# Things about actors that make you say, 'Wow.' **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 5, 2023, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086 "2023-08-05T02:31:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/61 "2023-08-09T15:46:51Z")
I really don’t know. I became aware of it here in relation to that poster I mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/62 "2023-08-09T16:16:49Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Dolph Lungren, who played Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, holds a Master’s degree in chemical engineering and speaks several languages, including fluent English and Swedish. I actually met Dolph Lundgren while he was filming a movie at Rice University in the early ‘90s. They were using one of the engineering labs as a set. Mr. Lundgren apparently asked to talk to some students during a shooting break, so I was asked if I wanted to “meet a movie star” as I walked by. Mr. Lundgren asked what I was studying. (I was a chemical engineering undergraduate student at the time.) Imagine my surprise when he told me he had a master’s degree in chemical engineering! (The other interesting thing about this encounter was that it took place late at night, apparently to avoid disrupting classes. They had these big light boxes placed on the windows outside which made it look like daylight inside.) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/63 "2023-08-09T20:03:19Z")
Not an actor, but Dexter Holland, lead singer of the band **Offspring** , was the valedictorian of his high school graduating class in 1984. He graduated from USC with a bachelor in biology and an MS degree in molecular biology and was working torwards a PhD in molecular biology when his band took off, in the early 90’s. He went back in 2017 and defended his thesis and was awarded his PhD. He said in a 1995 interview that when he was 40 that he hoped he was a professor at a University than still be playing music. Sadly for him, at 57, he’s still performing with _Offspring_. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/64 "2023-08-09T21:02:55Z")
Peter Weller has a Ph.D. in Italian Renaissance Art History from UCLA. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/65 "2023-08-09T21:33:53Z")
> [@robby](#): > > I actually met Dolph Lundgren while he was filming a movie at Rice University in the early ‘90s. They were using one of the engineering labs as a set. Mr. Lundgren apparently asked to talk to some students during a shooting break, so I was asked if I wanted to “meet a movie star” as I walked by. Mr. Lundgren asked what I was studying. (I was a chemical engineering undergraduate student at the time.) Imagine my surprise when he told me he had a master’s degree in chemical engineering! What movie? I definitely was aware he had at least one advanced degree. He seems like a cool guy. Glad he is in Expendables 4. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/66 "2023-08-09T21:43:12Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > > [@robby](#): > > > > I actually met Dolph Lundgren while he was filming a movie at Rice University in the early ‘90s. They were using one of the engineering labs as a set. Mr. Lundgren apparently asked to talk to some students during a shooting break, so I was asked if I wanted to “meet a movie star” as I walked by. Mr. Lundgren asked what I was studying. (I was a chemical engineering undergraduate student at the time.) Imagine my surprise when he told me he had a master’s degree in chemical engineering! > > What movie? I definitely was aware he had at least one advanced degree. He seems like a cool guy. Glad he is in Expendables 4. I have no idea, actually. Apparently a forgettable one. 😄 I tried to figure it out once from IMDB, but nothing rang a bell and it could be one of several possibilities based on the timing. ETA: _Dark Angel_ is listed as being filmed in Houston around that time, so it could have been that one, but I’m just guessing. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/67 "2023-08-09T23:44:04Z")
I beleive you can actually watch some of his lectures on the subject on youtube. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/68 "2023-08-10T00:31:02Z")
[Victor McLaglen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_McLaglen) led a life worthy of “world’s most interesting man” contention. Left home to join the British Army when he was 14. At age 19, he moved to Canada, where he was a heavyweight boxer and wrestler. He fought heavyweight champ Jack Johnson in 1909. Toured with a circus, offering $25 to anyone who could go last 3 rounds with him. Joined the British army, again, to fight in WWI, eventually serving as Asst Provost Marshal of Baghdad. Was named heavyweight boxing champion of the British Army in 1918. And then. . . He was hired to play the part of boxer in a movie, and from there, launched a movie career that spanned 113 movies, frequently with John Ford and John Wayne. He won an Academy Award. Either one of those careers would have been remarkable all on their own. * * * [Brian Blessed’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Blessed) life is as big as his voice. He had a successful film and stage career, working with and befrending greats such as Lawrence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh, and notorious drunkards & carousers like Peter O’Toole and Oliver Reed. He’s been a friend of Patrick Stewart since childhood. He has many stories about these people and times. He’s a avid climber, having summited many of the world’s most famous peaks. He’s attempted to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen three times, but did not succeed. He had to turn back the third time to save the life of a fellow climber. He’s the oldest man ever to travel on foot to the magnetic north pole. He punched a polar bear in the face as it attempted to get into his tent, with his biggest concern being to keep his companions from shooting it. He was an avid boxer and claims to have sparred with the Dalai Lama. He holds a 3rd degree Dan in Judo. He’s completed 800 hours of cosmonaut training in Russia, as he wanted to go into space. He was undertaking an expedition in the Venezuelan jungles when his plane crashed. After the crash, he had to trek eleven hours through the jungle to get help. Everywhere he goes, be it in Russia or Africa, or wherever, [everyone wants him to say it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8LNTCLQs0M&t=10s) Yes, they really do. If you have the time, look up his interviews, talk-show appearances and lectures on Youtube. Fascinating stories told in that monstrous voice of his. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/69 "2023-08-10T01:26:52Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > I beleive you can actually watch some of his lectures on the subject on youtube. I was channel surfing once and came across a show on the Discovery Channel with some talking head talking about art history. I thought “that guy looks kinda like Peter Weller”. Later, I happened to catch the show again from the beginning and discovered “hey, that _is_ Peter Weller!” ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/70 "2023-08-10T10:14:42Z")
