# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/101 "2015-06-05T02:18:33Z")
Wow, that’s pop trivia to my liking. And it sure is a great album, after all. Edit: That referred to \*\*TreacherousCretin’s \*\*20/20 post. Tapatalk messed up once again. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/102 "2015-06-05T02:22:01Z")
Albert Brooks’ birth name was Albert Einstein. Michael Keaton’s birth name was Michael Douglas. Kirk Douglas’s birth name was Issur Danielovitch Demsky. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/103 "2015-06-05T08:44:55Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > [George Harrison was in Monty Python’s Life of Brian.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUJDvMpLafI) Reason for this: When the controversial religious nature of the story became known to the studio they pulled the plug on the whole thing only days before shooting was to begin. Harrison was a friend of the Pythons and stepped in and saved the day by financing the film himself\*!\* > [@epbrown01](#): > > **The Terminator should have killed him: Bill, Brian and Brad.** > > At the beginning of The Terminator, Arnie robs three punks for their clothes. He kills Bill Paxton (“Somebody’s a few cans short of a six pack!”)… Bill Paxton was good friends with director James Cameron. They both previously worked for Roger Corman painting sets and doing special effects. This is also why he was in _Aliens_, _True Lies_, and _Titanic_. Also, Paxton made the early music video for the Dr. Demento cult hit song _Fish Heads_, which was itself written & performed by Billy Mummy (Will Robinson from _Lost in Space_) and his wife. > [@Superdude](#): > > Michael Keaton was also a stage hand on Mister Rogers Neighborhood. Keaton was inside the cabinet where Rogers would slide the (fake) ‘Picture-Picture’ cassette. Keaton would sometimes joke like has was in a confessional booth and whisper to Rogers, _“Are you ready to confess your sins my son…”_ > [@Honey](#): > > I have one. > > Rebecca Romijn has 6 toes on one foot. 😃 You have a foot with only one toe?!? Eeeeeeew!! 😃 > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Wally Cox and Marlon Brando were college roommates, and remained good friends. Tommy Lee Jones was college roommates with future Vice President Al Gore. > [@Sefton](#): > > Albert Brooks’ birth name was Albert Einstein. And Brooks’ older brother is ‘Super’ Dave Osbourne (real name Stewart Robert ‘Bob’ Einstein). Talk about high-brow and low-brow\*!!\* ---
**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:** [June 5, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/104 "2015-06-05T13:38:31Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Also, Paxton made the early music video for the Dr. Demento cult hit song _Fish Heads_, which was itself written & performed by Billy Mummy (Will Robinson from _Lost in Space_) and his wife. Also, Paxton was in [“Shadows of the Night”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et8pum4V3uI) (with Judge Reinhold), by Pat Benatar. > [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > 2- Jim Gordon played drums on that album. Years later, suffering from schizophrenia, he murdered his mother. Despite his obvious insanity, legal technicalities mandated his conviction for murder. [Commissioner Gordon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Gordon_(comics)) is a murderer??? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/105 "2015-06-05T14:07:04Z")
Ho Chi Minh was once employed as a baker at Boston’s famed Parker House Hotel. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/106 "2015-06-05T14:26:05Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > And IIRC, part of the motivation for the murder spree, or at least the choice of targets, was that Manson believed that someone associated with Wilson who had thwarted his nascent music career lived at the Cielo Drive house. Terri Melcher was a record producer who had met Manson through Wilson and had shown interest in producing some of Manson’s music. He severed ties with Manson after witnessing a fight at Manson’s ranch. He was the previous tenant at the home where the Manson family killed Sharon Tate and friends. Manson still thought Melcher was living there with his girlfriend Candice Bergen. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/107 "2015-06-05T14:32:08Z")
Redd Foxx, from Sanford and Son, met Malcom X while both were dishwashers in a New York restaurant. They went in business together, selling suits stolen from a dry cleaner and marijuana. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/108 "2015-06-05T14:51:15Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Terri Melcher was a record producer who had met Manson through Wilson and had shown interest in producing some of Manson’s music. He severed ties with Manson after witnessing a fight at Manson’s ranch. He was the previous tenant at the home where the Manson family killed Sharon Tate and friends. Manson still thought Melcher was living there with his girlfriend Candice Bergen. Terry Melcher was Doris Day’s son. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/109 "2015-06-05T15:37:59Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > According to Dan Savage, he was college roommates with Rick Santorum though I haven’t found anything to corroborate this. Savage, six years Santorum’s junior, went to college at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Santorum attended college at Penn State, and went to graduate school in Pittsburgh. It’s a cute image, though. And didn’t we all have a college roommate like Rick Santorum at some point? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/110 "2015-06-05T15:44:49Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Beat you to it. Post #68. Yeah, well… YOU didn’t link to the song! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/111 "2015-06-05T15:50:52Z")
