Saturday, 27 December 2025

1698) Gregory Fiennes, 10th Baron Dacre

Gregory Fiennes, 10th Baron Dacre (1539 – 1594). English courtier.
He was the son of Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre (c. 1515–1541) and Mary Neville.
His father was convicted of the murder of a gamekeeper and hanged like a common criminal at Tyburn in 1541, and in the aftermath, the family was stripped of its lands and titles.
In the following years, his mother battled to have the properties restored on behalf of her children, and on her ascension in 1558, Queen Elizabeth restored the title of Baron Dacre to Gregory, his elder brother Thomas having died of the plague at age 15. 

Detail of a portrait by Hans Eworth, 1559

 

1697) Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre

Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre (c. 1516 – 1541). English nobleman. He was the son of Sir Thomas Fiennes (d. 1528) and Jane, daughter of Edward Sutton, 2nd Baron Dudley.
In 1536 he married Mary, daughter of George Neville, 5th Baron Bergavenny and his third wife, Mary, by whom he had three children.
On 30 April 1541 Dacre led a party of gentlemen to poach on the lands of Sir Nicholas Pelham of Laughton. During the escapade, they encountered John Busbrig (or Busbridge), James Busbrig, and Richard Summer who were servants of Pelham. The encounter turned into an affray during which John Busbrig was fatally wounded. Dacre and several others were charged with murder.
Dacre originally entered a plea of not guilty but was later persuaded to change it to guilty and throw himself upon the King's mercy in the hope of a reprieve. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he was not executed by beheading but was hanged at Tyburn on 29 June 1541.
Dacre's family were stripped of their lands and title, but the title was restored to his second son Gregory in 1558 (the elder son Thomas died before the restitution, aged 15).


 

1696) Mary Fiennes, Baroness Dacre

Mary Fiennes, Baroness Dacre (1524 – after 1565). Daughter of George Neville (also Nevill), 5th Baron Bergavenny by his third wife, Lady Mary Stafford, youngest daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham.
She married three times. First in 1536, with Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre (c. 1515–1541). Lord Dacre was convicted of the murder of a gamekeeper and hanged as a common criminal at Tyburn in 1541. The family was stripped of its lands and titles by Henry VIII.
In the following years, Mary battled to have the properties restored on behalf of her children, and on her ascension in 1558 Elizabeth restored the title of Baron Dacre to Mary's second son Gregory, her eldest son Thomas having died at age 15 on 25 August 1553.
In 1546 Lady Dacre married John Wooton or Wotton of St. Clere's manor in North Tuddenham, Norfolk. After his death, she married Francis Thursby of Congham in Norfolk.

Detail from a portrait by unknown artist, c1541–1558

Mary Neville and her son Gregory Fiennes by Hans Eworth, 1559

Detail from a portrait by Hans Eworth

 

Friday, 26 December 2025

1695) Thomas Boleyn

Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, 1st Earl of Ormond, 1st Viscount Rochford KG, KB (c. 1477 – 1539), of Hever Castle in Kent. English diplomat and politician. He was the father of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, and was thus the maternal grandfather of Queen Elizabeth I. By Henry VIII, he was made a Knight of the Garter in 1523 and was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Rochford in 1525, and in 1529, he was further ennobled as Earl of Wiltshire and Earl of Ormond.


 

According to Wikipedia, the sitter of this portrait (by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1533) is James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond, a maternal cousin of Thomas Boleyn's. For many other sources, however, the sitter is Thomas Boleyn.

1694) Lady Mary Keyes

Lady Mary Keyes (née Grey; 1545 – 1578). Youngest daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and Frances Brandon, and through her mother she had a claim on the crown of England.
Mary had two sisters, Lady Jane Grey and Lady Katherine Grey.

 

- "Mary, only a little over four feet tall, with red hair, freckles..." http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/MaryGrey.htm


 

1693) Henry and Charles Brandon

Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk (1535 – 1551), styled Lord Henry Brandon before 1545. English nobleman, son of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, by his fourth wife, Catherine Willoughby.

 
Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk (1537 – 1551), known as Lord Charles Brandon until shortly before his death. English nobleman, son of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, by his fourth wife, Catherine Willoughby.

Half-brothers of Frances Grey

During an epidemic of the sweating sickness, the two youths died, Henry first and his younger brother was said to have died half an hour later.

