# People who remind you of people **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 23, 2001, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-remind-you-of-people/51442 "2001-01-23T19:42:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@TheNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheNerd)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-remind-you-of-people/51442/1 "2001-01-23T19:42:33Z")
At my office, there is one guy who looks a lot like **beatle** , and another who looks a lot like **LionSOB** (sorry, no pics). In a meeting a few days ago, I looked around and began to think what actors would play people around, based solely on looks. Some of them were surprisingly obvious, like Jeff Goldblum, Dennis Franz, and Yeardly Smith. I can’t be the only one that immediately thinks of someone else when presented with a new face. What experiences do you have, and are the initial appearances accurate once you start to actuallly know the person? ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-remind-you-of-people/51442/2 "2001-01-23T19:55:31Z")
…are the luckiest people… What? This isn’t a tribute to Barbra Streisand? Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Plankton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Dave\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-remind-you-of-people/51442/3 "2001-01-23T20:01:27Z")
My freind at work looks like Jimmy Cagney, and yes he is a little villain. And my Grandad, rest his soul, was the spit of Edward G Robinson. He was a very quiet tacit man. Another friend of mine looks a lot (facially, not hairwise) like Nick Cave. He is quite a morose chap with an evil sense of humour. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-remind-you-of-people/51442/4 "2001-01-23T20:08:07Z")
At the recent dopefest in Vancouver, our waitress reminded me of Paula Poundstone. To some extent in looks, but she had the same voice tone, same verbal and physical mannerisms. She was hs/college age, so it makes me wonder if PP had a child she gave up for adoption! And aviddiva looks like Andy McDowell I’ve notice when I go to a new job, people will remind me of other people for a couple of months until I get to know them better. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-remind-you-of-people/51442/5 "2001-01-23T20:17:15Z")
I think beyond any physical resemblance is the need to explain what we don’t know in terms of what we do know. I used to work in an office with someone who bore a resemblance to Shelly Long. She was very conscious of it and adopted Shelly Long’s speech mannerisms. It was extremely unattractive. ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-remind-you-of-people/51442/6 "2001-01-23T21:24:23Z")
My brother reminds me of Greg Proops, (from “Whose Line Is It?”), except my brother’s hair is way shorter. But the same face, and the same glasses. I work with a guy who reminds me of Ted Kaczynski (sp?). You know, the friendly Unibomber. He looks really scary, too. He’s a nice guy, though it doesn’t help that he drives a crappy old van that’s got all kinds of junk in the back. Every time I see it, I think of how easy it would be to hide a body in there. There’s another guy in town who looks like Jerry Garcia, except he’s not missing a piece of his finger. Oh, and me. People tell me I look a lot like myself. 😛 No, seriously, I’m constantly having people tell me I look like so-and-so that they knew in their old home town, or whatever. Apparently I’ve had a busy life, and have done everything from pump gas in Seattle to work in a pizza place in Miami. I wish I could have done better than a minimum wage job, though. ---
**Author:** ![Jeannie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@Jeannie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeannie)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-remind-you-of-people/51442/7 "2001-01-23T23:19:52Z")
When I first met my husband’s oldest brother, he totally reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t remember who. I would ask people who saw him, “Does he look like someone famous to you?” It drove me nuts. Then, just a couple of months ago, after knowing the guy for four years, it struck me: John Lennon! He doesn’t actually look that much like John Lennon, but he’s skinny and had the same kind of hair at one time, and wears the glasses. Ive had people tell me that I look like: Kate Winslet (this one I get fairly often) Paula Poundstone Gillian Anderson I look like none of these people (check out the People Pages), and none of these women even look like each other. I don’t get it at all, but let me say that I _wish_ I looked like Kate Winslet. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-remind-you-of-people/51442/8 "2001-01-23T23:39:44Z")
Mr. Scarlett’s brother **Eldon** is nearly a dead ringer for **Elton John**. Apparently people tell him so all the time, but he doesn’t see it. Is he blind?? As for me, I’ve been told I look like Eddie Munster (in my buzzcut days) and Charlie Gibson. Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![vertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3ec8ea/32.png) [@vertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertigo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-remind-you-of-people/51442/9 "2001-01-24T02:50:19Z")
I know a guy who doesn’t look like anyone else in particular…, but he _ **walks** _ just like Shaggy from Scooby Doo. zoinks! I also had a teacher who was the spittin’ image of Adolphe Menjou. Unfortunately for her, that wasn’t a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-remind-you-of-people/51442/10 "2001-01-24T03:38:52Z")
I’ve had a few occurences of such. One pairing that springs to mind are a couple of geophysicists who my partner and I independently matched as sims. Upon discovery of this identification we agreed on (and probably mutually reinforced) the perception for a few years. One of them is one of my best friends, the other an appreciated business friend. Physical appearance no doubt played a role (tall, skinny, hawk-nose, glasses), as did initially apparent character traits (sense of humor, cracker-jack textbook knowledge). Only after knowing #2 for about 3 years did we begin to distinguish them. Back in the late '80s a woman began working in my building who was a near-double for my girlfriend (body-builder blonde, perm, same nose and face, _same smile_ and even drove the same car (Peugot 505 Turbo, **Cloggie** )). I hope I never wierded her out, but I’m sure she caught me looking… In the mid-'70s I had a car wreck that put me in the hospital for some time. The day shift head nurse was a dead-ringer for June Lockhart (_Lassie_’s boy Tim’s Mom) - and I remarked upon that;…_mistake_…; her return comment was to the effect that she thought June Lockhart was one of the ugliest women alive, and I was at her mercy for a month. Live and learn. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-remind-you-of-people/51442/11 "2001-01-24T10:03:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chrome Spot \* > \*\*I think beyond any physical resemblance is the need to explain what we don’t know in terms of what we do know. > > I used to work in an office with someone who bore a resemblance to Shelly Long. She was very conscious of it and adopted Shelly Long’s speech mannerisms. It was extremely unattractive. \*\* When I was in ninth grade, I had a classmate who looked very much like Marilyn Monroe. Seriously; with the right cosmetics, she could have been an impersonator. I told her this, and at first she laughed it off. But I showed her a book of photos, and she was floored. So she started growing her hair longer, and wearing a lot of pink, and tossing her head and puckering up and so on. She didn’t do the voice, but the other affectations were cute. For a while. Then people started to get fed up, and since I was the source of this, I had to bear some of the blame. ---
**Author:** ![TruePisces](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/truepisces/32/13628_2.png) [@TruePisces](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruePisces)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-remind-you-of-people/51442/12 "2001-01-24T11:27:18Z")
Well, my friend Gary reminds me of Orson Scott Card… at least, from the one pic I saw of OSC (though, OSC is a little heavier… but the resemblence is uncanny) And one of my exes reminded all my college friends of Steven King… and they were very HAPPY when we weren’t together any more (UncleBill, you didn’t slip HIM some of the capsules too, did you?) Those are the only two that I can think of at the moment… ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-remind-you-of-people/51442/13 "2001-01-24T15:15:28Z")
My last boss looked exactly like Gallagher the comedian. My boss before that looked very close to Rodney Dangerfield. I used to get told all the time that I looked like Steve Perry from Journey, then I cut my hair short.