Guessing game: famous people

Decide on 1 famous person (dead) you admire and then write down a few
statements about this person. Avoid (Vermeide) giving details which make it
too easy for the others to guess your person.

Here you can find some statements for a famous person:

1) He was of African-American origin and fought for social change without

using violence.

2) He was a powerful speaker and a man of great spiritual strength.

3) He had become a national figure by the end of the fifties.

4) He won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, becoming at the time the youngest
recipient ever.

5) With his wife Coretta Scott he had four children.

6) He was shot to death by James Earl Ray in 1968 while visiting Memphis,
Tennessee.

Further yes or no questions to use:

1) Was he black or white?
2) Was he American / Caribbean / Asian?
3) Did he die young?
4) Was he a politician? Etc
 Guessing game: famous people

Decide on 1 famous person (dead) you admire and then write down a few
statements about this person. Avoid (Vermeide) giving details which make it
too easy for the others to guess your person.

Now write down some statements for a famous person:

1) ___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
2) ___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
3) ___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
4) ___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
5) ___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
6) ___________________________________________________________

Further yes or no questions you can use:

1) Was he / she black or white?
2) Was he American / Caribbean / Asian / European etc?
3) Did he / she die young / old?
4) Was he / she a politician?
5) Was she married / single / divorced?
6) Did she become famous as an actor / actress?

Famous People

A) A random selection of celebrities as input for the students

Neil Armstrong
Adolf Hitler
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Prince Harry
David Beckham
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
Saddam Hussein
Martin Luther King
Camilla Parker-Bowles
Charles, Prince of Wales
Napoleon Bonaparte
Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci
Van Gogh

Reference site:http://www.who2.com/a.html
B) Some portraits of celebrities if students cannot do a webquest
David Beckham
Soccer Player

David Beckham is a leading English footballer whose popularity extends beyond the field and
into international celebrity. Beckham was already a crowd-pleasing star for Manchester United
when he married Spice Girls star Victoria Adams ("Posh Spice") in July of 1999; the
combination of the two heartthrobs proved irresistible to the press and public, and they became
one of Britain's most famous couples. As a player Beckham is particularly known for his free
kick expertise and spectacular long-range shots (including a famous goal from midfield against
Wimbledon in 1996). Manchester United sold Beckham to the Spanish team Real Madrid for a
transfer fee of 35 million euros (about 25 million British pounds) in June of 2003. Beckham was
disqualified from the 1998 World Cup for a rough foul in England's loss to Argentina, but
returned to play in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. He was captain of the English national team
from 2000 until 2006, when he stepped down from the role after a loss to Portugal in the World
Cup quarterfinals. In 2007 he signed a multi-million dollar contract to leave Real Madrid and
move to the United States and play for the L.A. Galaxy; he first suited up for his new team in a
"friendly" match against Chelsea on 21 July 2007.
Extra credit: Beckham typically plays midfield... His popular nickname is "Becks"... He has
three sons with Victoria Beckham: Brooklyn (b. 4 March 1999, Romeo (b. 1 September 2002)
and Cruz (b. 20 February 2005)... Beckham wore uniform number 7 with Manchester United;
upon joining Real Madrid he switched to number 23, with 7 already taken by his teammate
Raul; he kept the jersey number with the Galaxy... Real Madrid was already home to several
other superstars, including Luis Figo, Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane... The 2002 film Bend It
Like Beckham (starring Keira Knightley) was a fictional tale about a soccer-loving teenager.
Beckham didn't star in the movie, but the title has become synonymous with his name. The title
refers to Beckham's skill at curling shots around defenders.
Albert Einstein
Physicist

Thanks to his theory of relativity, Albert Einstein became the most famous scientist of the 20th
century. In 1905, while working in a Swiss patent office, Einstein published a paper proposing a
"special theory of relativity," a groundbreaking notion which laid the foundation for much of
modern physics theory. (The theory included his famous equation e=mc.) Einstein's work had a
profound impact on everything from quantum theory to nuclear power and the atom bomb. He
continued to develop and refine his early ideas, and in 1915 published what is known as his
general theory of relativity. By 1920 Einstein was internationally renowned; he won the Nobel
Prize in 1921, not for relativity but for his 1905 work on the photoelectric effect. In 1933 Einstein
moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where he worked at the Institute for Advanced Studies until
the end of his life. Einstein's genius is often compared with that of Sir Isaac Newton; in 2000
Time magazine named him the leading figure of the 20th century.