Charles Brandon, portrait miniature by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1541

Henry Brandon, portrait miniature by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1541

 

1692) Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk

Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk (née Lady Frances Brandon; 1517 – 1559). English noblewoman. She was the second child and eldest daughter of King Henry VIII's younger sister, Princess Mary, and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. She was the mother of Lady Jane Grey, de facto Queen of England and Ireland for nine days (10 July 1553 – 19 July 1553), as well as Lady Katherine Grey and Lady Mary Grey.


Portrait of a woman, tentatively identified as Frances Grey

 

The Streatham portrait. According to art historian Maike Vogt-Lüerssen, the sitter was Lady Frances Grey and not Lady Jane Grey

 

Thursday, 6 November 2025

1691) Ginger Shinault

Enoch Erskine "Ginger" Shinault (1892 – 1930). American Major League Baseball catcher who played for two seasons. He played for the Cleveland Indians from 1921 to 1922, playing in 35 career games. 

 

- "“Red” Shinault — this nickname was another nod both to hair color and persona..." https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ginger-shinault/ 


 

1690) Bryn "Ginger" Jones

Bryn "Ginger" Jones (1905 – 1986). Professional boxer from Wales. Born in Ferndale, but later based in Ammanford, Jones was notable for becoming the Welsh featherweight champion in 1929.

 

- "With his fiery red hair, he has quickly earned the nickname "Ginger Jones" and has become a fan favorite." https://boxingundefeated.com/boxers/bryn-jones/ 


 

Friday, 31 October 2025

1689) Gordon Jackson

Gordon Cameron Jackson (1923 – 1990). Scottish actor. He is best remembered for his roles as the butler Angus Hudson in Upstairs, Downstairs and as George Cowley, the head of CI5, in The Professionals. He also portrayed Capt Jimmy Cairns in Tunes of Glory, and Flt. Lt. Andrew MacDonald, "Intelligence", in The Great Escape.
In 1960, Jackson was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Actor for the film Yesterday's Enemy and in 1975 was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor for the television series Upstairs, Downstairs. The following year he won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Series.

 

- "The tall, red-haired Jackson started acting as a teen-ager soon after the outbreak of World War II." https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-16-mn-20-story.html 

 


Monday, 27 October 2025

1688) Dennis Johnson

Dennis Wayne Johnson (1954 – 2007), nicknamed "DJ". American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns, and Boston Celtics. He was a coach of the Los Angeles Clippers and an alumnus of Dominguez High School, Los Angeles Harbor College and Pepperdine University.
The Celtics retired Johnson's No. 3 jersey which hangs from the rafters of the TD Garden, the home arena of the team. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame officially inducted Johnson to the Hall posthumously in 2010. He is considered by several sports journalists to be one of the most underrated players of all time.

 

- "Johnson was also known for his appearance: he had freckles and red-tinged hair." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Johnson


 

1687) Bill Walton

Bill Walton (born William Theodore Walton III, 1952 – 2024). American basketball player and television sportscaster. He played collegiately for the UCLA Bruins and professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Portland Trail Blazers, San Diego / Los Angeles Clippers, and Boston Celtics. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
His professional career was significantly hampered by foot injuries, requiring numerous surgeries (he underwent 37 orthopedic surgeries in his lifetime).
After retiring from the NBA, Walton overcame stuttering and embarked on a second career as a sportscaster, working both as a studio analyst and color commentator with several networks and teams. He earned an Emmy Award in 1991.

 

- "Walton became the No. 1 overall pick in the 1974 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers and, now with a fiery red beard to match his tousled hair, led the Blazers to a title in 1977." https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/basketball-legend-bill-walton-dead-71/story?id=110588257

 

- "To celebrate the life of the legendary red-headed Deadhead, here’s a collection of SI covers from his career and the stories that go along with them." https://www.si.com/nba/remembering-bill-walton-career-through-sports-illustrated-covers 

 

- "Bill Walton is probably the best red head to ever play the game of basketball..." https://studentunionsports.com/the-greatest-red-headed-basketball-players-of-all-time/ 


 

1686) Clive Revill

Clive Selsby Revill (1930 – 2025). New Zealand actor, best known for his performances in musical theatre and the London stage. A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he also starred in numerous films and television programmes, often in character parts. He was a two-time Tony Award nominee, as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Irma La Douce and Best Actor in a Musical for Oliver! He was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Billy Wilder's Avanti! (1972).
His roles also included voicing Emperor Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

 

- "Revill was stocky and pugnacious, with a Mr Punch-style nose, piercing blue eyes and red hair..." https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary 

 

- "Revill's red hair and distinctive Mr. Punch-like features often saw him cast as comic eccentrics in a number of British films..." https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Clive_Revill


