# Out of Character ambitions for famous people **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 11, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488 "2009-06-11T21:01:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/41 "2009-06-12T14:54:16Z")
Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson is now a salmon farmer. [http://money.cnn.com/1998/05/05/busunu/jethro\_pkg/](http://money.cnn.com/1998/05/05/busunu/jethro_pkg/) ---
**Author:** ![Shecky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shecky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shecky)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/42 "2009-06-12T14:59:45Z")
Ashton Kutcher studied biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa and was sweeping up Cheerio dust before going into modeling. Leonard Nimoy does photography and has been exhibited in a few famous galleries. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/43 "2009-06-12T15:07:57Z")
Martial Arts actor \*\*Steven Seagal \*\*is obsessed with vintage electric guitars - he owns many, including the original main three Flying V’s used by Blues legend Albert King… \*\*Conan O’Brien \*\*is a guitar obsessive, too - and keeps vintage gear in his dressing room. When he did Entertainment Weekly’s list of what’s cool this week, he included a shout-out to a Gretsch 6120 guitar - the kind Brian Setzer plays… Author of the “Prey” series of murder mysteries \*\*Jonathan Kellerman \*\*is a guitar obessive and just published a coffee table book of his collection - some vintage but a lot of newer custom-made fancy-looking guitars made by some of the great builders of today… \*\*Kiefer Sutherland \*\*actually got a signature guitar made by Gibson…that no self-respecting player would ever admit to owning 😉 but from what I know if it, sounds like a cool design (basically it’s like Gibson’s more recent ES-339 small-bodied ES-335-type guitar…) G.A.S. (guitar acquisition syndrome) is an insidious disease that does not discriminate - won’t you please donate to help ease its pain? Please make all contributions out in the name of \*\*WordMan \*\*- thank you. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/44 "2009-06-12T15:34:20Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Author of the “Prey” series of murder mysteries \*\*Jonathan Kellerman \*\*is a guitar obessive and just published a coffee table book of his collection - some vintage but a lot of newer custom-made fancy-looking guitars made by some of the great builders of today.. Are you mistaking Jonathan Kellerman with [John Sandford](http://www.aceswebworld.com/sandford.html)? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/45 "2009-06-12T15:37:05Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > Are you mistaking Jonathan Kellerman with [John Sandford](http://www.aceswebworld.com/sandford.html)? Oops - sorry. [Here](http://www.jonathankellerman.com/content/booklocator.php)is Kellerman’s list of mysteries and [here](http://www.guitarlifestyle.com/archives/2009/01/02/jonathan-kellerman-interview/)is an interview about his guitar book… ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/46 "2009-06-12T15:44:48Z")
Oklahoma Sooner basketball legend **Waymon Tisdale** was an accomplished and best selling jazz guitarist. Sadly he just died in May of this year after battling cancer, he was only 44. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/47 "2009-06-12T15:48:33Z")
Father of manga and anime (originator of that big-eyed look you associate Japanese cartoons with) Osamu Tezuka earned his M.D., but never practiced. Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin has a masters degree in education and was a math teacher before earning a living punching people in the face. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/48 "2009-06-12T16:00:27Z")
> [@HelloKitty](#): > > Oklahoma Sooner basketball legend **Waymon Tisdale** was an accomplished and best selling jazz guitarist. > > Sadly he just died in May of this year after battling cancer, he was only 44. All good - just a nit, but Tisdale was a bass player and a damned talented one, too… ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/49 "2009-06-12T16:01:43Z")
[Mayim Bialik](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayim_Bialik) (TV’s Blossom) has done a ton of work in academia. She has 3 bachelor’s degrees and a PhD in neuroscience. However, according to her Wikipedia page she is on the waning side of waxing and waning between study and acting. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/50 "2009-06-12T16:01:50Z")
Pro-wrestler Rick Steiner is on the school board for Cherokee County, Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/51 "2009-06-12T16:13:45Z")
Shaquille O’Neal seemed to be pretty serious about getting into law enforcement after his playing days, and he is/was a reserve officer in Miami Beach ([Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaquille_O'Neal#Law_enforcement)). But I don’t follow basketball enough to know if he’s still doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/52 "2009-06-12T18:25:57Z")
Charles Barkley has sworn for years he’s going to run for Governor of Alabama, though the date keeps getting pushed back. (Last I heard he says 2014 is the year.) ---