Extra credit: Einstein was famously rumpled and frizzy-haired, and over time his image has
become synonymous with absent-minded genius... He sent a famous letter to Franklin
Roosevelt in 1939, warning that Germany was developing an atomic bomb and urging Allied
research toward the same goal... Einstein married Mileva Maric in 1903. They had two sons:
Hans Albert (b. 1904) and Eduard (b. 1910). They also had a daughter born before their
marriage, Leiserl (b. 1902). She apparently was given for adoption or died in infancy. Mileva
and Albert were divorced in 1914... He married his cousin Elsa Lwenthal in 1919, and they
remained married until her death in 1936... The Institute for Advanced Studies has no formal
link to Princeton University; however, according the IAS website, the two institutions "have
many historic ties and ongoing relationships"... The Albert Einstein College of Medicine opened
in New York City in 1955. It is part of Yeshiva University. Einstein did not create the school, but
gave his permission to have his name used.
50 Cent
Rapper

Name at birth: Curtis Jackson

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's 2003 album Get Rich or Die Tryin was a top-seller, propelled by the
hit song "In Da Club" and by support from hip-hop superstars Eminem and Dr. Dre. 50 Cent's
troubled past was part of the package: he was raised by his grandparents after his drug-dealing
mother died, and in 2000 he survived being shot 9 times. Before his mainstream breakthrough
he was popular in clubs and on the streets, thanks to locally distributed tapes. Although it didn't
get national airplay, his Power of a Dollar (1999) was an underground hit, as was his earlier
single "Thug Love." His second album, 2005's The Massacre, was almost overshadowed by 50
Cent's public feud with fellow rapper and proteg, The Game. Between the gunfire, feuds and
hit singles, Rolling Stone magazine was moved to call 50 Cent "in many ways the ideal East
Coast hardcore rapper." His autobiography, From Pieces to Weight, was published in 2005.
Extra credit: 50 Cent says in his autobiography that he borrowed his name from a local robber,
a "stickup kid from Brooklyn"... The rapper announced in March of 2003 that he'd had a special
bullet-proof jacket made for his six-year-old son... 50 Cent swapped insults with rapper Ja Rule
in an ongoing public feud throughout the early 2000s.
Other rap stars of the 1990s and 2000s include Big Punisher, DMX and Busta Rhymes.
The Spice Girls
Singers

The Spice Girls' sexy charisma, modest musical talent, and "girl power" philosophy made them
pop music's Next Big Thing in the mid-1990s. The British band was created in 1994 by two
would-be managers who advertised for women to form an all-girl group. The five winning
applicants (who quickly ditched the managers) each took nicknames: Sporty Spice (Melanie
Chisholm, also known as Mel C, b. 12 January 1974), Posh Spice (Victoria Adams, b. 17 April
1975), Ginger Spice (Geri Halliwell, also known as Sexy Spice, b. 6 August 1972), Baby Spice
(Emma Bunton, b. 21 January 1976), and Scary Spice (Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B, b.
29 May 1975). Their 1996 album Spice included the hit singles "WannaBe" and "Say You'll Be
There" and launched them to international fame; eventually the group sold more than 50 million
albums worldwide. The Spice Girls hit the peak of their fame in 1997 with the release of a
second album, Spiceworld, plus a jovial feature film of the same name. Halliwell left the Spice
Girls in 1998 to go solo. The group continued on as a quartet, with the individual members also
pursuing solo careers; Adams gained extra fame in 1999 when she married soccer star David
Beckham. After releasing the album Forever in 2000, the Spice Girls disbanded in 2001. But in
June of 2007, all five original Spice Girls announced that they would reform for an eight-country
world concert tour, to begin in December 2007.
Extra credit: According to The Times of London, the 2007 reunion tour will begin in "Los
Angeles on December 7, before visiting Las Vegas, New York City, London, Cologne, Madrid,
Beijing, Hong Kong, Sydney, Cape Town and Buenos Aires"... The film Spiceworld was titled
Spice World in the U.S.
John Lennon