 

Sunday, 26 October 2025

1685) Samantha Eggar

Samantha Eggar (born Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar, 1939 – 2025). English actress.
After beginning her career in Shakespearean theatre, she rose to fame for her performance in William Wyler's thriller The Collector (1965), which earned her a Golden Globe Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
Eggar later appeared as Emma Fairfax in Doctor Dolittle (1967) and the American drama The Molly Maguires (1970). In the early 1970s she moved to the United States and Canada, where she later starred in several horror films, including The Dead Are Alive (1972), The Uncanny (1977) and David Cronenberg's cult thriller The Brood (1979).
Eggar also worked as a voice actress, as Hera in Disney's Hercules (1997) and in several video games, including Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned and 007: Nightfire. Her television work included roles on Fantasy Island and a recurring part as Charlotte Devane in the soap opera All My Children in 2000.

 

- "Such a beautiful and talented actress with the must radiant red hair." https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/2122914/dead-cary-grant-co-star

 

- "But when the cinematographer did a black-and-white test of Eggar he also did a color one that captured the magnificence of her red hair and skin." https://themagnificent60s.com/tag/samantha-eggar/

 


 

1684) Al Wingo

Absalom Holbrook Wingo (1898 – 1964). American baseball player.
He began playing baseball at Oglethorpe University and played professional baseball, primarily as an outfielder, for 15 years from 1918 to 1932. He followed his older brother Ivey to the major leagues in 1919 as an outfielder for the Philadelphia Athletics.
He played for the Detroit Tigers from 1924 to 1928 and later played for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League from 1929 to 1931.

 

- "Absalom had red hair, so, naturally he acquired the nickname “Red.https://www.vintagedetroit.com/al-red-wingo-1925-detroit-tigers-outfielder-with-harry-heilmann-ty-cobb/?srsltid=AfmBOopeXX3ZK9WsArvFI9THRYuESOT2SrcVE_fjyb9eLOauWAViLyvj 


 

1683) Meredith Pinxton Snyder

Meredith Pinxton Snyder (1859 – 1937). California property owner and businessman, who was mayor of Los Angeles on three occasions from 1896 through 1921, and was also on the California Industrial Accident Commission.
He was a Mason and an Elk and a member of the Jonathan Club, the Los Angeles Country Club, the Lomita Gun Club, the Knights of Pythias and the Knights Templar.

 

- "His nickname was Pinky, because of the color of his flaming red side-burns." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_P._Snyder 


 

1682) Pinky Tomlin

Truman Virgil "Pinky" Tomlin (1907 – 1987). American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and actor of the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to performing in occasional motion pictures, he wrote and published 22 songs, several of which were in the top ten on the "Hit Parade". A song he had written in 1938, "In Ole Oklahoma", was named as Oklahoma's state song by the Oklahoma State Junior Chamber of Commerce.

 

- "Sporting a crop of red hair as a boy, he got his nickname "Pinky" because his fair skin sunburned easily." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinky_Tomlin 


 

Saturday, 25 October 2025

1681) J. C. Harrington

Jean Carl Harrington (1901 – 1998). American archaeologist, best known for his work at Jamestown, Virginia and his contributions to the methodology of historical archaeology. He has been called the "father of historical archaeology in America".
Born Jean Carl, Harrington later went by J. C. Harrington or "Pinky." As he said in an autobiography written for his family, "My first name has been a nuisance and annoyance all my life." On Harrington's birth certificate, for example, he was listed as female, which he later corrected.
Harrington contributed largely to the development and legitimization of historical archaeology as a discipline. He published the first summary of the field in 1952 in Archaeology of Eastern United States, entitled "Historic Site Archaeology in the United States." This was followed by "Archaeology as an Auxiliary Science to American History," published in American Anthropologist in 1955, which examined the contributions historical archaeology could make to understanding the recent past. Harrington also published a booklet for the Society for State and Local History, Archaeology and the Historical Society, in 1965. This publication addressed an audience outside the field of archaeology, giving an idea of the types of questions that historical archaeology could address to augment historical research.

 

- "While studying at the University of Chicago, Harrington received the nickname "Pinky" for his red hair and the bright shade of pink he turned when exposed to the sun." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._C._Harrington

 

- "Harrington received the nickname “Pinky” for his red hair and was known assuch throughout his life by friends and family." https://www.crunchbase.com/person/j-c-pinky-harrington


 

1680) William Hargrave

William McKinley "Pinky" Hargrave (1896 – 1942). American baseball catcher. He played professional baseball for 19 years from 1919 to 1937, including 10 years in Major League Baseball with the Washington Senators (1923–1925, 1930–1931), St. Louis Browns (1925–1926), Detroit Tigers (1928–1930), and Boston Braves (1932–1933).
He was the younger brother of Bubbles Hargrave, who was a catcher in the major leagues between 1913 and 1930.

