Famous persons referred to as "Doctor" that are NOT MDs

[NewJeffCT]

I remember Dr. Henry Kissinger, a PhD, is usually referred to as Doctor.

Wasn't Condi Rice often referred to as Dr. Rice? Or maybe not?

Who are some others? Dr. Phil is a PhD, but is he still a celebrity?

I'm trying to think of more, but I'm kind of drawing a blank.

[CrispyQ]

1. Dr. Who & Dr. Evil

[Gidney N Cloyd]

17. Not Dr Evil.

'It's Dr. Evil, I didn't spend six years in Evil Medical School to be called mister, thank you very much.'

[CrispyQ]

19. LOL. I'd forgotten about Evil Medical School.

[Dem4Life1102]

45. Dr. Johnny Fever

[onecaliberal]

2. There are 4 of those non medical doctorates in my office.

We address them as such. This whole thing is such complete bull shit.

[ironflange]

3. Dr. Dre, Dr. J.

Dr Pepper

[onenote]

4. Yes, Condoleeza Rice was often referred as Dr. Rice,

Check out her confirmation hearing:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-109shrg22847/pdf/CHRG-109shrg22847.pdf

[JustGene]

5. Doctor Detroit

[Hassin Bin Sober]

22. He has a chiropractic service. He does adjustments to the human spine.

Besides chicken chains and muffler shops and collecting rent from slums.

[True Dough]

6. Let's not forget about

Dr. Hook!

"You're looking kind of lonely, girl. Would you like someone new to talk to? Oooh yeah, all right!"

[rzemanfl]

12. Dr. John. n/t

[True Dough]

14. As requested...

[rzemanfl]

38. Thank you for this. I was too busy to look. n/t

[Aristus]

7. Ben Franklin was awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Oxford,

and by the University of St. Andrew's, in recognition of his scientific accomplishments. He was referred to frequently as "Dr. Franklin" for the rest of his life.

Although the degrees themselves were honorary, they were in recognition of actual scientific endeavors, most of which were accomplished after self-education and self-training. So it's not like they were a polite nothing.

[FreepFryer]

8. Doctors in the house

I got a million of em

[wcmagumba]

9. Not famous or even known but my small state and private colleges...

I attended always referred to the PhD professors with tenure as "Dr surname" (fill in the blank)...Didn't seem to bother anyone...oh, those wacky rw nutjobs, offended by titles, deficits and swear words...while record illness and death continue and all out electronic warfare on us by our russian/trump enemy.

[NewJeffCT]

16. I agree

I remember when I was in Elementary School back in the 1970s, it was a big deal when our small town school system got a new superintendent of schools that was a Doctor! And yes, everybody called him Dr. P..... and while it was a long time ago, I'm 99% sure his degree was a PhD in Education, or an Education-related field.

(And, in a town that was 98% white at the time, he was black and originally from Jamaica - and he hardly ever canceled school due to snow. If canceled, we were one of the last to announce being canceled.)

[ProfessorGAC]

48. Our Superintendent Here Has One

It's in Educational Administration. Which makes sense!
They call him Dr. P, too!
Go figure!

[hatrack]

10. Dr. Einstein, Dr. Goddard, Dr. Teller, Dr. Oppenheimer, Dr. Fermi, Dr. Bethe . . .

And so on.

[RockRaven]

11. MLK Jr.

Bill Cosby

[grumpyduck]

13. This whole thing is bullshit

and just pandering to those who don't know that a PhD is a doctoral degree (Doctor of Philosophy), much less what a PhD is. Hell, some of them probably don't even know what a Master's degree is.

[Miigwech]

15. Dr. Seuss?

[LakeArenal]

18. Almost every character on Big Bang Theory.

Dr Strangelove
That guy that played one onTV.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

20. Doctor Octopus

(Nuclear Physicist)

[no_hypocrisy]

21. Ha! Doctor Laura Schlesinger

"Thank you for taking my call Dr. Laura . . . . "

Dr. Laura didn't get her Ph.D. in Psychology or Psychiatry.

She got it in physical therapy.

That's right. PT.

[Ms. Toad]

34. No right.

Her PhD is in physiology, not PT.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/200107/physiologist-laura
https://www.mindperk.com/dr-laura-schlessinger-biography/

[no_hypocrisy]

40. I stand corrected.

Thanks!

