# The one artistic work celebrities will be known for after they die **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668 "2012-09-04T19:02:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/61 "2012-09-09T12:44:37Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Leonard Nimoy will be remembered for …guess ! The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins? (Did I win?) ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/62 "2012-09-09T12:45:33Z")
> [@42fish](#): > > The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins? (Did I win?) Close ! But no cigar . ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/63 "2012-09-09T13:37:39Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > Politically??? Not sure if that counts as an artistic work, per the OP title. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/64 "2012-09-09T23:53:39Z")
Edward James Olmos as Jaime Escalante in _Stand and Deliver_. Similarly, Lou Diamond Phillips as Angel Guzman in _Stand and Deliver_. (Sure, he had La Bamba and other 90s-film-roles, but I would wager this is what most remember him for.) I just mentioned this movie in another thread. I show it a few times a year to my students (well, once to each group, which translates to about three times a year), so I guess it’s absorbed into my consciousness now. _Claudia thinks she’s so hot just because she dates gabachos._ ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/65 "2012-09-10T06:58:27Z")
Frank Zappa: “Valley Girl” ( I jest. Although for all I know it might actually happen.) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/66 "2012-09-10T07:50:10Z")
> [@Ruffian](#): > > Edward James Olmos as Jaime Escalante in _Stand and Deliver_. I disagree - more people may be familiar with him in this role, but after enough time passes, most people will \*remember \*him as Commander Adama. SF geeks have much longer memories than the general public. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/67 "2012-09-10T12:53:14Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I disagree - more people may be familiar with him in this role, but after enough time passes, most people will \*remember \*him as Commander Adama. SF geeks have much longer memories than the general public. I mostly remember him as the origami guy in **Blade Runner**. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/68 "2012-09-10T13:13:25Z")
No mention of Anthony Hopkins? Who is more type casted than Hannibal Lechter? Woody Allen will be remembered for the whole Soon-Yi thing long after his movies are forgotted. And OJ’s football, movie and spokesman work will be but a footnote in his life. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/69 "2012-09-10T13:17:38Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > I mostly remember him as the origami guy in **Blade Runner**. And I remember him as El Pachuco in Zoot Suit. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/70 "2012-09-10T17:13:46Z")
If you’re old like me, you remember Edward James Olmos as Lt Castillo on _Miami Vice_. But overall, I agree with Alessan; I think Adama will be his signature role. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/71 "2012-09-17T19:22:42Z")
Post #71 first one to mention Olivia de Havilland? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/72 "2012-09-17T20:48:28Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Post #71 first one to mention Olivia de Havilland? As Melanie Wilkes or Maid Marion? Ironically, I think both are better remembered than the two movies she won the Oscar for. (Show of hands of anyone who’s watched _To Each His Own_ or _The Heiress_ in the last year.) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/73 "2012-09-17T20:58:37Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Leo DiCaprio: I think this is pretty easy, it has to be Titanic. He’s branched out a lot since then and became a serious actor, but I think everyone still thinks of him as Jack. I agree that Titanic will probably be the first thing thought of. Just because it will be remembered as one of the most successful films of all time. But I disagree that he “branched out”. Anything after his child actor days could be seen as branching out. He has always been a serious actor that has sometimes been handicapped by a babyface. His first role after\* Growing Pains \*was _This Boy’s Life_. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/74 "2012-09-17T21:12:56Z")
Oh, c’mon, people! There’s one perfect answer for this that is guaranteed to be 100% correct. R. Lee Ermey as the drill instructor in _Full Metal Jacket_. The obits will of course refer to him as the “profane” or “foul mouthed” drill instructor. ---
**Author:** ![Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashley_Pomeroy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/75 "2012-09-17T23:37:19Z")
Chuck Norris is an interesting case. He’s going to be remembered for the _Chuck Norris mythos_ - the whole “Chuck Norris facts” thing - rather than any of the films he was in or anything he did. From what I’ve read the only legitimately good Chuck Norris film was _Code of Silence_; his entire career as a leading man outside that film was a load of rubbish. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a Chuck Norris film. But for a few decades he will remain a byword for toughness. In the rain forests of the Amazon, tribespeople who have never seen a television will tell their children to shut up and stop arsing around or else Chuck Norris will be cross. That’s his future; bogeyman to the world’s children. Which leads me to Andre the Giant. Remembered for _The Princess Bride_ - how odd that a burly wrestler should be remembered for his role in a charming fantasy film - but also for the stickers, the whole Andre The Giant Has a Posse thing. He’s another good example of a real person who will be remembered - _is_ remembered - for being the subject of an artistic work rather than the creator. You could probably write a thesis about the stickers, and I imagine several people have. They turn Andre into an icon, to such an extent that the face takes on a life apart from the man, and has come to overshadow it. Even though they were _both_ symbols, the man and the name, and the face, the act. In fact, as a wrestler, Andre was a symbol of a symbol of a symbol… like a Russian doll, but a Russian doll that was dressed as a turtle. There was no Andre the Giant, he didn’t exist. The Gulf War did not take place. Quasars are compact but highly energetic quasi-stellar masses from far away in the past; they would be lethal to us if they were nearby, but thankfully they’re all far away and getting more distant, yet they’re so violently powerful that we can see them off through the galactic fog. They terrify me with their hugeness. Imagine living forever, and long after the sun dies you’re floating in space falling towards a quasar. You’d pray for death. That’s my nightmare. It’s going to end one day but the alternative is horror beyond imagination. Quasars won’t remember Andre the Giant, although they can’t because they predate him. _He’s_ the one who won’t remember _them_. On their scale, human affairs are too small to measure, too small to differentiate from the chaotic underpinnings of physics. So, in a way, from a quasar’s point of view we not only _do not exist_, we _cannot be said to exist_. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/76 "2012-09-17T23:44:47Z")
IMO Chuck Norris will be remembered for _Walker, Texas Ranger_, and that’s it. The whole “mythos” thing is an internet phenomenon that most people have no clue about. My guess is that guess is that Andre the Giant’s death might make into the news on a slow night. Again, as far as the mainstream goes, there will be a vague reference to pro wrestling, and I agree that _The Princess Bride_ will be his top billing. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/77 "2012-09-17T23:48:42Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > My guess is that guess is that Andre the Giant’s death might make into the news on a slow night. Again, as far as the mainstream goes, there will be a vague reference to pro wrestling, and I agree that _The Princess Bride_ will be his top billing. Um… I don’t know how else to [break this to ya](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&cad=rja&ved=0CE4QFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F1993%2F01%2F31%2Fsports%2Fandre-the-giant-46-professional-wrestler.html&ei=R7ZXUJjOMM-A2QWQzoG4Dw&usg=AFQjCNEOmOfaqs6OOKt8KArFVZ7NcbcJPA)… ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668/78 "2012-09-18T00:05:30Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I think Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney are very difficult to pin down to single, career- defining role. None of the films you mentioned for them were the ones I would pick, whereas someone like Clint Eastwood (who, if anything has done far more artistically that the others) is probably going to be “the man with no name” for eternity. > > That my opinion anyhoo. > [@JRDelirious](#): > > Um… I don’t know how else to [break this to ya](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&cad=rja&ved=0CE4QFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F1993%2F01%2F31%2Fsports%2Fandre-the-giant-46-professional-wrestler.html&ei=R7ZXUJjOMM-A2QWQzoG4Dw&usg=AFQjCNEOmOfaqs6OOKt8KArFVZ7NcbcJPA)… Eh, I was responding to the previous posts. I see that I got his two celeb creds right, but in the wrong order. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-artistic-work-celebrities-will-be-known-for-after-they-die/633668.md?page=3)