 

- "His flaming red hair inspired his nickname..." https://members.tripod.com/bb_catchers/catchers/hargravep.htm

 

- "They called him Pinky because of his red hair." https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/cdl0tf/happy_birthday_bubbles_hargrave_wait_why_did_they/


 

Friday, 24 October 2025

1679) Cuthbert Burnup

Cuthbert James "Pinky" Burnup (1875 – 1960). English amateur sportsman, who played cricket and football around the turn of the 20th century. Burnup played once for the England football team but is more renowned for playing over 200 first-class cricket matches, mainly for Kent County Cricket Club. He was named as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year in 1903.

 

- "For reasons unknown, at Oxford and for all or most of his playing career Burnup was known as ‘Pinky’. He had red hair but it is not clear if this had any relevance to his nickname." https://archive.acscricket.com/books/Kent_Cricketers_A_to_Z_Part_One.pd


 

1678) Withers A. Burress

Lieutenant General Withers Alexander Burress (1894 – 1977). United States Army officer. He was a graduate and commandant of the Virginia Military Institute as well as a combat commander in World War I and World War II.
He was nicknamed "Pinky".

 

"Of course. like everyone, I was immediately impressed with his light red hair, fair complexion and abundant supply of freckles." https://www.marshallfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Memories_of_a_Remarkable_General_and_Gentleman.pdf 


 

Sunday, 5 October 2025

1677) Grace Mccammon Estabrook

Grace Mccammon Estabrook (1919 - 2011). American physicist.
In 1944, she was hired by Tennessee Eastman to work as an accounting clerk and statistician, and she was one of the few female mathematicians who had a chance to work at both the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee.
In 1946, she moved on to the laboratory to take a position as a junior physicist. Over the years, she worked with such notable researchers as Alvin Weinberg, Art Snell, Walt Jordan, E. P. Blizzard, Larry Meem, Sam Beall and Doug Billington. She remained at ORNL and worked for Fred Maienschein until her retirement in 1961.
In 1953 she marrried Jack Estabrook.

 

- "Her relationship with the reactor was so novel that a separate graphite pile used for studies through the use of foils was called Pinky's Pile, so named because she had supervised the building of this small pile and because of her red hair." https://web.ornl.gov/info/reporter/no55/jan_feb04.htm


Estabrook and the Pinky's Pile

 

Sunday, 21 September 2025

1676) Robert Redford

Charles Robert Redford Jr. (1936 – 2025). American actor, director, and producer. Over a career spanning more than six decades, he received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award amd five Golden Globe Awards.
He achieved stardom with Barefoot in the Park (1967) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). His subsequent performances in Downhill Racer (1969), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Candidate (1972), and The Sting (1973) established him as one of Hollywood’s leading actors, with the latter earning him an Academy Award nomination.
Redford made his directorial debut with the family drama Ordinary People (1980), which won four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. His later directing credits include The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), A River Runs Through It (1992), Quiz Show (1994), The Horse Whisperer (1998), and The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000). A major advocate for independent cinema, Redford co-founded the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival in 1978.
Redford was of Irish, Scottish, and English ancestry.

 

- "With Irish red hair and a wrinkled face from a very young age, Redford was perfect in every role..." https://www.unionesarda.it/en/robert-redford-has-died-the-film-icon-was-89-cil09syg

 

- "Redford, with his freckled face and red hair stood out and not just for his striking looks but also for the kind of cinema he was associated to." https://www.wionews.com/photos/rembering-robert-redford-1936-2025-7-films-of-the-iconic-actor-director-that-you-must-watch-1758031548909/1758031548911

 

- " I recall talking to an old friend of Redford’s on the phone once, a guy he used to hang out with in Van Nuys, and this guy told me that Redford’s high-school nickname at the time was “Red.” But eventually he let the blonde thing go. I know that he walked around as a natural copperhead when he was hosting the Sundance Film Festival in the ’90s." https://hollywood-elsewhere.com/robert-redford-james-cagney-no-one-else/

 

 - "My hair was red and unmanageable and I had cowlicks going all over the place. I had freckles and my teeth were too big..." https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/16/style/fashion-robert-redford-intl-scli

 


 

1675) Baldwin III of Jerusalem

Baldwin III (1130 – 1163). King of Jerusalem from 1143 until his death. Although he only took up sole rule in 1152 and died young, he was the longest-reigning of the 12th-century kings of Jerusalem. He expanded the borders of the kingdom, paved the way for the later kings' attempts to conquer Egypt, and acted as the defender of the other crusader states in the Levant.
Baldwin was the eldest son of Queen Melisende and King Fulk and brother of Geoffrey V Plantagenet.


