{"id":3473,"date":"2015-12-08T11:22:01","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T11:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/?p=3473"},"modified":"2015-12-08T13:34:34","modified_gmt":"2015-12-08T13:34:34","slug":"a-case-of-mistaken-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/?p=3473","title":{"rendered":"A case of mistaken identity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Potato<\/a>

Potato in disguise\/David Appleby\/flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019ve realised that I\u2019m something of a Mrs Malaprop when it comes to slightly obscure celebrities or ones whose star has waned with the passing of the years. Often the two I\u2019m confusing are completely different types, in very different lines of business, which makes the confusion even more ludicrous. Here is a selection of these mismatched pairs, just in case anyone else is having similar difficulties.<\/p>\n

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Heath Robinson and Heathcote Williams<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most people probably know of William Heath Robinson, illustrator of ingenious contraptions for running a family breakfast or bizarre activities such as \u2018resuscitating stale railway scones for redistribution at the station buffet\u2019. His whimsical fantasies combined with his talents as a draughtsman place him firmly in the British humorous tradition. Equally creative, but of a vastly different temperament, Heathcote Williams is a protean free spirit: sometime Notting Hill activist, actor, poet, playwright and lyricist, he includes among his achievements discovering a new species of honey-producing wasp in the Amazon and setting fire to himself on Jean Shrimpton\u2019s doorstep.<\/p>\n

NOT to be confused further with Ted Heath, bandleader, and Ted Heath, former Prime Minister, yachtsman and, er, bandleader.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hoagy Carmichael and Stokely Carmichael<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"James<\/a>

James Joel\/flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Jazz<\/a>

Jazz Guy\/flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Pianist and bandleader Hoagy Carmichael is remembered for some of the greatest American songs of all time, including \u2018Stardust\u2019 and \u2018Georgia on my Mind\u2019. He starred in 14 films, describing his screen presence as \u2018the hound-dog-faced musical philosopher noodling on the honky-tonk piano.\u2019 I doubt that Stokely Carmichael, on the other hand, would ever have described any of his activities as ‘noodling’. He was the firebrand black activist and one-time Black Panther, seen by many as a provocateur, who became notorious for having declared \u2018The position of women in the [black rights] movement is prone.\u2019 Opinion is divided on how serious this off-the-cuff quip was meant to be \u2013 but still . . .<\/p>\n

NOT to be confused further with Ian Carmichael, genial English actor specialising in upper class twits.<\/p>\n

Sandy Powell and Sandy Powell<\/strong><\/p>\n

The confusion is inevitable! Rotherham\u2019s finest, Sandy Powell<\/a> \u2013 cathchphrase \u2018Can you hear me, mother?\u2019 \u2013 was a comedian and ventriloquist who successfully made the transition from music hall to television via radio and film. Known as \u2018Mr Eastbourne\u2019 from his numerous appearances on the pier of the same name, he is a very different kettle of fish from\u00a0soign\u00e9e Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell<\/a>, hotly tipped to receive a fourth little golden man for Carol<\/em>. Imagine La Blanchett turning up for a fitting for one of her divine Carol<\/em> creations and being confronted with Mr Eastbourne! No doubt she\u2019d have carried it off with her usual aplomb.<\/p>\n

NOT to be confused further with Sandy Wilson, composer of The Boyfriend<\/em> (who in some strange way seems to constitute a bridge between the two).<\/p>\n

I know I\u2019m not the only one to mix people up like this \u2013 one of my friends once confused John Inman with John Goodman. Are You Being Served?<\/em> and Roseanne <\/em>would have been very different propositions, and sitcoms on both sides of the pond set on a very different course, had casting directors made the same mistake.<\/p>\n

Let us know if you have any similar examples of mistaken identity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

. . . set himself on fire on Jean Shrimpton’s doorstep . . .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,55],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3473"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3473"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3519,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3473\/revisions\/3519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}