Today I found out four of the five Marx brothers got their nicknames during a poker game. The famed Marx family comedy act was made up of Julius, Adolph, Leonard, Milton, and Herbert Marx. But to all of us who know and love this delightful comedy group, we know these five characters better as Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Gummo, and Zeppo […]
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Today I found out Mark Hamill currently holds the record for playing the Batman character of “Joker” longer than any other actor and in more spinoffs. “I’ve never seen him play the Joker”, you say? It’s because Mark Hamill has been doing the voice of the Joker on a variety of animated TV shows, movies, and video games for the […]
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Rebecca S. asks: The other day you answered why the Oscars are called the Oscars, now why are the Emmy Awards called “Emmy”? This one’s got a more succinct and well documented answer than the Oscar question. Pioneering TV engineer (and third American Academy of Television Arts President) Harry Lubcke suggested that the name “Immy” be used, named after the […]
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Today I found out Caryn Elaine Johnson, better known as Whoopi Goldberg, was once a phone sex operator. On the December 16, 2011 episode of “The View”, which Goldberg is a co-host of (since 2007), Elisabeth Hasselbeck was doing a segment on stay at home moms working as phone sex operators. Specifically, she was covering the fact that the number […]
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Tom Cruise’ real name is Thomas Mapother IV. Tom Cruise certainly has a little better ring to it. Interestingly, Cruise actually wanted to be a priest (and not for Scientology). Mapother seems to fit better in that line of work. When he was 14, he even enrolled in seminary. His switch to acting after leaving seminar seems to have worked […]
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Today I found out Chuck Norris’ first name is actually Carlos. “Chuck” Norris was born Carlos Ray Norris all the way back in 1940 (yes, he’s 72 years old now and even recently had to have a hip replaced). Carlos Norris was named after Carlos Berry, a minister who was close to Norris’ father. He didn’t acquire the nickname “Chuck” […]
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Katy Perry’s real name is Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, but she created the stage name “Katy Perry” so as not to be confused with Kate Hudson. Before she did this, she did release an album under her real name, with the album called “Katy Hudson”. The album flopped. It wasn’t until she signed with Capitol Music Group in 2007 that she […]
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Today I found out Eric Clapton was to meet up with Jimi Hendrix on the night Hendrix died. He was also with Stevie Ray Vaughan on the night he died. Clapton was good friends with Jimi Hendrix and was supposed to meet him on the night of Hendrix’ death at a Sly and the Family Stone concert. Clapton had bought […]
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Today I found out Ron Jeremy was a special-ed teacher before pursuing a career as an adult film actor. In college, as an undergraduate, Ron Jeremy earned both a B.A. in education and a B.A. degree in theater. He then went on to earn a Master’s degree in special education. His dream was to become an actor, but he pursued […]
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Today I found out Dick Van Dyke was once saved by porpoises when he found himself lost at sea on a surfboard. In his younger years, Dick Van Dyke frequently spent time surfing. In an appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Van Dyke briefly mentioned one such time he was surfing using a 10 foot long-board and […]
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Peter Jackson didn’t see the completed theatrical version of the Return of the King film from start to finish until watching it at the premiere in New Zealand. This was due to the fact that the final theatrical version of that film wasn’t completed until just five days before that premier. Interestingly, Jackson actually continued to film the Return of […]
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##EMBED## Wil Wheaton did voices for various romulans in the 2009 movie Star Trek. This was kept a secret until fairly close to when the movie came out. In his own words: “JJ Abrams called me. It was an entertaining conversation; I couldn’t believe he wanted me to do work on his film, and he couldn’t believe that I wanted […]
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##EMBED## Click Here For Sources and for Interesting Facts About the Man Who Did the Voice for Yoda Text Version R2-D2’s name came from the movie-maker lingo “reel 2, dialog 2″.
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Note: This is a guest article contributed by frequent TIFO visitor and owner of DumpADay, Jon. Today I Found Out that Dolph Lundgren (A.K.A. Ivan Drago) is a real life genius. I guess the phrase “you can’t judge a book by its cover” is true. Just looking at Mr. Lundgren, I’d think he was a fun guy to hang out […]
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Today I found out Nicolas Cage was originally offered the part of Aragorn in Lord of the Rings. Cage stated in an interview that he turned down the offer due to the around three year time commitment. Cage also stated in the same interview that he was offered the role of Neo in The Matrix, but turned that one down […]
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##EMBED## Before devoting himself more or less exclusively to music, Phil Collins was a child actor, appearing in various rolls, including: playing The Artful Dodger in the London production of Oliver!; an extra in the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night; one of the extras in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; and various other minor roles. Click here for sources and to […]
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##EMBED## Both the Klingon language and the Vulcan language were initially very crudely developed by James Doohan, who played “Scotty” on the original Star Trek. Later, these languages were expanded and refined by professional linguists, primarily by Marc Okrand. Click Here for Sources and More Interesting James Doohan Facts
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##EMBED## Mike Myers really did have an ex give him a gun rack. A week after his ex broke up with him, she tried to win him back by getting him a gun-rack, which she thought he would find hilarious. It didn’t work. He did, however, put it in Wayne’s World with the character of Stacy, also called “pyscho hose-beast”, […]
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