- "Give me thy gittern, Isa," said the boy, a ruddy-faced youth, with gray eyes and auburn hair..." https://www.heritage-history.com/index.php?c=read&author=brooks&book=boys&story=baldwin#:~:text=In%20the%20palace%20of%20the,In%20vain%20shall%20try%20me!


 

Saturday, 26 July 2025

1674) Nancy Root

Nancy Jane Root (1939 - 2020). American actress.
The Roots were a prestigious Los Angeles family, very active in the local scene, and Nancy was the grandniece of prominent republican politician and Nobel prize winner Elihu Root.
She took her first two years of college in Arizona. An accomplished horsewoman, she did some stunt riding for movie companies working in this area. She rode so convincingly and so prettily that she was encouraged to take a screen test, and eventually was accepted into 20th Century Fox’s new talent school.
However, she only appeared in few film between the end of the 50s and the beginning of the 60s, along actors such as Clark Gable, Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis.
Then in 1962, when Nancy was barely 23 years old, something happened that changed her life. Namely, in 1959 she was involved with a mobster who took part in a murder of another mobster, Jack Whalen. They were sentenced only in 1962, and Nancy was a key witness. As a consequence, she opted to marry and leave her carreer behind. She married Billy Ray Dyer, with whom she had three children.
At some point, Nancy divorced Dyer, moved to Arizona and took up jewelry making, taking inspiration from the natives' cultural heritage. 

 

- "While in Arizona, Nancy blossomed into a stunning green-eyed redhead with 35-23-33 measurements... She was nicknamed The redheaded Indian..." https://obscureactresses.wordpress.com/2022/09/30/nancy-root/ 


 

Thursday, 24 July 2025

1673) Adele Lacy

Adele Lacy (born Adeline Charlotte Fergestad, 1910 – 1953). American film actress whose films all appeared during the Great Depression. Her name was sometimes spelled Adele Lacey.
Her paternal grandparents were born in Norway, and he mother's family was also of Norwegian stock.
At the age of 15 in 1926, Adele joined Gus Edwards' Juvenile Frolic dance troupe while they were performing in Hennipin. She left for Hollywood shortly after that and finished her public education at Hollywood High School in 1928.
After moving to Hollywood, Lacy appeared in eleven films, three credited movies and an additional eight un-credited.
Over her career, Lacy starred in musicals and westerns, and she was also a pinup girl and chorus girl. While in films, she worked with Tex Ritter, Hoot Gibson, and Eddie Cantor.
Her first husband was movie still photographer Madison S. Lacy. They divorced in 1935 and in 1937 she married againg, to director Walter Futter.
During World War II, Lacy had crossed the Atlantic Ocean to produce musicals in England with an amateur cast to entertain the troops.

 

- "Adeline was a vivacious red-haired child who had a knack for dancing and performing... Adele had natural red hair, hazel eyes, was 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 114 pounds in her prime." https://obscureactresses.wordpress.com/2018/03/23/adele-lacy/

 

- "The red headed beauty danced in several Busby Berkeley musicals..." https://www.classicactresses.org/2023/04/adelelacy.html 


 

Wednesday, 23 July 2025

1672) Evelyn Daw

Evelyn Daw (born Evelyn Pearl Shuck; 1912 – 1970). American singer and actress.
Daw sang in operettas put on by local groups in Los Angeles, and a musician for one of the productions arranged for her to audition with director Victor Schertzinger. Her audition and screen test led to her appearance in the film Something to Sing About (1937), along with James Cagney. The contract proved to be short-lived when the studio went into receivership and Daw was turned away from the pay window with no salary. She co-starred in the musical Western Panamint's Bad Man (1938) for another studio, but that was the end of her film career.
In the 40s, Daw performed with the Palmerton Players at the Whalom Theater in Massachusetts, and sang with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Schubert Brothers in New York City. Beginning in 1941, she toured with the J. J. Shubert Opera Co. for 11 years. After she moved to San Diego, she performed with the Old Globe Theatre there.
After Daw's performing career ended, she became a teacher of piano and voice in Covina, California.

