Will Redheads Become Extinct?

Less than 2% of the world's population are natural redheads. A redhead can come from a single redheaded parent. Chances increase when both parents are redheads. But there just aren't that many natural redheads anymore.

Redheads are genetically different. There are strawberry blondes, giner reds, carrot reds, and auburn and russet reds. Most red heads tan poorly. The skin of a redhead is usually a paler colour than the average person's. Redheads are sensitive to the sun, and to cancer. Some studies suggest redheads are like to need more anaesthesia when they have surgery. Redheads experience pain more easily than others.

Redhair is Red because of a blending of Eumelanin and Pheomelanin. Although the main chemical in any pigment is a complex iron compound called Trichosiderin.

What I've done here is hunt down redheads from all over. Sorry that I seem to have more American ones, but that's probably because I'm American. Would love for some of you to report other redheads from other countries. My list begins with my Mother and my grandmother. All four of my Gram's sisters were redheads. In fact, I better include the picture I have of Aunt Pearl. She had absolutely lovely, long red hair when she was young.

Women Redheads: Maureen O'Hara, Lucille Ball, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Nicole Kidman, Gillian Anderson of X-File , Ann-Margaret Olsson, Susan Heyward, Kate Winslet, Wynona Judd, Carol Burnett (?), , Tina Louise, Rita Hayworth, Clara Bow, Semantha Eggar, Greer Garson, Mitzi Gaynor, Katharine Hepburn, Deborah Kerr, Shirley MacLaine, Bette Midler, Juliet Prowse, Ester Williams, Julia Roberts (sometimes), Ann Sheridan, Debbie Reynolds. Bernadette Peters.

Moira Shearer who actually appeared in "The Man Who Loved Redheads" ? she was loved by a man who was obsessed with redheads. And what about that British sweetie Charlotte Coleman. She played a wonderful role in FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL. Whe died from an asthma attack November, 2001. What a cutie pie she was. I see Mary Marg Helgenberger almost everyday on CSI. She plays 'Catherine.'

Staunch Anne Robinson of "The Weakest Link" is redheaded. In fact she is "Redhead of the Year 2001. She won that year by a landslide of votes.

Men Redheads: Woody Allen, Charles Dance,James Cagney, Danny Caruso, Howdy Doody, Jason Flemyng, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sterling Holloway, Ron Howard, Van Johnson, Darren McGavin, Chuck Norris, Red Skelton, Carot Top Thompson, and my favourite, Conan O'Brien, the night time host with the most. Humm? John Paul Getty III, probably the richest redhead on earth.

Two of my favourite writers are reds: Precious Anne Perry and that gal about town, M.C.Beaton!

Famous Fictional Redheads: Archie Andrews who debuted in 1941 with his pal Veronica. Then, there's Ariel, the Little Mermaid. Anne of Green Gables. Wilma and Pebbles Flintstone. Pippi Longstocking. Little Red Riding Hood. Little Orphan Annie, who is now over 75 years old.

Cleopatra was a wanna-be redhead and used Henna to make her hair redder. Some say Napoleon was redheaded, even Christopher Columbus. The youngest Major General in US history, General Custer. Dear, dear Emily Dickinson. We shouldn't leave off Nell Gwynne, the social climbing actress and mistress of Charles II. Someone told me Judas Iscariot was redheaded. Will someone please check that out for me. Then, Florence Nightingale, which explains her unbelievable stamina.

Salome, the daughter of King Herod. Activist Margaret Sanger. Stalin had a redheaded daughter, Svetlana. She became a US citizen I believe. Galileo of THE scientific method. Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII. And, Ann Boleyn.

These I haven't checked out yet, but wasn't King David redhead. Please find me evidence this is true.

Meliss Auf Der Maur of the Smashing Pumpkins strikes a red note. Cheetah Chrome the lead guitarist in The Dead Boys does some iggy punk. Remember when Art Garfunkel had a huge head of red hair in the early '70's? There was that Scot, Lulu who looked like a child with those big blue-green eyes. Van Morrison. Oh sigh, what about the long red hair of Dave Mustaine who used to be part of Metallica. He's a major songwriter of Megadeth who's hot now. Willie Nelson, no, maybe not - but he does have freckles. And Beverly Sills - one of my friends adored her soprano voice!

