Celebrities you have sworn were British but are not
Today I learned that Terence Trent D’Arby is American. Also, that he has gone by the name Sananda Francesco Maitreya for the past 20 years.
I don’t know why I thought that he wasn’t American. Probably because he gives off “actually, I’m mixed race” vibes like Tiger Woods, Rashida Jones and Zoe Kravitz but both his parents are black folk.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | November 19, 2023 1:07 AM
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Madonna — I hear she’s really an American?
by Anonymous | reply 1 | November 18, 2023 8:46 AM
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[quote] Trent D’Arby
As a Brit, this doesn't sound British at all. Trent sounds American. D'Arby is not a British spelling at all - it would be exotic to see that here. Terence, okay, I can maybe buy but it isn't common here at all.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | November 18, 2023 8:49 AM
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R3 Ha. Almost no Brit would name their kid 'London'. It's like an American naming their kid 'New York' or 'Chicago'.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | November 18, 2023 8:54 AM
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Vincent Price (of St. Louis)
by Anonymous | reply 6 | November 18, 2023 9:28 AM
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[quote]As a Brit, this doesn't sound British at all. Trent sounds American.
If you say so.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 7 | November 18, 2023 9:36 AM
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R7 Still isn't British, it's very much an Americanism. You do know of that 'the exception proves the rule'?
by Anonymous | reply 8 | November 18, 2023 9:39 AM
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The name Darby comes from his step-father. Terence added the apostrophe as, I guess, a rhetorical flourish.
I didn’t think he was British because of his name. I thought he was British because of his overall vibe. And the affair with Paula Yates.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | November 18, 2023 9:41 AM
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English surnames like Taylor, Brent, Trent, Madison, Chase, Kennedy, Ashton, Baron, Mitchell, Blake, Rhett, Jackson, Kendrick, Logan, Marshall, Cameron, Bailey, Cassidy, Devon, Harper, MacKenzie, etc. being used for first names seem to be an American speciality.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | November 18, 2023 9:49 AM
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okay, there are a few Scottish surnames there but you get the idea. It's definitely a different culture.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | November 18, 2023 9:53 AM
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R6 I remember being dumbfounded when I found out he was American.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | November 18, 2023 10:14 AM
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R12,
Scotland here. My mother in law got a taxi in Glasgow a few years ago. The driver excitedly told her that he had a new baby daughter, named MacKenzie,
“That’s unusual”’ she said diplomatically.
“Thanks” he replied.
“It’s American”.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | November 18, 2023 11:16 AM
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R14 Love it. I've thought of some more - Rooney (Rooney Mara), Harrison (Dexter's kid.. Dexter too), Sawyer, Hunter (Hunter Biden), Flynn, Hayden (Hayden Christensen), Mason, Avery, Clark (Clark Gable), Colton, Preston, Riley (Riley Keough), Evan (Evan Rachel Wood).
by Anonymous | reply 15 | November 18, 2023 12:50 PM
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Surnames as first names is popular in America.
As is naming girls after male relatives. Barack Obama’s mother’s name is Stanley. And Jessica Simpson named her daughter Maxwell after a grandfather.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | November 18, 2023 1:22 PM
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[QUOTE]As is naming girls after male relatives. Barack Obama’s mother’s name is Stanley. And Jessica Simpson named her daughter Maxwell after a grandfather.
I have noticed this, especially with Welsh names. In Wales Meredith is a boy's name, for example. So is Dylan and yet there's Dylan Penn.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | November 18, 2023 1:25 PM
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Ruby Wax; Debbie Harry; Mel Gibson
by Anonymous | reply 18 | November 18, 2023 1:38 PM
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Glenda the Good Witch of the North
by Anonymous | reply 19 | November 18, 2023 1:40 PM
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[quote]Ruby Wax
This is strange to me because she doesn't look or vibe British at all. She has an American accent as well.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | November 18, 2023 1:45 PM
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Ruby Wax is American, but has lived in the UK since the 1970s. She has dual UK/US citizenship.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | November 18, 2023 2:18 PM
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Renée Zellweger, born in… TEXAS!
She’s a bit of an odd one, with her father from Switzerland and her mother from Norway. But she is 100% not British, and I was very surprised to learn that.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | November 18, 2023 8:59 PM
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When I was a kid, I thought GOOP was British.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | November 18, 2023 9:07 PM
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Katrina Leskanich of Katrina and the Waves was born in Topeka Kansas. Not sure why the video for their one big hit "Walkin' on Sunshine" was filmed in London.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 27 | November 18, 2023 9:22 PM
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Paul Benedict off of The Jeffersons. He convincingly played British on the show, but he was from Silver City, New Mexico in reality.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | November 19, 2023 12:30 AM
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I didn't know until this very moment that TTD is American. I perceived he emanated from London and could have sworn he had a British accent.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | November 19, 2023 12:45 AM
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John Hillerman, Higgins from Magnum P.I., shocked many when he died and the world found out her was a native Texan.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | November 19, 2023 1:07 AM
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