# What Celebrities have wholly artificial public personas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2006, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696 "2006-04-21T22:08:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/41 "2006-04-22T03:15:29Z")
Stephen Colbert stays in character most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_of\_the\_Felines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/b5e925/32.png) [@Queen\_of\_the\_Felines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_of_the_Felines)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/42 "2006-04-22T03:35:38Z")
Super Dave Osbourne? ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/43 "2006-04-22T04:44:55Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > **Buster Poindexter** was actually an character created/performed by David Johansen, the former frontman of the punk rock group Television. Johensen was frontman of the New York Dolls, not Television. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/44 "2006-04-22T04:54:28Z")
> [@VCO3](#): > > Johensen was frontman of the New York Dolls, not Television. šŸ™‚ Beat ya to it! šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/45 "2006-04-22T05:11:22Z")
Chuck Knipp, an obese white male nurse and Quaker Universalist minister, is best known publicly (particularly in gay bars) as [Shirley Q. Liquor](http://shirleyqliquor.com/), a fat ghetto-philosopher black woman famous for her [monologues](http://solargeneral.com/stream/audio.php?cdir=40&pdir=Lw) (the _Titanic Reprise_ link on that page probably being the most famous- politically incorrect but I canā€™t pretend I didnā€™t laugh until there were tears in my eyes the first time I heard it). He gets hate mail and mobs of picketers at his appearances from both blacks and whites protesting his blackface personal appearances and _at the same time_ has rabid fans, again both black and white, who call him a comic genius on par with Lily Tomlin or Whoopi Goldberg (the latter being one of his biggest fans). Pat Harrington, bka Schneider from _One Day at a Time_, was originally famous in the 50s/60s as Guido Panzini, an Italian playboy and bon vivant who made occasional appearances on Arthur Godfrey and other shows. He also reprised the role once in a ā€œlookalikeā€ episode of ODaaT. Speaking of Guido alter egos, thereā€™s also Don Novello who occasionally acts under his own name but is best known as Vatican gossip columnist Father Guido Sarducci. Dopers over 35 may remember Murray Langston, best known as [The Unknown Comic](http://www.w7dk.org/images/Unknown%20Comic.jpg) on _The Gong Show_ and a mini-career on other shows. While it was a one time only gig, Andy Kaufman introduced his elderly Jewish grandmother at his famous ā€œcookies and milkā€ concert and had her sit on the stage where she looked senile and confused. At the end of the concert Grandma took off her make-up to reveal that she was really Robin Williams in pre-Mrs. Doubtfire old lady drag. Also speaking of Kaufman, Tony Clifton has been played by at least four people over the years (Kaufman, his brother, Bob Zmuda, and an unknown accomplice who made appearances at Kaufman shows upon occasion to screw with the audience. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/46 "2006-04-22T05:39:41Z")
> [@Stentor 2.5](#): > > Iā€™ve heard that Carrot Top is well respected among comedians for his work ethic. He tours over three hundred days a year. My guess would be that heā€™s probably quite funny, itā€™s just that once you walk out on stage with a prop no one ever takes you seriously again. I also find it telling that most of the people who criticize him have never seen one of his shows. They just know that everybody else knows that he sucks. Has he ditched the props? If so, does he tour under his real name? I would think thatā€™d help. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/47 "2006-04-22T05:43:37Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Speaking of Guido alter egos, thereā€™s also Don Novello who occasionally acts under his own name but is best known as Vatican gossip columnist Father Guido Sarducci. Woah! Is he the ā€œAlbanianā€ guy from the Handsome Boy Modeling School albums? ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/48 "2006-04-22T06:50:38Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Andrew Clay Silverstein, aka Andrew ā€œDiceā€ Clay, manufactured a fairly convincing racist, misogynist loudmouth persona for himself, but unfortunately didnā€™t seem to know when to turn it off. He made an attempt for the 1995 sitcom _Bless This House_, which had some promise as a blue-collar family comedy, but by then it was too late. Thatā€™s the trouble with shock as a schtick. The audience tires of it, and unless you develop something else, youā€™ve got nowhere to go but lower and lower. I was a security guard on that show and found him _very_ low key when the cameras were away from him. Quiet, polite and at times even seemed almost contrite. Could have been his true nature or just sorta evolved that way after very high high and then the inevitable lull that followed. On the flip side, Moonwife cleaned **Howie Mandelā€™s** teeth once and thought he was such a kick in the pants she insisted he should try his hand at showbiz (ā€œNah, Iā€™m just an electrician; thanks anyway.ā€) Heā€™s not far from his on-screen persona even when heā€™s off-camera ā€“ which might surprise some. FWIW, I think Mandel one of the great comics of our time, doesnā€™t get his fair due and should be getting meatier work. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/49 "2006-04-22T06:57:04Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Foster Brooks rarely drank alcohol. (And Dean Martin usually didnā€™t drink much either.) Umm, pretty good source (waited on him a lot at a place in the Valley) tells me Dean Martin actually did drink daily and a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/50 "2006-04-22T11:08:30Z")
