# Odd Man Out **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [June 13, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277 "2016-06-13T18:58:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/182 "2016-07-27T14:11:38Z")
Would they all (but one) have had roles in which they maintained contact with someone after death? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/183 "2016-07-27T14:19:09Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Would they all (but one) have had roles in which they maintained contact with someone after death? No. It does have to do with roles they played. All but one of them played a role (different roles each) that have something in common with one another. Here’s a huge hint: Deborah Kerr did it twice. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/184 "2016-07-27T17:34:28Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Here’s a huge hint: Deborah Kerr did it twice. Deborah Kerr played a nun twice, and at least a couple of the other actresses did once, but I can’t find enough on some of the others to make that an odd man out. It also doesn’t really work with the other hint, “I’ll see you in my dreams”. I thought they might have all (except the OMO) played characters named Irene, but that doesn’t seem to be it, either. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/185 "2016-07-27T17:49:36Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I thought they might have all (except the OMO) played characters named Irene, but that doesn’t seem to be it, either. This is getting very warm. Give it a little more time, and if still no one figures it out, I’ll tell you who the OMO is, then you can see if you can figure out what they have in common. This is a tough one, but when you get it, you’ll know it. It will be very obvious. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/186 "2016-07-29T00:10:42Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > This one will probably be tough, but when you get it, you know you’ll have it. It’s very clear cut, and no, “this one sort of did this, which was kind of like that.” If no one gets it in 24 hours, I’ll provide a hint. > > Doris Day > Jodie Foster > Kathryn Grayson > Anne Heche > Holly Hunter > Deborah Kerr > Maria Schell > Jane Wyman > > Hint 1: fans of 1930s movies have an advantage. > Hint 2: “I’ll see you in my dreams.” > Hint 3: Deborah Kerr did it twice. > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > This [that they played characters named Irene] is getting very warm. > > Give it a little more time, and if still no one figures it out, I’ll tell you who the OMO is, then you can see if you can figure out what they have in common. > > This is a tough one, but when you get it, you’ll know it. It will be very obvious. The name Irene is significant. The OMO is Anne Heche. What did the rest do (Kerr twice) that Anne Heche did not? And there is a specific reason I picked Heche as the OMO. She wasn’t totally random. If you drew Venn diagrams, Heche would be in a big circle as having done something the others did, but in the smaller, wholly contained circle the others are in. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/187 "2016-07-29T00:43:31Z")
I’ve been looking for a Deborah Kerr/“Irene” connection and haven’t found one yet. I’ll keep at it. I did discover that she was nominated for five Oscars in an eight-year stretch, which has got to be some kind of record. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/188 "2016-07-29T00:59:35Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’ve been looking for a Deborah Kerr/“Irene” connection and haven’t found one yet. I’ll keep at it. > > I did discover that she was nominated for five Oscars in an eight-year stretch, which has got to be some kind of record. She actually holds the record for being nominated and not winning. Find out which actress has the next highest number of nominations without winning. Oscars have nothing to do with the answer. Just a push toward the right “Irene.” ---
**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:** [July 29, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/189 "2016-07-29T03:03:36Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > She actually holds the record for being nominated and not winning. Find out which actress has the next highest number of nominations without winning. Looks like Glenn Close, also with 6. Not sure if I trust the internet on that; the first source I found while searching didn’t even mention Kerr. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/190 "2016-07-29T03:52:38Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Looks like Glenn Close, also with 6. > > Not sure if I trust the internet on that; the first source I found while searching didn’t even mention Kerr. OK. Scratch that. I didn’t know about Close-- that must be a recent “achievement.” Remember what I said about a knowledge of films from the thirties being helpful, and look for someone who was nominated 5 times without winning. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2016, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/191 "2016-07-29T04:05:32Z")
I think I’m on the right track. Give me a few minutes. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2016, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/192 "2016-07-29T04:39:29Z")
All played roles that had previously been played by Irene Dunne. Doris Day in _Move Over, Darling_ (1963), remake of _My Favorite Wife_ (1940) Jodie Foster in _Anna and the King_ (1999), remake of _Anna and the King of Siam_ (1946) Kathryn Grayson in _Lovely to Look At_ (1952), remake of _Roberta_ (1935) and _Show Boat_ (1951), remake of _Show Boat_ (1936) Holly Hunter in _Always_ (1989), remake of _A Guy Named Joe_ (1943) Deborah Kerr in _An Affair to Remember_ (1957), remake of _Love Affair_ (1939) and _The King and I_ (1956), remake of _Anna and the King of Siam_ (1946) Maria Schell in _Cimarron_ (1960), remake of _Cimarron_ (1931) Jane Wyman in _Magnificent Obsession_ (1954), remake of _Magnificent Obsession_ (1935) (There’s also Jane Wyman in _Let’s Do it Again_ (1953), which IMDb says is a remake of _The Awful Truth_ (1937), but the character’s names are different.) I can’t find a conspicuous Anne Heche connection. Was she planned to be another remake of an Irene Dunne movie but it fell through? