Someone recently asked a pop culture online community for facts about famous people that not everybody knows today. From potty mouths to being covered in bees, these are twelve celebrity facts you probably don’t already know.
1. Robin Williams: Potty Mouth Fun
You’ve got to love Robin Williams. But did you know that before he was voicing the genie in Aladdin or playing a game of Jumanji, he played an alien sent to Earth to learn about its people and culture in the 80s show Mork and Mindy?
The studio gave Williams free rein to improvise throughout the show, and he chose to be naughty and slip swear words in other languages into the dialogue. As a result, the production hired a censor who spoke four languages to ensure he couldn’t pass Russian and Spanish curse words off with his high-pitched alien voice and language.
2. Mr. Fred Rogers: Iconic Sweaters
Mr. Fred Rogers was notably one of the kindest and sincerest souls to bless us on television. There are dozens of stories about his love and empathy.
From sharing a wading pool with a Black coworker and friend in 1969 to standing up for racial equality to feeding his fish every day after receiving a letter from a blind girl concerned he wasn’t feeding his fish enough, the man is a legend. However, did you know that his mother, Nancy McFeely Rogers, knitted every one of his iconic sweaters until her passing in 1981?
3. Angela Lansbury: Manson Family Close Call
The beautiful, late, and great Angela Lansbury was also an incredible mother with a shocking situation. The Murder She Wrote star uprooted her family from Los Angeles and moved them outside the rural village of Conna in Cork, Ireland, to rescue them from the LA drug scene.
Her son Anthony was addicted, and her teenage daughter Deidre started using and was hanging out with the following of notorious cult leader and murderer Charles Manson!
4. Tim Allen: The Original Cocaine Bear
Did you know that Tim Allen was caught and arrested at the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport for possessing over 650 grams (1.43 lb) of cocaine in 1978?
After pleading guilty to felony drug trafficking charges, he named the other dealers to receive a lighter sentence rather than face life in prison. Finally, after serving two years and four months, he was released from the Federal Correctional Institution, Sandstone, in Sandstone, Minnesota.
5. Tony Todd: Sweets To the Sweet
Tony Todd as Candyman was one of the scariest parts of the 90s. The story took the legend of Bloody Mary to another level when they produced the man in the mirror with a hook.
During the scenes that required Tony Todd to be covered in bees, they used actual bees for filming. Todd ensured a clause in his contract that paid him an additional $1000 for each bee sting he received. The payout? Ultimately, Todd received 23 stings for an additional $23,000 for his notorious role.
6. Steve Buscemi: Unsung Hero of 9/11
Did you know that actor Steve Buscemi is a former New York City Firefighter for Engine 55? Moreover, that he went to NYC immediately after 9/11 to help search for survivors at Ground Zero?
According to Yahoo Reports, “From September 12, he worked 12 hours a day for a week, helping his former colleagues search for survivors (343 firefighters were killed when the towers collapsed), digging through the remains of the World Trade Center for signs of life and helping to take away those who had lost their lives.” Finally, Buscemi refused interviews and told no one of his heroics.
7. Michael Jackson: The Lost Boy
Do you “Remember the Time” Michael Jackson paid $150,000 to a witch doctor in Switzerland to put a voodoo curse on 23 of his enemies, including Steven Spielberg?
After Spielberg refused to allow Jackson to play Peter Pan in his movie Hook, he made the list. According to Vanity Fair, “Wacko Jacko” reportedly underwent a ritualistic bloodbath, and his “Voodoo chief named Baba” had 42 cows ritually sacrificed for the ceremony.
On another note, can you imagine anyone else embodying the role of Peter Pan better than our beloved Robin Williams?
8. Oprah Winfrey: The Perfect Fit
Can you imagine having a bathtub perfectly formed for your body? Sign me up. Oprah Winfrey doesn’t need to use her imagination, as she has a marble and onyx hand-carved tub shaped like her body.
9. Jennifer Lawrence: Stay Hydrated
Jennifer Lawrence apparently needs a reminder to stay hydrated, so she got a tattoo on her hand that reads, “H20.” “It’s literally the most un-rebellious tattoo that anyone could ever get,” she told HitFix.
10. Kim Kardashian: Cardboard Conundrum
Do you have a ridiculous pet peeve that makes others cringe? You’re not alone. Kim Kardashian doesn’t like the cardboard sleeve on Starbucks cups and pays someone to remove them for her.
11. Lady Gaga: Who You Gonna Call?
Ghostbusters! That’s right. Lady Gaga spends thousands of dollars on Ghostbusters. According to Glamour, the “Kooky pop singer is petrified of evil spirits and has apparently had every hotel and tour venue she’s performed and stayed in scanned by a team of pro paranormal investigators before she agreed to reside there.”
Additionally, Gaga spent nearly $50 thousand on “state-of-the-art Electro Magnetic Field meters to detect ghosts.”
12. George Lucas: Skywalker Ranch
Legendary Star Wars director George Lucas owns a fire department in Nicasio, California. It employs fourteen career firefighters and is located on his Skywalker Ranch, a unique workspace for Lucas’s employees.
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Elizabeth Ervin is the owner of Sober Healing. She is a freelance writer passionate about opioid recovery and has celebrated breaking free since 09-27-2013. She advocates for mental health awareness and encourages others to embrace healing, recovery, and spirituality.