Celebs Who Are Nothing Like They Seem

When it comes to the world of celebrities, it's not always "what you see is what you get." In fact, it's usually quite the opposite. Celebs are people too, and when they're not on-set or in front of the camera, they're usually, y'know, actual people.

Find out what happens when fans forget that the real Lena Headey is not as ruthless as her character on "Game of Thrones," and we hate to break it to you, but Bob Saget, Tim Allen, and Florence Henderson aren't nearly as G-rated as the parents the famous parents they played on TV. Are late night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert funny and sarcastic all the time? And what about your favorite athletes, musicians, and power couples? Do they walk the walk when they're not walking the red carpet? 

The truth may surprise you. Let's take a closer look at celebs who are nothing like they seem.

On "The Brady Bunch," mom Carol Brady was as squeaky clean as they come. According to ABC News, the show even went so far as to make sure she was known as a remarried widower and not (gasp!) a divorcee. But off camera, it seems actress Florence Henderson occasionally walked on the wild side.

In 2001, she revealed in her memoir, "Life Is Not a Stage," that she engaged in a disastrous one-night stand with John Lindsay, the then-mayor of New York City, in the 1960s while she was married. "I was lonely," Henderson said of her Beverly Hills Hotel tryst (via Reuters). "I knew it wasn't the right thing to do. So, what did I do? I did it." Henderson said she caught crabs from the mayor, who promptly sent her flowers and a note of apology.

Even her own children wished she was as nice as the mom she played on television. "When I'd go home, my own children would say, 'Hey, mom, why aren't you that nice at home?' and I'd remind them that my TV children were nice, too, and always obeyed," she said in a 1989 interview with the The Tampa Tribune (via MeTV).

Television's most famous bigot has got to be Archie Bunker of "All in the Family." Perhaps no single character has more convincingly sold the role of ignorant old windbag better than Carroll O'Connor, which never ceased to amaze those who knew him because the actor was considered a very kind and intelligent man.

In his memoir (via The Hollywood Reporter), showrunner Norman Lear writes about O'Connor's eternal struggle to play the abrasive role of Bunker. Lear recalls every script as a battle, with O'Connor threatening to quit repeatedly because he was so repulsed. "It was understandable to a degree," Lear writes. "He was, after all, at the beginning of a process where he was to shed the gentle Irish intellectual Carroll O'Connor to become the poorly educated, full-of-himself blowhard Archie Bunker, spewing a kind of rancid, lights-out conservatism for a television audience that grew quickly to more than 50 million people."

The wholesome and happy public image of "The Partridge Family's" Danny Bonaduce masked a very sad and troubled private life. At age 15, Bonaduce says he began to use drugs and alcohol, mostly as a way to cope with a tumultuous family life at home. By the time the hit show ended after four seasons, he claims he was broke, strung out, and living out of his car in Hollywood.

"I'd wake up, kind of wipe my eyes, and I'd go right through the little arch and I'd be in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater, where everybody's footprints are," Bonaduce revealed on an episode of Oprah's "Where Are They Now?" (via The Huffington Post) in 2013. "I was still famous and people had no idea I lived behind the dumpster. I'd be taking pictures with people and signing autographs ... It was totally embarrassing to be famous and homeless."

Bonaduce's battle with drugs and alcohol continued for much of his life, most famously when he was arrested for robbing and beating a transvestite prostitute in 1991. According to his interview on "Where Are They Now?," Bonaduce is finally sober.

Michael Strahan was one of the most popular figures on daytime television for years, thanks to his seemingly effortless chemistry with Kelly Ripa during their stint co-hosting "Live! with Kelly and Michael." But in April 2016, his reputation and motives were called into question when he suddenly announced he was leaving "Live!" to join "Good Morning America." The abrupt decision — which allegedly blindsided Ripa — exposed an ugly side to the Emmy-winning daytime talk show.

Reports quickly surfaced claiming Strahan and Ripa didn't get along, and it didn't do Strahan's image any favors when word leaked that Ripa was informed of his departure just before the press release went out. Strahan wound up exiting the show abruptly on May 13, 2016, leaving behind a tarnished image after an otherwise solid four-year run. The controversy also directed a renewed focus on his often tumultuous love life, which has included everything from messy divorces to allegations of infidelity. 

For a period of time from the late-'80s to mid-'90s, Bob Saget's character on "Full House" was #dadgoals. Along with Uncle Jesse and Uncle Joey, the San Fran fam seemed like an awesome crew. Of course, then we all reached puberty and realized "Full House" was one of the smarmiest, saccharine-sweet shows on TV, and dad Danny Tanner's parenting had all the fire of a jar of mayonnaise, or so it seemed.

