# Who were the most famous people when you were growing up who have completely disappeared? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 22, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761 "2016-11-22T19:33:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/21 "2016-11-22T22:15:13Z")
“Weird Girl” character actress Michelle Meyrink. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/22 "2016-11-22T22:42:05Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > My contribution: For about two years in the late 1970s, one of the hottest entertainment acts in the country was the husband and wife mime team of [Shields and Yarnell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shields_and_Yarnell). Apart from Marcel Marceau, it may be difficult to imagine a celebrity mime act. But trust me, for awhile there, Shields and Yarnell were _everywhere_. They guest-starred on everything from _The Muppet Show_ to _The Tonight Show_ to _Wonder Woman_, performed for presidents and Queen Elizabeth II, and even had their own variety show for about a month. But who remembers them now? > > All celebrities will fade from the public consciousness eventually. But Shields and Yarnell are the only ones that I look back on from my childhood and wonder how they managed to get so famous in the first place. It’s hard to imagine an act like that getting that sort of attention today. They were the subject of a joke on _Futurama_ once, so not totally forgotten. I looked them up after reading your post; Lorene Yarnell died a few years ago, was only 66. In a similar vein, I’d nominate **Rod Hull** , an English comedian whose act was to appear with a fake emu under his arm who would then proceed to wreak havoc. Something reminded me of him a year or so ago and I watched a show about him on youtube. Sounds like he wasn’t terribly happy, being overshadowed by a puppet and all, and fell on rather lean times. Died in 1999 adjusting the TV aerial on his roof. **Sarah Holcombe** is worth a mention as well. She appeared in four movies, two of them (_Animal House_ and _Caddyshack_) were huge successes. Since _Caddyshack_, nothing. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/23 "2016-11-22T22:46:20Z")
Kristy McNichol, and “Mikey” from the Life cereal commercial. ---
**Author:** ![waem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e47c2d/32.png) [@waem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waem)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/24 "2016-11-22T22:59:50Z")
Arsenio Hall seemed to be doing pretty well for a couple of years, and then went away seemingly abruptly. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/25 "2016-11-22T23:01:37Z")
Not when I was growing up, but while a young adult, Steve Guttenberg had quite the run, then disappeared. ---
**Author:** ![waem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e47c2d/32.png) [@waem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waem)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/26 "2016-11-22T23:06:31Z")
Maybe I should’ve said Eddie Murphy. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/27 "2016-11-22T23:26:04Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I am, I suspect, older than you, since I had no idea who Heidi Montag is, and it certainly ain’t because I’m too young. 🙂 > > My contribution: For about two years in the late 1970s, one of the hottest entertainment acts in the country was the husband and wife mime team of [Shields and Yarnell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shields_and_Yarnell). Apart from Marcel Marceau, it may be difficult to imagine a celebrity mime act. But trust me, for awhile there, Shields and Yarnell were _everywhere_. They guest-starred on everything from _The Muppet Show_ to _The Tonight Show_ to _Wonder Woman_, performed for presidents and Queen Elizabeth II, and even had their own variety show for about a month. But who remembers them now? > > All celebrities will fade from the public consciousness eventually. But Shields and Yarnell are the only ones that I look back on from my childhood and wonder how they managed to get so famous in the first place. It’s hard to imagine an act like that getting that sort of attention today. I was in HS and college in the late seventies, perhaps the prime years for Entertainment Awareness, and this act sounds quirky enough to have been especially appealing to my teenage self… and yet I’m sure that I never ran into them! ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/28 "2016-11-22T23:26:14Z")
Young uns let me tell ya when I was a kid: There was a whole world of celebs that appeared on talk shows who were from a whole previous generation but which we were all familiar with. Ethel Merman, Arthur Treacher, Jimmy Durante. Show biz used to have a recognizable evolution. I’m not sure how that kind of knowledge gets transmitted now or if it will just end and we will all live in the eternal present. Remember Totie Fields? She had a leg amputated and then when she died it was like she never existed. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/29 "2016-11-22T23:29:48Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I am, I suspect, older than you, since I had no idea who Heidi Montag is, and it certainly ain’t because I’m too young. 🙂 > > My contribution: For about two years in the late 1970s, one of the hottest entertainment acts in the country was the husband and wife mime team of [Shields and Yarnell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shields_and_Yarnell). Apart from Marcel Marceau, it may be difficult to imagine a celebrity mime act. But trust me, for awhile there, Shields and Yarnell were _everywhere_. They guest-starred on everything from _The Muppet Show_ to _The Tonight Show_ to _Wonder Woman_, performed for presidents and Queen Elizabeth II, and even had their own variety show for about a month. But who remembers them now? > > All celebrities will fade from the public consciousness eventually. But Shields and Yarnell are the only ones that I look back on from my childhood and wonder how they managed to get so famous in the first place. It’s hard to imagine an act like that getting that sort of attention today. I’m totally with you on this. I also remember around that time that there were famous people named Kelly Monteeth, and Randy Mantooth. I had never known such names existed but I thought there must be something going on somehow. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/30 "2016-11-22T23:31:22Z")
