Famous people known for two totally unrelated accomplishments

[Hornbein]

Music to TV is a rather common transition. There is a whole generation who first got to know Ozzy Osbourne as a reality TV star.

But he didn't have to learn a difficult language. Well maybe he did, but that's not a matter of public record.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Japanese is not particularly difficult, though. And in any case, hardly a claim to fame.

 

[Hornbein]

Japanese is not particularly difficult, though. And in any case, hardly a claim to fame.

Wrong.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Wrong.

How can an opinion be wrong?

 

[Hornbein]

Clarinetist and big band leader Artie Shaw was a big deal back then. He married eight times including actresses Lana Turner and Ava Gardner. He briefly dated actresses Betty Grable and Judy Garland and, according to Tom Nolan's biography, had an affair with Lena Horne. He got bored with music and retired. He became a novelist, a precision marksman ranking fourth in the United States in 1962,and an expert fly fisherman. He also worked on the Riemann Hypothesis.

 

[A.T.]

Is everybody who has a patent registered "famous"?

If patents are sufficient to conclude someone would have been famous in that field, independently from their showbiz career, then I have another one:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Winchell

"Paul Winchell (né Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, humanitarian, and inventor"

Learned about him from:
https://www.omnibusproject.com/episodes/paul-winchell-entry-1433lu0506

 

[DennisN]

I don't know if these accomplishments are different enough for the OP, but I want to mention Charlie Chaplin who apparently was ridiculously talented:

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, singer, film editor and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film.

...

Chaplin wrote, directed, produced, edited, and composed the music for most of his films.

...

Chaplin's compositions produced three popular songs.

More Info:

Charlie Chaplin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Chaplin
Composing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Chaplin#Composing
Legacy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Chaplin#Legacy

It actually blows my mind a bit that the same guy who made the movie The Great Dictator (1940) and acted in it also composed this gorgeous song (the lyrics were however written by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons):

'Smile' by Charlie Chaplin (sung by Nat King Cole)


Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smile_(Charlie_Chaplin_song)

 

[Hornbein]

Sydney Lenz had made a fortune in the lumber business by age 30 and decided to devote the rest of his life to games. He played scratch golf and shot his age at 69. He held a record for continuous games in bowling that was not broken for 20 years. He played tennis, chess and backgammon well enough to play with the masters in each game. But bridge became his favorite and he became a bridge columnist and wrote books on play.

https://paloaltobridge.org/dotcom-files/unit/kibitzer/kib2006/Oct06Kib.pdf

 

[ThomasYork]

I always find it mighty interesting (and impressive) when people are famous for two or more totally unrelated things, especially when one didn't lead to another . . .

In physics, Carlo Rovelli was a cofounder of loop quantum gravity theory, and then later a best-selling author of fiction. I think this is a good example because the two careers are wholly unrelated, and he is not famous as an author because he was a physicist. That said, his fame in physics would be limited just to those who follow that discipline. He didn't have the public fame of someone like Einstein or Hawking.

René Descartes is a good older example, being both a great philosopher and mathematician; his contributions in both fields were foundational and seemingly unrelated, and he is equally famous now in both fields.

Alexander Borodin was a famous chemist, co-discovering the Aldol reaction and developing the Borodin-Hunsdiecker reaction. He was also a famous Romantic composer. These are unrelated fields, and his contribution in both is world-class. So he is a great example.

Lastly, Leibniz is a good example, being (like Descartes) both a great mathematician and philosopher. Mathematically, he invented infinitesimal calculus (or at least was one of three people credited with this, the other two being Newton and Madhava of Sangamagrama). He also perfected the modern binary system and invented an early mechanical calculator. He is also now considered a great philosopher, quite independent of his mathematics. He was one of the early rationalists, and his writings are part of the core curricula of Western philosophy. Einstein said he was a Spinozan (theologically pantheistic) and Leibnizian (opting for relational space over absolute space).

I mention Descartes and Leibniz, but it should be added that mathematics and philosophy, at least during the European Enlightenment, would have been regarded as related. Since that time, however, there has been a specialization of fields, so now they are further removed, with some overlapping area. But the point is that their contributions in both fields were seminal, and thus they are famous now in both. So I think that counts.

 

[Hornbein]

Robert Ludlum was a voice actor for commercials before he became a writer. There was his famous "Plunge works fast" ad for drain cleaner.

Lavoisier of chemistry fame was the very wealthy tax collector for Paris. The wall he had built around Paris to facilitate the collection of duties was hated by the public and I believe a major cause of the revolution. He was one of the first to be beheaded.

 

[collinsmark]

Jessica Lange is famous for both her acting and still photography.

Jessica Lange in 1976 remake of "King Kong." (Image courtesy of https://www.ebay.com/itm/187061559823)

Jessica Lange with her Leica. Photo by Simon Chaput.

Jessica Lange photo by Simon Chaput.

I don't think her acting fame is solely responsible for her photography notoriety. Sure, it probably plays a part: It's easier to be famous in anything if you're already famous. Then again, almost nobody is famous in photography outside of photography circles.

She started her photography pretty mundanely: taking snapshots of the kids, documenting her home life, that sort of thing. But then it grew into something deeper. She's since published several photography books.

Some of her photos:

Cover of one of Jessica Lange's photography books.

Photo by Jessica Lange. (From Highway 61)

Photo by Jessica Lange.

Photo by Jessica Lange. (From Highway 61)

Photo by Jessica Lange. (From Highway 61)

Here's a few of Jessica Lange's quotes:

"If I had to start over, I'd pursue photography - probably to the exclusion of acting."​

From an interview in April 2009 issue O, The Oprah Magazine.​

​

"I never shot on sets, but if I was traveling somewhere or on location, I would always have my camera, and I'd always be - it's that kind of fly on the wall approach to photography, though. I don't engage the subject. I like to sneak around, skulk about in the dark."​

From the Tavis Smiley Show, www.pbs.org, October 8, 2013.​

For those interested, she's appearing again in the TV series "American Horror Story," season 13, which premieres somewhere around the time I'm posting this.

Jessica Lange in "American Horror Story," Photo by Eric Liebowitz/FX.

 

[Hornbein]

Christie Brinkley started out as a photographer. She went to cover a boxing match. The next day the papers were full of photos of Christie with none of the boxers. I remember seeing one of those unposed photos and thinking OMG. It was off to the races after that.

Similar when I saw Farrah Fawcett on the cover of Cosmopolitan. What an impact. Different from everyone else. At the time she was so unfamous Cosmo misspelled her name.