The 'Famous people who you actually admire thread' thread.

[Eightball]

If I were to name three right now? Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, and I guess Russ Feingold.

EDIT: I wish I could name some scientists in my field of study (Biology) but all the recent famous ones are batshit crazy or assholes (Kary Mullis, Watson & Crick)

[KarthXLR]

Charlie Chaplin was a pretty cool guy.


But Harrison Ford owns a helicopter and has saved two people. It's just too bad he's kind of a dick in public.

[Spore]

Oh, yeah. Carl Sagan is one admirable son of a gun.

[Badgerman of DOOM]

Freddie Mercury
Dolph Lundgren

[loldollas]

Daniel Dumile, MF DOOM, the Supervillain.

[CaffeinePowered]

Because someone already mentioned Sagen

[Versus]

morgan freeman owns

also sagan

[Badgerman of DOOM]

Because someone already mentioned Sagen

deGrasse-Tyson's pretty awesome too, I got a book signed by him when I was younger (well technically "Merlin," the character-author of the book, but still).

[ZargonX]

Because someone already mentioned Sagen

^

[at0m]

I have an interesting story about Carlin.

I listened to his stuff before I ever watched a special, and thought he was hilarious, and didn't connect the fact that he was the Conductor on Sunshine Station until I watched one of them. But that's not really the story. He was one of the few comedians I wanted to see live, and had this funny feeling that if I didn't see him live before I graduated college, he'd be dead before graduated and I had a job and enough money to travel to wherever to see him.

He came to Purdue in 2004.. I dropped everything to make sure I had tickets to see that show, and went and saw it. I think I skipped out on a study session and bombed a test the next day. And honestly, was a little underwhelmed. He wasn't as polished as in the specials (or on CD), and it was kind of a return to his older (more poop-and-fart-joke) style of humor. I thought the guy that opened for him was funnier, but he wasn't memorable enough for me to remember his name. Carlin explained this during the show, and mentioned that he was practicing material for a new special, which ended up becoming Life Is Worth Losing.

The really creepy part of the story is this: It took me a while to finish college, and I graduated in May 2008. I got a job pretty much right away and started working on June 23, 2008, specifically. George Carlin was admitted to a hospital complaining of chest pain shortly thereafter died of heart failure on June 22, 2008, the day before I started my job. I will now never forget either of these dates.

[Wrath Of Sandvich]

Along with the previously mentioned George Carlin, I think Christopher Walken deserves to be mentioned.

[ainmosni]

• Bill Hicks
  
• George Carlin
  
• Carl Sagan
  
• Neil deGrasse Tyson
  
• Richard Feynman
  
• Douglas Adams
  
• Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek
  
• Constantijn Huygens
  

[beep beep diglett]

me BEcause im a winner

[PyroZombie]

Along with the previously mentioned George Carlin, I think Christopher Walken deserves to be mentioned.

Yeah, Walken has this weird power to make an entire movie better by being in it for 4 minutes.