Rock Musician / Songwriter

As half of The Beatles, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were one of the most successful
songwriting teams of the century. Together they wrote dozens of hit tunes, ranging from "Help!"
and "Ticket to Ride" to "Penny Lane" and "Let It Be." Lennon's romance with Yoko Ono was a
major influence on his post-Beatles career, and he collaborated with her on everything from the
modern pop hymn "Imagine" to avant-garde noise and poetry. The Beatles broke up in 1970,
and Lennon followed with a solo career marked by uneven recordings and public pleas for
world peace. After a reclusive five years as a family man, Lennon released an album with Yoko
in 1980, Double Fantasy. As their new song "Just Like Starting Over" was reaching the top of
the charts, Lennon was shot to death outside his New York home by Mark David Chapman, a
schizophrenic fan.

Extra credit: Lennon published two illustrated books of poetry and wit in the mid-1960s, In His
Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works... His son Julian Lennon is also a singer and
musician... Lennon's political positions gained him the enmity of J. Edgar Hoover's F. B. I. and
the U.S. State Department, and researchers are still trying to get files on Lennon made public.
Donald Trump
Business Personality / TV Personality

Donald Trump's name is synonymous with New York hustle and money at the turn of the 21st
century. Trump started young in his father's New York real estate business, and by the 1970s
had made himself a Manhattan deal-maker, somehow talking banks and city government into
financing his ambitious developments. He built the grandiose Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in
1982, and soon he moved into the casino business in New Jersey. Outspoken and flamboyant,
Trump became a favorite of the press, and his multiple marriages and divorces were regular
tabloid fodder. (Trump was married to model Ivana Zelnicek from 1977-92 and to Marla Maples
from 1993-99. He married his third wife, Slovenian model Melania Knauss, on 22 January
2005.) Trump went suddenly on the skids in 1990, finding himself over $900 million in debt and
facing bankruptcy. But ever the dealmaker, he rebounded; by the year 2000 he was again worth
over a billion dollars. He talked publicly about running for the U.S. presidency the same year,
then decided against it. In 2004 he began playing the demanding boss-man in the hit NBC
reality series The Apprentice,. ("You're fired," his ritualistic dismissal of the show's losers,
became a popular catch-phrase.) His books include Trump: The Art of the Deal (1988), Trump:
Surviving at the Top (1990), Trump: The Art of the Comeback (1997) and Trump: How to Get
Rich (2004).
Extra credit: Trump's nickname is "The Donald"... Trump has three children with his wife Ivana:
Donald Jr. (b. 1977), Ivanka (b. 1981) and Eric (b. 1984); he has one daughter with Maples,
Tiffany (b. 1993); and he has a son with Knauss, Barron, born in March of 2006... Trump is
famous for his objection to handshakes; a 1999 Time magazine article quoted him as saying "I
think the handshake is barbaric... Shaking hands, you catch the flu, you catch this, you catch all
sorts of things." Another germophobic casino-owning billionaire was Howard Hughes.
Angelina Jolie
Actress

Name at birth: Angelina Jolie Voight

Angelina Jolie is an Oscar-winning actress known as much for her offscreen romances,
adoptions and political activism as for her movie roles. Jolie first made a small splash in 1998,
playing doomed model Gia Marie Carangi in the HBO movie Gia. She played the love interest
in the offbeat air-traffic-controller drama Pushing Tin (1999, with John Cusack), and a rookie
cop in The Bone Collector (1999, with Denzel Washington), but it was winning an Oscar for her
supporting role as a troubled mental patient in the 1999 Winona Ryder film Girl, Interrupted that
made her a big-time movie star. She sealed her international fame by playing the video game
heroine Lara Croft in Tomb Raider (2001) and Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life (2003). Jolie's plush-
lipped, brooding Gothic presence (and ample tattoos) made her a hit with the younger
generation early in her career, and her wild-life offscreen antics made her a hit with the
tabloids, especially while she was married to her Pushing Tin co-star, Billy Bob Thornton (2000-
2003). Since achieving A-list stardom, Jolie has become famous for her charitable impulses:
she was named a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner on
Refugees in 2001. She adopted a Cambodian boy, Maddox (in 2002), a daughter born in
Ethiopia, Zahara (in 2005), and a boy from Vietnam, Pax Thien (in 2007). She and Brad Pitt
starred in the action film Mr. & Mrs. Smith in 2005, but whatever excitement the movie
generated was overshadowed by the real-life drama of Pitt leaving Jennifer Aniston to move in
with Jolie. Jolie's first child with Pitt, a daughter named Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, was born on 27
May 2006 at a resort in Namibia.
Extra credit: Jolie is the daughter of Jon Voight, who won a best actor Oscar for the 1978
movie Coming Home (the same movie for which Jane Fonda won best actress)... Jolie played
Cornelia Wallace, wife to Alabama governor George Wallace, in the 1997 TV movie George
Wallace... Another actress who has adopted many children is Mia Farrow. Farrow has also
been a United Nations goodwill ambassador, for UNICEF
Leonardo DiCaprio
Actor