Since the end of "Full House" and his stint on "America's Funniest Home Videos," Saget has returned to the world of stand-up comedy — and it's worlds away from the life of Mr. Tanner. Saget is still good-natured and friendly, but his comedy is vile, filthy, and meant to shock and surprise audiences. No subject is too taboo for Saget, who will say anything to make you laugh, or at the very least, make you terribly uncomfortable. We can't reprint many of his jokes here without an NSFW tag, so we'll just tell you that Saget's version of "The Aristocrats" is one of the raunchiest jokes you'll hear in your life. You've been warned.

To be fair, Rock Hudson (real name Roy Scherer) really didn't have much of a choice but to keep his private life extremely private. As a huge movie star and sex symbol living in the incredibly repressed United States in the middle of the 20th century, Hudson's career would have summarily ended if the general public ever found out that he was gay. 

Instead, the matinee idol starred in serious movies such as "A Farewell to Arms" and "Giant" (for which he received an Oscar nomination) and appeared in a string of enjoyable romantic comedies with America's sweetheart, Doris Day, such as "Pillow Talk," "Lover Come Back," and "Send Me No Flowers." While Hudson's sexual preference was something of an open secret in Hollywood among co-stars and friends, it wasn't public knowledge until 1985. Tragically, his sexual orientation became part of the announcement that he was dying from complications of AIDS. Hudson passed away later that year.

As one of Hollywood and the indie film world's most prolific and versatile actors, Steve Buscemi has played many different characters, but he tends to gravitate toward weirdos, loners, lawbreakers, malcontents, creeps, and guys who are down on their luck. Among the roles for which he's best known: a kidnapper in "Fargo," a mobster on "Boardwalk Empire," a sniper in "Billy Madison," and a robber in "Reservoir Dogs." 

Off-screen, he's a stand-up, take-charge, working class guy from Brooklyn. Before his acting career took off in the 1990s, Buscemi was an active firefighter from 1980 to 1984, working with Engine 55, helping alleviate emergencies in New York's Little Italy neighborhood, according to Salon. "I was in the engine company, which means we were responsible for getting in there with the hose and putting out the fire," he said.

When terrorist-hijacked airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, Buscemi returned to his old firehouse and volunteered his services, according to Deadline. He worked 12-hour shifts for five straight days, clearing rubble and searching for survivors.

As a member of the hard-partying boys club and Frank Sinatra-orbiting social circle known as "The Rat Pack," Dean Martin exuded a certain kind of midcentury cool. Once half of the enormously popular on-screen comedy duo Martin and Lewis (with Jerry Lewis), per the New York Times, Martin was also a quintessential pop crooner, making classics out of jaunty love songs like "That's Amore" and "Everybody Loves Somebody." 

Throughout most of his career, he landed on a crowd-pleasing persona, that of the fun and flirtatious drunk. Martin always presented as just a little bit tipsy — enough to be visibly intoxicated, but not so inebriated that he couldn't not entertain the masses — whenever he'd take the stage in Las Vegas, or hit a TV studio to film an episode of "The Dean Martin Show."

The drunk act, however, was just that — an act. According to Martin's son, Ricci Martin, in his memoir "That's Amore: A Son Remembers Dean Martin," the legendary entertainer wasn't an all-out teetotaler, but he wasn't a drunkard — more of a sipper than a guzzler. "Dad usually had a J&B scotch and soda he nursed through the performance," the younger Martin wrote. "It was almost always a weak scotch and soda. Other times it was just apple juice."

It would seem that it takes a lot of brains to play dumb. Over 11 seasons of "Modern Family," Nolan Gould played Luke Dunphy, the youngest and dimmest by far of Phil and Claire's three odd children. He spoke slowly, couldn't grasp easy concepts, rarely understood what his family and friends were talking about, and seemed to always have a confused look on his face before he made a silly and foolish outburst.

His character on "Modern Family" is a few fries short of a Happy Meal, but in real life, Gould is a literal and actual genius. In 2012, Gould appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and revealed (via The Daily Mail) that he'd just graduated high school — at the precociously young age of 13. That's some next-level smart person stuff, and with a well above-average IQ of 150, Gould was also able to secure a membership in Mensa (according to HuffPost), a society for people with demonstrably high intelligence. 

Gould observed that people are often surprised that he's not as witless as Luke Dunphy. "They always think that I'm dumb in real life," Gould told Dear Doctor. "They're like, 'I can't believe you're not dumb, I always thought you were. So you don't run into screen doors, you don't run into walls?' And I'm like, no, that's just the character!"

