PERSONALITIES Hail REDheads

From Queen Victoria to Prince Harry, redheads have been turning heads for centuries.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Little Orphan Annie, with her trademark curly red hair, went from rags to riches when the capitalist Daddy Warbucks opened his home to her.
Redheaded TV comedians Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett made millions of dollars by making millions of people laugh at their shenanigans.
Actress Julia Roberts simply had to toss her long, dark red locks over her shoulder and flash a million-watt smile to melt Richard Gere's heart in the movie "Pretty Woman."
Who says blondes have more fun?
"I wouldn't attest to that," says Maureen Collins of Youngstown, an authentic redhead and co-founder of Easy Street Productions. Collins also stars as Miss Hannigan in Easy Street's revival of the musical "Annie" next weekend at Edward W. Powers Auditorium.
Collins knows how the blonde lives. Since her hair began to turn gray, she's lightened it and added highlights. The change has colored her attitude as far as the way she sees herself in the mirror -- "I look so different," she said -- but not her personality or lifestyle.
The personalities of redheads may explain what makes so many of them so irresistible.
A rare breed
Redheads carry with them some mystique, since natural red hair occurs in only a fraction of the world's population. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, estimates that between 2 percent and 5 percent of the U.S. population has red hair. Even in countries of British or Irish descent, where red hair is more common, the population is only about 13 percent.
We shouldn't confuse redheaded with hotheaded, although that's how matchmaker Michaleen Flynn (played by Barry Fitzgerald) described Mary Kate Danaher (famously flame-haired Maureen O'Hara) to smitten Sean Thornton (John Wayne) in director John Ford's cinematic classic "The Quiet Man."
"Her with the freckles and her temper," Flynn sneered. "Oh, that red head of hers is no lie." Thornton wanted her to be his wife, anyway.
On the other hand, there's no mistaking the comic contributions of redheads.
Asked what contributed to the popularity of Ball and Burnett, it's "just the chemistry involved ... something about their makeup that makes them have that humorous side to them," Collins said."They're our best comedic actors," said Todd Hancock, who as Collins' Easy Street partner is an unofficial expert on redheads.
'Annie' lives on
Of all the shows Easy Street has produced over the years -- "Pump Boys and Dinettes," "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and "The Will Rogers Follies" among them -- "Annie" remains among their most popular presentations, Hancock noted.
At the center of it is that cute, funny, irrepressible 9-year-old who has been featured in her own comic strip, radio show, Broadway play and on TV. Her popularity dates back to 1924, when she made her first newspaper appearance.Many other redheads have left their mark on history. They were explorers (Christopher Columbus and Galileo), cultural icons (Vincent van Gogh, William Shakespeare and Mark Twain) and leaders of nations (Napoleon Bonaparte, Sir Winston Churchill, Queen Victoria and George Washington).
Still fascinating
Today, we're beguiled by many more redheads. Toddlers are crazy about Elmo, the fuzzy, squeaky-voiced Sesame Street resident. Youngsters wear out video tapes of Ariel, a k a Disney's "The Little Mermaid," and like to eat dinner with Ronald McDonald of fast-food fame. Teenage girls sigh over photos of Prince Harry, heir to the British throne. Cynthia Nixon is one-fourth of the sizzling recipe on HBO's "Sex and the City." Comic Conan O'Brien of NBC helps us to pass those sleepless nights with laughter. Ann-Margret proved she's still a bombshell when she turned the heads of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in the popular movie "Grumpy Old Men."
Perhaps it's fun to be a redhead, but it's not easy. Red and Proud is a British Web site dedicated to promoting the contributions of redheads in arts, culture and sports (www.redandproud.com). It even distinguishes the real deals from "wannabes," including rock singers David Bowie and Annie Lennox, whose appearances change like seasons.
Henna shampoos and specially tinted cosmetics are available on the Just for Redheads Web site.
Then there's Redheads United, another British site for "Redheads against redism," which to them is the same as racism.
So be careful in how your describe redheads, or take a hint from Collins.
"I like red hot," she said.
shaulis@vindy.com