# The "I don't have a CLUE why these people are famous" list **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 20, 2001, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528 "2001-06-20T22:52:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528/61 "2001-06-22T00:37:53Z")
Brooke’s first job was as a model for Ivory Snow when she was a baby. She mostly had modelling jobs (she was a Breck girl, not to mention in ads for “Charlie” perfume with Shelly Hack of “Charlie’s Angels” fame) until a TV movie entitled “After the Fall” in 1974, when she was nine. Her first film role was in “Alice, Sweet Alice” (1976), a psychological thriller in which she played a bit part (freaky film which can still be found on Ebay). Her big break, however, was in the first American film by French director Louis Malle entitled (as already mentioned) “Pretty Baby”, also starring Susan Sarandon and Keith Carradine. She plays the child of a prostitute (Sarandon)in a New Orleans brothel during WWI, and becomes the love interest of Carradine. It was scandalous due to her youth (12ish), the pedophilic undertones, the fact she does nude scenes, and the fact that her mother got her the part. This film part was landed by virtue of the nude photo shoot she did with photographer Karl Gross at the insistence of her mother, who felt it would be a good career move (argue with her or not: she was right–Brooke made it to front page status overnight). Prints of this photo portfolio can still be ordered from the photographer, and are part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. She’s of course been in many films since (and is–as always–visually stunning), but I’ve never personally been impressed with her acting. In “Pretty Baby”, however, she was perfect. _“I’ll love you once, I’ll love you twice; I’ll love you more than beans and rice.”_ –Violet, “Pretty Baby” (Re: links to the portfolio–do a search. Don’t want so suffer the “Wrath of Mods.” They are on the web, however; legal, beautiful, and prints are available for purchase, if you’re so inclined.) ---
**Author:** ![Casey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Casey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528/62 "2001-06-22T00:55:13Z")
1. the Hilton Sisters 2. Marissa Berenson (not sure of the spelling) ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528/63 "2001-06-22T01:15:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > > \*\*I thought maybe you started this thread after reading the Vanity Fair article on the Gabors (ZsaZsa, Eva, and Magda). Vanity Fair noted just that: they were famous for being famous. > > \*\* > > BY ALL THAT’S HOLY!!! > > DOES NO ONE REMEMBER **‘GREEN ACRES’**!!! > > What’s WRONG with you people? \*\* Remeber the Nickelodean comercials “Remeber, this is Eva, not ZsaZsa. Eva will not hurt you.” ---
**Author:** ![Odieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a87d85/32.png) [@Odieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odieman)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528/64 "2001-06-22T01:41:05Z")
Yup…that Fannie Flagg is the sameone who wrote the book…believe it or not…although god knows what she did before that to earn the contract. Keith ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528/65 "2001-06-22T02:43:27Z")
**Brooke Shields** I think what cemented Brook’s Name in the celebrity books, though, was _Blue Lagoon_. How old was she in that? **Sandra Bernhar[d|t|dt]?** (Never could disentangle her name in my mind from that famous ballerina) I actually think she’s sexy. Sure her face is rather… austere… at best, but she’s got a fantastic bod, and a rapier wit… and a rather playful personality if her appearances on Letterman are any indication. Good enough for me! ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528/66 "2001-06-22T02:47:50Z")
The aforementioned “Patty” on “Match Game” was possibly Patty Deutsch (if she had long, read hair, and sorta nasal voice), who was a member of the “Laugh-in” ensemble. Her husband was a writer or comic or something, and they also appeared on “Tattletales” a number of times. Nipsey Russell was a cop on the old “Car-54” series, but I remember him mostly as a regular on Dean Martin’s variety show, along with Lou Jacoby, Kay Medford, and the Ding-a-Ling sisters (who featured a young Jayne Kennedy). He had quite a reputation for being a poet, and in the early 70s, when a game show called “Rhyme or Reason” debuted, he was a natural. The format of the show was similar to “Match Game,” only the “matches” had to rhyme. That is, the contestant would write down a word, and a celebrity would do a line that rhymed, and if the rhyming word matched, then the contestant would win that round or whatever. One that I remember was “Of all the Mousketeers, Annette was the best. . .” Well golly, I wonder what word relating to Annette might rhyme with “best.” The contestant selected \*Mitzi McCall, who dutifully responded with “How could she miss, with that well-endowed chest!” As she (McCall) turned sideways to the camera and outlined her own bosom. Of course the word the contestant had written was “chest.” Getting back to Nipsey, though, one rhyme that came up was “Will sex still be great, when I’m 98?” I don’t remember what word the contestant picked, but I do remember Nipsey’s response: “Will sex still be great when I’m 98? It might be, but I won’t participate.” \*Mitzi McCall and her husband Charlie Brill have an interesting trivia item that you can find on IMDB, if you’re interested. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528/67 "2001-06-22T03:01:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bughunter \* > \*\ ***Brooke Shields** > > I think what cemented Brook’s Name in the celebrity books, though, was _Blue Lagoon_. How old was she in that?\*\* Brooke was 15 in Blue Lagoon. [Here’s her bio](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Shields,+Brooke). ---
