# You're too rich and famous to be that disgustingly unhealthy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275 "2008-01-04T15:53:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/21 "2008-01-04T18:45:44Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] In fact, have any seriously overweight actors become thin? The only one I can think of is Wayne Knight. And I don;t see him in anything anymore. [/QUOTE] [Ron Lester](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504516/), who played Billy Bob in Varsity Blues as well as Sugar Daddy on the TV series Popular, is another. Not as famous as Wayne Knight, but I certainly remember him from quite a few guest spots on other shows as well. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/22 "2008-01-04T18:48:50Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Oprah Winfrey was famous for her ups and downs. [/QUOTE] Oprah is a wonderful example of this - she has a personal chef and a personal trainer (possibly several). She is followed around by a staff who can give her advice and take care of her issues. And she really seems to be motivated to keep herself relatively healthy (Unlike, say, Brittney Spears, who seems motivated to make as big a trainwreck out of her life as possible). But it seems really, really hard for her - it seems especially difficult when her life gets particularly stressful or extra busy (I have a suspicion Oprah’s life is always busy). I’m sure part of it is genetics, part of it self control, and part of it time. But it certainly isn’t a lack of money she has thrown at it. (One of the things I like about Oprah - and there are things that I don’t - is that she presents herself as a human being who - despite all her advantages of money and staff - has a hard time with her weight.) ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/23 "2008-01-04T18:56:33Z")
[QUOTE=Susie Derkins] [Ron Lester](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504516/), who played Billy Bob in Varsity Blues as well as Sugar Daddy on the TV series Popular, is another. Not as famous as Wayne Knight, but I certainly remember him from quite a few guest spots on other shows as well. [/QUOTE] [Stephen Furst](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Furst) lost a lot of weight, and I think has kept if off, but it’s been years since I’ve seen him act. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/24 "2008-01-04T19:08:51Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] My mom always freaks out when she sees an actor with bad/weird teeth. “They have all that money, why don’t they fix their teeth?!” Unfortunately I can’t think of one single example. But she says it all the time. [/QUOTE] Steve Buscemi. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/25 "2008-01-04T21:45:40Z")
[QUOTE=Dangerosa] Oprah is a wonderful example of this - she has a personal chef and a personal trainer (possibly several). She is followed around by a staff who can give her advice and take care of her issues. And she really seems to be motivated to keep herself relatively healthy (Unlike, say, Brittney Spears, who seems motivated to make as big a trainwreck out of her life as possible). But it seems really, really hard for her - it seems especially difficult when her life gets particularly stressful or extra busy (I have a suspicion Oprah’s life is always busy). I’m sure part of it is genetics, part of it self control, and part of it time. But it certainly isn’t a lack of money she has thrown at it. (One of the things I like about Oprah - and there are things that I don’t - is that she presents herself as a human being who - despite all her advantages of money and staff - has a hard time with her weight.) [/QUOTE] Oprah is such an example of self-driven motivation and bootstrap-pulling in general (and yeah, there are things that I too don’t like about her), that her weight struggle must be insanely frustrating for her. Yes, she throws an awful lot of money at it, and supposedly works out or runs every day . . . yet right now she seems to be gaining again. I have the feeling that if someone with her inner strength and motivation and resources can’t keep it off, is there any hope for the rest of us fighting the same battle? I think the answer is that with some battles you have to be happy with a partial victory. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/26 "2008-01-04T22:05:35Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] I once heard (no cite) that John Goodman was once thin and very handsome, but he made a conscious decision that he was going to eat whatever he wanted and his weight be damned. [/QUOTE] Roseanne was once anorexic and weighed 104 pounds. She was really good looking too. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/27 "2008-01-04T22:33:12Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] I think the answer is that with some battles you have to be happy with a partial victory. [/QUOTE] And knowing that if you are still fighting, you haven’t completely lost. Oprah may be gaining again, but she hasn’t yet fused with her own couch. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/28 "2008-01-04T23:15:45Z")
Stephen Furst was one that sprang to mind immediately - the difference between him in series 3 and 4 of Babylon 5 was very marked. But then as his wikipedia entry says he has type 2 diabetes (I assumed he had cancer of something) - I’m pretty sure that for a lot of people if it was the choice between weight loss and amputation they’d manage to find a way to lose weight. Speaking from personal experience my own weight has yo-yoed by about three stone over the course of the last ten years. It was only in 2006 after a good two years of solid effort with diet and rigorous exercise that I managed to actually crack it and consistently lose weight down to about 10 stone (before being hospitalised and being stuck on mother fucking weight gain drugs for six months made me 13 stone in a matter of months - gah!). ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/29 "2008-01-04T23:24:22Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] All this talk about overweight celebrities. What about Karen Carpenter? [/QUOTE] Now _she’s_ considered overweight? Society’s standards _are_ unrealistic! ---