 

- "Evelyn had auburn hair and a lyric soprano voice." https://obscureactresses.wordpress.com/2025/04/29/evelyn-daw/


 

1671) June Brewster

June Brewster (born Kathleen Anderson; 1913 – 1995). American film actress of the 1930s.
Her first fil was The Sport Parade (1932) and the last Thanks for the Memory (1938).
In 1936 she married leading Las Vegas casino owner Guy McAfee and since they were unable to concieve, June and Guy adopted a baby girl, Kathleen, in 1943.

 

- "Socially this attractive redhead is one of the most popular girls In the film colony." https://obscureactresses.wordpress.com/2015/04/23/june-brewster/


 

Tuesday, 22 July 2025

1670) Myrla Bratton

Myrla Bratton (1910 - 1987). American film actress.
She made her debut in the musical Roman Scandals (1933), and after two more films were she played the chorus girl, Myrla tried her luck in the low-budget western arena.
However, since westerns didn’t pay, she decided to return to dancing, with such films as Redheads on Parade (1935) and Collegiate (1935). Myrla’s last film was Anything Goes (1936), an adaptation of a Cole Porter musical with Bing Crosby and Ethel Merman.
After that, in the 40s she made appearances in the then nascent television industry and then worked as a secretary in San Francisco. 

 

- "As she was auburn haired, she found her way to the already legendary Redheads on Parade." https://obscureactresses.wordpress.com/2018/07/11/myrla-bratton/ 


 

Monday, 30 June 2025

1669) Fernando d'Ávalos

Fernando Francesco d'Ávalos d'Aquino, 5th Marquess of Pescara (also known as Ferrante, 1489 – 1525). Italian (Neapolitan) military leader and nobleman of Spanish (Aragonese) origin. He was an important captain in the service of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire during the Italian Wars.
In the Battle of Ravenna in 1512, he was taken prisoner by the French but was released at the conclusion of the War of the League of Cambrai, after which he became a chief commander of the Habsburg armies of Charles V in Italy during the Habsburg-Valois Wars. He was instrumental to the victories over the French at Bicocca and Pavia thanks to his ordered usage of arquebusiers.
At the age of six the boy was betrothed to Vittoria Colonna, daughter of the general Fabrizio Colonna, and the marriage was celebrated in 1509 on the island of Ischia.
After the death of Fernando in Milan from the wounds that he had sustained at the Battle of Pavia, Colonna dedicated herself to writing poetry and became one of the most popular poets of 16th-century Italy. 

Portrait by unknown artist

 

Sunday, 29 June 2025

1668) Arnulf of Orléans

Arnulf of Orléans, also known as Arnulfus Rufus (French: Arnoul le Roux). Grammarian and poet of Latin, active as a teacher in Orléans in the late twelfth century in the monastery of Saint-Euverte.
In Arnulf's time, Orléans was a centre of classical learning in France. He taught the classics in the ancient grammatical style, as opposed to the new "logical" style. In his commentaries on Ovid (Metamorphoses, Fasti, Ars amatoria) and Lucan, which circulated widely, he is sharply critical of his predecessors. Arnulf is the likely author of the elegiac comedy Lidia and possibly also of Miles gloriosus.
He had a famous rivalry with Matthew of Vendôme. Arnulf and Matthew's dispute seems to have involved insulting each other's poetry. Arnulf was not reticent to insult rivals, labelling one commentary as designed for "those who have been fooled by Fulco". Likewise, he vaunted his own skills by facetiously deriving his name from the expression ardua nulla fugiens (flying from no difficulty). Matthew came out the worst and relocated to Vendôme in 1175. He was, however, successful in damaging Arnulf's reputation with his writings.

- " In his [Matthew of Vendôme's] Ars poetica, the name Rufinus and the Latin word rufus (redhead) are used throughout to insult Arnulf... He says that Arnulf proves the proverb right: redheads are cheats who cannot be trusted." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnulf_of_Orl%C3%A9ans_(12th_century)

Friday, 27 June 2025

1667) Stéphane Audran

Stéphane Audran (born Colette Suzanne Jeannine Dacheville; 1932 – 2018). French film actress.
She was known for her performances in the films of her husband Claude Chabrol, including Les Biches (1968) and Le Boucher (1970), Luis Buñuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), and Gabriel Axel's Babette's Feast (1987). The role she was mostly associated with was that of the haughty bourgeois woman.

