Who is the most famous living person you would walk past in the street without giving a second glance? I think for me it would probably be Neil Armstrong, he must be one of the most famous men in the world but I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup, not just now in his advanced but when he was walking on the moon, I just have no idea what he looks like.
Umm, who’s the vice president of the USA?
Googles
Yeah, him.
Eh, I’ve pushed along coworkers who were goggling and boggling “ohmyGODit’sSHAKIRA!” on a New York street; I happened to walk past the corner of a café in Barcelona on the day Metallica were there having coffee before their show that night (with quite a few Metallica-shirt-clad guys walking by and getting “omg” eyes), I’ve played rent-a-copette in comicons and moviecons (including reminding people that such-and-such author, actor or director would be signing autographs/in a round table/whatever later but “this is his time off”)…
To me it’s completely different if you’re talking about whomever it is when he’s doing his job and when he’s not. I’ve shaken the hands of politicians who were shaking hands along my side of the street, whether I would/could vote for them or not, but that’s while they’re working; I’ve talked shop with different more-or-less famous people, but always in a work setting; I would not assume I can stare at someone, much less go up to some and start talking with him/her while (s)he’s having a drink with friends just because (s)he happens to be famous any more than I would take off my clothes and start streaking along the office.
Most athletes. I don’t follow sports closely enough to know who most of them are. To be honest, a lot of times the first time I hear of an athlete is when they’re accused of rape or something.
I nearly bumped into Jordan (Katie Price) as she got out of a hotel elevator. I didn’t recognize her until my girlfriend pointed her out.
If you mean not regocnising them I have no idea. If you mean knowing who it is my answer would be most everyone. I would probably make a mental note about it, “Hmpf, I just met a celebrity”, but otherwise I wouldn’t give one damnation…
Best true celebrity non-spot was some friends of mine about a year ago. Picture: two (obviously) gay englishmen on holiday in New York, in a bar, they spot a girl sat on a bar stool alone. They notice there’s a small group of ugly brutes eyeing her up, so these two friends of mine wander over to her…
“Hey, are those fellas bothering you?”
“No, it’s okay, they’re okay”
“We can stay with you, if you like, til your friends show up”
“That’s kind of you”
“I’m Rob and this is my partner Dave?”
“Hi, I’m Beyoncé”
“Aah, don’t you just hate it when your parents name you after a pop star”
“no, I AM Beyoncé, and those guys over there are my bodyguards”.
:smack::smack::smack::smack:
Sports people, musicians, and politicians galore. I’d probably recognise a fair few movie or TV stars, even if I wouldn’t necessarily remember their names immediately.
So, using the Forbes 100 Most Powerful Celebs list, the first whom I have no idea what they look like is Taylor Swift, followed by Kobe Bryant, whoever that is, and Jay Z, who is presumably a rapper but I haven’t a clue.
I had no idea what Beyonce Knowles or James Cameron looked like until I clicked that. I still don’t know who or what Lady Gaga even is. I’d probably recognize Oprah.
To clarify I mean knowing who someone is, but not what they look like. As per my example of Neil Armstrong, I know who he is and what he accomplished but I have no idea what he looked like at any point during his life.
ETA: Anecdotes of meeting celebrities but not realising are also welcome 
Agreed. Same with a lot of today’s pop stars.
Who knows how many I never noticed? I tend to take my summer vacations in a place where a lot of famous people go to be ignored. I hold up my end of the agreement. I almost ran into Mike Wallace once, though. And a former GF (literally) ran into Bill Clinton.
Jesus?
Although I doubt many people would recognise him, since nobody knows what he looked like.
Actually modern day famous, probably politicians or athletes.
He looks like a 16th century Italian painter.
During the whole Mia-Woody deal, I showed enormous restraint by wakling past Woody Allen on the street, instead of walking up to him and smacking him a good one.
I was wearing my very bizzare lavendar suede work shoes, and Allen, who takes great care not to notice anything, was staring at them as he walked towards me. He looked right at me as we crossed paths.
Speaking of sports…I’m a huuuuuge fan of the Cleveland Indians (baseball). I never miss a game. But, I catch the game on the radio 99% of the time. So even though I could hold a decent conversation about any player on the team, I probably wouldn’t recognize more than 5 or 6 of the guys in person. Even Cliff Lee, the stud of all pitching studs who used to play for us - he didn’t play for us until I started listening on the radio. No clue what he looks like.
A friend of mine has an eagle eye and can spot any celebrity in any kind of disguise. I don’t know how she does it. It has happened three times, we’ll be walking toward somebody and she’ll hiss in my ear, “that’s Joe Blow in the red baseball cap coming right this way!” or “don’t stare, but that’s Juicy Lucy in the pink tank top talking on the phone”. ??? I know who JB and JL are, but apparently I don’t know what they look like IRL. She’s like one of those cameras that recognize a certain face shape in crowds.
One reason you don’t sp0ot more celebrities on the street is they lern how to look totally different IRL.
I once saw someone who looked like a very short Paul Simon in my hometown. I later learned his parents lived here at the time, and he is very short.
But that may have nothing to do with his looks, and more with your/most people’s perceptions. People tend to think those people they admire are tall: my coworkers with the Shakira-blindness kept saying “wow, I didn’t know she was so short” for over half an hour. It’s not like her height is a secret.
Some people look very different at work and out of, others don’t. Pedro Almodóvar or Loquillo look the same at the supermarket and on a red carpet (and people tend to be surprised by how short Almodóvar is, but find Loquillo tall enough… dude got his “Crazy One” nick on the basketball court, so yeah, he’s on the tall side); Madonna, I don’t think she even goes to the supermarket.
Most of them, even if I knew what they looked like.
I’m probably in this boat. Probably Tom Brady or Roy Halladay.