Re: Seinfeld reference question: Van Johnson?
 

Even if someone did not know who Van Johnson was, Google will tell you he was a movie star in the 40s/50s. So his identity was never the question. The question was why Uncle Leo would choose him to reference, and then people over-thought it.
Why would the DVD include the info about him having a plate in his head? That's just confusing.

Re: Seinfeld reference question: Van Johnson?
 

Shit, my dad does that all the time, talking about semi-obscure old actors (or singers, or songs, etc.) that the average younger person is clueless about. That's what old people do, Leo is old, I thought that was the gag. :shrug:

Re: Seinfeld reference question: Van Johnson?
 

You got it.

Re: Seinfeld reference question: Van Johnson?
 

He could have said "Who are you? Edie Brickell?" to the same effect.

Re: Seinfeld reference question: Van Johnson?
 

Sorry, I'm going to play "Let's take the structure of a joke seriously."

Even though she was relatively famous when this episode aired, it would not make sense for Uncle Leo to know who she is, and the Van Johnson reference DOES make sense from a character perspective --he's old and his references are out of date. Also, it has to be a movie star. That's the premise of the line: movie stars where sunglasses in public.

Re: Seinfeld reference question: Van Johnson?
 

Or maybe you're just overthinking it :)

Re: Seinfeld reference question: Van Johnson?
 

That's why all the successful comics just get up on stage and say whatever pops into their heads in the moment rather than writing and rewriting and structuring their jokes.

Re: Seinfeld reference question: Van Johnson?
 

Foster Grant sunglasses used to have a "Who's that behind those Foster Grants?" ad campaign. I was vaguely aware of Van Johnson and figured he was in one of those ads.

Re: Seinfeld reference question: Van Johnson?
 

Van seems like a name that has fallen out of fashion these days. I can't recall ever meeting a Van in my life.

Re: Seinfeld reference question: Van Johnson?
 

It wasn't even his real name.
Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor, singer, and dancer. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II.