Caitlyn Jenner has been famous for nearly 50 years, first winning Americans' favor by winning the decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and with it the title of "World's Greatest Athletes." Some TV hosting and acting gigs followed, and after Jenner married Kris Jenner, the celebrity became one of the stars of the long-running, star-making reality TV juggernaut "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," where producers framed Jenner as a befuddled, goofy, caring step-parent to Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney Kardashian, and parent to Kylie and Kendall Jenner.

In 2015, Jenner came out as a transgender woman, according to NBC News. One of the first transgender people and still arguably the most famous, one might assume that a person who advocates for acceptance and LGBT issues would be politically liberal, or progressive. That's not true of Jenner. The reality TV star has repeatedly endorsed a conservative ideology. She once said she wanted to be Republican senator Ted Cruz's "trans ambassador" should he be elected president in 2016, and later supported one of Donald Trump's presidential campaigns. In 2021, Jenner advocated the recall of democratic California governor Gavin Newsom, and ran as a Republican to replace him. Spoiler: she didn't win.

Also known as "The Purple One" and, for a while, as an unpronounceable glyph combining the "male" and "female" symbols, Prince was a prickly and prolific musician, recording 39 studio albums. A lot of those songs, and much of his persona, was built around sexuality, and the expression thereof. If the public were judging by his music, Prince was seemingly always ready to hit the bedroom, or just emerged from the bedroom. 

To list just a few of Prince's many provocative, lascivious, and hot and bothered songs: "Sexy MF," "Cream," "Sex Shooter," "Electric Intercourse," "Little Red Corvette," and "Darling Nikki." Apparently living out what he laid out in his art, Prince was often romantically linked to beautiful and glamorous women, according to Fashion Quarterly, among them Kim Basinger, Carmen Electra, and Mayte Garcia (whom he'd marry in the mid-'90s).

Perhaps in contrast with that explosive sexuality, according to Billboard, Prince was a devout adherent of the Jehovah's Witness faith, joining the religion around 2001. Practicing Jehovah's Witnesses, who believe in the purity and sanctity of the human body (which could be seen as in conflict with free and open sexuality) often go door to door to discuss and spread their faith, and Prince was game, approaching homes in Los Angeles and his hometown of Minneapolis to distribute pamphlets. "Sometimes people act surprised, but mostly they're really cool," he said.

An omnipresent pop cultural figure in the 1980s and beyond, Gilbert Gottfried was all over movies, television, commercials, and the stand-up comedy circuit for decades. He stood out from all the other comics, comedy actors, and voice actors because of his unique voice — a screamed, guttural, deeply grating tone — with a squinting, sneering facial expression to match. 

Gottfried took his polarizing vocal schtick all the way to the bank, starring in the "Problem Child" movies, as Iago in Disney's mega-hit "Aladdin" movie, and voicing the AFLAC duck in numerous insurance ads, according to Rolling Stone. Gottfried was also a relentless touring comic with edgy jokes, exemplified by his turn on a televised roast in September 2001 in which he told arguably the first 9/11 joke (via The Laugh Button), and a series of joke tweets after the 2011 Japanese tsunami that lost him his AFLAC job (via THR).

The 2017 documentary "Gilbert" paints a much different picture, of the real Gottfried, whose friends consider him a low-key, kind, shy, and exceedingly thrifty family man. And his most famous trait, his voice, is all invention. "In real life I sound like Bing Crosby!" he told TimeOut. "I never actually sat down and said, 'I'm gonna talk this way.'"

Ellen DeGeneres was among many successful stand-up comics of the '80s and '90s who translated their act into a sitcom, in the form of "Ellen," a hit for ABC that ran into some controversy in the late '90s when its star, and lead character, came out as a gay woman. After some flop projects, DeGeneres returned to TV in 2003 with "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," a daytime talk show featuring sunny chats with celebrity guests, alternately comical and earnest monologues from the host, stories about real-life do-gooders, and massive giveaways (via People), all of it playing into DeGeneres' mission statement (via EW) of "be kind." DeGeneres certainly lived up to her nickname, the "Queen of Nice."

In March 2020, comedian Kevin T. Porter got a Twitter thread rolling to call out what was apparently an open secret in the TV industry — that DeGeneres was supposedly "one of the meanest people alive." Numerous former associates and employees weighed in, citing how DeGeneres had a habit of picking on one new person a day, or fired people for arbitrary reasons, or demanded underlings not make eye contact. BuzzFeed launched an investigation, in which several ex-"Ellen" staffers spoke of a toxic work environment categorized by fear, intimidation, and bullying exemplified by the boss. DeGeneres acknowledged the concerns and apologized, and ultimately ended "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2022.

