Sunday, December 27, 2009

What is Christopher Guest's title of nobility?


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Why: Last night, Wade watched The Princess Bride and Kat and I watched Best in Show. Christopher Guest is in both.

Answer: He is a baron - the 5th Baron Haden-Guest! His grandfather Leslie (1877-1960) was a Labour MP and founded the Labour Party Commonwealth Group. He was created a peer in 1950 and was a Lord-in-Waiting to the King in 1951. He was also the first Jew to stand for Parliament as a Labour candidate. Some notes:
  • Christopher's older half-brother Anthony was born out of wedlock and was therefore ineligible to inherit the barony.
  • Christopher has 2 children with wife Jamie Lee Curtis, but since they were adopted, they don't get to inherit it either. They only get "courtesy titles."
  • The current heir presumptive is his youngest brother Nicholas.
  • The ranks of the peerage in the UK go Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron.
Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: Ha - I was wondering what he really sounds like when he talks (since he does so many accents) and I saw this gem. There's a whole section about his "off-stage demeanor":
Guest is sometimes off-putting in interviews and promotional appearances (having been described by reviewer Warren Etheredge as, "rude, condescending and intolerable"), as well as with people who have met him outside of the work environment because contrary to expectations of him as a comedian he often seems deadpan, even dour.
That's funny, right?, because his movies are usually shot documentary-style with confessionals and interviews (which directly inspired "The Office"). Here he is on that "Ricky Gervais Meets..." program (oh - btw - he mostly grew up in New York):

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