Leonardo DiCaprio has been an international superstar since the box office megahit Titanic
(1997, directed by James Cameron). In front of the camera since childhood, his first big role
came in 1991, on the television series Growing Pains. As a young movie actor he won critical
raves for his role in This Boy's Life (1993, with Robert DeNiro), and an Oscar nomination for
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993, with Johnny Depp). His performance in 1996's Romeo and
Juliet proved his bankability as a leading man and heartthrob, and after the success of Titanic
(with Kate Winslet), DiCaprio became a favorite of the tabloids, with a party-boy reputation. He
kept on working, however, and has since grown into one of Hollywood's top movie actors. Along
the way he appeared in Woody Allen's Celebrity (1998, with Gretchen Mol), starred in Steven
Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can (2002, with Christopher Walken) and made three movies with
Martin Scorsese: Gangs of New York (2002, co-starring Cameron Diaz), The Aviator (he was
nominated for an Oscar for playing eccentric innovator Howard Hughes) and The Departed
(2006, starring Matt Damon). His performance in Blood Diamond (2006, with Djimon Hounsou)
brought him another Oscar nomination. Off-screen DiCaprio is an advocate for environmental
protection, an issue he became publicly involved with after he and the makers of The Beach
(2000) were criticized for the environmental impact their filming had on locations in Thailand
Bill Gates
Business Personality

Name at birth: William Gates III

Bill Gates is the head of the software company Microsoft and is one of the world's wealthiest
men. Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in the 1970s, though Allen left the company in
1983. Gates oversaw the invention and marketing of the MS-DOS operating system, the
Windows operating interface, the Internet Explorer browser, and a multitude of other popular
computer products. Along the way he gained a reputation for fierce competitiveness and
aggressive business savvy. During the 1990s rising Microsoft stock prices made Gates the
world's wealthiest man; his wealth has at times exceeded $75 billion, making Gates a popular
symbol of the ascendant computer geek of the late 20th century. In June of 2006, Gates
announced that he would step down from day-to-day involvement in Microsoft by July of 2008.
He said he would then remain chairman of the Microsoft board while focusing on his charitable
foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Extra credit: Gates married Melinda French, a Microsoft employee, on 1 January 1994. The
couple have three children: daughters Jennifer Katharine (b. 1996) and Phoebe Adele (b. 2002)
and son Rory John (b. 1999)... Gates's personal chartiable initiative, the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, has focused on global health issues, especially on preventing malaria and AIDS in
poor countries; in 2005, ABC News reported that he had given away over six billion dollars in
the previous five years... For their philanthropic activities, Time magazine named Bill and
Melinda Gates (along with rock star and activist Bono) its Persons of the Year for 2005.
Other American inventor-tycoons include Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Howard Hughes.
Bob Marley
Singer / Songwriter

Bob Marley was the world's first reggae superstar. He was part of the Jamaican group The
Wailers, along with reggae greats Bunny Livingston and Peter Tosh. In the late 1960s and early
'70s Marley, a Rastafarian, gained early attention for writing hits recorded by others, including
"Stir It Up" (recorded by Johnny Nash) and "I Shot The Sheriff" (a hit for Eric Clapton). But then
he came into his own international fame with songs that spoke of politics, religion and life on
the streets, including his anthemic "Get Up, Stand Up." A greatest hits compilation titled Legend
was released in 1984; it sold millions and earned a reputation as the one reggae album owned
by people who own just one reggae album.

