Dusty Rhodes or Christopher Lee

I was horrified to see that the news gave the death of Dusty Rhodes a complete sendup and bio. I liked him as a wrestler but didn't think he was iconic like Christopher Lee.

Where does Lee come in?

Immediately after the tribute to Rhodes, they mentioned devoted less than thirty seconds to Lee's death (they passed the same day.)

It was simply: "The Hollywood community is mourning the death of Christopher Lee. He was 93. No cause of death was given."

That's it!

So, I figured I would ask who was more iconic in everyone else's eyes. At least, devote the same amount of time them both.

It depends on which news you were watching. Dusty Rhodes was the producer of quite a bit of TBS's wrestling coverage, and note that the WCW offices were at 1 CNN Center (at least they were after Ted Turner bought the company). Between this and his "polka-dot era" in WWE, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that more people recognized Dusty than Lee.

it was in atlantic city - I believe it was Philly news.

But lee was world recognized and I don't think Rhodes was

The 20 year difference left Rhodes with more of a fan base who were still living?

Just guessing. Probably a lot a places in the world where Rhodes wasn't even mentioned and Lee was.

I don't know - Lee was both Saruman in Lord of the Rings and Count Dooku in the star Wars prequels. Even in his eighties he was playing major roles.

I'm voting "equal" because both did great things indifferent fields of entertainment.
Rhodes did a lot to change the face of wrestling before it went all Wrestle Mania; not easy to do in such a grind-a-day format pre-internet and pay-per-view.
Lee excelled at the monster mania of the day, now overturned by "modern" zombie junk. Most don't know who he was when he showed up in LOTR.
I do agree there is an issue with outliving your fan base. Look at Adam West

Count Dooku. Geez i even forgot that one. But I tend to try to forget anything before episode IV.

I knew who Rhodes was. Lee...nope. Now I'll remember him as the guy that played Count Dooku. I have to admit he looked good in his early 80s when he played that role. I definitely assumed something like 65.

Quote: tringlomane

I knew who Rhodes was. Lee...nope. Now I'll remember him as the guy that played Count Dooku. I have to admit he looked good in his early 80s when he played that role. I definitely assumed something like 65.

Same here. Knew Rhodes, though I never cared much for his gimmick. At least he lived to a fairly normal age, unlike so many 1980s wrestlers who went so young.

I just reviewed the IMDb page for Christopher Lee. he has a lengthy list of appearances in movies (both actual and voice work) and I recognized exactly one that I had seen:

Beauty and the Beast (when my daughter was young and forced me to watch it with her, long after it came out)

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000489/

I just don't think his appearances made him as widely recognized as many other actors are, and that is why his passing drew such scant attention. He was also very old, sometimes that makes a difference in how much attention a death receives.

Dusty Rhodes was one of the biggest names in professional wresting for a lot of years and not so long ago...his name recognition is much higher than someone like Christopher Lee's. His passing also was sudden and unexpected in any way and he was not really all that old.

Who was more important? They were both actors. Not many actors are all that important, in my opinion.

Quote: darkoz

I don't know - Lee was both Saruman in Lord of the Rings and Count Dooku in the star Wars prequels. Even in his eighties he was playing major roles.

He also played Willy Wonka's (Johnny Depp) Dad in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.