According to Wiki, Raymond Burr [fabricated a dead wife and child](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Burr#Relationships) to avoid being outed. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/51 "2006-04-22T11:50:13Z")
> [@Moonchild](#): > > I was a security guard on that show and found him _very_ low key when the cameras were away from him. Quiet, polite and at times even seemed almost contrite. Could have been his true nature or just sorta evolved that way after very high high and then the inevitable lull that followed. Well, he couldnā€™t rein himself in for the famous November 12, 2003 CNN interview by Allen Chernoff, ([partial transcript](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Dice_Clay#CNN_interview_transcript:_.22Stand-up_Guy.22)) which suggests poor judgement, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/52 "2006-04-22T12:14:03Z")
I canā€™t believe I missed this one. Ed Zotti is really a character played by Lynn Bodoni. I also canā€™t believe I didnā€™t remember Don Novello/Guido Sarducci. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2006, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/53 "2006-04-22T12:38:42Z")
Robin Williams has a quiet, mature alter ego. Like Steve Martin, he has managed to put the ā€œwild and crazy guyā€ behind him. Bob Saget. He had that squeaky clean, Full-House-Americas-Funniest-Home Videos persona, whilst being the foul mouthiest stand up comedian. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/54 "2006-04-22T15:11:15Z")
Groucho Marx and Dolly Parton are two celebrities who pass(ed) unnoticed among their fans by simply dressing as themselves. (For Groucho this was in the era when he wore greasepaint or otherwise false moustaches; Dollyā€™s without huge hair and gobs of makeup and industrial strength support bras is supposedly unrecognizable- she once sent in her photo to a Dolly Parton lookalike contest and didnā€™t make the first cut.) ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/55 "2006-04-22T15:14:24Z")
Wow. I wouldā€™ve figured even without the hair and spackle that Dolly and the Twins would be hard to mistake. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/56 "2006-04-22T15:28:34Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Groucho Marx and Dolly Parton are two celebrities who pass(ed) unnoticed among their fans by simply dressing as themselves. (For Groucho this was in the era when he wore greasepaint or otherwise false moustaches; Dollyā€™s without huge hair and gobs of makeup and industrial strength support bras is supposedly unrecognizable- she once sent in her photo to a Dolly Parton lookalike contest and didnā€™t make the first cut.) I donā€™t know if this counts, but Maynard James Keenan (lead vocalist of Tool) has done the same thing. He has worn some pretty crazy stuff on stage that renders him near unrecognizeable. He related a story in one interview where he was talking with the guitarist after a show and, as he walked away, some fans ran up to him and said ā€œHey, were you just talking to the guitarist from Tool? Do you know him?ā€ ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/57 "2006-04-22T16:05:22Z")
From what I am led to believe, Marilyn Manson is actually a pretty erudite, quiet guy when heā€™s not in the make-up. Totally knows how to manipulate his image, too, to get as much ā€˜shockā€™ value as possible. ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/58 "2006-04-23T04:45:54Z")
The ones I wonder the most about are probably Gilbert Gottfried and Bobcat Goldthwait, two people whose last names I have no hope of spelling correctly. Also, whatā€™s Mr. T like when heā€™s not on camera? Mitch Hedbergā€™s on-stage persona was mostly an act. I saw one performance where he said something like ā€œUh oh, that sounded a little too close to my real voice. I may have to kill you all now.ā€ If you want to hear his ā€œnormalā€ voice, watch the episode of ā€œHome Moviesā€ where Brendon has to babysit a cat; Mitch is the guy giving the eulogy for the cat at the end. He talks a lot faster, and itā€™s nothing like his slow-paced stoner persona. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/59 "2006-04-23T10:02:07Z")
I always get the feeling that Paris Hiltonā€™s a much smarter cookie than her public persona would have you believe. Iā€™ve read in magazine articles that in private, in person, she doesnā€™t talk with that high, breathy, little-girl voice; she herself has said something along the lines that it takes a pretty smart girl to play such a dumb blonde for so much money. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696/60 "2006-04-23T10:36:30Z")
Minnie Perle and Grandpa Jones (is that right?) from Grand Old Opry. My dad said he saw Grandpa Jones perform after WWII when he was probably in his 20s and he was still ā€œGrandpaā€ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-wholly-artificial-public-personas/353696.md?page=4)