Extra credit: Marley's wife, Rita, and his son, Ziggy, have recording careers of their own.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Clergyman / Activist / Civil Rights Figure (1929 1968)

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an African-American clergyman who advocated social change
through non-violent means. A powerful speaker and a man of great spiritual strength, he
shaped the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. King was pastor of the
Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama from 1954-59. There he led blacks in
the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-56, an action inspired by the arrest of Rosa Parks when
she refused to give up her seat on a public bus. Racial segregation on city buses was ruled
unconstitutional in 1956; the boycott ended in success, and King had become a national figure.
King returned to his home town of Atlanta in 1959 and became co-pastor with his father of the
Ebenezer Baptist Church, a position he held until his death. On the 100th anniversary of
Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1963, King organized a march on
Washington, D.C. that drew 200,000 people demanding equal rights for minorities. King won
the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, becoming at the time the youngest recipient ever. His writings
included Stride Toward Freedom (1958, a history of the Montgomery bus boycott), Why We
Can't Wait (1963) and Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or Community (1967). King was
shot to death by James Earl Ray in 1968 while visiting Memphis, Tennessee.

Extra credit (Verdienst): King married Coretta Scott on 18 June 1953. The couple had four
children: Yolanda (born 1955), Martin Luther III (b. 1957), Dexter (b. 1961), and Bernice (b.
1963)... He graduated from Morehouse College in 1948, then attended Crozer Theological
Seminary (now part of the Colgate Rochester Divinity School) and Boston University, where he
earned a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology in 1955.
Zeus
Mythical Figure

Beginning around 700 B.C., stories by Homer and other Greek poets described the lives of
powerful gods who involved themselves in human affairs. Supreme among these gods was
Zeus, who inherited the heavens and earth after overthrowing his father, Cronus. Zeus ruled
from Mt. Olympus, rewarding good and punishing evil (his most famous weapon was a
thunderbolt) and manipulating human lives just to satisfy his own whims. He also liked the
ladies, frequently dropping to earth for amorous adventures with nymphs and mortals. This was
often a source of conflict with his wife, the powerful goddess Hera.
Zeus makes a guest appearance with Prometheus in our loop Liver Trouble.
Jesus of Nazareth
Biblical Figure / Religious Figure
Jesus of Nazareth is the central figure of the Christian religion, a savior believed to be both
God incarnate and a human being. He is also known as Jesus Christ, the term "Christ" meaning
anointed or chosen one. Most of the details of his life are unclear, and much of what is known
about his life comes from the four Gospels of the Bible. The Gospels tell the story of Jesus's
miraculous birth in a stable in Bethlehem, and then of his life as an adult, a teacher with
miraculous powers who foretold his own death to his closest followers, called apostles. Jesus,
betrayed by the apostle Judas, was crucified by the Romans, and his resurrection three days
after his death was taken as proof of his divinity. The date of Jesus's miraculous birth to Mary is
celebrated each December 25th as Christmas Day. The occasion was used as the base year
for the modern Christian calendar, though researchers now believe that earlier estimates were
inexact and that Jesus was actually born between 4 B.C. and 7 B.C. The date of the crucifixion
is now marked as Good Friday, and the resurrection celebrated as Easter.
Extra credit: Jesus of Nazareth was portrayed by actor Jim Caviezel in the 2004 film The
Passion of the Christ. Others who have played Jesus on the big screen include Jeffrey Hunter
(King of Kings, 1961), Max von Sydow (The Greatest Story Ever Told, 1965) and Willem Dafoe
(The Last Temptation of Christ, 1988)... Christmas is also the realm of the fictional toy-giver
known as Santa Claus.
Other biblical figures include Mary Magdalene, Moses, and Adam and Eve.
Santa Claus
Holiday Figure / Toy Deliverer

