Harry Smith--ethnomusicologist, once went on a diet of a pound of sugar and a pound of butter a day, then he lost all his teeth. [above]
Marty Reisman-ping pong player/hustler, is 77 years old, grew up playing ping pong in Meyer Lansky's speakeasy in the LES, playing a 100K match soon at the Plaza.
Blaise Cendrars-author, "Born in 1887 of mixed Swiss and Scottish descent, Blaise Cendrars chose freedom at the afe of fifteen, swinging down from the fifth-floor balcomny to escape his parents, then travelling through Russia, Persia and China in the empoy of a jewel merchant."
Serge Gainsbourg--singer/songwriter, I have his tattoo on my back. He was an ugly Jew who only dated beautiful shiksas like Bridgitte Bardot and Jane Birkin.
Pál. Erdős--Hungarian mathematician. Subject of the biography The Man Who Loved Only Numbers. From Wikipedia:
He spent most of his life as a vagabond, travelling between scientific conferences and the homes of colleagues all over the world. He would typically show up at a colleague's doorstep and announce "my brain is open", staying long enough to collaborate on a few papers before moving on a few days later. In many cases, he would ask the current collaborator about whom he (Erdős) should visit next. His working style has been humorously compared to traversing a linked list.
