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Unfamous people with famous names: Fodder for Oprah, Dr. Phil, etc.?

This past Fri. night (2/24/06) on FNC's Special Report with Brit Hume (Jim Angle subbing, as he seems to do every Friday), Angle interviewed Michael Moore. No, not that one, rather, some senior veep of a corporation whose name escapes me at the moment.

I wonder if this Michael Moore ever gets teased about having the same name as a certain filmmaker? And is this Michael Moore from Flint, MI, anybody know? :)

Anyway, I've always thought that "Unfamous People with Famous Names" would be a good topic for Oprah, Dr. Phil, or some other TV talk show. The guests would be asked questions about say, how they go through life with a celeb's name.

My only rule would be, the unfamous person cannot be related to the celebrity whose name (s)he shares.

The other rules IMO can vary, like

To what extent do the names match
Should people with the same names as dead celebrities be interviewed
Should people with the same names as INfamous celebs be interviewed (although that practice should be discouraged)

BTW I assure you I do NOT have a famous name.

ixnay
 
Angle interviewed Michael Moore. No, not that one,
> rather, some senior veep of a corporation whose name escapes
> me at the moment.

"The Name's The Same" (though in these cases both people are famous):

David Horowitz, conservative commentator
David Horowitz, consumer advocate ("Fight back and don't let anyone rip
you off")

Michael Jackson, very offbeat pop star
Michael Jackson, British-born talk radio host

Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's
Dave Thomas, star of SCTV

George Bush, 41st president of the US
George Bush, 43rd president of the US (I know, use HW for the first and W
for the second...)

Michael Jordan, basketball legend
Michael Jordan, Westinghouse president (IIRC)

Kenny Rogers, singer
Kenny Rogers, baseball pitcher

Though I'm sure there are cases of people who aren't famous sharing names
of those who are. You could go into the phone book and find people
with common names like Jimmy (James) Carter, etc.

Name changer: British singer David Jones changed his last name to Bowie
to avoid confusion with a certain Monkee...I believe actor Michael
Keaton is really named Michael Douglas so he also changed his last name
to avoid confusion

Oh and I think there's a baseball pitcher named Mike Moore...
 
> This past Fri. night (2/24/06) on FNC's Special Report with
> Brit Hume (Jim Angle subbing, as he seems to do every
> Friday), Angle interviewed Michael Moore. No, not that one,
> rather, some senior veep of a corporation whose name escapes
> me at the moment.
>
> I wonder if this Michael Moore ever gets teased about having
> the same name as a certain filmmaker? And is this Michael
> Moore from Flint, MI, anybody know? :)
>
> Anyway, I've always thought that "Unfamous People with
> Famous Names" would be a good topic for Oprah, Dr. Phil, or
> some other TV talk show. The guests would be asked
> questions about say, how they go through life with a celeb's
> name.
>
> My only rule would be, the unfamous person cannot be related
> to the celebrity whose name (s)he shares.
>
> The other rules IMO can vary, like
>
> To what extent do the names match
> Should people with the same names as dead celebrities be
> interviewed
> Should people with the same names as INfamous celebs be
> interviewed (although that practice should be discouraged)
>
> BTW I assure you I do NOT have a famous name.
>
> ixnay
>


Donahue did a show like that back in the day. One of the non-famous guests shared his name.

Oddly enough, the novel I've been puttering around with for months has a similar premise, that of 26 people who all share the same first and last name (but different middle names) and who are all eerily alike, even though some of them married into or out of the name.

As for my name, it's highly common and there are several hundred thousand of us, none of whom are famous. The only problem I've ever had was paying someone else's library fines.
 
> Angle interviewed Michael Moore. No, not that one,
> > rather, some senior veep of a corporation whose name
> escapes
> > me at the moment.
>
> "The Name's The Same" (though in these cases both people are
> famous):
>
> David Horowitz, conservative commentator
> David Horowitz, consumer advocate ("Fight back and don't let
> anyone rip
> you off")

I seriously thought they were the same person.

>
> Michael Jackson, very offbeat pop star
> Michael Jackson, British-born talk radio host

Don't forget former Cleveland Browns return man Michael Jackson. Or Alabama wrestling legend "Superstar" Mike Jackson, for that matter.
 
No, not at all..Horowitz used to do a TV show that featured bits from the
"Horror File"...

Horowitz-David.jpg


Here's a pic of the commentator:
david_horowitz.jpg



> I seriously thought they were the same person.

