"Sep 5, 2015; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Guest picker Brad Paisley and Lee Corso after Corso picked the head gear of “Big Al” the Alabama mascot on the set during the live broadcast of ESPN College GameDay at Sundance Square. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports"
Have you ever hung around fellow Wildcats at a party or a bar and someone starts running through the list of famous Arizona Wildcats, and all you can name is a couple of them? Well, my friend, those days are over!
How many famous Arizona Wildcats who are NOT athletes can you name?
More from Cats in the Pros
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- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s FIBA World Cup performance is reminiscent of Kobe Bryant’s
- Rawle Alkins a star in the Drew League this summer
- Former Wildcat Scooby Wright wins Second USFL Title
- The Edmonton Elks have re-signed former Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate
There are plenty of notable and famous Wildcats who went to the University of Arizona. Actors, NASA Astronauts, governors, US representatives, senators, and a Pulitzer Prize Winner.
But the big question is, ‘Who will be the celebrity guest picker for the Arizona vs. UCLA football game this weekend?’ This burning question is on a lot of people’s minds, and they are talking about it in Arizona minded chat groups on Facebook. Some of the most notable celebrities chosen for previous games have been musicians such as Katy Perry and Brad Paisley.
ZonaZealots thought this was an excellent chance to review of few of our former Arizona Wildcat Alumni celebrities who could be chosen as a guest picker on this weekend’s ESPN GameDay show. By the way, the Celebrity has been decided and is locked in.
Celebrity Guest Picker locked for @CollegeGameDay in Tucson.
— Lee Fitting (@leefitting) September 24, 2015
Note, we aren’t going into depth on any former athletes who are big time candidates for celebrity picker. Some top picks in the ‘former Wildcat athlete’ category who have been suggested are Steve Kerr, Bob Baffert, and Andre Igoudala. I would throw in Rob Gronkowski, because he is everywhere these days, and Luke Walton since he shows up at a lot of Wildcats games, both football, and basketball.
Also note, we have included one famous wildcat who may attend in spirit.
Next: Will it be Kourtney Kardashian?
Kourtney Kardashian – television personality
It’s strange that I would start with Ms. Kardashian, but she is one of the more famous and well-known Arizona Wildcats. Kourtney still hangs out with her college friends. This information came to me via my sophomore Wildcat, who apprised me Ms. Kardashian was on the Manhattan Beach Pier with her school mates just a month ago, and she posted a picture on Instagram.
Arizona Wildcats
Kourtney is one of six children, and one of five girls born and raised by her mother, Kris Kardashian. The family is famous because of their show, but their notoriety started with Kourtney’s younger sister Kim Kardashian. Her father is famous for helping the infamous O.J. Simpson beat a murder charge, but he was also a prominent attorney. Kourtney’s father died in 2003.
Most recently, Kourtney’s stepfather and Olympian Caitlin Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner) accepted the ESPY Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Her two daughters, two sons and three step-daughters including Kourtney were in the audience and were very supportive of Caitlyn’s transformation. They also make appearances in Caitlyn’s new reality show.
Kourtney has gained notoriety for a number of things including the family’s reality show and her Dash clothing store. What she is most known for is her strong personality, love of her family and her opinions which she never holds back in giving. My kind of woman!
Recently, Kourtney separated from Scott Disick, her boyfriend and father of her three beautiful children, Mason, Penelope, and Reign. Scott has been struggling with addiction and Kourtney has done all she can to try to save the relationship. We wish her all the happiness and joy in life enjoying those three gorgeous children
I put the odds at 50/50 she will be the celebrity picker. That said, she comes back to campus and enjoys the University on several occasions, and the female students ‘love, love her.’
Next: Will it be Jerry Bruckheimer?
Jerry Bruckheimer (1965) – Film and Television producer
Jerome Leon ‘Jerry’ Bruckheimer does not feel as tied to the University of Arizona as Kourtney Kardashian may, but his name is one of the most recognizable in our list of celebs.
One would imagine that Mr. Bruckheimer would support Arizona’s Film and Television school much like George Lucas does for USC, but no, he unfortunately doesn’t seem to. You don’t see any buildings named after him or programs; it’s a shame obviously.
Television Shows Bruckheimer is well known for, three of which were in the top 10 shows at one time, are as follows:
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
- CSI: Miami
- CSI: NY
- Without a Trace
- Cold Case
- U.S. version of The Amazing Race
Theatrical Releases:
- Beverly Hills Cop
- Flashdance
- Top Gun
- The Rock
- Con Air
- Armageddon
- Bad Boys
- Enemy of the State
- Black Hawk Down
- Pearl Harbor
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- National Treasure franchise
He is known as the first producer to have the top two highest grossing films for a single weekend: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Bad Boys II.
Too bad he isn’t the hugest Wildcats fan.
He won’t be the celebrity guest picker!
