If Neil Armstrong hadn’t aged since 1969, I’d recognize him. But he hardly looks like the same person 40 years on. I could say much the same thing about a lot of aging sports stars like Willie Mays.
I know who they are, and even enjoy their work, but I probably wouldn’t recognize James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, Beyonce Knowles, or J. K. Rowling.
For various reasons, probably almost all of them.
The main reason: I don’t really look at people. I’m usually in my own world. I look to make sure I’m not bumping into others, but I have actually stood behind people I knew well in a line at a market and not noticed them.
Julia Roberts is not attractive in person?
I think most aged people are unrecognizable.
I would not have recognized Tony Curtis in his last days esp without his wig. Same thing I would not recognize an “old” Bridget Bardot, Julie Christie, Gogi Grant, Teresa Brewer, Olivia DeHaviland.
There are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of famous people that I wouldn’t recognize if we were engaged in conversation. People whose names I know but have never seen.
Band members, sports stars, politicians, authors (even many whose books I have read), movie directors (even many whose movies I love) and particularly celebrities (for example Kim Kardashian. I have probably heard or read her name several hundred times but don’t have any idea what she looks like. You could show me a photo of anyone done up suitably slutty and say it is her and I would not know.)
When we branch out beyond English speaking people, virtually all of them. If most non English speaking national leaders approached me in the street to ask for directions I wouldn’t know who they were.
I met her (and Justice Breyer) in 1997, when I was admitted to the Supreme Court bar. It was the end of the term, and she was clearly a bit distracted. She went around the room, shaking hands with everyone and saying hi (she and Breyer are in the same law fraternity as me), and then shot out the door, muttering as she passed me, “Now, back to work!”
A shorter people can actually look bigger than a taller person if there aren’t other people around them to compare them to. A person who’s 5’7" will have a greater width-to-height ratio than a person who’s 6’4". So a muscular short guy will look bigger on camera.
Sylvester Stallone is a famous example of this. He’s actually 5’9" in real life.
eta: And as Nava’s post indicated, a similar effect can apply to women - short women can look more buxom than taller women with the same measurements. As examples, you have Dolly Parton (5’0") and Salma Hayek (5’2").
I could probably walk by an unaccompanied Barack Obama or the Queen of England and not recognize them, unless someone prepped me ahead of time that I’d be seeing someone famous. I have trouble recognizing faces to begin with, and if I’m not expecting to see Santa Claus, or Osama bin Laden, well, I’m probably not going to recognize him.
Example: I ran into (literally) Nick Nolte once in an airport, and after I got done apologizing and walked on, my husband pointed out who it was. I had a 10-minute conversation in a coffee shop with Carlos Santana, not realizing who he was until I noticed everyone looking at us and whispering.
I just did a google image search and was like, “Really, that’s how he looks? I never would have guessed”. Somehow I had a mental image of him that was totally different from his real appearance.
For those of you playing at home, here’s a 2010 picture of Armstrong.
Karen Grassle: She played Ma on Little House on the Prairie and one day she came into the appliance store where I worked to get a toaster fixed. My boss was amazed that I didn’t recognize her.
But I guess I’ve got some form of agnosia. Last spring when my sister came over to visit I asked her who she was.
When he used to work in a magazine store, Hamish once had a customer who bought several magazines with a credit card. When he asked for photo ID, she acted unusually put out, but handed it over.
Only later, when he saw her photo on a magazine cover, did he realize (and this is after seeing her name, which is her real first name, on her CC and ID, remember) that it was Mitsou. Apparently she was irritated at not being recognized.
Not only would I not recognize her, I’ve never even heard of her before!
Cornered her in a dead-end alley, did he?
For me, every sports star, with the exception of Michael Jordan. I’ve never actually *watched *any sports event on TV. I’ve seen guys running around a field or a court, but sports are so boring to me that I don’t even notice or care who’s doing what. Jordan is an exception because he’s transcended the world of sports.
I also wouldn’t recognize Kim Kardashian or Megan Fox (as being Kim Kardaishan and Megan Fox, respectively, that is). I’m sure I would just note that some hot girl walked by.
