[e40]

He was known by an order of magnitude more people after he became a reality tv star.

[bnjms]

Right. He parlayed his fame into reality stardom.

I added it’s a word way to put it. He became more famous generally but he was already known to NY and powerful people.

[thaumasiotes]

Really? In the 70s he would have been known to the population that read newspaper comic strips. He's been a household name continuously from then to now.