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/193 "2016-07-29T05:08:33Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > All played roles that had previously been played by Irene Dunne. > > Doris Day in _Move Over, Darling_ (1963), remake of _My Favorite Wife_ (1940) > > Jodie Foster in _Anna and the King_ (1999), remake of _Anna and the King of Siam_ (1946) > > Kathryn Grayson in _Lovely to Look At_ (1952), remake of _Roberta_ (1935) > and _Show Boat_ (1951), remake of _Show Boat_ (1936) > > Holly Hunter in _Always_ (1989), remake of _A Guy Named Joe_ (1943) > > Deborah Kerr in _An Affair to Remember_ (1957), remake of _Love Affair_ (1939) > and _The King and I_ (1956), remake of _Anna and the King of Siam_ (1946) > > Maria Schell in _Cimarron_ (1960), remake of _Cimarron_ (1931) > > Jane Wyman in _Magnificent Obsession_ (1954), remake of _Magnificent Obsession_ (1935) > > (There’s also Jane Wyman in _Let’s Do it Again_ (1953), which IMDb says is a remake of _The Awful Truth_ (1937), but the character’s names are different.) > > I can’t find a conspicuous Anne Heche connection. Was she planned to be another remake of an Irene Dunne movie but it fell through? Ding, ding, ding, ding! Anne Heche was in the notorious almost shot-for-shot remake of _Psycho_ that Gus van Sant did in 1999, playing Janet Leigh’s character. I thought she might help get you on the track of remakes. _Let’s Do It Again_ is more “inspired by” _The Awful Truth_ than a genuine remake of it. I’d forgotten about the remake of _Roberta_. It’s a testimony to Dunne’s greatness, I suppose, that such a huge number of her films were remade, but because of the fact that the remaking studio would usually buy the rights to the earlier film and withdraw it from distribution, Few people after about 1948 know who she is, as opposed to say, a Katharine Hepburn or an Ingrid Bergman. But Dunne but loved in her own time. However, thanks to home video, streaming services, TCM, and public domain, you can see pretty much all of her movies now, fully restored and beautiful. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2016, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/194 "2016-07-29T05:47:00Z")
I wasn’t too far away from getting it last night. I thought all the actresses might have co-starred with a famous Irene, and Irene Dunne was one that I considered. I also tried to work backwards from the list, looking for interesting movies for the names on the list, and _Always_ was one of the ones I checked. I knew it was a remake of _A Guy Named Joe_. If I’d noticed that Dunne starred in the original, I might have cracked it. I wonder if there’s a good question with Deborah Kerr and Jude Law, both of whom remade two movies with the same actor. Law was in remakes of _Alfie_ and _Sleuth_, both times playing roles originated by Michael Caine. I wonder if there are any other good examples. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/195 "2016-07-30T00:44:15Z")
New list: Lionel Barrymore Tom Cruise Laura Innes Terry Kilburn Hugh Laurie And it’s not that Laura Innes is the only woman. This one should be easier that the Irene Dunne one, but still a bit of a challenge. The OMO has something in common with the others, but there is still a very important distinction. In fact, it’s almost the flip side of the distinction. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/196 "2016-08-10T02:21:15Z")
The picture round [https://s10.postimg.org/u6ugacd21/odd.jpg](https://s10.postimg.org/u6ugacd21/odd.jpg) ---
**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:** [August 11, 2016, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/197 "2016-08-11T03:48:55Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > New list: > > Lionel Barrymore > Tom Cruise > Laura Innes > Terry Kilburn > Hugh Laurie > > And it’s not that Laura Innes is the only woman. > > This one should be easier that the Irene Dunne one, but still a bit of a challenge. The OMO has something in common with the others, but there is still a very important distinction. In fact, it’s almost the flip side of the distinction. I didn’t see this one until just now. Is Tom Cruise the odd man out? I think the others all had roles where they used a crutch or a cane (Barrymore in _You Can’t Take it With You_, Innes in _ER_, Kilburn in _A Christmas Carol_, Laurie in _House_; Cruise was in a wheelchair in _Born on the Fourth of July_. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/198 "2016-08-12T01:00:19Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I didn’t see this one until just now. Is Tom Cruise the odd man out? I think the others all had roles where they used a crutch or a cane (Barrymore in _You Can’t Take it With You_, Innes in _ER_, Kilburn in _A Christmas Carol_, Laurie in _House_; Cruise was in a wheelchair in _Born on the Fourth of July_. Actually, that’s it, but Cruise used crutches for a portion of _Born on the Fourth of July_ (Kovic fell and broke his legs using them, and after that, was in a wheelchair). They all used traditional crutches, Lofstrand crutches, which are sometimes called canes, or traditional canes, but Barrymore is the Odd Man Out. Why? ---
**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:** [August 12, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/199 "2016-08-12T02:51:04Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Actually, that’s it, but Cruise used crutches for a portion of _Born on the Fourth of July_ (Kovic fell and broke his legs using them, and after that, was in a wheelchair). They all used traditional crutches, Lofstrand crutches, which are sometimes called canes, or traditional canes, but Barrymore is the Odd Man Out. Why? Hmm, I don’t know. I haven’t seen _You Can’t Take it With You_; when I thought canes or crutches would be the key I did a web search and found a still image of Barrymore from the movie. Was he faking, or was his injury on the left foot, something like that? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/200 "2016-08-12T18:30:21Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Hmm, I don’t know. I haven’t seen _You Can’t Take it With You_; when I thought canes or crutches would be the key I did a web search and found a still image of Barrymore from the movie. Was he faking, or was his injury on the left foot, something like that? You don’t have to have seen _You Can’t Take It with You_, but you need to know a little about Barrymore personally. If you saw _It’s a Wonderful Life_ maybe you’ll figure it out without looking up Barrymore, but it’s probably in his IMDb bio. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277/201 "2016-08-13T03:56:54Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > The picture round > > [https://s10.postimg.org/u6ugacd21/odd.jpg](https://s10.postimg.org/u6ugacd21/odd.jpg) They’re all human beings except the green locomotive? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-man-out/757277.md?page=11)