# Celebrities physical deformties - Are these all real? Some seem over the top **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2010, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013 "2010-07-17T08:40:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/41 "2010-07-17T23:55:16Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > I can’t speak for the OP, but I doubt that “over the top” in this context means, “The fact that such hideous freaks exist makes me question my belief in a benevolent God.” More probably, it’s something like “I’m surprised that somebody with extra thumbs has not only succeeded in a profession that puts a premium on physical perfection, but is apparently in tremendous demand as a romantic lead.” Eh, I’ve seen a bunch of movies with that guy and it really isn’t noticeable. He’s best known for taking his shirt off at every opportunity and [dancing well.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0csHRPj9Q4&feature=related) They don’t focus on his thumb, but on his face and biceps. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/42 "2010-07-18T00:49:15Z")
Tony Iommi, guitarist from Black Sabbath, cut off part of his right middle and ring fingers while working in a factory as a teenager. He wears prosthetic tips when playing the guitar (he made them himself originally; today they’re custom-built). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/43 "2010-07-18T00:50:41Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [I wikied up Beadle out of curiosity.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Beadle) His life seems like nothing but one big list of accomplishments entertaining people. Why did the wiki say this re him being “hated”. From what I can tell, being something of an anglophile myself, he was generally dismissed as a bit of a nob-head, which grew via comedians and radio DJs poking fun at him, until he was just a common target for active dislike. Much like Noel Edmonds. He also hosted a [practical joke show](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnpo2jzhf5A), which is generally considered low rent comedy and, in my opinion, kind of cruel, which just adds fuel to the fire. I first saw him in a show called _Eureka!_, which was an entertaining show about inventions through history (which had Wilf Lunn in it too, I seem to recall). ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/44 "2010-07-18T01:20:01Z")
Stacy Keach was born with a cleft lip and partial cleft palate; he usually wears a mustache to cover the scars from the surgical repair. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/45 "2010-07-18T02:30:17Z")
Jennifer Garner took ballet for nine years - doesn’t that have a tendency to deform your feet in pointe shoes? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/46 "2010-07-18T02:39:49Z")
Don’t forget [Marty](http://www.uglymales.com/wc/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/marty-feldman1.jpg) [Feldman](http://patdollard.com/wp-content/uploads/marty_feldman_ameri_186080m.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/47 "2010-07-18T02:51:01Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Don’t forget [Marty](http://www.uglymales.com/wc/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/marty-feldman1.jpg) [Feldman](http://patdollard.com/wp-content/uploads/marty_feldman_ameri_186080m.jpg). Gad, he was so funny but he freaks me out in some pictures. :eek: ---
**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:** [July 18, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/48 "2010-07-18T03:23:58Z")
Groucho and Harpo (Julius and Adolph) were Siamese twins. During the operation that separated them, Groucho got both voice boxes and Harpo wound up with none. OK, that isn’t true. But it should be. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/49 "2010-07-18T03:49:55Z")
[Billy Zane](http://members.iinet.net.au/~broadstock/ipc/images/billy_zane2.jpg) has the fairly common defect of a “sunken chest” or [pectus excavatum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectus_excavatum). Looks like Billy’s got a fairly mild case, similar to my own. Looks like [Tori Spelling](http://www.fugandbusted.com/img/2008/09/tori_spelling_pectus_excavatum.jpg) has it too. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/50 "2010-07-18T03:57:59Z")
[Grace Park](http://www.imbusyliving.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/battlestar-galactica-the-plan-20091013034927860.jpg) also seems to have the _pectus excavatum_ thing going on. Also [William Shatner](http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/26369351/William+Shatner+captain_kirk_fit.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/51 "2010-07-18T04:13:41Z")
I know Padma Laksmi’s scars are real, I’ve seen it mentioned before and you can see the scar sometimes on Top Chef. What I am curious about is why they call her the “former” host of Top Chef, last I saw she was still hosting the current season, she’s just preggers. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/52 "2010-07-18T04:42:47Z")
For you fans of westerns, Lee Van Cleef was missing part of a finger on his right hand. You can clearly see it during the famous 3 way draw at the end of **The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly**. Joaquin Phoenix’s scar is confusing to me. When he was younger, it was hardly noticeable. If you watch him in **Parenthood** , you cannot see it (at least I can’t) But the older he gets the more noticeable it is. \*\*Gladiator \*\*showed it clearly. Is the cause of his scar actually known, or is it something that’s been guessed at? ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/53 "2010-07-18T05:26:13Z")
