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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 Anonymousreply 31November 19, 2023 12:07 AM

Madonna — I hear she’s really an American?

by Anonymousreply 1November 18, 2023 7:46 AM

[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 Anonymousreply 2November 18, 2023 7:49 AM

London Lee.

by Anonymousreply 3November 18, 2023 7:52 AM

R3 Ha. Almost no Brit would name their kid 'London'. It's like an American naming their kid 'New York' or 'Chicago'.

by Anonymousreply 4November 18, 2023 7:54 AM

or "North"

by Anonymousreply 5November 18, 2023 7:56 AM

Vincent Price (of St. Louis)

by Anonymousreply 6November 18, 2023 8:28 AM

[quote]As a Brit, this doesn't sound British at all. Trent sounds American.

If you say so.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 7November 18, 2023 8:36 AM

R7 Still isn't British, it's very much an Americanism. You do know of that 'the exception proves the rule'?

by Anonymousreply 8November 18, 2023 8:39 AM

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 Anonymousreply 9November 18, 2023 8:41 AM

Jason London

by Anonymousreply 10November 18, 2023 8:42 AM

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 Anonymousreply 11November 18, 2023 8:49 AM

okay, there are a few Scottish surnames there but you get the idea. It's definitely a different culture.

by Anonymousreply 12November 18, 2023 8:53 AM

R6 I remember being dumbfounded when I found out he was American.

by Anonymousreply 13November 18, 2023 9:14 AM

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 Anonymousreply 14November 18, 2023 10:16 AM

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 Anonymousreply 15November 18, 2023 11:50 AM

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 Anonymousreply 16November 18, 2023 12:22 PM

[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 Anonymousreply 17November 18, 2023 12:25 PM

Ruby Wax; Debbie Harry; Mel Gibson

by Anonymousreply 18November 18, 2023 12:38 PM

Glenda the Good Witch of the North

by Anonymousreply 19November 18, 2023 12:40 PM

[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 Anonymousreply 20November 18, 2023 12:45 PM

Mrs Doubtfire

by Anonymousreply 21November 18, 2023 1:15 PM

Ruby Wax is American, but has lived in the UK since the 1970s. She has dual UK/US citizenship.

by Anonymousreply 22November 18, 2023 1:18 PM

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 Anonymousreply 23November 18, 2023 7:59 PM

When I was a kid, I thought GOOP was British.

by Anonymousreply 24November 18, 2023 8:07 PM

Me too, R23.

Same for Julianne Moore.

by Anonymousreply 25November 18, 2023 8:08 PM

Christopher Plummer

by Anonymousreply 26November 18, 2023 8:09 PM

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 Link
by Anonymousreply 27November 18, 2023 8:22 PM

Hillary Brooke

Milton Parsons

Laird Cregar

by Anonymousreply 28November 18, 2023 9:35 PM

Paul Benedict off of The Jeffersons. He convincingly played British on the show, but he was from Silver City, New Mexico in reality.

by Anonymousreply 29November 18, 2023 11:30 PM

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 Anonymousreply 30November 18, 2023 11:45 PM

John Hillerman, Higgins from Magnum P.I., shocked many when he died and the world found out her was a native Texan.

by Anonymousreply 31November 19, 2023 12:07 AM
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