ARE TWINS UNSUCCESSFUL? (COMMENT). I checked Wikipedia here to see whether I had forgotten any famous twins. It seems to confirm that the answer to Dick Weisfelder’s question is that there have not been many distinguished twins. I had not mentioned the Epstein twins (who wrote the screenplay for CASABLANCA) and the Shaffer twins (Anthony wrote SLEUTH and Peter wrote EQUUS and AMADEUS). The McWhirter twins were responsible for the GUINESS BOOK OF RECORDS. Twins seem to have had more success in sports; I left out the Barbers, the Grants and the Mahres, among others. Finally, in the annals of crime, there are the Kray twins, who were colorful London gang leaders in the fifties and sixties.
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Here’s a rather long-winded list of twins on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_twins One thing I noted is that in order to be famous twins one must, generally, both be famous for the same thing. Siblings often differentiate themselves by becoming involved in different pursuits, which may make fame less likely.