"A famous Joe? Joe Mamma" is not a good answer.

November 12, 2008 12:46 AM

Who are some famous LIVING people, in America, who are named Joe, who are not fictional and, very important, who are NOT plumbers?

A friend who is republican sent me some poll that said Joe the plumber is currently the most famous Joe in America. I find that very hard to believe. However, right now, my head is stuck on Stalin, who is neither American or alive, and GI Joe, who is not real (and knowing that is half the battle).

So I'm blanking on famous guys named Joe. Please help me out with your many Joes of reknown.

posted by rileyray3000 to grab bag (29 comments total)

Joe Biden
posted by fire&wings at 1:03 AM on November 12, 2008 [5 favorites]

Joe Namath
posted by Class Goat at 1:06 AM on November 12, 2008

Joe Lieberman.
posted by Clandestine Outlawry at 1:13 AM on November 12, 2008

Rogan
posted by rhizome at 1:14 AM on November 12, 2008

In one of the post-election FPP links (I think it was the seven-piece Newsweek one), there was the detail that late in the campaign McCain and his friend (Lindsey Graham?) started jokingly calling Biden "Joe the Biden."

So you are in good company, looking for other Joes who can compare to the famous plumber.
posted by Forktine at 1:32 AM on November 12, 2008

I got a chuckle out of this (first hit on google search "famous people named joe":

Famous People Named Joe

* DiMaggio, Joe
* Jonas, Joe
* Lieberman, Joe
* Montana, Joe
* Namath, Joe
* Pecsi, Joe
* Rooney, Mickey
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 1:33 AM on November 12, 2008

Go to Google.com, make sure that you have checked "Provide query suggestions in the search box." under Preferences > Query Suggestions, and type "joe ". You will see that "joe the plumber" is indeed the first suggestion (depressing), among a bunch of other Joes. If you want to see even more results, start typing a single letter for a last name (such as "joe s", to reveal "joe six-pack"...
posted by halogen at 1:35 AM on November 12, 2008

Torre? Louis? Walsh? Sports Illustrated recently had an essay by a columnist celebrating famous Joes. The columnist was a Joe, but I don't remember his last name, or the issue date.

I'd like to nominate Joe Cool, but he's fictional. Although he resides within all of us (watch out for that three-ring binder, Joe!)

Great, now I'll have famous Joes running through my head all day tomorrow. A pox on thou and thy Republican friend!
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 2:10 AM on November 12, 2008

Joe Mantegna
posted by BrotherCaine at 2:15 AM on November 12, 2008

Paterno.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 2:40 AM on November 12, 2008

* Rooney, Mickey

Mickey had a great birth name that he changed for some reason: Joe Yule, Jr. (Harry Connick, Jr.'s first name also is Joe.)
posted by LeLiLo at 2:44 AM on November 12, 2008

Joe Satriani
posted by jozxyqk at 3:21 AM on November 12, 2008

If Joeys count, Joey McIntyre was (is?) a New Kid on the Block.
posted by Rock Steady at 4:20 AM on November 12, 2008

He's just like that plumber guy, except that he's really the everyman, Joe Schmo.
posted by caddis at 4:26 AM on November 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

Go to Google.com, make sure that you have checked "Provide query suggestions in the search box." under Preferences > Query Suggestions, and type "joe ". You will see that "joe the plumber" is indeed the first suggestion (depressing), among a bunch of other Joes. If you want to see even more results, start typing a single letter for a last name (such as "joe s", to reveal "joe six-pack"...

Joe the Plumber is top of the list but Joe the Biden gets way more results. So that's one way to win the argument, I'd have thought.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 4:57 AM on November 12, 2008

Joe Scarborough.
posted by sabira at 5:28 AM on November 12, 2008

halogen writes "Go to Google.com, make sure that you have checked 'Provide query suggestions in the search box.' under Preferences > Query Suggestions, and type 'joe '. You will see that 'joe the plumber' is indeed the first suggestion (depressing), among a bunch of other Joes."

That just means lots of people are searching for the phrase. If he were truely famous people wouldn't be doing google searches for him.
posted by Mitheral at 5:52 AM on November 12, 2008

Joe Walsh
Joe Jackson
Joe Cocker
Joe Perry
Joe Frank

It's the 13th most popular name in the US if the internet is to be believed.
posted by jessamyn at 6:29 AM on November 12, 2008

Joe Mamma (ducks).

This google query lists all "Living People" who were deemed notable enough to have an entry in Wikipedia whose name contains "Joe".
posted by Deathalicious at 6:44 AM on November 12, 2008 [2 favorites]

Oh, and don't forget that Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher appears to genuinely be a Joe Schmoe type, which is to say he has no special talents, skills, etc. He's not even a licensed plumber, for pete's sake. Which means that in short order he will have left the fame circuit and return to non-notoriety. He may be widely talked about now, but you can be sure that Joe Rogan gets more women and Joe Biden wields more power.

Joe the Plumber may well be, at this moment, the most "famous" Joe in America in the sense that most people who have listened to the election news (which is a lot of Americans) have heard the phrase. But it's a meaningless distinction. Fame, in and of itself, is a pretty lame attribute, as Paris Hilton amply demonstrates (and even then, I must point out that she appears to have more talent and ability than Mr. Wurzelbacher).

Can I just say, though, how awesome it would have been if the McCain campaign had decided to push the issue as "Wurzelbacher the Plumber"? That would have been fun to see pundits (and McCain) saying over and over again: "I am Wurzelbacher the Plumber!"
posted by Deathalicious at 6:54 AM on November 12, 2008

Do three-name Joes count? Like Joe Don Baker? (Mitchell!)
posted by Spatch at 6:56 AM on November 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

Joe Theismann
posted by KAS at 7:21 AM on November 12, 2008

You can always Googlefight the aforementioned nominations.
posted by catkins at 8:11 AM on November 12, 2008

Joe Lunardi
posted by shallowcenter at 8:42 AM on November 12, 2008

Joe Piscopo
posted by 23skidoo at 9:26 AM on November 12, 2008

Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joss (Joseph) Whedon
posted by General Malaise at 11:37 AM on November 12, 2008

As per Deathalicious's comment, your republican friend may be right.

It's a weird variety of the recency effect: the phrase "Joe the Plumber" has been repeated so much lately (either in republican campaigning, democratic counter-campaigning, or people riffing on the campaign) that when people are given the cue "Joe", they tend to remember "... the Plumber".

Similarly, you could say that Sarah Palin is the most famous Sarah right now even though there's the biblical Sarah, Sarah McLachlan, or Sarah Michelle Geller. Ditto Paris Hilton being the "most famous" Paris.
posted by CKmtl at 12:18 PM on November 12, 2008

Joe Dallesando (Warhol muse, "Little Joe" from Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side")
Joe Calzaghe (boxer)
posted by lemonwheel at 1:43 PM on November 12, 2008

I find that very hard to believe

I find that very easy to believe. Of course, 15 minutes isn't much time.

I would not be at all surprised to find that Wurzelbacher's Q Score was pretty high and very competitive, at least, with any other Joe.
posted by dhartung at 4:23 PM on November 12, 2008