CELEBRITY "IDOLS"

These are the celebrities whose acting personalities or real personalities are unique and eccentric enough to make me truly admire their individuality and adore them. Different than my favorite actors, as these people may not even be versatile actors, but whatever it is they do, they do it in a way that entertains me immensely. Without further ado...


Christopher Lloyd Christopher Lloyd is my all-time favorite actor, and I absolutely adore his acting style and ability to ace character roles. There was a point in time (a while ago, mind you) that I had a mini list of Christopher Lloyd movies I hadn't seen so when I stopped by the video store I could pick one up. I've seen even the crappy ones, but Lloyd is always so fresh and unique, full of energy and eccentricity. Some of his best and most well-known stuff would be Doc Brown in "Back to the Future", Uncle Fester in "The Addams Family" films, Reverend Jim in "Taxi", Klingon Commander Kruge in "Star Trek III: Search for Spock", and Judge Doom in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" I love love love Lloyd and wish I could be that immensed into a character when I act. Wikipedia profile


Tim Curry Sooo much to say about Mr. Tim Curry. First off, let me say that he was my first huge celebrity obsession. From the age of about 10 to 17, I collecting everything Tim Curry, from his (then) rare rock 'n' roll albums to his films. I knew everything about him and even made a scrapbook dedicated to him. And of course, i had pictures of him all over my walls. This was so long ago that the first web image I had ever seen/received was a picture of Tim Curry from Rocky Horror that I'll never forget. Over the years I obsessed over him much less, but to this day I rock out to his rock pieces, and now my collection of his performances could fill a number of CDs (I know from burning them). I like to keep up to date with what he's doing, even though I won't go crazy to see him in something like I used to. I admire every performance I've ever seen him perform, including a Broadway performance in "A Christmas Carol" I was fortunate enough to see in winter of 2001. Linda's Tim Curry site I have been visiting her site since I was about 13! 10+ years of Tim Curry excellence.


Jim Dale Jim Dale was my second big celebrity obsession after Tim Curry. Truth is, I grew up on Pete's Dragon but it wasn't until I was 16 and bought it on VHS that I truly realized my love for Jim Dale. He played Doc Terminus, the story of stereotypycail moustached, top-hat wearing villain seen in silent movies where they tie the fair maiden to the train tracks. He sings in it too, he's actually quite a good singer. I've heard him in many other musicals like Candide and Barnum, and he's excellent. Ironically, 2 years after I saw Tim Curry as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol in NY I saw Jim Dale in A Christmas Carol in NY at the same theatre. They're both British, too. Now of course, Jim Dale is popular for winning awards for his recordings of the Harry Potter books. Just like the majority of my list, he's an excellent character actor. Jim's Page at Wikipedia


Jim Varney I came to a recent realization that my watching "Hey Vern, It's Ernest" religiously when I was 10 influenced me deeply, and became the foundation of my sense of humour. So after reliving this childhood obsession of mine, I'm wondering why I was such a fool to not have watched all those Ernest films years ago! Jim Varney was hilarious, and totally the pinnacle of my type of humour, knowhutimean? Also, I must note that being a fan of character actors, I'm really good at picking out actors I like when they play all different sorts of wacky characters. But I gotta say, I still can't believe it's Varney playing his character Auntie Nelda. Jim on Wiki


Robert Llewellyn I first saw Robert as his most famous role, Kryten in Red Dwarf, and I thought he was hilarious, as does everybody who likes that show I assume. But then I was flipping channels one day and saw "Kryten" on some tech show, so I started watching it (Junkyard Wars/Scrapheap Challenge). It's an awesome show, and Robert is my favorite host because he always manages to make everything funny. And his laugh and smile are so contagious. Rob's Webpage


Paul Frees Extremely talented voice actor. You've probably heard his voice a million times but never knew it was him. His voice characters are usually on the wacky side, and his range is superb. Some of my favorite performances of his include the voices of most of the pirates on the Pirates of the Carribean ride in Disney, the Burgermeister Meisterburger in Rankin-Bass's "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" (he sang "No More Toymakers") as well as Kulba Kraus in their "Jack Frost" film, he did some of my favorite voices in "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol," not to mention the voice of Ludwig Von Drake for most Disney things (incl. the song "The Spectrum Song")! Everytime I see his name as a voice over actor in a cartoon, I get all excited. Wikipedia profile


Vanessa Mae Vanessa Mae is this amazing violinist who really introduced me into the whole "neoclassical" genre of music. Well, she didn't personally introduce me, but her music turned me onto it. Her most popular piece, and I believe my first, is her rockin' cover of Bach's Tocatta in D-minor (you'll know it when you hear it, very moody piece) From them on, I began collecting all of her music, and from her covers to her originals, it's all superb. I think her work is just as beautiful as "classic" classical pieces, and don't like her being discredited simply because she gives it a "rock" twist. Because of my exposure to her, I realized my love for the violin (any genre of violin music, in fact, from Celtic to classical to jazz and world music) and also discovered other bands that have some gems, such as Bond. I hope to one day see her live, hoping that she tours once again. Vanessa's Webpage


