25253Fv%2525253Dx29oJCS2r20&source=iu&pf=m&fir=e0uwCNunDswfKM%253A%252CNFlHvJrGqYZBpM%252C_&usg=__g_f9NMwk2Oa2DiuEkzVtmhljGUo%3D&ved=0CEIQyjc&ei=FgxtVe6PJ8XAsAWQ1YKIBQ#imgrc=oGA2aTNAKT6NdM%253A%3BX1135DysPiIrNM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fderekvaz.com%252Ftts%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2008%252F12%252F1965-the-mynah-birds-the-lost-recordings.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fderekvaz.com%252Ftts%252F2008%252F12%252F23%252Frick-james-neil-young-and-npr%252F%3B317%3B320) ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/15 "2015-06-02T02:32:14Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > This one probably isn’t that obscure to Star Wars fans. Denis Lawson played the minor character of Wedge in the first three filmed Star Wars movies. I know him more for his more prominent role in the movie _Local Hero_ especially since he is wearing a flight helmet and speaking with an American accent in Star Wars. His sister has a son who happens to be Ewan McGregor. So Wedge Antilles is the uncle of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Somewhat more obscure is the fact that there are actually _two_ Wedges. The one in the cockpit during the Death Star battle, and who appears in _Empire_ and _Jedi_, is indeed Ewan McGregor’s uncle, Denis Lawson. The one who’s sitting next to Luke in the pre-battle briefing, complaining that hitting a two-meter target is impossible, even for a computer (giving Luke the chance to brag about all those womp-rats he used to bull’s-eye), is Colin Higgins. He apparently was the first choice for the role of Wedge, but didn’t have his lines memorized and so was fired after one day of shooting. Second-choice Lawson was brought in, and the rest is motion picture history. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/16 "2015-06-02T02:40:29Z")
John Ratzenberger from Cheers has a small role in the Empire Strikes back. He played a member of the rebel army. ---
**Author:** ![Greekfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Greekfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greekfreak)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/17 "2015-06-02T02:45:25Z")
Charles Laughton was a fan of “scat” sandwiches. Read Scotty Bowers book “Full Service” and prepared to be knocked off your feet. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/18 "2015-06-02T02:49:31Z")
Fawlty Towers was filmed in 75 and 79. The stars John Cleese and Connie Booth were married but got divorced in 78 but still worked together in 79. Booth played the maid Polly. Booth left acting to become a therapist and for many years refused to talk about her work as an actress. She finally did an interview on acting a few years back. And she’s American not British. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/19 "2015-06-02T03:12:57Z")
The UK group Scaffold had a couple of minor UK hits in the early 60s, most notably “[Lily the Pink](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x8D4T--0v4)” and “Thank U Very Much.” One of the members of the group, Roger McGough, was a respected poet; his lyrics to “[Goodbat Nightman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUvT4bi9k7w)” are in the Oxford Anthology of Modern English Verse. A second member of the group was Mike McGear – Paul McCartney’s younger brother. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/20 "2015-06-02T03:33:38Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > John Ratzenberger from Cheers has a small role in the Empire Strikes back. He played a member of the rebel army. He aslo appears in “Gandhi” as the jeep driver who takes Candice Bergen to see Mahatma. However all his dialogue was overdubbed by another actor! Actor Jon Pertwee - famous as the third Doctor in “Doctor Who” was a genuine [secret agent man](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2283542/Double-O-Who-Jon-Pertwees-secret-life-wartime-agent--years-did-battle-Daleks.html) for Britain during WWII, reported to Winston Churchill himself. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392.md?page=2)