Saturday, May 10, 2014

Saturday fun activity: Where (and who) IS this?


    Computers, for all their magic, still have a hard time puzzling out a human face, something we humans do continually with speed and accuracy. I happened upon these two large, illuminated photographs in the public area of a well-known building while going about my business on Friday. Of course I instantly recognized the woman in the left as Marilyn Monroe. But—somewhat unsettling to me—I also recognized the couple on the right. At first doing so almost made me feel bad, the realization that I am of an age where I would immediately know who he was. There is a thin line between having historical knowledge at your fingertips and being a bore trafficking in trivia. 
     Which made me wonder if I was alone, being able to place this couple, or whether readers here would instantly recognize them as well. They should—he was once one of the most famous men in the world. And she, well, her dad was pretty famous. The question for today is in three parts: a)who is he?; b) who is she? and c) where is this tableau to be found? The first person to answer all three wins a Every Goddamn Day poster. Place your answers in the comments section below. Good luck. 

26 comments:

  1. It's Charlie Chaplin & his daughter Geraldine.
    I'm going to take a wild guess that the photos are somewhere in the Merchandise Mart, since it's across the street from your office.
    If I'm wrong at the location, at least I've given everyone else 2/3rds of the answer;)

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  2. 19 minutes! Saturday fun isn't living up to its name.

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  3. Except Clark St. didn't solve it. Three questions -- he only got one.

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  4. Obviously Marilyn, Charlie and Geraldine. Those were instant no Brainerd for a woman of un certain âge. Where? I'm thinking either Wrigley Building or Tribune Tower.

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  5. Not Geraldine, though that guess touches upon the problem Charlie had. As for your location guesses, one is correct. @Paul: 7:32 a.m. and no one has got it, completely. A reminder that thinking your right and being right are often two very different matters.

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    1. Hey! You spelled "you're" wrong.

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  6. Chaplin, Oona O'Neil, and Trib Tower?

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  7. Charlie Chaplin, Oona O"Neil Chaplin (daughter of Eugene O"Neil) and the Wrigley Building. Geraldine did look very much like her mother. Barbara Palmer

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  8. OK, let's try ir twice: Charlie Chaplin, Oona O'Neil & the photos are in the Midway Airport terminal because all of them were photographed there while passing through.

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  9. Charlie, Oona, photographed in Rahm and Sarah's romantic getaway?

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  10. Robert Downey, Jr., Moira Kelly photographed at Twin Anchors

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  11. Otto Preminger and Imogene Coca, photograph hanging at Billy Dec's joint

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  12. Fennis Dembo, Jayne Kennedy, Wright Junior College theatre

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  13. Dave Eggers, Marla Collins, pic at Gene and Georgetti's

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  14. Thomas Wolfe, Mackenzie Phillips, hanging at Harry Caray's. Now, where to hang the poster?

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  15. The only thing I remember about Geraldine is she played "Tonya" in "Dr. Zhivago".

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  16. Flip Wilson, Tina Fey photo at Second City

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  17. Charlie Chaplin, Oona, pic hanging at new Trump building. POSTER ME, NEIL!

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  18. Yes! Congratulations to Michael Sopkin! Email me your address at dailysteinberg@gmail.com and I will send you your high quality, made-in-Nashville poster, suitable for framing. Thanks to the rest for trying, sort of. Sorry Alan -- love your movies! Better luck next time.

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  19. Chaplin, Oona, Marshall Field's on State Street.

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  20. Shoot, I was pretty sure that it was Millard Fillmore, accompanied by Rachel McAdams, strolling in the White City, hanging in the Steinberg Estate at San Simeon.

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  21. I thought maybe it was the view from the ex-city comptroller's Pakistani jail cell. Heard he was singing that foreign land's national song with a briefcase full of Uncle Sam's cash...didn't you write that you "liked" the guy? And the comptroller/fugitive was born in the United States. Is pre-mediation a hyphenated word?

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  22. Damn, there are some funny people out there! "Aaron Gold" started it and people grabbed the ball. Thank you all for the yuks.

    Doug D.

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  23. It's not surprising that many confused Chaplin's wife (Oona) with his daughter given the age difference of well over several decades. She totally dedicated her life to him and her family and was apparently happy with the relationship and they had, I think, eight kids.

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