List of polydactyl people
The following is a list of famous people who are, were, or are believed to have been polydactyl:
Contents |
Considered authentic
- Endre Ady, was born with six fingers, with an extra little finger, which was tied off with a thread, withered away and only a dot-like scar remained of it, and this feature contributed to his belief of being a kind of shaman, a chosen (or accursed) one, reflected a few times in his poetry as well
- Antonio Alfonseca, former pitcher in the Texas Rangers organization - has six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. His nickname is "El Pulpo" ("the octopus"). Alfonseca claims that several of his family members have the same trait. The extra finger provides no advantage in pitching as it never touches the baseball.[1]
- Anne Boleyn, 2nd wife of Henry VIII - said to have had eleven fingers, although she only had a double fingernail and a lump on her little finger [2]
- Eric Bristow The "Crafty Cockney" is a former darts world champion who has six toes on one foot, he claims it assists him in balance.
- Toyotomi Hideyoshi, 16th century Japanese ruler
- Dr Adefolarin Majekodunmi, British/ Nigerian scientist - was born with six fingers on each hand (removed shortly after birth)
- S'fiso Ncwane, South African Gospel singer, small extra finger on each hand [3]
- Pacal the Great, King of Palenque - said to have had six toes on his feet
- Hrithik Roshan, a Bollywood actor - has an additional thumb on his right hand
- Harry Relph, "Little Tich", Music hall comedian - five fingers and a thumb on each hand, six toes on both feet
- Sir Gary Sobers, cricketer - had an extra finger on each hand (removed during childhood)
- Giuseppe Tartini, Italian composer and violinist - had six fingers on his left hand
- "Hound Dog" Taylor, American blues musician - born with an extra finger on each hand. Taylor, while drunk, amputated the extra digit from his right hand with a razor blade. His left hand had the extra digit for the rest of his life, and allegedly contributed to his distinct electric guitar playing style. [4] [5]
- Albert Uderzo, comic artist
- Sid Wilson, an American DJ mostly known for his work in Slipknot- was born with six fingers on each hand (removed during childhood)
- Grant Wilson-Claridge, DJ with six fingers on each hand.
- Bam Margera's relative's extra digit is pointed out in one episode of Viva La Bam.
- Andy Hoyland, a Sheffield-based web designer & school teacher, struggled with the affliction of having an extra toe on his right foot. It was not until the age of 9 that he was finally able to walk unsupported. He is unique among polydactyl people because his extra toe can move independently from his others. He is also the only polydactyl person in known history to have climbed to the summit of K2.[citation needed]
- Daniella Cicarelli, Brazilian model and VJ, Ronaldo's ex-wife.[citation needed]
Fictional characters
- Hannibal Lecter, fictional psychopathic psychiatrist created by the author Thomas Harris, was noted as having "perfect polydactylery", in that he had a perfectly formed extra finger in the middle of his left hand, but that it was surgically removed to better disguise Lecter. This is not mentioned in the movie adaptation.
- The legendary Padeira of Aljubarrota a man-like woman who helped Portuguese soldiers in the Battle of Aljubarrota (1385)
- Count Rugen, the six-fingered man in the comic adventure novel The Princess Bride by William Goldman (1973), as well as the movie adaptation, directed by Rob Reiner in 1987. His polydactyly had a part in the plot of the story, because he had a special sword crafted to be balanced properly for a six-fingered man to wield.
- Wilbur Swain, the protagonist of Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slapstick, and his twin sister Eliza each have twelve fingers and toes.
- Edward Hunt, fictional hero from Giova Kooman's epic, Worcestor, from the Italian renaissance
- Warrick Tennyson, who built the bomb which killed Trudy Monk on the TV series Monk said he was hired by a man with six fingers on his right hand.
- The pianist in the feature film Gattaca had six fingers on both hands.
- Polydactyly was a common trait in the Darkover series of novels by Marion Zimmer Bradley - the presence of a fully functional sixth finger on each hand was nearly normal among members of certain families, and sometimes attributed to chieri (nonhuman) ancestry.
- Chen Dieyi, one of the two lead characters in the film (and novel) Farewell My Concubine, was born with six fingers on one hand. To allow the child to be accepted into the local Peking opera troupe, his mother amputates the child's sixth finger with a butcher knife.
- Bleh, cousin to Princess Clara on Comedy Central's Drawn Together, has six toes on her right foot.
- Sophie Wender, a character in The Chrysalids, has six toes on each foot. Consequently, she is regarded as "non-human" according to her culture's strict criteria and is forced to live in hiding.
- The Doc in Kouta Hirano's Hellsing manga has six fingers on each hand.
- The disabled girls in the X-Files episode "All Souls" are polydactyl with six fingers on each hand, all of them fully functional. In this case their polydactyly is presumably a result of being a nephilim.
People from Religious Writings
- In the Old Testament, A Philistine warrior with extra digits was killed by Jonathan the son of Shimea, King David's brother (II Sam 21:20, I Chr 20).
Sometimes mistakenly said to be polydactyl
- Marilyn Monroe is believed by some people to have had six toes on one foot, but this is an urban legend (due to two misinterpreted photographs) and is untrue. (See here)
- Ontario premier Mike Harris was the subject of a similar rumour in 1997, after a newspaper obtained a photo of him as a youth in swimming trunks and barefoot, in which he appeared, through the same type of optical illusion as the Marilyn Monroe photographs, to have six toes on one foot. Several days later, he showed his foot to the press to prove that he only had the usual five toes after someone agreed to donate money to charity for showing his foot.
- Both Halle Berry and Kate Hudson are rumored to have a sixth toe; as with Marilyn Monroe and Mike Harris, this is due to photographic misinterpretations. [6] [7] [8] [9]
- Tom Lehrer, pianist and satirist, has jokingly described himself as "endowed with twelve incredibly agile fingers."
- Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor is often mistakenly said to have developed the "Maximilian style" of armor, which features widely-flared toes, in order to conceal his polydactyly.
- David Sedaris is sometimes claimed to have a sixth toe on one of his feet, but in fact does not. The rumor appears to have been started by the owner of an Internet fansite, solely to see if he could successfully spread a rumor. (a sort of breaching experiment)
- Linda Cohn, ESPN personality - Another ESPN personality, Tony Kornheiser, has made repeated allegations on his show Pardon the Interruption that Cohn is polydactyl.
- It is old joke among piano students that composers such as Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin must have had twelve fingers, in order to have played the extensive reaches and one-handed chords of more than 5 notes in their piano music. These composers, however, were just deft; for example, 6-note chords can be played with one hand by extending the thumb to play two notes.
See also
Reference
- Garry Sobers, My Autobiography by Garry Sobers with Bob Harris ISBN 0-7553-1007-1
Categories
Articles with unsourced statements | Lists of people