# 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:** 3
**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 23, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/41 "2016-11-23T00:11:06Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > 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: ☹ Fifty something here, and while I know who these folks are I doubt I could’ve identified them from their photos either. ---
**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, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/42 "2016-11-23T00:13:46Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > 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) Your point being…? :dubious: 😕 ---
**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, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/43 "2016-11-23T00:15:14Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Fifty something here, and while I know who these folks are I doubt I could’ve identified them from their photos either. Your parents wouldn’t let you watch movies when you were a kid?!? :dubious: :eek: 😕 ---
**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:** [November 23, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/44 "2016-11-23T00:17:40Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > 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. Pink Lady went back to Japan, and Jeff Altman went back to lounges. My nomination is Richard Carpenter. He was really talented at arranging music. Even after Karen died, you’d think he’d have a career in scoring movies or something. All of his credits are for single songs that are songs from the Carpenters’ era, or documentaries on the duo. Apparently, after Karen’s death, he married (a cousin, whose brother had been their road manager, which is just a little creepy, if you ask me), and they have five kids. He’s just been a family man since Karen died. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/45 "2016-11-23T00:25:37Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Fifty something here, and while I know who these folks are I doubt I could’ve identified them from their photos either. I could, but I spent my adolescence mooning over Golden Age movies, and silent films. I can recognize Irene Dunne from any angle, but I can barely remember who was famous in the 1980s. I pretty much only went to art films, French films and Merchant & Ivory films that were new in the 80s. I take that back. I also saw sci-fi, and _Children of a Lesser god_. But I can name Sigourney Weaver, Marlee Marlin, and Jennifer Jason Leigh from my own time. I can name 50 people from the 20s, 30s and 40s without taking a breath. I always wonder in there are still adolescents who fall in love with those great old films. Once in a while, I do see a recent post on IMDb under Irene Dunne or Katharine Hepburn, that starts “I’m 17, but I love these old films…” ---
**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, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/46 "2016-11-23T00:30:36Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > 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. The 1970s were the last hurrah for the TV variety show, and S&Y were part of that – they made a lot of appearances on other variety shows before getting their own show. It was also the same era that the mime / puppet / mask group [Mummenschanz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummenschanz) was popular. I also suspect that S&Y had a very good agent. 🙂 Lorene Yarnell was in Spaceballs – she was the actress inside the Dot Matrix droid costume. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/47 "2016-11-23T00:35:46Z")
Barbi Benton ---
**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, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/48 "2016-11-23T00:39:24Z")
Just out of curiosity … who the hell is Heidi Montag??? 😕😕😕 ---
**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, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/49 "2016-11-23T00:43:06Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > [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. Don’t forget _Jericho_. I saw Gary Sandy in an episode of _Diagnosis: Murder_. ---
**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, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/50 "2016-11-23T00:45:08Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Don’t forget _Jericho_. Aye, and my wife just mentioned that he’s now in “This Is Us.” ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/51 "2016-11-23T01:03:20Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Pink Lady went back to Japan, and Jeff Altman went back to lounges. > > My nomination is Richard Carpenter. He was really talented at arranging music. Even after Karen died, you’d think he’d have a career in scoring movies or something. All of his credits are for single songs that are songs from the Carpenters’ era, or documentaries on the duo. Apparently, after Karen’s death, he married (a cousin, whose brother had been their road manager, which is just a little creepy, if you ask me), and they have five kids. He’s just been a family man since Karen died. Jeff Altman also was a regular guest on his friend David Letterman’s talk shows until Letterman retired last year. In fact, most people my age and younger and more likely to remember him from his Letterman appearances than his participation in one of the biggest American network TV fiascos of all time. As for Richard Carpenter, his focus for the last 30 years has been overseeing (i.e., sponging off) his sister’s legacy. Also, in my view, he comes across as an extreme control freak and a petty dick which is probably why he didn’t continue to play a big role in the music industry. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/52 "2016-11-23T01:10:09Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > 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: I’m a 30-something and I couldn’t identify Gregory Peck. Maybe if he were in a more popular Hitchcock movie. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/53 "2016-11-23T01:13:47Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I’m a 30-something and I couldn’t identify Gregory Peck. Maybe if he were in a more popular Hitchcock movie. He was Atticus Finch. Doesn’t everyone watch _To Kill a Mockingbird_ in Freshman English when they read the book? ---
**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, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/54 "2016-11-23T01:20:26Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > He was Atticus Finch. Doesn’t everyone watch _To Kill a Mockingbird_ in Freshman English when they read the book? He’s probably never seen _ **Twelve O’Clock High** _, _ **Gentleman’s Agreement** _, _ **Roman Holiday** _, _ **The Snows of Kilimanjaro** _, _ **Pork Chop Hill** _, or _ **The Guns of Navarone** _ either. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/55 "2016-11-23T01:28:05Z")
> [@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. I always figured that Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek) and Richard Sanders (Les Nessman) were typecast by the success of _WKRP_, and couldn’t successfully move on to other roles. Wikipedia informs me that Bonner later played a headmaster of a Catholic school on a spin-off of _Growing Pains_, and Sanders had guest star spots in any number of sitcoms and movies, most recently in the 2000 Cuba Gooding Jr./Robert DeNiro film _Men Of Honor_. However, both men are now in their late seventies, so presumably retired. Howard Hesseman (Johnny Fever) is the one I’m surprised seemed to disappear. My memory may be faulty, but he was the big breakout star of _WKRP_. He had one more series that I recall, but after that, I don’t remember hearing about him at all. Jan Smithers (Bailey Quarters, AKA “Ohmigod, _she_ was the hot one, after all!”) apparently left show business in 1987. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/56 "2016-11-23T01:57:51Z")
A lot of 90s bands that I thought were part of the pantheon of, if not Rock Gods, at least really durable tour bands. The Lemonheads sank fast right after Evan Dando got a short haircut. I’m personally surprised Julianna Hatfield disappeared so utterly; Natalie Merchant, too. Wonder if she bumped into her old band on the way back down? ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/57 "2016-11-23T01:58:19Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Tim Reid (Venus Flytrap) was in three more series after _WKRP_ -_Frank’s Place, Simon & Simon_, and _Sister, Sister_. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > 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_\* Of less note, Tim Reid was also Steven’s dad for 9 episodes of That 70s show. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/58 "2016-11-23T02:08:11Z")
Who remembers Flip Wilson? An African-American who had his own comedy TV show and was so well-known that quotes from his skits became memes (Here Come 'De Judge, and The Devil Made Me Do It). Then after that he more or less dropped off the face of the planet. ---
**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, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/59 "2016-11-23T02:24:23Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Who remembers Flip Wilson? An African-American who had his own comedy TV show and was so well-known that quotes from his skits became memes (Here Come 'De Judge, and The Devil Made Me Do It). Then after that he more or less dropped off the face of the planet. He had a short-lived series called _Charlie and Co._ in 1985, along with Gladys Knight. He died in 1998. ---
**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, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-famous-people-when-you-were-growing-up-who-have-completely-disappeared/772761/60 "2016-11-23T02:25:22Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Who remembers Flip Wilson? An African-American who had his own comedy TV show and was so well-known that quotes from his skits became memes (Here Come 'De Judge, and The Devil Made Me Do It). Wasn’t “Here come de Judge!” first done by Sammy Davis Jr on _ **Laugh-In** _? :dubious: 😕 With the exception of Goldie Hawn, the cast of that show pretty much sank into oblivion after it was cancelled, too. (I hated it, but I really, \*really \*dug JoAnne Worley! :o ) [![](http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/62/2153/640/JoAnn%20Whorley%20melons%20copy.jpg) ](http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/62/2153/640/JoAnn%20Whorley%20melons%20copy.jpg) [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=2) [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=4)