The voices on The Simpsons. People still wouldn’t recognize their names, but the second Dan Castellanetta pulls out Homer, I think a lot of people in the US would take notice.
Oh, get serious! Anyone who can be caricatured on South Park is recognizable.
Radio announcers are usually “faceless”, but not always. When Art Bell started hosting Coast to Coast, his photo was not publicized. But when he became a phenomenon, he appeared on the X-Files; then when he wrote books, he had to promote them. So he’s about as recognizable as a B-list actor. I know what Larry Elder looks like, because a half-hour of his show used to be simulcast on TV, and also because I’ve met him (!). Now he’s goodlooking enough for TV, but I’m just as glad he hasn’t pursued it, because he’d have to tone down his radio persona and that’s not on.
I have no idea what Dennis Praeger looks like. I know how he sounds, but I was also incorrect in thinking that Art Bell would be easy on the eyes. I don’t know if I really know what Vin Scully, Ralph Kiner and Don Pardo look like, or if I just pulled up generic images of late-middle-aged guys.
Jack Ruby. That famous photo of him shooting Lee Harvey Oswald showed him from the back. Who’s actually seen his face?
The movie trailer guy.
You can see a life-size statue of George Washington, the only statue of him that he actually posed for in life, at the Virginia State Capitol. It doen’t show his smallpox scars.
Dan Castalenetta (sp?) plays Homer and he was a regular on the Tracy Ullman show, so he’s recognizable.
Paul Frees - you hear his very distinctive voice in lots of cartoons from the 50s and 60s, but I don’t think there is a picture of him anywhere.
Ditto with Stan Freeberg, the radio satirist. I don’t believe he allowed too many publicity shots of him - the only one I have found was on an olllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllld (intentional) LP where he had a business suit and a buzz cut, straight from the 50s. Never seen an updated one, though.
And most folks who do animated character voices: you know, the “other voices” listed in the show credits - you’ve heard them or recognized the names among many different shows main characters, but just never see them. Most that I have looked up on IMDB do not have publicity shots with their names.
As far as literary, how about J.D. Salinger? What does he look like?
Damn. You beat me to it. (I opened this thread to suggest that.)
I’m scrolling down, getting happier and happier as I get closer to the bottom, and I don’t quite make it.
But, to expand: there’s only one person in the world who knows what Deep Throat looks like, and Bob Woodward isn’t telling. Even the Residents have had more roadies than that – and they’re not as famous to begin with.
Sure, nobody outside the US knows or cares, but we’ve already limited this to the US, right? I think we have a winner.
Matt Groening.
Thought of one last night - I.M. Pei. I’d sure as hell recognize that name in my foursome. Problem is, my Uncle wouldn’t know who he was, nor would he have any idea what the Simpsons are, let alone the show’s creator and actors that do the voices.
So far I think Neil Armstrong and Deep Throat are in the lead.
I’m not too concerned about 5 year olds.
The guy who does the voice overs for “Behind The Music” and pretty much all VH1 programming. Everybody knows his voice, but not many would know what he actually looks like. Also, most people I know couldn’t pick out who was who out of Peter Jennings and Tom Brokow.
Another guy comes to mind- everyone’s seen “Silence of the Lambs,” so almost everyone knows who Thomas Harris is, but how many people have ever actually seen him? He never gives interviews, you never see him in the media… heck, I have no idea what he looks like myself.
Stan Freberg had three guest appearances on the second-to-last season of Roseanne. He had ludicrously poofy curly blondish hair, which may or may not have been a wig.
Ethelrist: Matt Groening’s photo is out there, if you look for it. Hardcore Simpsons fans think he was drawn in a crowd scene a few seasons ago.
Sometime in the '80s, I saw a photo of J.D. Salinger in a supermarket parking lot. He had his head down, and looked like any other frail old guy.
Forgot to mention Bill Watterson. He’s notoriously reclusive, but I’ve seen two photos of him: this and another of him at his drawing board. I never knew what Bill Amend (Fox Trot) looked like until I met him at a signing.
I’m beginning to see how unusual it is for someone to become “famous” simply for doing what they do, without seeking publicity. When P.J. O’Rourke was strictly a Rolling Stone correspondent, I was dying to know what he looked like. The staff posed for a group photo in 1987, for the twentieth anniversary. I wrote to them, asking which one was O’Rourke, and they replied that he wasn’t in the photo. Then he started writing books, and had to promote them in interviews; now I can picture him easily (His writing style had led me to expect a little more flair, but whatever.) Berkeley Breathed complained about the publicity juggernaut he went on in the early days of Bloom County, but I wasn’t aware of it at the time. It must have shied him off publicity, because I never saw a photo until the one in an anthology, showing him trying to communicate with penguins. Steve Dallas to the life. Of course the ambitious Scott Adams got his sweet face and sunny personality :rolleyes: out there as much as possible in the '90s. I’ve seen one photo of Gary Larson. Very non-descript.
Earl Hindman (Wilson) has been a character actor for quite some time. For the best, clear view of his whole face, rent The Taking of Pelham, One, Two , Three (good movie, hideous dvd transfer). He’s Mr. Brown. You also get a good look at him in The Parallax View; he’s the deputy that picks a fight with Warren Beaty in the bar. Also, the above mentioned Silverado.
Maybe it’s just me, but I would darn sure recognize Neil Armstrong. Of course, I’m a space buff, and dressed up as Neil for Halloween when I was in 5th grade…
Ay, there’s the rub. I only watched Roseanne when she was funny: her first appearace on the “Tonight” show. After that she got repetative and annoying. Great. Now I’ll have to watch the 6 pm reruns on Fox just to catch Stan.
Whoa. You MET Bill Amend?!?! I love Foxtrot!! What’s he look like?
I once saw a picture of Bill Amend and he looked nothing like I imagined him. He look all young and stuff.
Mel Blanc
I picture him looking like Mr. Spacely from the Jetsons
Bill Amend. Although I seem to remember his hair being more of a strawberry-blond.
Perhaps a researcher, someone like the late Linus Pauling or Jane Goodall. Many Americans would recognize the names and have at least some idea what they were famous for, but would have a hard time picking them out of a lineup.
I’d think people who had something named after them (Murphy’s Law, Atkins Diet) might qualify.
This is exactly what I was going to say. Dan Castellanette is my hero and I only recently learned what he looked like. I still have yet to see the face behind the voice of Bart (my tricky way of masking my ignorance since I can’t remember her name!!! And I call myself a fan?)