**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528/68 "2001-06-22T03:18:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Odieman \* > \*\*Yup…that Fannie Flagg is the sameone who wrote the book…believe it or not…although god knows what she did before that to earn the contract. > Keith \*\* I believe she made a decent fortune in the beauty pageant business, not winning the crown, but being miss congeniality. See? It really is about the college scholarships! ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528/69 "2001-06-22T03:18:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mjollnir \* > \*\* > > Nipsey Russell was a cop on the old “Car-54” series, but I remember him mostly as a regular on Dean Martin’s variety show, along with Lou Jacoby, Kay Medford, and the Ding-a-Ling sisters (who featured a young Jayne Kennedy). > > He had quite a reputation for being a poet, and in the early 70s, when a game show called “Rhyme or Reason” debuted, he was a natural. The format of the show was similar to “Match Game,” only the “matches” had to rhyme. That is, the contestant would write down a word, and a celebrity would do a line that rhymed, and if the rhyming word matched, then the contestant would win that round or whatever. > > \*\* He was also in “The Wiz” with Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. Played the tin man, IIRC. IMHO, though, he should be famous just for being named “Nipsey”. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528/70 "2001-06-22T03:46:53Z")
Anna Maria Alberghetti was a minor celebrity because she was in the musical “Carnival” (a version of which had been filmed earlier as “Lili” with Leslie Caron). She had an excellent voice and she was very pretty. Dick Cavett wrote a bit and also did some stand-up comedy before he got his interview show. He was one of the best interviewers of all time. He could be both intelligent and witty. David Steinberg became famous as a stand-up comic. He would include Biblical stories with a comic twist that were wickedly hilarious. Toned-down versions of them got the Smothers Brothers Show cancelled! How much more famous can you get? 😃 There’s a little more information [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=541624#post541624). ---
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528/71 "2001-06-22T04:05:40Z")
\*\*zgystardst Dick Cavett wrote a bit and also did some stand-up comedy before he got his interview show. He was one of the best interviewers of all time. He could be both intelligent and witty.\*\* Dick Cavett can also claim **the major** interview of the '70s. He was the first to interviewed former President Nixon a few years after Nixon resigned from office. This gave us the wonderful statement from Nixon, “It’s not illegal of the President does it!” \*\*Jonathan Chance wrote: BY ALL THAT’S HOLY!!! DOES NO ONE REMEMBER ‘GREEN ACRES’!!!\*\* Dis has been a Filmways presentation, darlink. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528/72 "2001-06-22T05:17:22Z")
[Sandra Bernhard]…I think I’ll wear my hair up today…with baby’s breath… I feel REALLY PRETTY… Oh my God (hackhack)… there must’ve been dust on those mints… And who could remember _pavilion_, let alone _Indonesian_? Canned fruit compote…mmmmmmmmMOM! Omigod Billy, I wish you weren’t my brother so I could _fuck you_! [/Sandra Bernhard] You must, must must must, rent her live concert _Without You I’m Nothing_, which is unbelievably fabulous. I saw her most recent show here in New York, she’s mellowed just a touch since the baby but she’s still a bitch from hell, in the best possible meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528/73 "2001-06-22T07:34:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gr8Kat \* > **The other regular ditz on the show is that little blond Joyce something or other. Dubont? Dupont? Something like that. Boy, she’s dumb. Why’s she famous again? (Actually, I guess she was a character actress or something; once Gene asked her the name of the movie she’d been in recently and she couldn’t remember if it was _Airplane_ or _Airport_. Boy, she’s dumb.)** Joyce Bulifant. She was in **Airplane**. She was almost cast as Carol Brady. Two people “famous” for claiming that they are: Angelyne and Dennis Woodruff. Angelyne has been on billboards in LA since at least the '80s that I’m aware of; she’s a caricature of a busty blonde. I have no idea what else she does. Dennis Woodruff Actor drives around LA in a vintage car with his name and image on every surface. I’ve met him a few times; I always ask what his next project is, and he always names something that never appears. Last time I saw him was at the Glendale DMV about two months ago. I have to admit, he’s got attitude. Not a bad attitude, but _attitude_. Doesn’t seem to do him much good professionally, though. If anyone’s seen **Volcano** , not that it would be interesting to anyone not from LA, both those people’s promotional gimmicks were victims of the lava. (A replica of) one of Angelyne’s billboards was hit by a fireball and collapsed to the sidewalk, in a way that looked like she was lounging provocatively. (A replica of) Dennis Woodruff’s car caught fire and was washed away on a sea of lava. In both cases, the audience just howled. Also, DW’s car goes past the Mann in the last shot of **Girl 6** (another film that you’re no worse off for not having seen). ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528/74 "2001-06-22T11:24:49Z")
If nothing else, this thread prompted me to find out who **Maria Conchita Alonso** was. I saw pictures of her several times in magazines, and could not for the life of me figure out why I should know who she is. Apparently she was Miss Teenager of the World in the year I was born, and Miss Venezuela a few years later, followed by an acting career that I totally missed. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528/75 "2001-06-22T11:43:10Z")
I can’t believe people are asking why Nipsey Russell was famous. Fame is truly fleeting. He was a stand-up comedian, and appeared on a lot of TV shows (Dean Martin’s?). He had several albums, some of the kind called “party albums” because they were a bit risque. He was already a well-known name by the time he was in **The Wiz**. In fact, you could argue that he was _in_ The Wiz because he was a black performer that a lot of white folks were familiar with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-dont-have-a-clue-why-these-people-are-famous-list/69528.md?page=3)