Also known as: St. Nicholas; Kris Kringle; Father Christmas

Santa Claus is the mythical figure who delivers toys to children around the world each year on
Christmas Eve. According to legend, Santa lives at the North Pole and oversees a toy
workshop run by busy elves. Each December 24th, on the eve of the celebration of the birth of
Jesus, Santa is said to fly around the world delivering his toys in a sled pulled by eight
reindeer: Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Dancer, Dasher, Donder (or Donner), Prancer, and Vixen. (A
ninth reindeer with a shiny nose, Rudolph, was introduced in Gene Autry's 1949 country music
hit "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.") The name Santa Claus was derived from Sinterklaas,
the Dutch term for the ancient Christian figure of Saint Nicholas.
Extra credit: The Santa Claus myth was popularized in America by the 1823 poem "A Visit
From Saint Nicholas," attributed to Clement Moore. The poem begins "Twas the night before
Christmas"... In the early 1860s cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa as a round, bearded man
in a red suit, an image that stuck... An 1897 editorial by Frank P. Church in the New York Sun
coined the famous phrase "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." Church was replying to a
letter from a young reader, Virginia O'Hanlon, who asked if Santa Claus really existed...
According to the Encarta encyclopedia, the nickname Kris Kringle evolved from the German
words for Christ child, Christkindl.
The Simpsons
Animated Characters

The Simpson family first appeared in 1988 in small animated vignettes on The Tracey Ullman
Show. Creator Matt Groening and producer James L. Brooks turned the idea into a full half-
hour show, which premiered on the Fox network in December of 1989. The Simpsons was a hit
from the start and has remained one of the most popular television shows in history (as well as
the longest-running prime-time cartoon). The show's weekly cornucopia of guest stars has
included the likes of Ringo Starr, Christina Ricci and Stephen Hawking, among many others.
Simpson family members include father Homer, a beer-loving safety inspector from the local
nuclear power plant; Marge, the sensible mom with a blue beehive hairstyle; Bart, the
mischievous fourth-grader whose pride in being an "underachiever" was, at first, controversial;
Lisa, the second-grader whose achievements and smarts go largely unnoticed; and Maggie, the
speechless, pacifier-loving infant. A feature film, The Simpsons Movie, was released on 27 July
2007.
Extra credit: Besides Tracey Ullman, The Simpsons connection extends to Conan O'Brien, Phil
Hartman and Hank Azaria... One of the many semi-regular characters is Sideshow Bob, voiced
by Kelsey Grammer.
Rowan Atkinson
Actor

A rubber-faced comedian and actor, Rowan Atkinson is especially famous in Great Britain. He
became a cult favorite in the British television series Blackadder, and an even bigger star in the
series Mr. Bean. In 1997 a slapstick film version of Mr. Bean was an international hit. He
frequently appears in small roles in big screen comedies, including Four Weddings and a
Funeral (1994, with Hugh Grant), Rat Race (2001, with Whoopi Goldberg) and Love Actually
(2003, with Liam Neeson)

INT: When did you discover your face?

...
RA: That's a good question. I think I was about 20. It was when I first -I had just arrived a
Oxford University. I had already got a degree in electrical and electronic engineering,
which is my background. And I'd just arrived from another University, arrived at Oxford,
and towards the end of my first month there, someone was doing or was staging a show,
was, was staging a review, you know, one night stand, at a theater in Oxford and they
asked me if I'd do something in it, because they knew that I'd been in school plays or
they had heard that I'd been interested in theater and performing. So they said, "Would
you like to do a sketch?", and I, um, and I, I had never written any words before in my life,
and I just looked in the mirror and started to improvise. Really it was the first time I had
just stood in front of a mirror and had a look at my face, and explored it and stretched it,
and tweaked it, and just had fun with it. Suddenly this, sort of, attitude and this character
and this absurdity started to evolve, and this bizarre little five minute sketch evolved,
which was really the precursor to 'Mr. Bean' as he now is, about this guy who didn't
speak but just burbled and came out and tried to give away this piece of paper to anyone
in the audience who would have it. And this burblblb (does Mr. Bean mumble). He was
just this man who came out on stage in this most peculiar way. And that was it, really.
That was the sketch. That was, to be honest, the first time and the last time, really, that I
looked in the mirror, and explored my facial range.
...
INT: But, were you used to being a funny person, at this point, or were you only funny on
stage?
...
RA: No, no, I was only funny on stage, really. I, I, think I was funny as a person toward my
clas
smates when I was very young. You know, when I was a child, up to about the age of 12
Osama bin Laden
Terrorist