> Don't forget former Cleveland Browns return man Michael
> Jackson. Or Alabama wrestling legend "Superstar" Mike
> Jackson, for that matter.
>
Right, I do remember the other Jackson now...<P ID="signature">______________
raccoonradio5ap.gif
</P>
 
> This past Fri. night (2/24/06) on FNC's Special Report with
> Brit Hume (Jim Angle subbing, as he seems to do every
> Friday), Angle interviewed Michael Moore. No, not that one,
> rather, some senior veep of a corporation whose name escapes
> me at the moment.
>
> I wonder if this Michael Moore ever gets teased about having
> the same name as a certain filmmaker? And is this Michael
> Moore from Flint, MI, anybody know? :)
>
> Anyway, I've always thought that "Unfamous People with
> Famous Names" would be a good topic for Oprah, Dr. Phil, or
> some other TV talk show. The guests would be asked
> questions about say, how they go through life with a celeb's
> name.
>
> My only rule would be, the unfamous person cannot be related
> to the celebrity whose name (s)he shares.
>
> The other rules IMO can vary, like
>
> To what extent do the names match
> Should people with the same names as dead celebrities be
> interviewed
> Should people with the same names as INfamous celebs be
> interviewed (although that practice should be discouraged)
>
> BTW I assure you I do NOT have a famous name.
>
> ixnay
>
I had an uncle named Don Johnson. Uncle Don passed on a couple months short of his 65 birthday in 1984, oddly enough the same year that "Miami Vice" premiered. No wonder my aunt and cousin were big MV fans.<P ID="signature">______________
"I look out for me and mine."-Capt. Malcom "Mal" Reynolds in Serenity</P>
 
> My real name is Bob Nelson. Shared with:
>
> --comedian (seen in movie Brain Donors and some Rodney
> Dangerfield HBO specials)
> http://imdb.com/name/nm0625186/
> (and there are several other "Bob Nelson" actors)
>
> --blues singer (Chicago Bob Nelson)
>
> http://www.mnblues.com/review/chicagobob.html
>
> --the guy who does that call letter origins site (and I
> believe is on this
> site using the nickname Bob_Nelson)
>
A former Almost Live! cast member is named Bob Nelson. A funny and talented guy. <P ID="signature">______________
"I look out for me and mine."-Capt. Malcom "Mal" Reynolds in Serenity</P>
 
> > David Horowitz, conservative commentator
> > David Horowitz, consumer advocate ("Fight back and don't
> let
> > anyone rip
> > you off")
>
> I seriously thought they were the same person.


So did I.

> >
> > Michael Jackson, very offbeat pop star
> > Michael Jackson, British-born talk radio host
>
> Don't forget former Cleveland Browns return man Michael
> Jackson.

Who was once a Baltimore Raven IIRC.

ixnay
 
> No, not at all..Horowitz used to do a TV show that featured
> bits from the
> "Horror File"...
>
>
>
> Here's a pic of the commentator:
>
>
>
> > I seriously thought they were the same person.
>
> > Don't forget former Cleveland Browns return man Michael
> > Jackson. Or Alabama wrestling legend "Superstar" Mike
> > Jackson, for that matter.
> >
> Right, I do remember the other Jackson now...
>

I haven't seen Horowitz #1's show since the late 80s. And you have to admit that 20 pounds, 15 years, and a beard would probably make him resemble Horowitz #2. When I first saw #2 on FNC shilling a book or something, I just thought "Damn, baldness hit him like a ton of bricks".
 
> David Horowitz, conservative commentator
> David Horowitz, consumer advocate ("Fight back and don't let anyone rip you off")

You sure they're not the same guy?

> Michael Jackson, very offbeat pop star
> Michael Jackson, British-born talk radio host

Michael Jackson, author of many books about beer.

> George Bush, 41st president of the US
> George Bush, 43rd president of the US (I know, use HW for
> the first and W for the second...)

George P. Bush, Grandson of Daddy and nephew of Dubya. Jeb's son, IIRC.

> Oh and I think there's a baseball pitcher named Mike Moore...

Mike (Michael Wayne) Moore pitched for the Mariners, A's, and Tigers between 1982 and 1995.
 
George Michael: host of the syndicated show George Michael's Sports Machine
George Michael: former pop star, and half of the duo Wham!

James Brown: the Godfather of Soul
James Brown: former host of the NFL on Fox (and CBS before that)
Jim Brown: pro football legend

(I guess none of these are "unfamous", so that pretty much goes against the OP's guidelines.) :p<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by mstgator on 02/27/06 04:51 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Unfortunate shared name

I remember a newspaper article during the Gulf War (1991) about a 7-year-old Jordanian-born boy living in Miami whose name was Saddam Hussain. I wonder if he's still in the country?