Don't forget Vivaldi was a redtop. (And, I suspect Mozart was a redhead too, but can't find real evidence yet.)

I'd never heard of Boadicea until I went to England. (I'm ashamed to admit that.) My friend Deidre told me about her, the Queen of the Iceni. She led a two year pillage of Roman settlements. Of course, she was redheaded and no one wanted to come face to face with her fierceness. There's a big statue of her near the Westminster Bridge.

Handsome Henry VIII surely had the worst redheaded temper ever. He married 6 times and never was a good husband! (One of my husbands looked so much like him they could be twins?)

Prince Andrew's Fergie, of toe-sucking fame is a redhead. As is Prince Harry, the hottie son of Prince Charles and Princess Di. Queen Victoria was redheaded and had a depression problem after her husband's death - She wore black for the rest of her life. Too much! William the Conqueror was a copperhead too.

I can't think of a single football player offhand who is a carrot top. There must be some. Maybe redheads aren't athletic?but one of my Brit friends reports that Paul Collingwood is a top class cricket player. He hit a career best 206 in Adelaide in the 2006/2007 Ashes series. Oh my, just remember that lovely Jason Crum, who first place in the Grand Prix in 1996. What a carrot top!

Does wrestling count? If so, I must include Amy Dumas in my 'Sports' list. Lita is quite the Diva in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Who broke Roger Maris' record with the biggest hit in baseball? Mark McGwire, finishing with 70 homeruns in 1998. Go Mark!

Don't tell me Jack Nicklaus is a redhead. I saw him play and his hair is blond. Very blond. But Sheamus O'Shaunessy the big Irish Heavyweight Champ, wrestling, is a real carrot top. Love that beard and sideburns, wow-wee. He's six foot six. The Undertaker from WWF is a redie also. His goatee is red too. Another good-looker.

My fav wanna-be redheaded in David Bowie. He's one of us, at least in another life ? love those spikes!

On the Arty-Arty list we have Sarah Bernhardt, the famous 'divine Sarah.' And Vincent van Gogh, who cut his ear off (while Paul Gauguin was living with him) with a razor. Yuk. No wonder he ended up in an mental institution. His brother Theo lovingly supported his brother to the end. And we are just so fortunate. The field of irises is my favourite painting of his.

It is said Lord Byron was a redie, as was James Joyce from Dublin, who wrote 'Ulysses.' (Do read that. It really is a masterpiece.)

D.H. Lawrence, Sinclair Lewis, and Ezra Pound. (Read Pound when you want to be jubilant!) Mark Twain? Evelyn Waugh?

Oh, this may not be true, but wasn't William Shakespeare a redhead? We'll claim him. And J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame. I've seen photos of her redheaded and blondheaded so I'm not sure. When they were young Jean-Paul Sartre and George Bernard Shaw sported darkish red hair. For a while there I thought I was an existentialist...

Matisse, Matisse, Matisse. French and instinctive. I love the expressiveness of his work, his colours, his lines. (He and Chagall are my favourite artists.) And he was a real red head.

In the animal kingdom we have redheaded woodpeckers, and red foxes. We have red hens and Robin Redbreasts. And, red squirrels. And orange/red orangutans.

http://redheaded.gather.com/

Stand by us and stand up for us, join the Gather group. Guys, you can join too I suppose, already have a couple of you asking. And... I think there're some redheaded men in My People. Sy, please be a member...sigh.

Norma Jean Mortenson was born a redhead, and lightened her hair. She always wanted to be blond. Who is she? In closing my friends Deidre and Judy Lee are redheads, as is my sister Molly Bloom. And, moi.

And what about Christ? I believe he had giner-coloured hair too. But I'm not going to argue with anyone about that.

Blondes are wild,
Brunettes are true,
But you never can tell what a copperhead will do.

Stay tuned. Have several red head poems to publish. I want you to read them, of course...