# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/281 "2015-08-01T16:12:16Z")
She once said that the picture of her at the head of her column looked like a 45 - year-old housewife whose doctor has just told her she is pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/282 "2015-08-01T16:52:00Z")
Harry Shearer of _ **The Simpsons** _ played the Eddie Haskel–type troublemaker Frankie Bennett in the 1957 pilot of _ **Leave It to Beaver** _. His parents turned down a permanent job offer when the series went into production because they didn’t want to disrupt his schooling. (And lo, Eddie Haskell was born to replace him.) On _ **Beaver** _, Lumpy Rutherford’s mother was played by the future Majel Barrett Roddenberry, aka “Nurse Chapel” on _ **Star Trek** _. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/283 "2015-08-01T17:16:41Z")
I recently checked the Wikipedia page for [Wavy Gravy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavy_Gravy) to see if he was still alive. (He is.) And was suprised by some things: 1. Supposedly: “As a child, he took walks around the blocks with Albert Einstein” 2. He met his wife thru Bob Dylan, who was a childhood friend of ol’ Bob Zimmerman. 3. As a young comedian, he was managed by Lenny Bruce. I presume 2 is true, the others might be artifacts of his playful nature. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/284 "2015-08-01T17:38:59Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > […] > > On _ **Beaver** _, Lumpy Rutherford’s mother was played by the future Majel Barrett Roddenberry, aka “Nurse Chapel” on _ **Star Trek** _. Was she blond? ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/285 "2015-08-01T18:21:40Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > He met his wife thru Bob Dylan, who was a childhood friend of ol’ Bob Zimmerman. Bob Dylan was a childhood friend of Bob Zimmerman? ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/286 "2015-08-01T18:41:34Z")
Very close friend. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/287 "2015-08-01T23:44:43Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Was she blond? Don’t think so, no. ---
**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:** [August 2, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/288 "2015-08-02T00:13:35Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Harry Shearer of _ **The Simpsons** _ played the Eddie Haskel–type troublemaker Frankie Bennett in the 1957 pilot of _ **Leave It to Beaver** _. His parents turned down a permanent job offer when the series went into production because they didn’t want to disrupt his schooling. (And lo, Eddie Haskell was born to replace him.) > > On _ **Beaver** _, Lumpy Rutherford’s mother was played by the future Majel Barrett Roddenberry, aka “Nurse Chapel” on _ **Star Trek** _. Beaver’s friend Larry Mondello’s mother was played by Madge Blake, who later became famous to Batman fans as Dick Grayson’s aunt, Harriet Cooper. The star of the show “Circus Boy” was future Monkee Micky Dolenz, who was credited as Mickey Braddock. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/289 "2015-08-02T01:29:33Z")
The reason Richard Deacon was so rarely seen as Fred Rutherford toward the end of _ **Beaver** _’s run was because he was also playing Mel Cooley on _ **The Dick van Dyke Show** _. Lee Meriwether, Miss America 1955, was also featured as a “young woman neighbor” in an episode of _ **Beaver** _. She went on to play Dr Ann McGregor in Irwin Allen’s _ **Time Tunnel** _ and Catwoman in the 1966 motion picture _ **Batman** _. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/290 "2015-08-02T01:43:10Z")
Whoa! According to IMDB, Lee was also in a 1967 episode of _ **Batman** _ along with Madge Blake, Grace Lee Whitney, and Lloyd Haynes, the latter two of whom were _ **Star Trek** _ alumni. Lee would herself guest star on _ **Star Trek** _ as Losira in the third season episode “That Which Survives.” ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/291 "2015-08-02T03:59:32Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > [George Harrison was in Monty Python’s Life of Brian.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUJDvMpLafI) The production company George Harrison formed to finance _Life of Brian_, HandMade Films, went on to produce and distribute simply oodles of interesting movies, the most recent of which was _127 Hours._ We have George to thank for _Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Time Bandits_ as well. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/292 "2015-09-16T20:02:40Z")
Gates McFadden is best known as Dr Beverly Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. She is also a choreographer. While that isn’t interesting in itself she was a _Muppet_ choreographer. Or as Jim Henson named her Director of Choreography and Puppet Movement. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdiTg-Yg-FU) is a video of her working on Labyrinth. She usually used her real first name Cheryl when being a choreographer and her middle name Gates when acting. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/293 "2015-09-16T20:13:21Z")
Rene Auberjonois (Father Mulcahy in the movie, Odo on DS9, Chef Louis in The Little Mermaid) is a direct descendant of French royalty. From Wiki: > [@](#): > > His mother, Laure Louise Napoléone Eugénie Caroline Murat (1913-1986), was a great-great granddaughter of Joachim Murat, one of Napoleon’s marshals and King of Naples during the First French Empire, and his wife Caroline Bonaparte, Napoleon’s youngest sister.[citation needed] His maternal grandmother, Hélène Macdonald Stallo (1893–1932), was an American, from Cincinnati, Ohio; his maternal grandfather’s mother was a Russian noblewoman, Eudoxia Michailovna Somova (1850–1924), and his maternal grandfather’s paternal grandmother, Caroline Georgina Fraser (1810–1879) who was married to Prince Napoleon Lucien Charles Murat, was an American, from Charleston, South Carolina. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/294 "2015-09-16T21:48:42Z")
David Naughton: Star of Dr Pepper’s “Be a Pepper” campaign, which at the time was one of the longest-running ad campaigns in TV history. Star of the movie _An American Werewolf in London._ His sitcom _Makin’ It_ bombed, but his recording of the theme song was in the top 10 for five weeks. Making him a “one-hit wonder” in three different media. Mickey Spillane was a Jehovah’s Witness. The hot blonde on the cover of _The Erection Set_ (if you ever browsed a paperback stand in the 1970s, you know the one I’m talking about) was his wife, Sherri Malinou. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/295 "2015-09-17T18:04:44Z")
Carly Simon’s dad was the Simon in Simon & Schuster, a publishing company. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/296 "2015-09-17T19:10:53Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Rene Auberjonois (Father Mulcahy in the movie, Odo on DS9, Chef Louis in The Little Mermaid) is a direct descendant of French royalty. Not to mention Clayton in _ **Benson** _. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392.md?page=14)