**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:** [January 5, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/30 "2008-01-05T00:48:53Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Roseanne was once anorexic and weighed 104 pounds. She was really good looking too. [/QUOTE] Tom Arnold lost a lot of weight recently. But I think he’s gained some of it back. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/31 "2008-01-05T01:01:11Z")
[QUOTE=Tengu] Quite right. Fat comedians and comic actors, particularly, often build their personae around the fact that they’re, you know, fat. Even non-comedic types, an actor’s look is often an important part of the casting, and they’re cast as The Fat Character. Non-comedians are likely to be able to adapt better than comedians, but their work will likely dry up badly enough to make life uncomfortable for them. [/QUOTE] To further your point, Drew Carey had Lasik on his eyes several years ago. He no longer needs to wear the glasses, but they are such a part of his image that he still wears the frames without actually having corrective lenses in them. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/32 "2008-01-05T01:12:03Z")
My cousin is a heavy actress. She told me once that maintaining that weight–it defines the kinds of roles she gets, after all–is contracted with her agent; if she falls below a certain weight, it’s a breach of contract. Now, IANAEL, so I don’t know if that’s enforceable; and she’s very close friends with her agent, so I’m sure they’d work something out. But obviously it’s a factor. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/33 "2008-01-05T02:53:15Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Steve Buscemi. [/QUOTE] I was going to say that. I’ve actually asked the question of him… “He’s American. Americans have good teeth and dental plans and all that. Why not Steve” I have wonky teeth (though regularly cleaned). My excuse is I’m British. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/34 "2008-01-05T03:38:09Z")
Speaking of teeth, Kirsten Dunst. She has had the front four teeth whitened but the rest are obviously discolored and it is quite noticeable on the big screen. She certainly must have enough money to get all her teeth whitened or get veneers so why hasn’t she? ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/35 "2008-01-05T03:54:29Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] I once heard (no cite) that John Goodman was once thin and very handsome, but he made a conscious decision that he was going to eat whatever he wanted and his weight be damned. [/QUOTE] It’s true. I saw him in an old commercial once for something (Red Wing Shoes?) and he was a total fucking stud. The commercial was pretty old, so he was fairly young, too. He was so thin and hot that he was basically unrecognizable (his voice gave him away). I would’ve done him in a minute. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/36 "2008-01-05T04:24:47Z")
> [@](#): > > The first person I thought of… Michael Moore especially after seeing Sicko He lost quite a bit of weight in between filming _Sicko_ and doing the press for it. It came up more than once in the interviews I saw. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/37 "2008-01-05T04:28:59Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] My mom always freaks out when she sees an actor with bad/weird teeth. “They have all that money, why don’t they fix their teeth?!” Unfortunately I can’t think of one single example. But she says it all the time. [/QUOTE] David Bowie. ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/38 "2008-01-05T05:32:56Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] David Bowie. [/QUOTE] I thought so too, for years, but I think he _finally_ had them fixed. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/39 "2008-01-05T06:10:26Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] I never liked Chris Farley, but if he wasn’t overweight, there’s no Christian Slater Chippendales sketch, no Matt Foley, and no ‘fat guy in a little coat,’ for starters… [/QUOTE] Anybody remember the time he was a guest on Letterman, and instead of entering from the side of the stage, he came in through the back of the auditorium and proceeded to do cartwheels all the way down the aisle, and then collapsed into a chair and sat there as a profusely sweating, gasping-for-breath, quivering pile of lard? The look on Letterman’s face was one of completely dumbfounded, incredulous disbelief. > [@Tristan](#): > > To further your point, Drew Carey had Lasik on his eyes several years ago. He no longer needs to wear the glasses, but they are such a part of his image that he still wears the frames without actually having corrective lenses in them. ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, on the other hand, was in the same boat with the glasses being an integral part of his image, but when he got the Lasik done he completely revamped his image. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275/40 "2008-01-05T06:15:59Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Roseanne was once anorexic and weighed 104 pounds. She was really good looking too. [/QUOTE] Roseanne’s mouth weighs more than 104 lbs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-too-rich-and-famous-to-be-that-disgustingly-unhealthy/432275.md?page=3)