Trojans who look like famous people
Don’t ask me why, but one of my favorite hobbies is identifying friends who look like famous people. (BTW, Troy has produced some good-looking citizens!)
By BILL RICE, JR.
As my wife would probably confirm, I’ve always thought I had a rare talent for identifying people who look like other people.
A night rarely goes by watching TV in the Big Bed when I don’t say, “Hey, he (or she) looks like so-and-so.”
I also routinely identify celebrities who bear a striking resemblance to someone we know.
For fun (and because I needed a story for today’s dispatch), I decided to make a list of current and former Trojans and see if any other Citizen readers might agree with me that I posses this unique talent.
Keep in mind I’m thinking about local residents who once looked like a celebrity. ‘Tis sad but true that people do age and we don’t look the same at age 60 as we did at 18.
While some of my selections could almost pass as twins, others have/had only a vague resemblance to some well-known person. Maybe it’s just me that saw a previous resemblance.
Troy has produced a large number of good-looking people
When I was younger and often visited Panama City Beach, I remember myself and my friends didn’t particularly like the fact boys from other towns would move in on “our” girls.
It didn’t take long for boys from “off” to learn that Troy was over-flowing with comely co-eds and many of these beauties were staying at the houses rented by the Twilighters and 21 Club members.
That is, Troy has always been known for being the home to fetching young ladies … as these selections should confirm.
To me, Carmen Beard Cox (CHHS Class of ’86 - see above) had a striking resemblance to actress Ione Skye, best known for playing Dianne Court, the brainy beauty who wins the heart of John Cusack in Say Anything. (Carmen was once a cheerleader at UA as was her baby sister).
Sharon Riddle Ingram was well-known in Troy because her late father, Chase Riddle, became a legend as a great athlete and then Troy State’s baseball coach. But Sharon is also one of Troy’s great beauties and, to me, looks like famous Hollywood beauty Sharon Stone (they even share a name).
When I was in high school, few classmate were as pretty as Ashley Butler Bryan (CHHS Class of ’85). It was only later that I realized that Ashley is a beguiling mix of the actress who played Miss Honey in Matilda (Embeth Davidtz) and the famous actress Donna Reed, best known for playing Jimmy Stewart’s wife in It’s a Wonderful Life.
Lynn Haney Colley was in the class behind me and I was proud that Lynn - the proverbial “prettiest girl in school” - knew who I was. It was only later I realized that Lynn looks very similar to Steven Spielberg’s wife, actress Kate Capshaw.
The funniest movies of my lifetime might be the “Airplane” movies. In those movies, actress Julie Hagerty played the flight attendant. In my opinion, Ms. Hagerty could have been the twin of my friend Betsy Jordan Baker.
Missy Fleming Loving, from Brundidge, was perhaps Pike Liberal Art’s most famous beauty when I was in high school. Missy was prettier, but she always reminded me of the actress Pam Dawber - Mindy of “Mork and Mindy” fame.
(Trivia: Missy met her husband while she was working as advertising director for the original Troy Citizen).
I can go back to my late mother’s generation of local beauties. To me, Mom’s close friend Mimi McKinnon Sherrill (Troy High Class of 1958) bore a strong resemblance to one of the world’s all-time great beauties, Grace Kelly, who became a a genuine princess.
My friend Mike Amos (who also later makes this list) once flattered me by telling me my late mother, Marcia Chapman Rice, was considered one of the great beauties of her day. Mike told me he thought Mom looked like … Elizabeth Taylor. I don’t know about that, but Mom was one of many beautiful young ladies from her era.
One of Mom’s best friends was Baba Head Hendricks, who, at some points in her life, looked somewhat like well-known actress Glenn Close.
Mrs. Hendricks’ daughter, Alyson Hendricks Jackson, at one point, reminded me of tennis star Tracy Austin. Both were cute, but Alyson was cuter.
Last week, I had fun writing my story on the history of the painting of the water tower. A source sent me a yearbook photo of some of the girls in the “Rad ’87” group.
