Prince, although short, was apparently a baller on the basketball court.
And Jason Lee was a professional skateboarder.
Speaking of Lou Costello, apparently he was a very good basketball player in high school–surprising for someone so short. In the 1945 film Here Come the Co-eds you can see him easily make several baskets, some of them trick shots.
I had thought that Costello was about as old as James Naismith because I had only seen him in old footage, but he was born only two years earlier than my own grandfather who despite an extremely diminutive status was reported to be a first rate basketball player and the captain of his school team (I DO have a team photo showing him to be team captain). I was told he was also the easiest one to lift up and retrieve the ball from the peach basket after a goal was scored, so maybe that had some bearing!
In any case, this entire thread has shed some light on my personal views of those in the performing arts. I no longer think of them in reference to Dire Straights – getting their money for nothing and their chicks for free.
You just reminded me of Howard Stern’s quip about one Jackie Chan movie or another: ‘people are always saying: He Does His Own Stunts. Yeah, of course he does his own stunts; he’s a stuntman.’
That so blew my mind, actually seeing it back then.
My questioning of reality took on a new scope after that.
Anyway - John Belushi.
I remember him playing for the Minnesota Vikings, #49. He was a disappointment as a pro.
Forgot - Kevin from The Office going absolutely downtown-a-delic with non-stop threes on the bball court. (during end credits, IIRC)
DAMN YOU INTERNET FOR HAVING NO FOOTAGE OF THIS!
Funny, that he wasn’t included in the actual bball game itself, despite his superior skills.
(In terms of raw athleticsm, however, I don’t think he could do the 40 in under 6, say.) (or 300 burpees - incorporating push-ups - in under 20)
Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan, who is one of the most famous actors worldwide even though most Americans may never have heard of him, was apparently on track for a professional sports career before an injury sidelined him into acting. There are other ex-athletes in Bollywood but SRK has got to be far and away the best-known.
If dancers are allowed, can we include Patrick Swayze?
If we’re doing foreign celebrities…
Arik Einstein (1939-2013) was probably Israel’s most beloved singer, a successful actor, and the country’s all-around favorite human being. As a teenager he had been the country’s junior high jump and shot put champion, and briefly played professional basketball for Hapoel Tel Aviv.
? Haven’t we been doing “foreign celebrities” at least since the mentions of Dolph Lundgren, Harold Sakata, Jason Statham, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Alexander Godunov, Cantinflas, Vinnie Jones, Hugh Laurie, and all the other non-Americans discussed in previous posts?
Maybe what you mean by “foreign” is just “not familiar in Hollywood/American English-language mainstream entertainment media”.
Which, AFAICT from the OP, is a legit category for inclusion in this thread.
That’s exactly what I mean. Thanks.
He also recently got his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
And that’s a huge accomplishment. It’s not like training at a McDojo where it’s filled with 12 year old black belts. He trains with Rorian Gracie and has the only black belt awarded by Rorian to anyone who doesn’t have the last name Gracie.
Looking at the vastly different genotypes of high jumpers and shot putters in any competition, it would seem the level of competition wasn’t exactly high when Einstein was a double junior champion.
Yeah, I’ve seen shotputters who were also sprinters on occasion, but never a high jumper/shot putter combination.
I’m guessing Arik Einstein was pretty tall? That plays well into shotput, high jump and basketball.
I’m not sure if that doesn’t say more about the Gracie family’s propensity for promoting the name Gracie.
Well, sprinters are packs of muscle. High jumpers are not. Short guys don’t do well in shot put, but thin guys don’t do at all.
Oh, absolutely. In a tiny country, which had just been founded 7-8 years earlier, and which wasn’t really that into track and field to begin with, being national champion wasn’t that hard. But hey, an athlete’s an athlete.
Yeah, he was a tall, skinny guy. Image.
.
By all accounts he was a genuinely natural athlete, good at anything he tried.
Had he ever made the NBA he would have been the shortest played in league history but only by an inch under Muggsy Bogues. He also would have been consistent with the NBA’s rule about how really short players need weird names, along with Bogues, Earl Boykins, and Spud Webb.