# What "famous people" are you surprised other people haven't heard of? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 26, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817 "2024-07-26T14:54:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/262 "2024-12-22T13:28:38Z")
There were zero people in my office who knew what the Mikado was in the 1990s. Middle class, white, college educated, Great Plains folks. But they mostly seemed to know nothing about Shakespeare except for a couple of speeches from Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet. One of my coworkers referred to both as British Shit. Looking at those co-workers pages on Facebook tells me they are in the same place culturally now and unfortunately so are their kids. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/263 "2024-12-22T13:35:07Z")
I am proud of the fact that I can provide a quote or a joke for EVERY possible situation using only the following three sources: 1. _National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation_ 2. _A Christmas Story_ 3. Gilbert & Sullivan ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/264 "2024-12-23T02:37:07Z")
People who know me personally have told me, more than once, that they were surprised that I wasn’t an aficionado of midnight “Rocky Horror Picture Show” screenings back in the day. Oh, I knew about them; I just didn’t have any desire to go to them. I have seen the movie, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Schubert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Schubert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schubert)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/265 "2024-12-23T03:11:56Z")
I thought EVERYONE knew Tom Lehrer. (I was…mistaken. 😪) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/266 "2024-12-23T03:12:48Z")
There are lots of movie theaters where it is now regularly played, as you can see in [TRHPS Official Fan Site: Participation: Showtimes: Regular Showtimes](https://www.rockyhorror.com/participation/showtimes_listings.php?type=r) . ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/267 "2024-12-23T03:51:52Z")
A local theater screens it, with audience participation encouraged, every Halloween. It just wouldn’t be the same at my age, although if someone invited me to join them, I probably would. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/268 "2024-12-23T04:46:44Z")
> [@Schubert](#): > > I thought EVERYONE knew Tom Lehrer. C’mon now - he’s 96. Granted he got sampled for a rap song about a decade ago, but realistically he hasn’t had much public exposure to wide audiences in quite awhile. I can’t imagine most people under at least 25 or 30 will know who he is. They were dragging him a little (or Mark Russell, or both) on The Simpsons for how dated he was back in 1991, when a substantial number of people might have still known who he was. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/269 "2024-12-23T06:24:26Z")
I’m surprised when I find someone who DOES know who [Bazalgette](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Bazalgette) was. He’s been mentioned on a lot of documentaries, but I guess I don’t know many documentary watchers in real life. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/270 "2024-12-23T06:29:38Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I’m surprised when I find someone who DOES know who [Bazalgette](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Bazalgette) was. I’d never heard of him until about five years ago, when I was playing in a tabletop RPG set in late 19th century England. He was mentioned by the gamemaster, along with several others, as being among the engineering titans of that era, and we (the players, through our characters) interacted with him in the game. Most of the reason his name sticks in my head is that it just sounds awesome: “BASIL-jet.” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/271 "2024-12-23T14:49:58Z")
I always thought that Isambard Kingdom Brunel sounded pretty awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/272 "2024-12-23T15:02:30Z")
I’m 73. Tom Lehrer and Mort Sahl are the kinda folk whom I am familiar with their names, and know they were entertainers - mostly before I was old enough to consume their product. But not sure their performances themselves were relevant to later generations (as opposed to their stature as historical figures.) I would’ve thought most people - at least theater/arts persons, would at least be familiar with G&S. Seems like almost every movie/TX show portraying a theater event chooses the Mikado. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/273 "2024-12-23T20:10:29Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I always thought that Isambard Kingdom Brunel sounded pretty awesome. He makes a **great** [cartoon character](https://www.zazzle.co.uk/engineer_brunel_rectangular_sticker-217492881110460961). ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/274 "2024-12-23T20:54:29Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > _I’m 73. Tom Lehrer and Mort Sahl are the kinda folk whom I am familiar with their names, and know they were entertainers - mostly before I was old enough to consume their product._ We are roughly the same age. In my youth I’d occasionally see Mort Sahl on the Merv Griffin Show, the one Merv did from the Little Theatre off Times Square in New York in the 1960s. So I was somewhat familiar with him. Tom Lehrer, on the other hand, I don’t ever remember seeing, other than seeing his LPs in the “Comedy” section of record stores. I actually didn’t hear anything of him unless that last couple of years, when I looked him up out of curiosity. His satiric songs are hilariously clever, and he was/is quite an interesting person beyond being an entertainer. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/275 "2024-12-23T21:48:42Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I’m 73. Typo? I thought you were 63. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/276 "2024-12-24T04:24:25Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Typo? I thought you were 63. Right you are. 63. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/277 "2024-12-24T13:47:37Z")
If you don’t know Tom Lehrer’s songs, a good place to start is a concert he did in Copenhagen on September 11, 1967 which you can find at [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHPmRJIoc2k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHPmRJIoc2k) . ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/278 "2024-12-24T16:56:25Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > > [@XOldiesJock](#): > > > > when I mentioned that Jerry Garcia had died. “Who’s Jerry Garcia?” they asked. > > I wonder where they think Ben & Jerry’s ‘Cherry Garcia’ comes from. I was at a weed dispensary and they had a strain for sale called _Thelonious Funk_. “Heh,” I said, “Like the musician.” Blank stares from the bud tender. “Thelonious Monk?” Nothin’. > **[Thelonious Monk](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelonious_Monk)** > > Thelonious Sphere Monk (/θəˈloʊniəs/ October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser", "Ruby, My Dear", "In Walked Bud", and "Well, You Needn't". Monk is the second-most-recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington. > Monk's compositions and improvisations feature dissonances and angular melodic twist... ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/279 "2024-12-24T17:15:36Z")
That’s the kind of music they should have playing. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/280 "2024-12-24T18:47:03Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I was at a weed dispensary and they had a strain for sale called _Thelonious Funk_. > > “Heh,” I said, “Like the musician.” > > Blank stares from the bud tender. > > “Thelonious Monk?” > > Nothin’. At my bro’s house we were talking about how their dog will steal food if you don’t watch him. I called him “a felonious punk”. My brother cracked up; his wife just stared, looking clueless. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817/281 "2024-12-24T21:22:31Z")
There was a joke in a Terry Pratchett novel about something stolen by a felonious monk. I didn’t get it until my mother explained it to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-are-you-surprised-other-people-havent-heard-of/1004817.md?page=15)