This is an interesting idea, but one source of bias that troubles me is that after people have received a nobel prize, it might bias how they are characterized by themselves or others. Maybe being a "famous person" makes us characterize a person as more interesting, and upgrade their interests to hobbies or something more serious.

For reference, according to the article the data about the hobbies of members of the Royal Society, National Academy, and of Nobel Prize winners was gathered from biographies, memoirs, obituaries, and other research.