# Why is \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ famous? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566 "2004-04-17T21:13:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/1 "2004-04-17T21:13:10Z")
What person or people give you the most trouble in understanding why they are successful? The answers should be people of no obvious talent, non-fantastic looks, and the brains of a prairie chicken. My list: Anna Nicole Smith- her fifteen minutes were up 15 years ago. Why won’t she go gently into that good state funded institution? (Of course part of it is her lawyer-pimp Howard- it’ll be interesting to see if he stays around now that the show is cancelled.) Jenny McCarthy- other than a really good imitation of Mary Surratt ([photo](http://www.angelfire.com/80s/tongue/jenny2.jpg)) what are her talents? Carson Daly- his once only moderate cuteness is quickly fading, his interviews with anybody more intellectual than Lil’ Bow-wow are embarassing to him and to the guest, and I’m convinced the reason he broke up with Jennifer Love Hewitt is because she’s way too smart for him. Why is he still employed at a substantially higher salary than most of us? Ryan Seacrest- hopefully 2005 will see “Seacrest out” of the newspapers and Seacrest off of the airwaves. He’s moderately cute but knows it all too well, has no apparent talents, and yet he’s freaking everywhere. Your picks. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/2 "2004-04-17T21:20:52Z")
Paris/Nikki Hilton top the list for me. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/3 "2004-04-17T21:24:03Z")
Any of the Baldwin brothers. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/4 "2004-04-17T21:28:35Z")
Will Ferrel. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/5 "2004-04-17T21:30:01Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Will Ferrel. And the worst thing is he’s about to ruin my [favorite novel](http://imdb.com/title/tt0340054/) ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/6 "2004-04-17T21:31:39Z")
Wow, that entire cast looks horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/7 "2004-04-17T22:02:33Z")
Kylie Minogue ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/8 "2004-04-17T22:15:21Z")
**Tobey Maguire.** Can’t act, has the personality of a turnip, and most of all he’s U-G-L-Y. And not even the photogenic type of ugly, like Fred Gwynne (who was a _great_ actor!) When I first saw him in _The Ice Storm_ I thought, “Well, there’s a face I’ll never see on film again.” Now he’s Spiderman. WTF?? ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/9 "2004-04-17T22:35:54Z")
Paris Hilton. What is it that she does exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/10 "2004-04-18T00:54:28Z")
I’ll see your **Paris Hilton** and **Will Farrell** , and I’ll raise you **Adam Sandler** (also one of the stars of another [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=251314)). Also, putting aside movie and TV stars, I submit **Anne Frank**. Her diary isn’t a good account of the Holocaust…it really is just a diary of her life and problems. (BTW, this reminds me of something one of my English teachers once said. One of my friends had to do a report or research paper on a famous person, and the teacher said that Anne Frank couldn’t be used because she wasn’t famous, since “she died.”) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/11 "2004-04-18T01:57:13Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Jenny McCarthy- other than a really good imitation of Mary Surratt ([photo](http://www.angelfire.com/80s/tongue/jenny2.jpg)) what are her talents? > > . Would somebody please post another link to that photo so I can see what Sampiro is talking about? Angelfire is blocked in China(my part anyway). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/12 "2004-04-18T01:57:36Z")
Ladies and Gentlemen, none that have been posted so far are anywhere close to the wonder that is [Zsa Zsa Gabor](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001248/). She had a few small roles as window dressing, with the 1952 “Moulin Rouge” apparently her career highlight. And as a result, she has been permanently famous for _absolutely no justifiable reason whatsoever!_ At least her late sister Eva had “Green Acres” to spotlight a career of sorts. Zsa Zsa should be so lucky. It appears that her publicist has been busy feeding info to imdb. It even includes a deleted cameo! Daniel Boorstin “A celebrity is someone who is well-known for being well-known.” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/13 "2004-04-18T01:57:41Z")
Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/14 "2004-04-18T02:02:30Z")
Paris & Nickki Hilton, if they were not uber-rich,would be pron stars. And bad ones at that. Is it just me or does Paris look like a mannequin that came to life. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/15 "2004-04-18T02:42:09Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > Paris & Nickki Hilton, if they were not uber-rich,would be pron stars. And bad ones at that. > > Is it just me or does Paris look like a mannequin that came to life. No, it’s not just you, She looks very plastic, with a personality to match. I do not understand why these girls and Paris’ cohort, Nicole Ritchie, are famous. They have rich parents, and they are just party girls. I also don’t get Donald Trump. He’s rich and full of himself, so what? I’d rather watch Bill Gates, even though he’s evil, at least I can empathize with his nerd qualities. And speaking of Donald Trump, what is all the excitement over this Omerosa chick? I did not watch The Apprentice but from what I gathered there was nothing to be admired about this person and she wasn’t the least bit interesting. William Hung - C’mon, his singing is not that good and not that funny. May as well, just add anyone from any reality show with the possible exception of a few past American Idol performers who actually have talent. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/16 "2004-04-18T03:01:50Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > **Tobey Maguire.** … most of all he’s U-G-L-Y. YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW! He isn’t the best actor around, but he’s [damned](http://geocities.com/tmonlineau/picturegallery/magazines/041.jpg) [pretty](http://geocities.com/tmonlineau/picturegallery/magazines/032.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/17 "2004-04-18T03:08:55Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Would somebody please post another link to that photo so I can see what Sampiro is talking about? Angelfire is blocked in China(my part anyway). It’s just a picture of Jenny McCarthy looking stupid. Just google for _any_ image of Jenny McCarthy. The effect is always the same. **Bambi** , your links don’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/18 "2004-04-18T03:20:47Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > **Bambi** , your links don’t work. It’s Geocities. Geocities blocks direct access to its links unless your referrer is from a Geocities site, so you have to paste part of the link (like all the way up to the “/041.jpg” or “/032.jpg”) into your browser, let that load, and then put in the whole link in your address bar. I forget about the inconvenience to others, because I use Mozilla FireFox, which is currently configured not to pass the referrer information. I don’t have to do all that. If you want, you can click on [these](http://groups.msn.com/turkmike/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=4) [two](http://groups.msn.com/turkmike/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=5) instead. I just stuck them into my MSN group. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/19 "2004-04-18T03:37:26Z")
How about Mark Hamil? You know, the guy with the really deep suntan. What did he do to become famous? Everyone I’ve asked just knows him as the guy with the suntan. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566/20 "2004-04-18T03:41:12Z")
**Bambi Hassenpfeffer** _has_ to be Jackalope in-joke. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-________-famous/240566.md?page=2)