Who's George Plimpton

who is he?

http://www.georgeplimpton.com/

He started the Paris Review!

I think he'd be considered a writer, first, but he has done acting.

He wrote a book, "Paper Lion" based on his experience of joining a football team for a bit (I gather so he could write about it, not because he was good enough for the team); Alan Alda played George in the 1968 film based on the book.

He was in "Little Man Tate", though I can't quite remember his role. Certainly, there is some sort of academic olympics in there, and perhaps it is similar to his role tonight.

He has that accent that almost seems British, which I suppose puts him in some high-brow roles, and then is made fun of in parodies.

There was a mention of a film in tonight's episode, which I can't remember but think is fictional. The title or comment suggested a comedy set at a college, a sort of "Animal House", and while I can't think of what film of the type he might have been in (maybe Homer mistook him for some other actor of the same type), it also seemed the sort of role that he would play.

I notice he played a "spelling bee judge" in a show called Wonderland (I don't recall the show), and that reference might be why he was in tonight's show.

I have no idea if he is related to either Martha Plimpton or Shelley Plimpton, though I have wondered. There are other Plimptons, too, that I don't recognize and again don't know if they are related.

Michael

"Michael Black" wrote in message news:b2pnfb$cri$[email]...

He also used to host "Mousterpiece Theatre" on the Disney Channel.

I never saw that, but I was almost going to say that George Plimpton is kind of like Alistair Cooke, who of course was the original host of Masterpiece Theatre. The accent that leaves you wondering if they are British or American, some obvious intellectual connection, and fairly familiar though likely they do other things that the average person isn't familiar with.

Michael

Somebody claiming to be [email] (Michael Black) wrote in news:b2ptr2$mbl$[email]:

Alistair Cooke was born in Britain, but emigrated to the US and is an American citizen.

i've always thought of him as "the atari guy" considering he starred in a bunch of old atari ads.

the Movie he was in on the simps was "Boner Academy" - and Homer was not confused about his identity, when Homer questions him about his role as the "evil dean" he gives Homer an answer.

"Michael Black" wrote in message news:b2pnfb$cri$[email]...

Somebody claiming to be [email] (Michael Black) wrote in news:b2pnfb$cri$[email]:

"Wonderland", IIRC, was a short-lived ABC drama set in a NYC mental hospital.

As for the (Scripps-Howard) National Spelling Bee, they don't play any sound for contestants who get a word right. In fact, a bell is used for those who misspell a word. (Yes, this is counterintuitive for those of us who watch game shows.)

"Ted S." wrote in message news:[email]...

Do they do the ceremonial releasing of the bees? Seriously, I laughed out loud when I saw that.

Plimpton's made a career of what he calls "participatory journalism" -- he also pitched an inning of an exhibition all-star baseball game in the early 1960s, and went a few rounds with boxer Archie Moore.. He even hosted a syndicated TV show in the 1970s that had him do different stunts -- one week he guest-conducted the Boston Pops, another week he did a stand-up comedy routine, another week he was a lion tamer, etc.

He also wrote the famous phony story for Sports Illustrated in 1985 about NY Mets pitching phenom Sidd Finch.

This is by far his most infamous public act:

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/siddfinch.html

As a Mets fan, I fell for it hook, line & sinker.

"France has neither winter, nor summer, nor morals. France is miserable because it is filled with Frenchmen, and Frenchmen are miserable because they live in France" - Mark Twain

Some guy I guess. Used to play bass for some '80s band. O.D.'d a while back on some bad smack.

He's the spokesman for Intellevision.

"joe fucillo" wrote in message news:cI_3a.6424$[email]...

Don't forget he's the spokesperson for "The Cheese Game" on SNL.

I, too, wish they had worked in an Intellivision joke, given Plimpton's stint as their P.R. rep.

-Stan Allen

On 17 Feb 2003 02:17:18 GMT, [email] (Wsfrink86) wrote:

In addition to what everyone else has said, he's the 1000th best center of the Hollywood universe, with an average "Plimpton number" of 2.905306.

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/oracle/center.html