- "Avec ses yeux bleus perçants, ses cheveux roux toujours parfaitement coiffés et un rouge à lèvre omniprésent... [With her piercing blue eyes, her red hair always perfectly styled and an ever-present red lipstick...]" https://www.komitid.fr/2018/03/28/stephane-audran-mort-chabrol-biches/

 


Thursday, 22 May 2025

1666) Arturo Dejana

Arturo Dejana (1938 - 2022). Italian jockey.
He was born in Sardinia and participated in two editions of the Palio di Siena.
The first time was in 1966, running for the Istrice contrada on a horse called Bolero. Unfortunately, on that occasion Dejana unsaddled his rival Bruno Deriu (who was running for the Lupa contrada), and then grabbed the reins of the "shaken" horse Danubio, that was galloping towards triumph. Deiana won the Palio, but the victory was taken away from him and his bad behavior cost him a disqualification for eight editions.
He participated again in the Palio di Siena in 1972, running for the Selva contrada on the horse Pitagora.

 

- "Arturo Dejana detto Pel di Carota, soprannome dovuto ai suoi capelli rossi... [Arturo Dejana, nicknamed Carrot Top for his red hair...]" https://www.brontolodicelasua.it/ciao-pel-di-carota-buon-viaggio

 

- "Gli fu dato il soprannome Pel di Carota per i capelli rossi. [He was given the nickname Carrot Top for his red hair]" https://www.lavocedelpalio.it/2022/12/Ci-ha-lasciato-Arturo-Dejana-detto-Pel-di-Carota


 

Wednesday, 21 May 2025

1665) Giovanni Bagassi

Giovanni Bagassi (1974 - 2024). Italian actor in films and commercials.
He worked mainly during the 80s, in such films as È arrivato mio fratello with Renato Pozzetto, Acapulco prima spiaggia a sinistra with Gigi Sammarchi and Andrea Roncato and in the 1983 film Don Camillo with Terence Hill.
He also worked in commercials for Benetton and Kodak.

 

- "... ex attore bambino dai capelli rossi e ricci e gli occhi azzurri..." [... former child actor with curly red hair and blue eyes...] https://www.today.it/tv/news/morto-giovanni-bagassi-attore-bambino-capelli-rossi-malattia.html 


 

Tuesday, 20 May 2025

1664) Dorothy Hart

Dorothy Hart (1922 – 2004). American actress, mostly in supporting roles.
In 1946, Hart signed a contract with Columbia Pictures.[ Her first big movie break came, starring alongside Randolph Scott and Barbara Britton in the western Gunfighters (1947).
Hart made Larceny (1948), with Shelley Winters and The Countess of Monte Cristo (also 1948) with Sonja Henie, both for Universal Pictures. She co-starred in The Naked City, starring Barry Fitzgerald (1948) and played the bad girl who double crosses her fiancé in William Castle's Undertow (1949).
She became the tenth actress to portray Jane when she appeared opposite Lex Barker as Tarzan in Tarzan's Savage Fury (1952). Hart also co-starred in Outside the Wall (1950) and I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951), playing a Communist schoolteacher who eventually repudiates the party.
In 1952, Hart left acting to work with the American Association for the United Nations in New York. The organization's first female entertainer, she spoke at the United Nations and was an observer at the 1957-1958 meeting of the World Federation of United Nations in Geneva.

 

- "A beautiful Cleveland native with green eyes and auburn hair..." https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-16-me-hart16-story.html


 

Wednesday, 23 April 2025

1663) Rodolphe Salis

Louis Rodolphe Salis (1851 – 1897). Creator, host and owner of the Le Chat Noir ('The Black Cat') cabaret in the Montmartre district of Paris. With this establishment, Salis is remembered as the creator of the modern cabaret: a nightclub where the patrons could sit at tables with alcoholic drinks and enjoy variety acts on a stage, introduced by a master of ceremonies who interacted with the audience.

 

- "Homme carré d'épaules, roux de poil et de teint vermillonné... sa chevelure fauve s'accordait avec sa barbe cuivrée et lui donnait l'air d'un reître flamand." [With square shoulders, red hair and... (ruddy? I'm not sure about that)... his red hair went with his coppery beard and gave him the air of a Flemish trooper.] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodolphe_Salis 

 

- “Rodolphe Salis was a tall, red-headed bohemian with a coppery beard and boundless charisma." https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/search?page=85&q=redhead

 

- "It's not a coincidence that Rodolphe had red hair. His brother purposefully named his establishment the Red Donkey to poke fun of his brother." https://www.ruemarcellin.com/products/l-ane-rouge-cabaret-literaire