Edward Norton’s grandfather James Rouse conceived and developed the planned community of Columbia, MD (where Ed Norton grew up). ---
**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:** [June 5, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/112 "2015-06-05T16:25:28Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Wow, that’s pop trivia to my liking. And it sure is a great album, after all. > > Edit: That referred to \*\*TreacherousCretin’s \*\*20/20 post. Tapatalk messed up once again. (20/20 album, future murderers in credits) I wish I’d come up with myself, but I read it on a message board a few years ago. Likely as not right here in Cecilville. > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Yeah, well… YOU didn’t link to the song! 😛 (My Own Grandpa) Yeah, but I would have if I’d thought of it. So there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/113 "2015-06-05T17:13:52Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Redd Foxx, from Sanford and Son, met Malcom X while both were dishwashers in a New York restaurant. They went in business together, selling suits stolen from a dry cleaner and marijuana. Redd Foxx’s real last name? Sanford (his father was Fred Sanford). ---
**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:** [June 5, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/114 "2015-06-05T20:15:57Z")
Michael J. Fox’s middle name is Andrew. He added the middle initial “J” (which doesn’t stand for anything) to distinguish himself from another actor named Michael Fox when he joined the screen actor’s guild. Apparently, he didn’t like Michael A. Fox. ---
**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 5, 2015, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/115 "2015-06-05T20:59:09Z")
Happened to see an old episode of _The Avengers_ last night that included a pre-Python role from John Cleese. Also in that episode, although he had no scenes with Cleese, was an actor named Bernard Cribbins. Seven years later, Cribbins appeared in an episode of _Fawlty Towers_. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/116 "2015-06-05T21:04:14Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Michael J. Fox’s middle name is Andrew. He added the middle initial “J” (which doesn’t stand for anything) to distinguish himself from another actor named Michael Fox when he joined the screen actor’s guild. Apparently, he didn’t like Michael A. Fox. I recall reading that Fox chose the “J.” in tribute to character actor Michael J. Pollard, who is possibly best known for his role in Beatty’s _Bonnie and Clyde_. Pollard, like Fox, is on the lower-stature end of the male height continuum, which might be part of the connection. Wikipedia repeats the story but I don’t know how well-sourced it is. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/117 "2015-06-05T21:14:20Z")
Jason Alexander didn’t even know who George Steinbrenner was before he played George Costanza on _Seinfeld_. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/118 "2015-06-05T21:44:12Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Michael J. Fox’s middle name is Andrew. He added the middle initial “J” (which doesn’t stand for anything) to distinguish himself from another actor named Michael Fox when he joined the screen actor’s guild. Apparently, he didn’t like Michael A. Fox. F. Murray Abraham’s first initial was added and stands for nothing. (It is ‘in honor’ of his father’s name, Frederick, but is only an initial.) Jeremy Brett took his name from the label of the suit he was wearing ('Brett & Co.") “Caitlyn” is not Bruce Jenner’s first name change. (His first name is/was William). Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is Lew Alcindor’s second name change as well. (His first name was Ferdinand.) There is only one Roger in Pink Floyd, and it’s not Mr. Waters. Almost none of the Canadian Prime Ministers of the 20th century are known by their birth names. ---
**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:** [June 5, 2015, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/119 "2015-06-05T22:41:13Z")
The Marx Brothers’ mother, Minnie Schoenberg, was the sister of Al Shean–as in “Gallagher and Shean.” ---
**Author:** ![bbonden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecb155/32.png) [@bbonden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbonden)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392/120 "2015-06-06T00:38:16Z")
Here is one that should be widely known, but for some reason is not: Diane Keaton’s real name is Annie Hall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-but-interesting-celebrity-trivia/721392.md?page=7)