# Are redheads disproportionally represented in popular culture? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-redheads-disproportionally-represented-in-popular-culture/778408 "2017-01-28T17:00:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-redheads-disproportionally-represented-in-popular-culture/778408/21 "2017-02-20T09:14:58Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > It’s part-and-parcel of the fact that European-origin folks are over-represented in movies & TV out of proportion to their world demographics anyway (err, that’s considering global cinema rather than Bollywood, Nollywood, etc). So that needs to be factored in - what percentage of US _whites_ are carrot-topped? If it’s closer to 8% there, coupled with the prevelance of dyejobs, it’s no longer so mysterious. Red hair stands out, so it’s an obvious choice for professional [del]narcissists[/del] actresses. > > Then, there’s also a consideration that this is just _current_ fashion, and wasn’t the case in past eras - how many 50s stars were redheads? Or the 70s? 90s? Well strictly speaking there are only two hair colours, red and black.😉 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-redheads-disproportionally-represented-in-popular-culture/778408/22 "2017-02-20T10:22:40Z")
Grey’s a colour… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-redheads-disproportionally-represented-in-popular-culture/778408/23 "2017-02-20T13:08:55Z")
That’s just a very light shade of black. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-redheads-disproportionally-represented-in-popular-culture/778408/24 "2017-02-20T17:00:36Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Huh. Her IMDB page says she’s a natural redhead. [This page differs.](http://www.lovelyish.com/2011/06/21/7-ginger-celebrities-who-arent-natural-redheads/) > [@](#): > > Prepon is a brunette. She was asked to dye her hair red by the producers of “That 70s Show.” When she dyed her hair blonde for another role, the producers liked it and told her to keep it. So does this earlier [Buzzfeed](https://www.buzzfeed.com/erinlarosa/is-this-famous-redhead-a-natural-or-faking-it?utm_term=.ew9area5E#.ak768x6Bl)page. And this [Orange Is the New Black fan page](http://orange-is-the-new-black.wikia.com/wiki/Laura_Prepon). Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-redheads-disproportionally-represented-in-popular-culture/778408/25 "2017-02-20T18:31:58Z")
Don’t forget Alfred E. Neuman. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-redheads-disproportionally-represented-in-popular-culture/778408/26 "2017-02-20T19:01:17Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Don’t forget Alfred E. Neuman. 😃 I read somewhere that redheads were popular in comic books of the past because the color reproduced well with the inks that were available to comic book printing presses. Now that so many of those properties are being made into movies and TV shows, maybe that explains some of the popularity. Not that I’m complaining. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-redheads-disproportionally-represented-in-popular-culture/778408/27 "2017-02-20T20:23:29Z")
Such considerations also often led to blue hair (often seen on Superman, for instance). ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-redheads-disproportionally-represented-in-popular-culture/778408/28 "2017-02-20T20:40:59Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Who was a natural brunette before _That 70s Show_ and then dyed her hair blonde for a role. She kept it that way, apparently because she got more parts offered to her. Now she’s famous for her dark hair on _Orange Is the New Black_. I guess for her _Black Is the New Orange_. DISCLAIMER: This observation is so obvious that it’s probably already been made numerous times. Sorry I didn’t finish the thread or scan the interwebz for it. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-redheads-disproportionally-represented-in-popular-culture/778408/29 "2017-02-21T00:44:57Z")
Whole lot of redheads in cartoons…Ariel, Lucy (in Despicable Me 2), Anastasia, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-redheads-disproportionally-represented-in-popular-culture/778408/30 "2017-02-21T04:04:14Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > [This page differs.](http://www.lovelyish.com/2011/06/21/7-ginger-celebrities-who-arent-natural-redheads/) > So does this earlier [Buzzfeed](https://www.buzzfeed.com/erinlarosa/is-this-famous-redhead-a-natural-or-faking-it?utm_term=.ew9area5E#.ak768x6Bl)page. > > And this [Orange Is the New Black fan page](http://orange-is-the-new-black.wikia.com/wiki/Laura_Prepon). > > Sorry. That fan page rips a bunch of the “trivia” from IMDB, verbatim, but contradicts it where it says: “Is a natural redhead despite common misconception. Prepon stated in an interview that she dyed her hair black, for the role of “Alex Vause” in Orange Is the New Black (2013), to give her character the ‘rockabilly look’, but she is, in fact, naturally redheaded.” (I’ll grant that this statement doesn’t cite the interview.) Under “Personal Quotes” it says: “I love being a redhead. It’s a rare thing, so I think there’s a bond between redheads.” ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-redheads-disproportionally-represented-in-popular-culture/778408/31 "2017-02-21T05:40:44Z")
From the _Book of Lists:_ Renowned Redheads: Lucille Ball Sarah Bernhardt Lizzie Borden (“took an ax, gave her mother forty whacks…”) Sir Winston Churchill Oliver Cromwell General George Armstrong Custer Emily Dickinson (poet) Queen Elizabeth I of England Arthur Godfrey\* Harold “Red” Grange King Henry VIII Katharine Hepburn Thomas Jefferson Rod Laver Sinclair Lewis Napoleon Bonaparte Nero Ignace Jan Paderewski Salome Margaret Sanger William Shakespeare George Bernard Shaw Beverly Sills Svetlana Stalina Titian Mark Twain Martin Van Buren George Washington William the Conqueror \*When I was a kid I thought this was the name of Tony the Tiger’s son. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-redheads-disproportionally-represented-in-popular-culture/778408.md?page=1)