He’s also a licensed pilot who made a 10 day solo flight around the world, and has his own brand of hot sauce, Gringo Bandito. The guy is kinda annoying. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/71 "2023-08-10T12:18:50Z")
[Canada Lee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Lee) is best known for his role of Joe in _Lifeboat_, but he was an accomplished Broadway actor with a very varied career. As a child, he was a violin prodigy, but he qit that in his early teens to become a jockey at Saratoga. When he outgrew ift,he became a boxer and became the amateur lightweight champ. He boxed professionally as a welterweight with some success, but had to quit when he suffered a detached retina and went blind in one eye. He went to apply for a janitor’s job and discovered they were casting for a play. He got a small role and struck up a friendship with Orson Welles, who cast him in several of his critically acclaimed productions. Lee was given the lead in _Native Son_ and became a Broadway star. He was the first Black to produce a Broadway show and the first Black actor to portray a white character on stage (using whiteface). He also had a radio show, He was one of the first DJs, playing records instead of live music. His career fell apart due to the blacklist. He had been an advocate for civil rights and that made him suspect. He had trouble getting roles. He died in 1952. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/72 "2023-08-10T19:25:45Z")
Phil Hartman designed more than 40 album covers for bands like Poco and America and even the logo for Crosby, Still, & Nash. He started to take comedy classes at the Groudlings, befriended Paul Reubens, and helped Reubens develop the Pee Wee Herman character, the live Pee-Wee Herman Show, and co-wrote Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. He then joined Saturday Night Live after being recommended by Jon Lovitz and Lorainne Newman. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/73 "2023-08-10T21:09:48Z")
Overachievers gotta overachieve. Too bad Offspring (The Offspring? You pick.) has gone kinda downhill. _Americana_ was an awesome, awesome album! There’s also Greg Graffin from Bad Religion, PHD in evolutionary biology, who lectures at various universities on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/74 "2023-08-10T21:50:45Z")
> [@Tride](#): > > Overachievers gotta overachieve. That’s all I gotta say about Christopher Guest. Like, can you leave a few achievements for the rest of us? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/75 "2023-08-11T03:58:06Z")
Some good, some less so. Only a few are impressive, but most are somewhat interesting. > **[59 Bizarre Celebrity Facts That Will Alter Your Perception Of These People...](https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/strange-celebrity-facts)** > > So many celebrities with missing fingertips. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/76 "2023-08-11T04:50:42Z")
Did anyone know the actor Dwayne Johnson started off his career as a professional wrestler that went by the ring name of _The Rock_? 😉 ---
**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:** [August 11, 2023, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/77 "2023-08-11T05:27:10Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > > [@robby](#): > > > > I actually met Dolph Lundgren while he was filming a movie at Rice University in the early ‘90s. They were using one of the engineering labs as a set. Mr. Lundgren apparently asked to talk to some students during a shooting break, so I was asked if I wanted to “meet a movie star” as I walked by. Mr. Lundgren asked what I was studying. (I was a chemical engineering undergraduate student at the time.) Imagine my surprise when he told me he had a master’s degree in chemical engineering! > > What movie? I definitely was aware he had at least one advanced degree. He seems like a cool guy. Glad he is in Expendables 4. He has a masters from the University of Sydney. He then was a Fulbright Scholar at MIT but left before he got another degree. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2023, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/78 "2023-08-11T05:32:33Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Remember Boss Hogg from the Dukes of Hazard? He was the round man always wearing white, telling his deputy, Rosco P. Coltrane to “get them Duke boys”. > > Well, he was actually Sorrell Booke, a learned man who had a masters degree from Yale and spoke a dozen languages. Wow! BA from Columbia and a MFA from Yale. Because of his language ability he was in Military Intelligence in the Korean War as a counterintelligence officer. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2023, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/79 "2023-08-11T05:39:44Z")
To continue with the military service theme, Charles Durning never made it past the rank of PFC in the Army. However, he was in both the initial landing on Omaha Beach and in the Battle of the Bulge. He was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and 3 Purple Hearts. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086/80 "2023-08-11T09:40:00Z")
It’s pretty well known that Mayim Bialik has a PhD in a brain science-- that wasn’t the Wow for me. It was the topic of her dissertation. “The role of the amygdala in Prader-Willi syndrome.” I haven’t read it, but I’d like to. When I worked in community living for disabled people, I worked with a couple of people with Prader-Willi syndrome. It was heart-breaking sometimes. Without revealing too much, one was near-normal in intelligence and daily functioning, and worked so hard to stick to a healthy diet, but talked a _lot_ about what he wished he could be eating at any given time. Another was an adult, and living apart from her parents, but they still had guardianship over her, and she was not as high-functioning, mostly because she had poor language. Her parents decided a lot of thing, including the locks on the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets. The only “free” snack she could have was sugar-free Popsicles. I kinda want to read Bialik’s dissertation. And yes, I’ve read dissertations before-- I’ve proof-read 2. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-about-actors-that-make-you-say-wow/988086.md?page=5)