Christopher Guest is an architect of comedy, a chief developer (according to The Globe and Mail) of the "mockumentary." In 1984, he starred in "This is Spinal Tap," a behind-the-scenes look at Spinal Tap, a fictional, humorous metal band he formed with Michael McKean and Harry Shearer; Guest played Nigel Tufnel, a very stupid, foolish British bass player. Guest would later write and direct "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best in Show," among others, always saving for himself a role of one of the most broadly comic, silly, and oafish characters, such as delusional small-town theater company director Corky St. Clair (in "Guffman"), and goofy Southern hound dog enthusiast Harlan Pepper (in "Best in Show").

A comic force on screen, Guest apparently saves the humor for his work. "He's an intellectual," his wife, Jamie Lee Curtis, told Good Housekeeping. He's also a history buff. "For our 30th anniversary we both read a book called 'Undaunted Courage,' the story of Lewis and Clark. Then we took eight friends and retraced a section of the Missouri River in canoes that followed the path of their expedition. We're a little nerdy." And unlike most other actors in Hollywood, Guest is a literal aristocrat. According to The Guardian, his father held the very old title of Lord Haden-Guest, which entitles its bearer to a seat in the United Kingdom Parliament's House of Lords. When Guest's father died, he inherited the title, and he attended many House of Lords sessions.

Through two iconic, long-running, back-to-back television roles in the 1970s and 1980s, Michael Landon established himself as one of the all-time most beloved small-screen dads and all around good guys, his name and involvement a virtual guarantee that a show would be wholesome, sweet, family-friendly, and packed with virtues and moral lessons. From 1974 to 1984, Landon portrayed Charles "Pa" Ingalls on the 19th century drama "Little House on the Prairie," and then from 1984 to 1989, played angel-in-training and supernatural helper Jonathan Smith on "Highway to Heaven." Off-screen, he proved the picture perfect doting parent, father to nine children, some of whom were adopted (via People).

When he wasn't acting or doing press, Landon was evidently a much different man. "Mike's open discussion of his revived libido distressed me," Karen Grassle, Ma Ingalls on "Little House on the Prairie," recalled in her memoir "Bright Lights, Prairie Dust." He'd been taking bee pollen supplements, which reportedly fueled his extramarital affair with Cindy Clerico, an 18-year-old stand-in who worked on "Little House." Co-star Scottie MacGregor (Harriet Oleson) was so upset by the trysts that she refused to return for the series' finale movie. Grassle also alleged that Landon underpaid her, made off-color jokes of a sexual nature, and criticized her body, claims that co-star Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson) supported in an interview with The Daily Mail. "He was more mad, bad, and dangerous to know. He drank, smoked, and did tell terrible jokes," she said.

When rising to fame on reality television in the early '00s, Paris Hilton artfully crafted a "dumb blonde" image while starring on the smash hit Fox series "The Simple Life" with best friend Nicole Richie. But despite asking "What is Walmart?" on camera and acting relatively clueless about most things in life, the wealthy socialite is actually pretty bright. Hilton confessed as much herself during a 2020 appearance on the Australian morning show "Sunrise,"  "The real me is actually someone who is brilliant. I'm not a dumb blonde, I'm just really good at pretending to be one." 

Though the beauty made a name for herself with this ditzy image, as an adult she decided to come clean about her real persona — even going so far as to ditch the high-pitched voice she admitted was fake. "I felt like it was time for the world to finally know who I was... I don't want to be remembered as some airhead. I want to be respected for the businesswoman I am," she told Sunrise. That year she also released her documentary, "The Real Story of Paris Hilton," which shed more light on the true Hilton, including her endeavors as an entrepreneur and DJ. 

Fans grew to love Eric Stonestreet in his role as Cameron Tucker on "Modern Family," the beloved ABC sitcom that ran for 11 seasons beginning in 2009. Tucker was famously married to Jesse Tyler Ferguson's character Mitchell Pritchett on the series, the hilariously lighthearted gay couple who would end up adopting two children. But off screen, Stonestreet's real life couldn't have been more different, starting with his personality. While Tucker has endless jokes to offer on the series, despite appearing on a sitcom Stonestreet denied being a comedian. While appearing on a 2017 episode of "Larry King Now," Stonestreet revealed his personality is a lot darker than Tucker's. "I have a dirty dark sense of humor... I'm not a comedian, I'm a comedic actor." 

Another big difference between Stonestreet and his onscreen character? He's actually heterosexual, though he has opened up about being proud to represent half of a gay married couple. He told Talk Radio 1210 WPHT in Philadelphia in 2016, "When the guys created the show, they knew they couldn't do a show called 'Modern Family' and not include a gay couple ... All we want to do is make people laugh and if that, along doing that, opens people's hearts and minds with the idea that people are people no matter their race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, then we're successful in another area. That's a positive" (via CBS News).