It’s not really a deformity, but Donny Osmond has a condition called Situs inversus which means his internal organs are on the opposite side of the body from where they’re normally found, i.e. the heart is on the right side, etc. I’ve long been fascinated by this bit of trivia. The actress Catherine O’Hara has the condition too. It must be pretty rare, though. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/54 "2010-07-18T06:55:35Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > For something like Denzel’s pinky, why not get it fixed? I’d think that having a finger jutting out at a funny angle makes it more likely you’ll injure that finger. … A friend and coworker at my last job got into a car accident which broke her ring finger. She had been gripping the crossbar of the steering wheel. As it healed the finger remained bent-at a natural angle, not sticking out or anything-and she could no longer move it. It took a hand specialist and four different surgeries just to straighten her finger out. She still can’t move it but it isn’t bent anymore. Her surgeon said she should have just stuck her arm through the steering wheel and broken it instead as it would have been a lot easier to fix. (He actually suggested amputating the finger the first time she met with him.) Broken digits are not very easy to repair it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/55 "2010-07-18T07:05:48Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Harold Lloyd lost his right thumb and forefinger when a prop bomb exploded in his hand. He still did all his own stunts in **Safety Last** a few years later. [Heckuva story.](http://www.haroldlloyd.us/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=33) He was doing a publicity still and the “prop” turned out to be live! The link talks about a rather neat prosthetic glove he had made. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/56 "2010-07-18T07:21:56Z")
IDK, but I wouldn’t be surprised. I’ve heard of some of them, such as Marky Mark’s third nipple (and Lady Jamie Lee Curtis’ supposed hermaphroditism, not listed there). Stars are so covered up in photoshop and CGI and makeup and etc, but at the same so hounded by paparazzi, that surely the truth will come out eventually… ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/57 "2010-07-18T07:22:51Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > It’s not really a deformity, but Donny Osmond has a condition called Situs inversus which means his internal organs are on the opposite side of the body from where they’re normally found, i.e. the heart is on the right side, etc. You’re talking about the mirror universe version of Donny Osmond. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/58 "2010-07-18T11:07:30Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Marky Mark’s third nipple looks more like a mole to me. Yeah, they tend to look that way unless you’re looking very closely. It’s in the same vertical line as a nipple and probably would be seen to be somewhat raised if you were able to get up close to check it out. A nearly full nipple is, IIRC, pretty rare. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/59 "2010-07-18T12:30:52Z")
RE: lack of belly button. Being born by c-section won’t cause a lack of umbilicus- the cord is cut and the stump will fall off to leave a normal bellybutton just like at any other birth. There are 3 kinds of surgery I can think of off the top of my head that will leave an abnormal or absent umbilicus. [Repair of umbilical hernia](http://www.privatehealth.co.uk/private-operations/general-surgery/umbilical-hernia-repair/) [Repair of exomphalos](http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://bms.brown.edu/pedisurg/images/ImageBank/AbdWallDefects/postopomphal.jpg&imgrefurl=http://bms.brown.edu/pedisurg/Fetal/Omphalocele.html&usg=__FC4LgniBqDObppSrt7Ppp1D7rag=&h=337&w=391&sz=28&hl=en&start=55&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=BzusE4sf8B3RKM:&tbnh=106&tbnw=123&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dexomphalos%26start%3D40%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26ndsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1) [Repair of gastroschisis](http://bms.brown.edu/pedisurg/Fetal/FetalProgramGastroschisis.html) Repair of [pyloric stenosis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyloric_stenosis) will leave a scar at the umbilicus. I’m not sure if you could describe the model’s surgery as having “gone wrong”. It’s possibly not an entirely average umbilicus, but it isn’t horribly abnormal either, and might well have been the best that could have been done. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013/60 "2010-07-18T12:54:03Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Joaquin Phoenix’s scar is confusing to me. When he was younger, it was hardly noticeable. If you watch him in **Parenthood** , you cannot see it (at least I can’t) But the older he gets the more noticeable it is. \*\*Gladiator \*\*showed it clearly. Is the cause of his scar actually known, or is it something that’s been guessed at? As mentioned upthread, it’s a very mild form of cleft lip. It may be that in the past he was more careful to have it covered and now he’s not. Rather like Stacy Keach and “Cheech” Moran used to _never_ be seen without their moustaches but in recent years they’ve shaved their upper lips and you can see their cleft lip scars. Apparently, having a man having a scar on his upper lip is no longer the career killer it used to be. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-physical-deformties-are-these-all-real-some-seem-over-the-top/547013.md?page=4)