Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2012 June 3

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June 3

Another round of "Name those celebrities"

This image has a number of well known celebrities... Well... known by someone at least. I can name most of them but there are a few that I don't recognize. Any help?

So far I have (l-r, t-b):

John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Steve McQueen, Marilyn Monroe

Kurt Cobain, ???, Freddie Mercury, Bob Marley, Keith Moon, James Dean

Janis Joplin, ???, Sid Vicious, ???, Jim Belushi, George Carlin

Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 00:09, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Interesting; you appear to be unable to identify people who are smoking! :) FiggyBee (talk) 00:23, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Correlation does not imply causation.  :) Dismas|^(talk) 00:26, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Second on the bottom row looks a LOT like Pete Postlethwaite. --Jayron32 00:48, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Bill Hicks next to Kurt Cobain. Nanonic (talk) 00:51, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Damn, edit conflicted there. Yup, Bill Hicks. FlowerpotmaN·(t) 00:53, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Think the two on the bottom row are Hunter S Thompson and possibly Ian Curtis. Nanonic (talk) 00:58, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Definitely Ian Curtis, compare [1]. Nanonic (talk) 01:01, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Embarrassed that I didn't recognise Ian Curtis. And definitely Hunter S., but I'm claiming the lack of shades threw me. Different photo, same shirt here. FlowerpotmaN·(t) 01:06, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Thanks everyone! Interesting that our Bill Hicks article uses the same photo. Of course that's probably where the creator of the image probably found the image to begin with, here. And yeah, the lack of aviator sunglasses threw me off the scent of Hunter S. Thompson as well. I had no idea who Ian Curtis was and would have never got that one though. Thanks again, Dismas|^(talk) 01:45, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Interesting. I never noticed that Pete Postlethwaite looked so much like Hunter S. Thompson. Though, given Thompson's status as a counter-culture figure, he fits much better in that list of people than Postlethwaite does. Hm. --Jayron32 12:57, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

They didn't really resemble each other all that much, just a vague similarity. I'm actually not convinced the second on the bottom row is either of those two. -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 20:31, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Have you looked at Flowerpotman's "Different photo, same shirt"? He's wearing the same necklace there too. Pretty convincing. Worm^TT(talk) 20:51, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

OK, I yield. I am thine to do with as thou wilst. -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 22:43, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

• FYI, second to last one is not Jim Belushi, it's his brother John Belushi. Apparently this is a collage of celebs who have passed? Medleystudios72 (talk) 13:27, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

I did get that wrong, didn't I? And nobody else caught it! Yes, they've all died. Dismas|^(talk) 13:35, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

That was pretty much the point of the poster, especially as many of them were young: You can become immortal through your works. Although, as Woody Allen once said, it might be better to become immortal by not dying. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:30, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

"Secret Millionaire" seems like an unlikely thing for the supposed unknowing people to not figure out

I was flipping through the channels and at the typing of this I'm seeing a show on ABC called "Secret Millionaire." The "secret" millionaire is a rich lady who has just gone to some charity and told the person "Oh I'm just a regular person looking for someplace to volunteer." Well, how many regular people have a camera crew following them around with expensive professional recording equipment? Maybe I'm not considering something. What good reason would there be for the charity cases not to immediately figure out that there's more to this person with the camera crew following them around than they're giving on about? It's not that I don't see the motivation for the charity case to keep their mouth shut and play along, giving no indication that they're not buying the person with the camera crew's story. I'm just wondering if there's a valid reason I'm not considering for the charity cases to actually believe the lie and be actually surprised in the end. 69.243.220.115 (talk) 00:33, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

It's possible that the producers give the "secret millionaire" a story they can tell the charity to explain the film crew. For example, the boss on Undercover Boss poses as someone doing a documentary on different types of jobs. RudolfRed (talk) 03:59, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

The UK series has now been running for 6 years, and is into its 10th series. Initially it was perfectly believable that a camera crew could be making a documentary about volunteering - the subjects' claims were normally that they had recently had some sort of life-changing event and were looking to start a new life in a different part of the country, and to introduce themselves to the community through volunteering. There have been a number of those sorts of programs in the UK, so it's not too much of a stretch. As the Guardian recently noted, however, the story is now sounding a bit thin - there can't be many in the charity sector who haven't at least heard of the series. Indeed, I note that in a recent episode David King (theatre producer) apparently didn't hide his true identity. Two things, though, might explain what's going on - firstly, if someone did 'discover' what's going on, it probably wouldn't be too detrimental to the point of the show. It could either be cut out, or left in as part of the building tension before the big reveal. In fact I remember an episode a few years ago when a charity worker did indeed suspect that their new volunteer was not who they said they were. As I recall the millionaire owned up to having hidden parts of their story, but didn't claim to be a millionaire until the end. Secondly, if you are a struggling charity and someone rocks up to volunteer with a camera crew in tow, even if you suspect them to be a secret millionaire it's probably in your best interest to keep shtum and suck up to them as much as possible in the hope of a big payoff at the end. Even if they do turn out to be a regular Joe, you won't have lost anything by trying. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 14:10, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Also come to mind the class of reality shows in which people write in requesting to have something "made over" whether it be their bodies, their clothes, or their house. I've seen footage taken from the inside of the supposedly unknowing person as they "casually" went to the door only to be "surprised" when the host, apparently well-known to watchers of the show is at the door. Really? You didn't suspect anything as some camera guy in your house taped you answering the door? 69.243.220.115 (talk) 16:44, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Not to mention you're probably wired for sound and there's a production trailer just out of sight.--Wehwalt (talk) 16:56, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

If you've ever seen the behind-the-scenes clips of some of these kinds of shows, they often have to do multiple "takes" of even the most mundane dialogue, to make it work. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:18, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Inside the person? Ye gods I'm glad I don't watch any TV, they have obviously stepped up their instrusiveness levels to unprecedented amounts. FreeMorpheme (talk) 20:37, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

Yes, indeed, since you point that out - a little too much information. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:27, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

There's an endless variety of reality TV shows. For instance in Britain there's Back to the Floor in which a manager/CEO at a company takes a menial job, and then doesn't give anybody lots of money, which must be disappointing. I agree that after a few series it's probably suspicious, but it's not totally impossible to trick people. --Colapeninsula (talk) 08:40, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

Or to appeal to their egos, as most everybody gets a thril out of being on TV or whatever. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:28, 4 June 2012 (UTC)