One of the girls in this picture is Beth Jones Barnes, who once looked a little like Hayley Mills, a major child star of the early 1960s best known for starring in the first Parent Trap movie.
This might only be me, but I always thought my friend and classmate Amy Reeves Powers had a touch of Jennifer Grey, the actress best known for Dirty Dancing. (Ms. Grey later had multiple plastic surgeries and is still pretty, but, today, would never be confused for the character who made her famous.)
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Troy was also full of Matinee Idol look-a-likes
In thinking about this quirky topic, I also realized that Troy featured many boys who the girls must have thought were quite handsome. I know I have many friends who actually bore at least a passing resemblance - at least in their prime years - to matinee idols of the time.
Mark Hamm, from the CHHS Class of ’84, looked just like Tom Cruise when Cruise became a superstar for his role in “Risky Business.”
Eddie (Ed) Barnett was in the same class - and was always very popular with the ladies. That’s probably because Eddie could almost pass for actor Matt Dillon.
That class was loaded with hunks, including my good friend Kyle Ingalls, who I always thought looked somewhat like a young version of famous actor Steve McQueen.
My best friend in high school was the late Charles Bradshaw, who was voted “Most Handsome” in the Class of ’83. It’s not a perfect match, but I later realized Charles had a similar look to the actor Matthew Fox, who became famous as the lead character (Dr. Jack Shephard) in the hit TV series “Lost.”
Our classmate and friend Al Bracewell was a late-bloomer in school, but by the time he got into his late teen years he could pass for one of the rising Hollywood stars of our time, actor Kevin Costner.
I know my classmate Philip Walters looked just like the actor (now director) Ron Howard because Philip’s life-time nickname was “Opie.” Philip actually looked more like Richie Cunningham.
My brother Bobby’s classmate and good friend Sam Drake had a few qualities or features that reminded me of actor Matthew Broderick (aka Ferris Bueller).
My older brother Rush’s graduating class of 1979 had two students who make my list - Rush’s good friends Mark Davis and Danny Lee.
Mark, who became the rush chairman for the Sigma Nu’s at Alabama, looked just like the actor Tim Matheson, who became famous playing the Delta House rush chairman Eric Stratton in Animal House.
Maybe it’s just me, but when I think of a younger Danny Lee, I think of a younger Dustin Hoffman.
I don’t want this to go to his head, but my good friend Robert Hawkins is (or was) perhaps a mix of Cary Grant and Warren Beaty.
Several people in my family at one time looked like well-known celebrities.
My younger brother Bobby Rice has been told by multiple people he looks (or once looked) like Peyton Manning. Bobby told me he was once stopped in an airport by a kid who wanted Petyon Manning’s autograph!
I always thought my late father was a handsome gent in his younger years. However, as he grew older, many people told me he looked like the actor Walter Matthau, who was not known as a matinee idol.
I’ve always told my wife, Carrie, that her childhood pictures resemble the Hollywood stills of well-known child actor Dakota Fanning. Carrie confirms other people have told her the same thing.
Other look-a-likes …
Mike Amos, who is certainly famous in our county, bears a strong resemblance to one of the country’s most famous character actors, Ned Beatty.
Carmen Beard Cox’s father, Ben Beard, raises horses as a hobby. To me, Mr. Beard has a strong resemblance to the country’s most famous horse trainer, Bob Baffert.
She’s not from Troy, but Charles Bradshaw’s widow is probably known by a good number of Troy residents. Katie Broach Bradshaw could be the twin of former “E!” reporter/anchor Giuliana Rancic.
Speaking for myself, I don’t look like anyone famous, but I’ve been told a million times that my son Jack Rice, now 8, looks exactly like I did when I was between the ages 1 to 8. Then again, “Pickle Jack McCoy” is already a legend so I also look like someone who’s famous.
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I also think Nick Saban is a cross between Humphrey Bogart and Al Pacino.
Former Alabama and NBA basketball player Robert Horry, of course, looks like the twin of actor Will Smith.
This was a fun read, Bill. I'm often told I resemble Karen from Will & Grace or occasionally, Tina Fey.