[Happy Hoosier]

23. Doctor Henry "Indiana" Jones NT

[davekriss]

24. Some not so famous ...

My wife is referred to as “doctor” or “professor” in academic settings. Her PhD is in rhetoric and composition. She has 3 masters as well. She’s addicted to learning, buzzes through new domains like a machine! It’s a good thing. 🙂

[Jirel]

25. "Dr." Sebastian Gorka.

Whose Ph.D. is really questionable, having possibly been acquired fraudulently.

https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/the-academic-fraud-of-trumps-terrorism-expert-1.5465216

[boston bean]

26. Dr. Ruth

[DFW]

44. Though her doctorate is not in Medicine

Ruth has done extensive medical training and study. She is certainly no stranger to medicine.

Though she is definitely starting to slow down a little, she is still the lively, witty character she presents publicly. When she came to the States, she wanted to take speech therapy to get rid of her accent (and, yes, she really speaks English like that). She was talked out of it by her agent, who told her it would be a fabulous trademark. She was sensitive about it for years, but has long since made peace with it.

[Tanuki]

49. Correct. She has an Ed.D., the same as Dr. Jill Biden.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Westheimer

[dem4decades]

27. My wife worked in the School of Business at a local university. All the professors were PhDs..

Not necessarily famous but that is a fact. These Trumpers just hate anything to do with education.

[honest.abe]

28. Where I went to grad school in bio science all my professors were called Dr [last name].

I have a PhD but I dont use "Dr" mainly because I am working in a different profession than my Doctorate degree. I think a PhD is a Doctor because its a Doctorate degree. Simple as that. These RW morons who dont like it are just ignorant and jealous.

[ProfessorGAC]

50. I Never Used The Title, Either

And, I did work in that field.
Just not my style. But, if someone prefers it, that's fine.
There were some peers that used it, had it on their business cards, etc. that struck me as pompous nonsense.
But, I presume that was more a personal judgment on them, not the title.

[honest.abe]

51. Yes, that is somewhat how I feel also.

Kind of depends on the situation.. Doc!

[ProfessorGAC]

52. Don't You Dare!!!

Or, thanks, I guess!

[Kota]

29. Many professors and academic professionals go by doctor. They aren't famous.

[Bradshaw3]

30. Dr. Gonzo - Oscar Zeta Acosta

Advanced education in partying with Hunter Thompson.

[pitchforksandtorches]

31. Dr. Demento

Dr. Demento

From Wikipedia:
Barret Eugene "Barry" Hansen (born April 2, 1941),[1] known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present. Hansen created the Demento persona in 1970 while working at Los Angeles station KPPC-FM.[1] He played "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus on the radio, and DJ "The Obscene" Steven Clean said that Hansen had to be "demented" to play it, and the name stuck. His weekly show went into syndication in 1974[1] and was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network from 1978 to 1992. Broadcast syndication of the show ended on June 6, 2010, but the show continues to be produced weekly in an online version.
Hansen has a degree in ethnomusicology and has written magazine articles and liner notes on recording artists outside of the novelty genre. He is credited with introducing new generations of listeners to artists of the early and middle 20th century whom they might not have otherwise discovered, such as Harry McClintock, Spike Jones, Benny Bell, Yogi Yorgesson, Stan Freberg, and Tom Lehrer. He helped bring "Weird Al" Yankovic to national attention.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

32. Dr. No.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._No_(film)

[csziggy]

33. Dr. Johnny Fever!

[mitch96]

35. Rachel Maddow has a PHD from Oxford .... Dr Maddow I presume? nt

[ironflange]

36. Dr. Who

Old school

[DFW]

37. A few that come to mind

Strange, Doom, Pepper, Strangelove, Oetker, my nephew (Engineering)

[Gidney N Cloyd]

42. Doctor Strange actually was a medical doctor. *

That's not his "made up name," as Peter Parker put it.

(*According to Wikipedia he was both an MD and PhD.)

[Gidney N Cloyd]

43. This is what 2020 has reduced me to.

[DFW]

47. I stand corrected then

Of all the things I ever discussed with Stan, he was never one of them, I must confess. Ah, the things I missed!

[EarthFirst]

39. Dr Nick

[LAS14]

41. My hubby. Others, e.g. when he was at a speaking engagement...

... often referred to him as The Rev Doctor xxxxxxxxx, but he only used the honorific himself when he wanted a good table at a restaurant. He's famous in a very small circle.

[TexasBushwhacker]

46. Dr. Phil!

Although he gave up his license to practice as a psychologist several years ago.

[Iggo]

53. Dr. King.

I didn’t read through all the replies, but please tell me I’m not the first one who brought him up.