Armin Shimerman Most well known for his role in "Star Trek: Deep Space 9" where I admit is where I first saw him, and to be honest, really haven't seen him in anything else except as the principal in Buffy the Vampire Slayer the TV show. But his portrayal of Quark I found to be incredibly believable. It would have been so easy, I think, to make a Ferengi character annoying and ignorable, especially since the Ferengi in TNG were completely forgetable. But instead, Quark is funny and even charming, making the Ferengi episodes some of the best DS9 offers. All in all, I like his style and love the way he handled Quark, great actor in my book. Wikipedia profile


Tim Gunn Tim Gunn is one of the hosts of Project Runway next to Heidi Klum. He's a really cool guy, and really funny, even when he's not trying to be. He has this really quirky way of analyzing the outfits made by the designers and advising that they "Make it work!" A highlight in his Project Runway history for me was both when in season 2 designer Santino did an impersonation of Tim asking "What happened to Andre?" and overexagerration his concern. Tooo funny. Another was when he went to contestant Chloe's house (season 2 again) and got in a picture with Chloe and her ten or so sisters, all little asian women. I swear I'd hang that picture on my wall cause he just looked cute/funny in there. I really hope he hosts Season 3, I heard he may have schedule conflicts. Tim's Page at Project Runway


Lucille Ball She's such a classic. I've loved her since I saw my first I Love Lucy episode, a show I watched all the time. I had about biographical 4 Lucy books when I was 12 and read them all. I really don't know what to say about her that isn't already known. She's hilarious, her expressions are priceless, she's totally a queen of comedy in my book. Lucy's Page at Wikipedia


Cyril Ritchard Ok, I won't lie, I've only ever seen Ritchard in the Peter Pan stage version with Mary Martin, but ever since I was young I thought he was awesome as Captain Hook. His facial expressions and action are so quirky, he cracks me up. After years of not seeing it, the only thing that was still vivid in my mind was him. Mary Martin was really great in that too, might I add. I might add, Cyril had that great line in The Hobbit cartoon where he says "There are moon letters here... seee?" and trails off at the end. Cyril's Page at Wikipedia


Elizabeth Mongomery Samantha on the classic TV show Bewitched. She's on here because she was my childhood idol. I wanted to name my daughter Samantha for the longest time. I still like that name. Bewitched was my favorite show, and I thought Samantha was so awesome. She had powers, but she was modest abot them, and she was intelligent, but fun and mischevious. Darren completely did not deserve her, I'll always stand by that. Bewitched was a great show. I have tons of audio cassettes of me watching Bewitched and commenting about the episode during the commercials when I'm about 8. Maybe one of the reasons I liked Lucy and Sam so much is that they were pretty independent for women on TV at the time. They also didn't play it safe, and I liked that too. Elizabeth's Page at Wikipedia


Robbie Coltrane Coltrane is best known for his role as Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, and of course thats where I first came to love him. To be honest, I think Hagrid is my favorite character in the books because I saw Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid first and loved him to death. But I've also seen him in the Young Ones, Blackadder and other things too, I'm sure. He's funny in everything, but I really think he breathes so much life into Hagrid and makes him so likeable. So, he's awesome. Robbie's Page at Wikipedia


Paul Reubens Like many other people, I grew up on Pee Wee's Playhouse but I still love this damn show. It's so creative and entertaining, and of course, wacky. But I always find Reubens entertaining. I thought he was great in Mystery Men, which is actually one of my favorite films. Sullying his good name because of his adult movie theater isn't was incredibly lame. Pee Wee's Big Adventure was such an amazing film. sooo funny. I hear there is a new Pee Wee movie coming out this year, I'm praying it gets released. Paul's Wiki


Leslie Nielsen The Naked Gun movies are some of my favorites. I've also seen the Police Squad series and that's hilarious, too. His facial expressions are absolutely priceless, I can't think of anyone quite like Leslie Nielsen. He was great in Airplane too, but I wish that some of his other projects like "Mr. Magoo" were more successful, because I also loved the Magoo cartoons. Leslie at Wikipedia


Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis These two go hand in hand for me because I loved the Munsters growing up, and these two were my reason. Just so quirky and colorful (joke not intended), they were highlights of the show, not to mention Car 54, Where Are You? which I used to watch when I was younger as well. But it doesn't hold a candle to The Munsters, and I have to give Yvonne DeCarlo some credit, too, cause she was awesome. The Munsters at Wikipedia


Topol So I first discovered Fiddler on the Roof at age 10 or 11. I fell in love with the music instantly (my mother had an LP of it at my Nana’s house that my brother and I would listen to), and shortly after, the movie also. He’s just incredible. I’m pretty sure he’s the reason I’ve always been strangely attracted to older men that remind me of Santa Claus? That’s neither here nor there – he is such a good actor Topol; I just watch his mannerisms and I have no doubt in my mind that he is Tevye. Also, I love his voice and the way his eyes sparkle when he talks. I had the honor of seeing him in Fiddler in 2009 and he was incredible; probably the best musical I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen at least 25. I had semi-low expectations because he was 75 when he gave the performance, but he was brilliant. I really believe that he is the main reason that this film is so so dear to my heart. Topol's Wikipedia site




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