There was once a sitcom episode where there was a character named Adolf Hitler. I can't remember for the life of me which sitcom that was.<P ID="signature">______________
Dave</P>
 
David Horowitz

Amazing - I'd thought that they were the same person, especially since the conservative commentator David Horowitz used to be a liberal.

According to Wikipedia, there have been four men of note named David Horowitz, and these two are also very similar in age.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Horowitz_%28disambiguation%29<P ID="signature">______________
Dave</P>
 
> This past Fri. night (2/24/06) on FNC's Special Report with
> Brit Hume (Jim Angle subbing, as he seems to do every
> Friday), Angle interviewed Michael Moore. No, not that one,
> rather, some senior veep of a corporation whose name escapes
> me at the moment.
>
> I wonder if this Michael Moore ever gets teased about having
> the same name as a certain filmmaker? And is this Michael
> Moore from Flint, MI, anybody know? :)
>
> Anyway, I've always thought that "Unfamous People with
> Famous Names" would be a good topic for Oprah, Dr. Phil, or
> some other TV talk show. The guests would be asked
> questions about say, how they go through life with a celeb's
> name.
>
> My only rule would be, the unfamous person cannot be related
> to the celebrity whose name (s)he shares.
>
> The other rules IMO can vary, like
>
> To what extent do the names match
> Should people with the same names as dead celebrities be
> interviewed
> Should people with the same names as INfamous celebs be
> interviewed (although that practice should be discouraged)
>
> BTW I assure you I do NOT have a famous name.
>
> ixnay
>
I share a name (different spelling) with Sean Hill, from the Florida Panthers, and a producer with some of the old Mark Goodson shows (notably Body Language).

Then there's....

Eddie Griffin (comedian/actor) and Eddie Griffin (basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves)
Bobby Brown (fallen R&B singer) and his daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown
Vanessa Williams (singer/actress/former Miss America) and Vanessa Williams (character actress featured on the Soul Food TV show, The Cosby Show, New Jack City)
Mike Myers (actor/comedian, AKA Austin Powers), Mike Myers (baseball pitcher), and Michael Myers (from the Halloween movies).
 
>
> > George Bush, 41st president of the US
> > George Bush, 43rd president of the US (I know, use HW for
> > the first and W for the second...)
>
> George P. Bush, Grandson of Daddy and nephew of Dubya.
> Jeb's son, IIRC.

George Prescott Bush is Marvin Bush's son.
 
> > My real name is Bob Nelson. Shared with:
> >
> > --comedian (seen in movie Brain Donors and some Rodney
> > Dangerfield HBO specials)
> > http://imdb.com/name/nm0625186/
> > (and there are several other "Bob Nelson" actors)
> >
> > --blues singer (Chicago Bob Nelson)
> >
> > http://www.mnblues.com/review/chicagobob.html
> >
> > --the guy who does that call letter origins site (and I
> > believe is on this
> > site using the nickname Bob_Nelson)
> >
> A former Almost Live! cast member is named Bob Nelson. A
> funny and talented guy.

There's a reporter on the Weather Channel named Jennifer Lopez, not to be
confused with the super film actress and pop music star. I wonder if this
Jennifer(i.e. the Weather Channel one) gets to be called "J. Lo." as well.
 
Re: Unfortunate shared name

> I remember a newspaper article during the Gulf War (1991)
> about a 7-year-old Jordanian-born boy living in Miami whose
> name was Saddam Hussain. I wonder if he's still in the
> country?
>
> There was once a sitcom episode where there was a character
> named Adolf Hitler. I can't remember for the life of me
> which sitcom that was.
>

I wonder if many Germans still name their kids Adolf?
 
Re: Unfortunate shared name

> I wonder if many Germans still name their kids Adolf?

He wasn't German, but one famous person who changed his legal name from Adolph was Harpo Marx. He changed it to Arthur sometime in the late '30s.
 
>
> Michael Jackson, very offbeat pop star
> Michael Jackson, British-born talk radio host

There was also a Mike Jackson who was a relief pitcher with the Phillies and Indians, among other teams. This is in addition to the former Raven & Brown named Michael Jackson that was mentioned earlier.
>
> Michael Jordan, basketball legend
> Michael Jordan, Westinghouse president (IIRC)

Around the time I was in high school in the Philadelphia area, there was a basketball player for Abington Friends School named Michael Jordan. He even wore #23. He went on to play at the University of Pennsylvania, and I believe he may still be playing pro ball overseas.
>
> Kenny Rogers, singer
> Kenny Rogers, baseball pitcher
>
I know a Kenneth Rogers. He's neither the singer of "The Gambler," not has he attacked any innocent cameramen.
 
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