Also known as: Usama bin Laden, Ussamah bin Laden

The U.S. government considers Osama bin Laden to be the most dangerous terrorist in the
world. Bin Laden joined the Afghanistani resistance in 1979 and became a commander in the
guerilla wars against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. After that war ended, bin Laden founded a
loose organization of pro-Islamic terrorists known as al-Qaeda. He then joined with the
Egyptian militants led by Ayman al-Zawahiri to form an international group whose goals
included driving the United States out of the Middle East and overthrowing the government of
Saudi Arabia. Attacks which bin Laden is believed to have plotted or inspired include the 1993
bombing of the World Trade Center, the 1995 truck bombing of a Saudi National Guard training
center, and the 1998 explosions at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Along with captured
suspect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, he is considered responsible for the September 2001
attacks that crippled the Pentagon and destroyed New York's World Trade Center. Despite an
intensive manhunt by the U.S. government in the years since that attack, bin Laden has not
been captured.
Extra credit: Bin Laden's supporter Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. bomb strike in
Iraq on 7 June 2006... There is no truth to the e-mail rumor that Osama bin Laden was
identified as a terrorist by Oliver North during the Iran-Contra hearings of 1987... Osama bin
Laden was one of 52 children fathered by Muhammad bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian construction
magnate... bin Laden's niece, Wafah Dufour, is an aspiring pop musician who posed for a photo
shoot in the January 2006 issue of GQ magazine.
Vincent Van Gogh

Artist
A 19th-century painter, Van Gogh is almost as famous for his mental instability as for his vivid
paintings. His career as an artist lasted only 10 years and coincided with frequent bouts of
depression and anguish; in a famous 1888 incident he slashed off his left earlobe with a razor.
He is closely associated with the town of Arles in the south of France, where he created many
of his greatest paintings. Among his best-known works are The Potato Eaters (1885), Starry
Night (1889), and Irises (1889). He died in Auvers, France two days after shooting himself in
the chest with a pistol.
Extra credit: Van Gogh collected drawings by American cartoonist Thomas Nast.
Robin Hood

Fictional Outlaw
Robin Hood is a legendary folk hero, a good-hearted outlaw who lives in England's Sherwood
Forest and "robs from the rich and gives to the poor." He loves Maid Marian, leads a band
known as the Merry Men (which includes Friar Tuck and the oversized Little John) and torments
the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. Robin appears in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe and many other
books, stories and movies. Most Robin Hood stories are set in the era of 1100 - 1300 A.D., and
in many he is a defender of the real-life King Richard the Lion-Hearted and enemy of the
usurper, King John. Much like King Arthur, Robin is a fictional figure who may have been
loosely based on a real person or persons.
Extra credit: Robin Hood has been played in the movies by Errol Flynn (1938), Kevin Costner
(1991) and Sean Connery (1976), among others; he was portrayed as a fox in the 1973 Disney
animated version of the tale.

Marilyn Monroe
Actress

Name at birth: Norma Jeane Mortenson

Marilyn Monroe's sex appeal, talent and untimely death combined to make her an enduring star
and one of Hollywood's most recognizable icons. Early in her film career she starred as a dumb
blonde in movies like How to Marry a Millionaire (1953). Her va-va-voom beauty made her an
international celebrity, and she won acclaim as a talented actress in the films Bus Stop (1956)
and Some Like It Hot (1959, with Jack Lemmon). Her personal life was famously untidy; her
husbands included baseball star Joe DiMaggio (1954) and playwright Arthur Miller (1956-61).
Her last film was Miller's drama The Misfits (1961, co-starring Clark Gable). She was found
dead in 1962 of an overdose of sleeping pills, and her death was officially ruled a probable
suicide.
Extra credit: Monroe was married three times in all: to Jimmy Dougherty (1942-1946), whom
she married when she was 16; to Joe DiMaggio (1954), and to Arthur Miller (1956-1961)... Elton
John's memorial tribute to Lady Di, "Candle in the Wind", was originally written for Marilyn...
According to the official site of her estate, though the name on her birth certificate was Norma
Jean Mortenson, she was later baptized as Norma Jeane Baker.
Monroe appears with Cindy Crawford in our loop Mole Mania, with Robert F. Kennedy in the
loop Autopsy By Noguchi, and with Anne Boleyn in the loop Supposed to be Ghosts.