# Russell Brand's Ethnicity **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** actor-characters\ **Created:** [December 5, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978 "2010-12-05T00:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/61 "2014-10-13T16:02:32Z")
Fine with me. Wasn’t sure you were aware of the 1981 BBC version. I prefer it to the 2000s movie version. The animations and other snippets are what really made it work for me. I always thought Trillian and Zaphod were a bit weak in both versions. I do think they nailed Ford and DentArthur Dent (a real knee biter) in the earlier one. Signed - Your Robot Friend that’s Fun to Play With! ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/62 "2014-10-14T09:28:38Z")
> [@Belowjob2.0](#): > > Along with **Why Not** , I don’t find any evidence of anything other than Welsh and Irish ancestry. More than a few Welsh have a Mediterranean look. Ooops, my bad. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/63 "2014-10-14T12:51:17Z")
> [@Belowjob2.0](#): > > Along with **Why Not** , I don’t find any evidence of anything other than Welsh and Irish ancestry. More than a few Welsh have a Mediterranean look. Yes, dark hair is very common amongst the Celts. My mum used to tell me it was because of all the shipwrecked Spanish Armada sailors getting washed up on the shores of Wales, but she may have been joking. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/64 "2014-10-14T13:11:57Z")
The “shipwrecked Spanish sailor” was also an excuse for the Black Irish. Truth is, there have been dark-haired folk in both those islands for millenia, now. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/65 "2014-10-16T21:51:45Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Even accounting for the lousy prosthetic, Wing-Davey didn’t do it for me. Close, but not quite…big…enough. Zaphod has to fill a room with personality and stature. The kind of guy that leaves you just sort of pinned in your chair for a minute after he leaves, feeling a dazed, “whut?” feeling. Brand nails it, just by being himself (or the “himself” that is his public persona.) I have to agree. He’d really be able to convince you that he actually did believe he was the centre of the universe. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/66 "2014-10-17T03:15:38Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I think Brand’s problem is that he’s trying to impersonate all four Young Ones simultaneously. As others have said, this comment is an absolute cracker. Applause. ---
**Author:** ![Bargo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Bargo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bargo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/67 "2014-12-14T12:42:01Z")
I just Googled for ‘Russell Brand ethnicity’ and came to this webpage. The reason I was wondering about his ethnicity is because I just saw this picture of him as a child: [http://www.sick-celebrities.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/russell-brand-as-a-young-and-chubby-man.jpg](http://www.sick-celebrities.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/russell-brand-as-a-young-and-chubby-man.jpg) Reading through the posts here, most people have disagreed with the OP. I, too, never saw Brand as anything other than White English, until I saw pictures of him as a kid. The OP is right. Looking at more pictures of a young Russell Brand makes it obvious: > **[17 Surprising Pictures Of A Young Russell Brand](https://www.buzzfeed.com/kimberleydadds/surprising-pictures-of-a-young-russell-brand)** > > He's not always had such big hair. But it has always been quirky. He clearly has some heritage other than natively English. It could be Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern, Indian. I’m not sure but am intrigued to know. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/68 "2014-12-14T14:39:30Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > As others have said, this comment is an absolute cracker. Applause. What does “Young Ones” refer to? ---
**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:** [December 14, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/69 "2014-12-14T15:59:20Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > What does “Young Ones” refer to? A [1961 Cliff Richard film](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Young_Ones_%28TV_series%29)… ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/70 "2014-12-14T16:33:31Z")
Cecil on Spanish sailors supposedly being stranded in Ireland: [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/102/do-some-irish-names-come-from-spanish-armada-survivors](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/102/do-some-irish-names-come-from-spanish-armada-survivors) Cecil mentions Éamon de Valera. Some people now doubt the story that his father was a Spanish or Cuban sculptor who married his Irish mother while she was working in New York and who died a few years later. They think that his mother probably made this sculptor up to hide the fact that she got pregnant outside of marriage: > **[Éamon de Valera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89amon_de_Valera)** > > Éamon de Valera\[a\]\[b\] (/ˈeɪmən ˌdɛvəˈlɛərə, -ˈlɪər-/, Irish: \[ˈeːmˠən̪ˠ dʲɛ ˈwalʲəɾʲə\]; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of government and head of state and had a leading role in introducing the 1937 Constitution of Ireland. > Prior to de Valera's political career, he was a commandant of Irish Volunteers at Boland's Mill ... > **[Catherine Coll](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Coll)** > > Catherine (Kate) Wheelwright (née Coll; 21 December 1856 – 12 June 1932) was the mother of Irish statesman and politician Éamon de Valera, who served as President of Ireland and Taoiseach. She was a nurse by profession. > Catherine Coll was born in Bruree, County Limerick. She emigrated on the SS Nevada to New York City, New York, in 1879. She first took a job with a wealthy French family that was living in Manhattan. This is where she allegedly met Juan Vivion de Valera (born 1854), a Spanish ... ---
**Author:** ![Cara\_mel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Cara\_mel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cara_mel)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/71 "2014-12-14T16:55:17Z")
Happened to run across this where Russell Brand himself mentions an Italian ancestor. It’s at 3:56 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KHr9h1QOwFs/maxresdefault.jpg "Are Business Leaders Psychopaths? Russell Brand The Trews Comments (E199)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHr9h1QOwFs) ---
**Author:** ![Bargo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Bargo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bargo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/72 "2014-12-14T19:38:04Z")
[quote=“Cara\_mel, post:71, topic:562978”] Happened to run across this where Russell Brand himself mentions an Italian ancestor. It’s at 3:56 [/QUOTE] That makes sense. He looked like a stereotypical fat-faced mafia child eating a bowl full of spaghetti. ---
**Author:** ![Cara\_mel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Cara\_mel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cara_mel)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/73 "2014-12-14T23:08:21Z")
> [@Bargo](#): > > That makes sense. He looked like a stereotypical fat-faced mafia child eating a bowl full of spaghetti. I’d appreciate if you didn’t hang that rubbish off my comment. ---
**Author:** ![Bargo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Bargo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bargo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/74 "2014-12-15T08:50:32Z")
> [@Cara\_mel](#): > > I’d appreciate if you didn’t hang that rubbish off my comment. I’d appreciate if you were a bit more intelligent. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/75 "2014-12-15T09:08:29Z")
NM ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/76 "2014-12-15T09:14:43Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > A [1961 Cliff Richard film](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Young_Ones_%28TV_series%29)… I doubt it. Surely the[early 80s sitcom](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083505/) about a hippy, an anarchist and a punk sharing a flat. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2014, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/77 "2014-12-15T09:18:08Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > I doubt it. Surely the[early 80s sitcom](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083505/) about a hippy, an anarchist and a punk sharing a flat. Humour, it is a difficult concept. Or in other words, did you mouse-over my link? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/78 "2014-12-15T11:19:26Z")
[quote=“Cara\_mel, post:71, topic:562978”] Happened to run across this where Russell Brand himself mentions an Italian ancestor. It’s at 3:56 [/QUOTE] Great great grandfather, is that what he said? That’s going to be pretty diluted in his generation - 6.25% shared DNA if I’m reading the correct information. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/79 "2014-12-15T12:36:27Z")
> [@Bargo](#): > > I’d appreciate if you were a bit more intelligent. Welcome to the SDMB, **Bargo**. We don’t allow people to insult each other here, so please refrain from doing so. Thanks, and again, welcome. **twickster** , Cafe Society moderator ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/80 "2014-12-15T12:41:01Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > I doubt it. Surely the[early 80s sitcom](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083505/) about a hippy, an anarchist and a punk sharing a flat. Whooosshhh… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978.md?page=5)