 

Wednesday, 16 April 2025

1662) Patricia Laffan

Patricia Alice Laffan (1919 – 2014). English stage, film, television and radio actress and also, after her retirement from acting, an international fashion impresario.
She was the daughter of Irish-born Arthur Charles Laffan and London-born Elvira Alice Vitali.
Laffan is best known for her film roles as the Empress Poppaea in Quo Vadis (1951) and the alien Nyah in Devil Girl from Mars (1954).
She had a sizeable supporting role as Miss Alice MacDonald in 20th Century Fox's CinemaScope mystery thriller 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956). By the 1960s she appeared mainly on radio and television, including performances in Anna Karenina, The Aspern Papers, and Rembrandt, and panel game shows such as Petticoat Line and Call My Bluff. In the late 1960s and 1970s she produced and choreographed fashion shows around the world.

 

- "She was five feet, six inches tall, with dark reddish-brown hair and green eyes." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Laffan


 

Tuesday, 8 April 2025

1661) Jack Warden

Jack Warden (born John Warden Lebzelter Jr, 1920 – 2006). American actor who worked in film and television. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Shampoo (1975) and Heaven Can Wait (1978). He received a BAFTA nomination for Shampoo, and won a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance in Brian's Song (1971).
Warden's breakthrough film role was Juror No. 7, a salesman who wants a quick decision in a murder case, in 12 Angry Men. He also had notable roles in Bye Bye Braverman, The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, All the President's Men, The White Buffalo, ...And Justice for All, Being There, Used Cars (in which he played dual roles), Death on the Nile, The Verdict, Problem Child and its sequel, as well as While You Were Sleeping, Guilty as Sin and the Norm Macdonald comedy Dirty Work. His final film was The Replacements in 2000, opposite Gene Hackman and Keanu Reeves. 

 

- "The redhead was born September 18, 1920, in Newark, New Jersey, though he spent his childhood in Kentucky." https://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2007-Pu-Z/Warden-Jack.html


 

Wednesday, 2 April 2025

1660) Margit Vnouček

Margit Vnouček (? - 1995). Wife of Hungarian actor and comedian Géza Hofi (born Géza Hoffmann, 1936 - 2002).
Hoffman met Vnouček at a ballet school while he was serving as a clerk in the army. Their families were initially against the relationship, but eventually changed their minds and they married in 1959. Vnouček supported her husband in everything, and when she died in 1995, it was a great blow for him.


. "Hofi a katonaság idején már erősen udvarolt Gittinek, aki csodaszép, tejfehér bőrű, vörös hajú lány volt." [During his military service, Hofi had already been courting Gitti, who was a beautiful girl with milky white skin and red hair.] https://24.hu/szorakozas/2013/04/07/igy-gyaszolta-imadott-feleseget-hofi-geza/

- "Hofi a házasságkötés után közel negyven évig kitartott a vörös hajú nő mellett, akit „vörös dög”-nek becézett." [Hofi stuck by the red-haired woman, whom he nicknamed "red bitch," for nearly forty years after their marriage.] https://valodihirek.hu/2023/11/14/hofi-geza-szerelme-sokaig-tarto-nagy-szerelem-hofi-geza-legendas-humorista

Margit Vnouček and Géza Hofi on their wedding day

 

1659) Silvio Furlani

Silvio Furlani (1921 - 2001). Italian librarian and historian.
Born of an Italian father and an Austrian mother, he attended primary school in Graz and continued his studies in Italy, first in Vicenza and then in Teramo. In 1946 he graduated with honours in Letters and Philosophy at 'La Sapienza' University.
In 1947, he won the competition for titles and examinations announced by the Constituent Assembly, for a post as secretary of the Library of the Chamber of Deputies, and contributed to the reorganisation of the institute during Umberto Collamarini's provisional directorship, until Furlani himself became director.
In the course of his career, in addition to studying librarianship, he worked on parliamentary history and electoral history.

 

- "Nel libro di Gianni Sofri, L'anno mancante. Arsenio Frugoni nel 1944-45, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2021, Silvio Furlani è identificato nel “normalista dai capelli rossi”..." [In the book by Gianni Sofri L'anno mancante, Arsenio Frugoni nel 1944-1945... Silvio furlani is identified he 'red-haired normalista'..." https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvio_Furlani

 
"Normalista' is anyone who studies or graduated at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. This nickname was given to Furlani by mistake, since he did study in Pisa, but at the university's Faculty of Letters, not at the Scuola Normale.