# You can have dinner with one famous person who shares your birthday **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086 "2013-01-04T17:54:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/1 "2013-01-04T17:54:02Z")
You are allowed to have dinner with any one person, living or dead, who shares your birthday. Whom do you choose? Why do you choose this person? What questions or topics of discussion will you raise? Who picks up the tab? [Link to helpful reference site.](http://on-this-day.com/) As for me, I will bypass the likes of Judd Hirsch, Eva Longoria, Dee Snider, and Fabio to break bread with **Andrew Jackson**. I will press Old Hickory to speak to his advocacy for forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of Native American tribes. I will ask him if his views have changed at all in the 150+ years since his death. And I will pick up the bill since I earn 3x as much as he ever made. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/2 "2013-01-04T17:59:26Z")
Wow, I get to choose from David Crosby, Steve Martin, Gary Larson, Halle Berry and Mila Kunis. Halle and Mila get bumpedā€¦hotness will not win out this time, ladies! Crosby might be pretty fascinating, but I think Iā€™d probably feel inadequately prepared to do the dinner justice. Gary Larson would be fantastic, hypothetically. However, I donā€™t know anything about his actual personality. He might turn out to be a creepy introver for all I know, and be terrible company. So Steve Martin wins. I would ask him what it was like to be born a poor black child. He would pick up the tab, but would forget his wallet. So, heā€™d have to play the banjo to earn our dinner. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/3 "2013-01-04T18:09:04Z")
Blues musician Corey Harris and I share birthdays, but I know that because we have talked over a meal, so heā€™s out. Robert Mugabe I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/4 "2013-01-04T18:10:26Z")
Haydn and Bach are tempting. Al Gore and David Eisenhauer not so much. I think Iā€™ll choose Wm. Waldorf Astor. His place. After weā€™re done eating Iā€™ll ask him if he ever feels guilty. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FlyingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRat)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/5 "2013-01-04T18:13:52Z")
Neal Patrick Harris (FUCK YEAH). ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/6 "2013-01-04T18:14:34Z")
Lots of singers and musicians Iā€™m unfamiliar with, or Harry, Prince of Wales. Iā€™m sure theyā€™d all be great dinner companions, but Iā€™m going with William Howard Taft. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/7 "2013-01-04T18:18:01Z")
I can honestly say that thereā€™s no one the website lists for me that I have a burning desire to eat dinner with. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/8 "2013-01-04T18:18:26Z")
Iā€™ll skip Keir Dullea, Brooke Shields, Denholm Elliot, Clint Eastwood and even John Bonham in lieu of Walt Whitman. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/9 "2013-01-04T18:18:54Z")
James Cook, who also happens to be my favorite explorer. He was fairly enlightened for his times and would have some amazing stories of adventure to share. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/10 "2013-01-04T18:25:54Z")
Count Basie or Joe Strummer? Iā€™m going with Basieā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/11 "2013-01-04T18:30:00Z")
I have a fairly uninteresting group, but Iā€™ll go with Bob Balaban because I bet he has great stories. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/12 "2013-01-04T18:31:23Z")
Thanks a bunch - until this minute, I was unaware that I shared a birthday with former DC mayor and noted scumbag Marion Barry. I donā€™t think I need to consider him. Letā€™s see: Michelangelo, Cyrano de Bergerac, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Willie Stargell, Shaq, astronaut Gordon Cooperā€¦Iā€™m torn between Marquez and Stargell. Lots of baseball to talk about with Stargell, from an era I remember well. And Iā€™d love to ask Marquez about how _One Hundred Years of Solitude_ evolved in his mind. And Iā€™d be happy to pick up the tab, either way. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/13 "2013-01-04T18:35:37Z")
Iā€™ll go with Stephen Colbert. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/14 "2013-01-04T18:36:54Z")
Soren Kierkegaard, Karl Marxā€¦ I gotta go with Ann B. Davis, who played the Alice the maid on the Brady Bunch. Tina Yothers is a close second. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/15 "2013-01-04T18:39:51Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Robert Mugabe I guess. > [@blondebear](#): > > Iā€™ll go with Stephen Colbert. Trade? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/16 "2013-01-04T18:44:20Z")
Both Larry Flynt and Jenny McCarthy might make for interesting conversations, but I think Iā€™ll go with Marcia Wallace. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/17 "2013-01-04T18:48:45Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Wow, I get to choose from David Crosby, Steve Martin, Gary Larson, Halle Berry and Mila Kunis. > > Halle and Mila get bumpedā€¦hotness will not win out this time, ladies! > > Crosby might be pretty fascinating, but I think Iā€™d probably feel inadequately prepared to do the dinner justice. > > Gary Larson would be fantastic, hypothetically. However, I donā€™t know anything about his actual personality. He might turn out to be a creepy introver for all I know, and be terrible company. > > So Steve Martin wins. I would ask him what it was like to be born a poor black child. > > He would pick up the tab, but would forget his wallet. So, heā€™d have to play the banjo to earn our dinner. Yours is the toughest choice so for, in my opinion. Iā€™d go with Steve Martin as well. (But if it were Neil Young instead of Crosby, Iā€™d take him) (and resist the urge to go, ā€œSo, whoā€™s the Old Man now, huh? Huh?ā€) mmm ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/18 "2013-01-04T18:52:51Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Yours is the toughest choice so for, in my opinion. Iā€™d go with Steve Martin as well. Whatā€™s weird is I almost met him once. He left a record store a minute before I entered it. He was shooting a scene right across the street at the time. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/19 "2013-01-04T18:54:29Z")
Garrison Keillor. We could talk about movies and poetry and Minnesota. My grandmother lived there as a child. Plan B is David Duchovny. I never watched X-files but Iā€™ve enjoyed some movies heā€™s been in and have found him affable in interviews. I think heā€™d be a perfectly pleasant dinner companion. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086/20 "2013-01-04T18:56:37Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Lots of singers and musicians Iā€™m unfamiliar with, or Harry, Prince of Wales. Iā€™m sure theyā€™d all be great dinner companions, but Iā€™m going with William Howard Taft. Whatever you do, donā€™t mention the bathtub. Not a lot of great options for me (I used wikipedia, btw, which had a much more extensive and legible list than the site OP linked). Iā€™d narrow it down to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Kit Carson, and Lemmy. Iā€™m not really a huge Motorhead fanā€“Lemmy made the list mostly just because, **LEMMY**. Ben Rush and Kit Carson, thatā€™s a tough call. Signer of the Declaration of Independence vs. famed mountain man and explorer. Iā€™d go with Kitā€“thereā€™s just no denying the romance of that period of history, and the tales he could tellā€¦ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-have-dinner-with-one-famous-person-who-shares-your-birthday/646086.md?page=2)