What do Bob Hope, Gene Kelly, Jack Lemmon and James Cagney have in Common? They are look alikes!

Oh wow. Sometimes I just astound myself.

Having nowhere else to really "put" revelations like this one, Lost in British TV gets them. Lucky it.

I recently discovered that Gene Kelly, Jack Lemmon, James Cagney and Bob Hope look alike. Bear with me. Pictures in a minute.

Here's how this came about. We watched Yankee Doodle Dandy recently, which stars James Cagney in a singing and dancing role. His style and general body build kept reminding me of Gene Kelly. So there's one connection.

Then, a week ago, we watched Mister Roberts. This film has the advantage of starring both James Cagney and Jack Lemmon and seeing both in the same film cemented the idea that when he gets older, Lemmon is going to look just like Cagney looks in Mister Roberts. (By extension, I guess that means Lemmon looks like Kelly, too, since he looks like Cagney!)

Finally, the other day, my son noticed (while watching one of his Road pictures) that Bob Hope looks like Jack Lemmon (or was it Gene Kelly?) I don't know. It doesn't matter, because I agreed. And so now, by extension, they must all look alike.

Don't give me that look. I'm prepared to prove it.

First, they all have a similar broad-faced, open countenance, with long horizontal mouths and squarish heads. Although Hope's is the most prominent in this way, they all have a similar long straight nose, with a strong tip. And its not just their faces. They all have a similar body type: not exactly stocky, but a solid compact frame. None of them were slender, lithe men. Cagney was the shortest at 5'5", Kelly, 5'7"; Lemmon was 5'9" Hope was the tallest at 5'10" -- not short, but certainly no giant. Obviously, Cagney and Kelly had the very fit dancers bodies, which I'm sure Hope and Lemmon would be pleased to be compared to, but though they were in different states of fitness, the underlying body type is cut from the same mold.

Now, what you've been waiting for, the photographic proof!