Still Separated at Birth? Do Spy magazine's celebrity lookalikes still look alike?
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Spy "Separated at Birth" image from Google Books. Photograph of Paul McCartney by Dave Hogan/Getty Images. Photograph of Angela Lansbury by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.
Paul McCartney and Angela Lansbury
The key ingredients in Spy's original shots were the downturned mouths and inquisitive eyes. Not even wildly disparate hairdos could distract from the facial similarities. These days, Paul is showing a bit more forehead, but not much else has changed on the "Separated at Birth" front. These two, now 68 (McCartney) and 85 (Lansbury), are still a matched set.
Current Separated-at-Birth Rating: 9/10
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CREDIT: Spy "Separated at Birth" image from Google Books. Photograph of Tim Robbins by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images. Photograph of Neil Patrick Harris by Angela Weiss/Getty Images.
Tim Robbins and Neil Patrick Harris
It wasn't just the round glasses! Fifteen-year age difference be damned—these guys look a lot alike, especially when Robbins decides to dye his hair blond.
Current Separated-at-Birth Rating: 9/10
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CREDIT: Spy "Separated at Birth" image from Google Books. Photograph of Bono by Larry Busacca/Getty Images. Photograph of Robin Williams by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.
Bono and Robin Williams
The original may appear to be little more than two guys yelling into microphones, but the modern shots reveal there really is something tying these two together—the noses and the big foreheads, for starters. Additionally, Williams isn't going to quell any Bono comparisons by wearing ridiculous orange-tinted sunglasses out on the town.
Current Separated-at-Birth Rating: 7/10
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CREDIT: Spy "Separated at Birth" image from Google Books. Photograph of Bob Costas by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images. Photograph of Katie Couric by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images.
Bob Costas and Katie Couric
Those old network-TV headshots aren't a good barometer of lookalike-ness, you say? They are staged, and overdone, and participants are told to smile in a very generic, uber-flattering way. Perhaps. But the new photos don't lie. Costas and Couric have similar eyes, noses, and mouths, and both know how to flash winning smiles—remarkably comparable winning smiles.
Current Separated-at-Birth Rating: 7/10
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CREDIT: Spy "Separated at Birth" image from Google Books. Photograph of Geraldine Ferraro by Brian Ach/WireImage. Photograph of David Bowie by Artyom Korotayev/Larry Busacca.
Geraldine Ferraro and David Bowie
Skinny necks, poofy hair, similarly thin noses—this initial pairing had it all. In the new version, it's more about awkwardly toothy expressions of the sort that predominate when someone asks you to pose for a photo and takes far too long to press the button. Hold it … hold it … great smiles … hold it … just one more second. Anyway, the pairing still works.
Current Separated-at-Birth Rating: 7/10
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CREDIT: Spy "Separated at Birth" image from Google Books. Photograph of Arnold Schwarzenegger by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images. Photograph of Randy Travis by Rick Diamond/Getty Images.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Randy Travis
At first blush, the original Schwarzenegger/Travis pairing seems like a bit of a rush job—fat head vs. skinny head, very different eyes, etc. But father time has vindicated the Spyeditors. Arnold's head seems to have become more angular, while Travis' dome has widened. And they both look fairly crazy. That's a "Separated at Birth" perfect storm.
Current Separated-at-Birth Rating: 6/10
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CREDIT: Spy "Separated at Birth" image from Google of Books. Photograph Martin Scorsese by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images. Photograph of Charles Manson by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via Getty Images.
Martin Scorsese and Charles Manson
The original pairing featured two similarly bearded guys who looked extremely creepy. Fast-forward 25 years, and Manson's mid-brow swastika and Scorsese's awesomely nerdy glasses largely wreck the modern pairing. But look close. Check out the eyes. There's still something there.
Current Separated-at-Birth Rating: 4/10
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CREDIT: Spy "Separated at Birth" image from Google Books. Photograph of Steve Martin by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images. Photograph of Patrick Stewart by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.
Steve Martin and Patrick Stewart
Spy was smart to crop these guys at mid-forehead. But if we're being honest, more than 20 years later—when one of the two guys, at the age of 65, still has a thick head of hair, and the other is known, at least partially, for being bald—it amounts to cheating. Some facial similarities remain, but this one isn't all that close.
Current Separated-at-Birth Rating: 3/10
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CREDIT: Spy "Separated at Birth" image from Google Books. Photograph of Warren Beatty by Ethan Miller/Getty Images. Photograph of Steven Tyler by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.
Warren Beatty and Steven Tyler
Old age wreaks havoc on a man's appearance. For some it can mean that an oddly massive neck and rock-hard, angular jaw transform into a regular-sized neck and a normal jawline. For others, it means advanced signs of aging—due, perhaps, to continued overuse of Aqua Net hairspray—and the dreaded Skeletor look. Bottom line: If you superimposed Steven Tyler's hair onto Warren Beatty's head, Beatty still would look nothing like Tyler. No match.
Current Separated-at-Birth Rating: 1/10
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CREDIT: Spy "Separated at Birth" image from Google Books. Photograph of Richard Gere by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images. Photograph of Fidel Castro by Ricardo Stuckert/AFP/Getty Images.
Richard Gere and Fidel Castro
OK, these guys really look nothing alike. And they didn't back then, either. They just had mustaches and beards. Here is what we learned with this one: If you look nothing like Fidel Castro, but have a huge, bushy beard, you can sort of resemble Fidel Castro. It's not a given, but it's possible. And growing the big beard is really your only shot for Castro lookalike-dom, because he's not getting rid of his.
Current Separated-at-Birth Rating: 0/10