Next: It won't be John Hughes, but we wanted to include this accomplished Wildcat
John Hughes – Film director, Producer, Screenwriter
John Wilden Hughes, Jr. was born February 18, 1950, and passed away at the age of 59 on August 6, 2009. Hughes is credited with launching the careers of such actors as Molly Ringwald, Michael Keaton, Matthew Broderick, Macaulay Culkin and Bill Paxton. His movie genre of choice was teen movies.
Most of his films, he had a character sing a Beatles song. Depending on your age, you should recognize all if not most of the following theatrical films he produced, here is a subset of the 38 of them:
- National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
- Sixteen Candles (1984)
- Weird Science (1985)
- The Breakfast Club (1985)
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
- Pretty in Pink (1986)
- Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
- Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
- She’s Having a Baby (1988)
- Uncle Buck (1989)
- Home Alone 1, 2 and 3 (starting 1990)
- 101 Dalmatians (1996)
- Maid in Manhattan (2002)
After John Hughes death, the Academy of Motion Pictures paid tribute to him with a retrospective of clips from his films, followed by cast members who performed in his works including Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick, Macaulay Culkin, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall and Jon Cryer.
This Wildcat dropped out of college and never graduated from the U of A, bless his soul.
John Hughes will make his pick from the heavens.
Next: Will it be Savannah Guthrie?
Savannah Guthrie (1993) – American journalist, Attorney, Co-anchor of The Today Show
Beautiful and smart, Savannah Guthrie is one the most famous hosts of the Today Show on NBC in the morning.
Savannah would be a fan favorite as she is aired on TV in people’s homes each and every morning, so she is like family to a lot of people. On the Today Show, she sometimes will talk about Tucson and shows support for the Wildcats teams.
Betsided
Guthrie is a sister in the Arizona Alpha chapter of the Pi Beta Phi sorority; she earned her undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Arizona in 1993, graduating Cum laude. Fun fact, Savannah has a law degree, and she has passed the bar in both Arizona and the District of Columbia. She earned her JD from Georgetown University Law Center in 2002, and this time she graduated Magna Cum Laude.
Guthrie continued on her career path and chose journalism over law. In 2011, replaced Ann Curry as a Today Show Host.
I think there is a 40% chance the celebrity guest picker is Savannah, although she would be a great pick! She could plug the show on the week after she gets back to the east coast. She is also smart, and she has an entire sorority full of women on campus who would really love to see her back and representing them and the school. She’s also a media professional, so being on the podium should come natural for her.
Next: Will it be Geraldo Rivera?
Geraldo Rivera (1965) – Talk Show Host, Television Journalist, Attorney, Author
Geraldo Michael Rivera is an American attorney, a reporter, a global political pundit, and author and a former talk show host. He is most known for his talk show Geraldo, which aired for almost a decade from 1987 to 1998. Rivera graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.S. degree in business administration, and he played goalie on the lacrosse team.
Geraldo often gets himself in media related controversies. He says what he thinks, and he truly seems to get a rise out of people, I think it is for attention, but he does back some good causes.
Recently Rivera went on Fox News to discuss Iranians in America and the Iranian Nuclear deal. He got into a fight with the commentators, and he apologized later. I don’t always agree with him, but he certainly stands up for himself. During the discussion, Geraldo let the other announcers have it, “Why do you say something stupid like that? That’s like stupid! You said that to make me look stupid and I don’t like it! I don’t like it!”
The Fox news channel is where you will find him these days. I would love to see Geraldo interview Donald Trump, that would be almost hilarious yet serious at the same time. Since Trump and Fox are not speaking at the moment, it would have to happen on some other channel.
Bottom line: Geraldo Rivera is opinionated, he would probably accept immediately because of the national attention and he may be very entertaining. Thinking though it is a flat 30% chance he gets the nod.
Next: Will it be Greg Kinnear?
Greg Kinnear (1985) – Actor, TV and Film
Ask most Wildcats fans who is the most famous Wildcat, and most surely the women will say, Kourtney Kardashian, the men will say Greg Kinnear. Kinnear is a famous motion picture and television actor who was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the film As Good as It Gets.
FanSided
Kinnear graduated from the University of Arizona in 1985 with a B.A. degree in broadcast journalism. Greg is also an alumni and brother in the fraternity Alpha Tau Omega which has since been booted from the University of Arizona campus. The Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house is now full of Sammies, or Sigma Alpha Mu brothers.
Greg started out hosting a game show called College Mad House which aired from 1990-1991, he then moved to become the first host of the TV show Talk Soup until 1995. The first major motion picture Kinnear starred in was the film Blankman, a remake of the 1954 classic Sabrina. His next role was a lead role in the comedy Dear God in 1996. His film career took off from that point.
Kinnear’s next film, out in 2016, will be the Same Kind of Different as Me, a drama directed by Michael Carney and written by Ron Hall. The film also stars Renée Zellweger and Brad Pitt’s father-in-law, Jon Voight. The release date is set for April 26, 2016.
I am giving Greg Kinnear a 70% chance of winning the job to pick alongside the sports broadcasters GameDay. The reason I give him such a high chance is because Kinnear has been loyal to the school, showed up at the 1997 Final Four game and was one of the folks allowed to come back behind the curtain. He is a sports fan, he is a graduate, he is an Academy Award nominee, and he probably called the show to ask to be chosen! I hope.