Steve Allen, Professor Irwin Corey, Foster Brooks, Graham Kerr (the Galloping Gourmet). Totie Fields lived on in Mrs Wallowitz. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/31 "2016-11-22T23:39:58Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > I was stunned when my cousin’s kids had no idea who Clark Gable was. He was just a little bit before my time, though. I was shocked not long ago when \*\*none \*\*of the contestants on _ **Jeopardy!** _ (all thirty-something) could identify either Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, or Jimmy Stewart from their photographs! :eek: My, my. How quickly we forget! :smack: ☹ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/32 "2016-11-22T23:45:04Z")
Judge Reinhold, Fisher Stevens, Steve Guttenberg, and Phoebe Cates. Also Meg Tilly, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and Jami Gertz. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/33 "2016-11-22T23:48:59Z")
I remember Shields and Yarnell. How about Rodney Allen Rippy and Pink Lady and Jeff? Unlike many of the people mentioned so far (like Alan Alda, Tootie Fields and Mary Tyler Moore who still have a presence in media even today) these guys have really disappeared from the public eye. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/34 "2016-11-22T23:56:41Z")
I’d say the most famous people, to _me_ growing up, were the people on TV shows that I used to love. **WKRP In Cincinnatti** , **Simon and Simon** , **Magnum P.I.**. An astonishing number of them disappeared completely - Andy Carlson, Herb Tarlek, Less Nessman, Bailey Quarters, Venus Flytrap…A.J. Simon…Rick, T.C., Higgins - never saw them again in anything that I can recall. I get that happens with TV show stars, even today, but back then I assumed they would all be superstars. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/35 "2016-11-22T23:58:13Z")
> [@waem](#): > > Arsenio Hall seemed to be doing pretty well for a couple of years, and then went away seemingly abruptly. His TV talk show was revived a couple of years ago, but only lasted one season. > [@waem](#): > > Maybe I should’ve said Eddie Murphy. He hasn’t disappeared. Not including the _Shrek_ movies, he still makes a movie every couple of years on average. His latest movie, _Mr. Church_, came out just a couple of months ago. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/36 "2016-11-23T00:04:30Z")
Dean Martin. For awhile, he was the hottest thing on TV. Then the Nanny Squad moved in and “sanitized” things. :mad: You’d think there’s something wrong with booze and broads… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/37 "2016-11-23T00:04:40Z")
You could do worse than just take random sample of who appeared on the Hollywood Squares. List here > **[The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (TV Series 1965–1980) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059995/fullcredits/)** > > The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (TV Series 1965–1980) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/38 "2016-11-23T00:04:42Z")
Just in case you were wondering why Pink Lady and Jeff disappeared from the face of the Earth, [here’s a clip of a running gag from the show.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKUDIjLXTM8) There was also the guy who was married to Goldie Hawn and produced a few kids. He was also married to Shirly of Laverne and Shirley for quite some time. He and his brothers had two TV shows and also a pop group. [Here’s there Saturday morning show.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEcSHOuGPt4) The Hudson Brothers were FAMOUS and were pulling down all the hot chicks at the time. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/39 "2016-11-23T00:06:22Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I’d say the most famous people, to _me_ growing up, were the people on TV shows that I used to love. **WKRP In Cincinnatti** , **Simon and Simon** , **Magnum P.I.**. An astonishing number of them disappeared completely - Andy Carlson, Herb Tarlek, Less Nessman, Bailey Quarters, Venus Flytrap…A.J. Simon…Rick, T.C., Higgins - never saw them again in anything that I can recall. > > I get that happens with TV show stars, even today, but back then I assumed they would all be superstars. Tim Reid (Venus Flytrap) was in three more series after _WKRP_ -_Frank’s Place, Simon & Simon_, and _Sister, Sister_. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/40 "2016-11-23T00:10:34Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I’d say the most famous people, to _me_ growing up, were the people on TV shows that I used to love. **WKRP In Cincinnatti** , **Simon and Simon** , **Magnum P.I.**. An astonishing number of them disappeared completely - Andy Carlson, Herb Tarlek, Less Nessman, Bailey Quarters, Venus Flytrap…A.J. Simon…Rick, T.C., Higgins - never saw them again in anything that I can recall. WKRP was one of my favorite shows, as well. [Tim Reid](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005347/?ref_=tt_cl_t4) (Venus) starred in several series after WKRP, including (ironically, given your post) Simon & Simon, [Frank’s Place](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092354/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_42) (created by Hugh Wilson, who also created WKRP), and [Sister, Sister](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108927/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_23). He’s been consistently working on TV since, though in supporting roles. Gary Sandy (Andy Travis) found it difficult to get TV roles as he aged, and transitioned to theater. [Gerald McRaney](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0574468/?ref_=tt_cl_t1) (Rick on Simon & Simon) starred in [Major Dad](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096643/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_78), and he, too, has been consistently working in TV for the past 30 years. \* Edit: ninja’d by cochrane! _shakes fist_\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761.md?page=3)