**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 13, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/53 "2009-06-13T01:05:05Z")
Dolores Hart gave up her also quite sucessful career as an actress to become a nun: > **[Dolores Hart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolores_Hart)** > > Dolores Hart, O.S.B. (born Dolores Hicks; October 20, 1938) is an American Roman Catholic Benedictine nun and former actress. Following her movie debut with Elvis Presley in Loving You (1957), she made 10 films in five years, including Wild Is the Wind (1957), King Creole (1958), and Where the Boys Are (1960). > At the height of her career, Hart left acting to enter the Abbey of Regina Laudis monastery in Connecticut. > Hart was born Dolores Hicks in Chicago on October 20, 1938. She was the on... ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/54 "2009-06-13T02:47:56Z")
In June of 1966 law student Bill Kurtis was working a temp job as an anchor at WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansas. When a tornado, later classified as F-5, bore down on the city, went right through it and caused untold damage, his onscreen demeanor, calm and serious, came to the attention of network execs, and so he ended up as a national news anchor, and later the producer of fact-based TV shows such as _Forensic Files_. I remember this because I was a kid of eleven, in Topeka, and I saw him then. In an interview years later he said that when the seriousness of the situation facing Topeka became apparent he wondered how to communicate to folks that this wasn’t just any other storm warning. \* “Do I curse, do I yell?”\* he said. Doing neither, his famous(to us Topekans anyway) “For God’s sake…take cover!” did the trick. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/55 "2009-06-13T04:47:21Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Martial Arts actor \*\*Steven Seagal \*\*is obsessed with vintage electric guitars - he owns many, including the original main three Flying V’s used by Blues legend Albert King… > > \*\*Conan O’Brien \*\*is a guitar obsessive, too - and keeps vintage gear in his dressing room. When he did Entertainment Weekly’s list of what’s cool this week, he included a shout-out to a Gretsch 6120 guitar - the kind Brian Setzer plays… > > Author of the “Prey” series of murder mysteries \*\*Jonathan Kellerman \*\*is a guitar obessive and just published a coffee table book of his collection - some vintage but a lot of newer custom-made fancy-looking guitars made by some of the great builders of today… > > \*\*Kiefer Sutherland \*\*actually got a signature guitar made by Gibson…that no self-respecting player would ever admit to owning 😉 but from what I know if it, sounds like a cool design (basically it’s like Gibson’s more recent ES-339 small-bodied ES-335-type guitar…) Interesting list, thanks! However, does _owning cool stuff_ equate to an ambition that’s out of character? Is it out of character for someone who is rich to own expensive, collectible things? Having said that, I am impressed with their taste in those things. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/56 "2009-06-13T05:02:49Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > (British pop star) Robbie Williams is now a UFOlogist. 'Nuff said. So is Dan Ackroyd, who is into the Paranormal in general. Newt Gingrich- zoologist. Morgan Fairchild- medical researcher. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/57 "2009-06-13T05:33:20Z")
Rowan Atkinson (AKA Blackadder, or Mr. Bean if you prefer) is a _huge_ motoring enthusiast and has a massive car collection. He’s also written a number of articles in British magazines on the subject and not only has a Lorry driver’s licence, he races Aston Martins, too. Chris Barrie (AKA Rimmer from _Red Dwarf_) is also a motoring enthusiast and writes for a UK car magazine as well, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/58 "2009-06-13T06:29:04Z")
Louis the XVI had a passion for locksmithing. ---
**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 13, 2009, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/59 "2009-06-13T09:11:48Z")
FriarTed writes: \> Newt Gingrich- zoologist. \> \> Morgan Fairchild- medical researcher. Oh, come on, people, have we gotten so desperate that we’re just making up stuff now? Morgan Fairchild has sometimes served as a spokeswomen for AIDS causes and has read a lot of the research on it, but she’s not a medical researcher. I can’t find any evidence that Newt Gingrich is even interested in zoology. He taught political science for a while and has a Ph.D. in it. astorian writes: \> Ulysses S. Grant hated Army life, though that’s the only career he was ever any \> good at. He really wanted to be a mathematics professor. Is there any evidence that becoming a mathematics professor was anything other than a passing fancy for Grant? He had average grades at West Point, but mathematics was his best subject. Was he really that good at it? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488/60 "2009-06-13T10:19:29Z")
I dunno. Grant was an exceptional rider and horseman. His (mounted) high-jump record stood for something like 80 years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-character-ambitions-for-famous-people/499488.md?page=4)