Next: Will it be Craig T. Nelson?
Craig T. Nelson (1969) – Actor, TV and Film
Finding out that Craig T. Nelson was an Arizona Alumni came as a surprise to me. He attended Arizona under a Drama scholarship. He is most famous for playing the lead role in the TV Show Coach, although he has acted in thirty plus films. Coach ran from 1989 to 1997, with Nelson starring as college football coach Hayden Fox.
His most notable role in a movie about sports is when he played Tom Cruise’s high school football coach in All the Right Moves. Craig starred in the Poltergeist series of films as well.
Most recently, Nelson starred in the film Get Hard with Will Farrell (that USC Fan) and Kevin Hart. He also had a significant role in the TV show Parenthood, as the family patriarch and starred along with Ryan Reynolds in the films The Proposal and The Company Men as a greedy CEO.
So it makes sense that a film actor, who is a graduate of Arizona, who also played a coach on TV for almost ten years, is the perfect candidate to be the celebrity guest picker. If you read further into his Bio you find out his first love in sports is Motorsports; he is a racer. Hmm, don’t know if that fits, but I give it a 60% chance since he has played a football coach in several roles.
Next: Will it be Gary Shandling?
Garry Shandling – Actor and Comedian
Gary Shandling is Tucson.com’s Zack Rosenblatt’s choice for celebrity picker:
Just discovered that Garry Shandling grew up in Tucson and went to UofA. And now I decided that he should be the celebrity guest picker.
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) September 24, 2015
Gary attended the University of Arizona and majored in electrical engineering, but that wasn’t for him, as he ended up earning a degree in marketing. He continued his education and completed a year in creative writing as a postgraduate.
More from Cats in the Pros
- From Arizona Wildcat to New York Yankee, Austin Wells gets called up
- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s FIBA World Cup performance is reminiscent of Kobe Bryant’s
- Rawle Alkins a star in the Drew League this summer
- Former Wildcat Scooby Wright wins Second USFL Title
- The Edmonton Elks have re-signed former Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate
As some Arizona grads do, Shandling’s moved to Southern California after graduation and took a job in advertising while writing his first script that was picked up in 1975. What was his first script? His first script was for the very successful sitcom, Sanford and Son. He also wrote scripts for two other popular sitcoms Welcome Back, Kotter and Three’s Company.
After a serious accident that he survived, he started performing stand-up comedy. After finally being noticed by The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and performing on the show, Shandling would fill in as host for Johnny from time to time.
Gary then starred in and wrote scripts for two successive TV shows in which he was the central character; It’s Garry Shandling’s Show and a mock talk show The Larry Sanders Show.
He enjoys boxing and basketball, so he is a sports fan.
I give Shandling a 40% chance to be the celebrity picker; he is a comedian, so he can make it funny, he is a sports fan, and he is a famous alumni. Wondering if Zach Rosenblatt guessed correctly.
Next: Will it be Kristen Wiig?
Kristen Wiig – Actress, Comedian
Wouldn’t having Kristen Wiig as the celebrity picker be fun? She is hysterical!
Kristen started out at the University of Arizona, majoring in Art. According to Biography.com, a college professor encouraged her to pursue acting:
"It was there that Wiig, a natural introvert, enrolled in her first acting class. “I was terrified,” she said. “I don’t really like talking in front of groups of people. Through high school if ever I had to give a speech, I would try to get out of it or not go to school that day… But I took the class, and I liked it, and the teacher was really encouraging for me to keep doing it.”"
Kristen is most famous for her role or many roles on the comedy variety show, Saturday Night Live. But Wiig is making a splash on the motion picture scene receiving a nomination for best actress in a comedy for the hit film Bridesmaids in the 69th Golden Globe Awards.
Her next venture is a remake of Ghostbusters for Sony Pictures Entertainment. I have to divulge here by law that I work for this great studio, so please take that into consideration. The cast for this film will not be an all-male cast, it will be an all-female cast complete with co-stars Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones and is set to release in 2016.
Wiig has starred in over 35 films over the last ten years beginning with Unaccompanied Minors and including some voice over roles in Despicable Me 2, Her and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.
Adding to Wigg’s long list of accolades, she also has starred in over 20 TV shows including Saturday Night Live, Arrested Development, 30 Rock, and Portlandia.
Although Kristen would be a fun celebrity picker, the chances of her being chosen are slim, probably because she didn’t graduate from the U of A, and I am sure has a very busy schedule.
There are many more Alumni to list, and maybe someday we will pick up a part two on famous Arizona Wildcats, but for now who will be the celebrity picker on Saturday is a mystery.
Who do you think was chosen celebrity? Will Wildcats fans be happy? Will whomever they pick be a homer? We wait for the big GameDay reveal.
My Prediction: Steve Kerr or Greg Kinnear
Next: Arizona Football: Everything You Need to Know About College Gameday