as i took in the somewhat strange spectacle of sonic youth on letterman last night i was reminded of a conversation i had in grad school with an ultra-cool older student (who i've since lamentably lost all contact with). laurie anderson had just performed at usc and she (my friend, not laurie anderson) opined that there could not possibly be a cooler couple than laurie anderson and lou reed. i thought john and yoko trump them, but, of course, only one of them is still alive. kim gordon and thurston moore must be up there in the pantheon, however. extending out of music, bogart and bacall are near the top. perce and mary shelley probably top the literary list.

yoko trump? there's your hypothetical, surely.

Bill Nighy and (as Yvonne recently reminded me) Diana Quick.

i'm sorry, but no.

the rampantly gay johnson and boswell, on the other hand.

Johnny Depp and anyone but currently Vanessa Paradis.

i see i have no option but to be the arbiter of this discussion. both members of the couple must carry a substantial share of the cool. looking sultry is not the same as being cool. thus while depp qualifies, paradis does not.

Posh & Becks
Sid & Nancy
Franklin and Eleanor
Wilfrid and Beloved
Bill and Hilary
Brangelina

You are clearly too parochial to arbitrate on matters European.

Sartre and de Beauvoir.

Truffaut and Hitchcock

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward

what are joanne woodward's credentials of cool? or newman's for that matter?

Bing bing bing. A winner!

Steve McQueen and whoever happened to be standing next to him.

you people are stupid, aren't you?

1) beautiful/famous does not = cool
2) both parties must carry a substantial share of the cool

I'd be less critical if I were you. You think Yoko is cool.

David Bowie and Mick Jagger

acceptable. also, mick jagger and marianne faithful. bowie and iman, also acceptable.

so only mongo and mrs. jones qualify?

Don't you have Newman's Own Cool-in-a-Bottle?

Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley are sort of a AAA League Kim and Thurston.

Certainly, at one point years ago, Dylan and Baez were as cool as you could possibly get.
Likewise, Astrud and Joao Gilberto.
Some might say Louis Prima and Keely Smith.

I thought Baez majorly de-cooled Dylan.

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe
Bryan & Lucy Ferry
Brice & Helen Marden

Lou Reed & Laurie Anderson

Also Alex Kapranos and Eleanor Friedberger

Of course, there's this.

Pork & Beans
Ham & Eggs
Rum & Coke
Frankie & Johnny
Lewis & Clark
Hansel & Gretl
Jack & Jill
Dick & Jane
Macaroni & Cheese
Tinkers to Evers to Chance (okay, they were a threesome before it was fashionable)
Huntley & Brinkley
Martin & Lewis
Rowan & Martin
DiMaggio & Monroe
Durocher & Day
Astaire & Rogers
Laurel & Hardy
Hudson & Day
Kelly & Charis
Lois & Clark
Pickles & Cream
Nuts & Bolts
Hewlett & Packard
M&M
Chocolate & Vanilla
Venus & Mars
Man & Woman
Affirmed & Alydar
Bob & Ray
Spahn & Sain
You & Me

George Sand and Chopin (but only as played by Judy Davis and Hugh Grant).

Indeed. Part of the impetus for mongo's commencement of this thread.

Not in the beginning. Later.

Taylor Hackford and Helen Mirren.

What am I missing? Isn't this where mongo started?

Anyway – Elvis Costello and Diana Krall.

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.

The coolest guy known to man is Miles Davis.. And the coolest chick is Betty Davis.. So hence, the coolest couple would be Miles and Betty Davis..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf_48AfvB8Q...L&index=105

Elvis Costello and Diana Krall
Hepburn and Tracy
Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly
Gretsky and Janet Jones (I don't care what you say, American Anthem was a great movie)

Hepburn & Tracy (Katie & Spence)

mongo, did you purposely ignore Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne?

Pierre and Marie Curie.

(You think that three Nobel prizes for one couple isn't cool?)

katharine hepburn could not have been cool if she'd been cryogenically frozen after being injected with the blood of the demon child of miles davis and billie holiday.

Not when you work with radium.

What could be cooler than glowing in the dark?

Annie Leibovitz and Susan Sontag.

Word.

Alain Delon and Nico.

dancing in the dark (Astaire & Rogers)

Serge Gainsbourgh and Jane Birkin.

JFK & Marilyn

Chang & Ko
Batali & Po