The Sassy Redhead: Sarah Rafferty

With the season 3 of Suits premier this week it is only fitting to honour the vivacious character of Donna Paulsen played by Sarah Rafferty.

Sarah Rafferty

Sarah Rafferty is an American television and film actress, but is most popularly known from her character Donna on the USA Network drama Suits. Rafferty the youngest of 4 girls grew up in Greenwich Connecticut.  She has been married to her husband since 2001. The couple have 2 daughters together Oona and Iris.

Fun Fact: Rafferty studied theater abroad at the University of Oxford. She also studied at the Yale School of Drama, where she received a Master of Fine Arts, and met her future Husband. 

Rafferty, loves the character of Donna and describes her as being apologetically awesome. Although she loves the character she says the two could not be more different in real life. Rafferty sees herself as a mom first and an actress second. Whereas the character of Donna always puts her work before her personal life. Rafferty loves how quick witted and confident Donna is and feels she possesses those same qualities within herself.

Sarah Rafferty and Gabriel Macht

Fun Fact: Sarah Rafferty and Gabriel Macht (Who plays Donna's boss Harvey Specter on Suits) Have been best friends for over 20 years. The pair met in 1993 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. In fact they are so close that when they are in Toronto filming Suits they are actually roommates. 

Sarah Rafferty may not be the most popular ginger to grace the screen, but she is certainly one that demonstrates the confidence and sass needed to hold the title of Redhead.





For your viewing pleasure a typical "Donna" scene from Suits:

The Cartoon Redhead: Ariel

One of the most iconic Redheads is the star of the 1989 Disney classic The Little Mermaid. Ariel has a very distinctive appearance with her long flowing bright red hair that truly sets her apart from other Disney princesses.

The Little Mermaid: Ariel

Anyone who is a fan of Disney movies, has to agree that Ariel is one of the most unique Princesses of the franchise. For one she is a mermaid, but she is the only animated Disney Princess with luscious red locks. she was truly a trailblazer for young girls like myself to accept their unique red hair as a beautiful attribute.

Side by side: Alyssa Milano & Ariel

Ariel is an adventurous 16 year old, who had a rebellious streak to her. She often went behind her father`s back and was constantly disobeying his wishes. She longs to break free from the sea and become part of the human world. 

Fun Fact: Ariel`s body type and personality were based on Alyssa Milano. Milano was a child star on "Who`s the Boss?" at the time.



While making The Little Mermaid the choice of Ariel`s hair colour was the subject of dispute between the filmmakers and studio executives, the ladder wanting her hair to be blonde. However it was decided that red hair would contrast better with Ariel`s green tail, and red was easier to darken than yellow. 

Astronaut Sally Ride

Fun Fact:The movement of Ariel`s hair underwater was modeled after footage of astronaut Sally Ride`s hair in space.Ride was the first American woman to go into space and goes down in history for having one of the most popular hairstyles of the 80`s!

Although she is merely a cartoon, Ariel is one of the most iconic redheads of my generation. I can speak on personal experience that she is definitely a favourite among fellow gingers!






For your viewing pleasure the 1990 Oscar winner for Best Original Song,Under the Sea:

Redhead Day: Roodharigendag

Red, auburn, carrot, strawberry blonde and even scarlet are all shades of ginger that are represented at the annual Redhead Days Festival.

1000s of Redhead Gathered in Breda, Netherlands

Roodharigendag is the name of the Dutch summer festival that takes place the first weekend of September in the city of Breda. This two-day festival is a celebration of people with natural red hair

Ginger twins on Redhead Day

The festival started in 2005, and continues to grow in popularity and attendance each year. Most recently in 2013, over 5,000 people with red hair from 80 countries were in attendance at Redhead Day.

This festival currently holds the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of redheads in one place. Actually the festival continues to beat its own record each year, as the number of attendees increases.





In order to attend Redhead Day guests are required to be a natural ginger. The weekend is filled with events, picnic, motivational speeches, an annual fashion show and community building. Attendees are able to camp and the price to attend is completely free!

Every year the festival chooses a different colour in order to accentuate the flaming locks of visitors. For 2014 the theme is Wonderland, guests are asked to dress in purple and are told to expect the unexpected.

The 2013 Redhead Day gathering, guests were asked to wear blue

Personally I would love to someday attend Redhead day. Not only would it be a great opportunity to travel and see the Netherlands, it would also be something to cross off my bucket list. 

The Royal Redhead: Prince Harry

The world is filled with gorgeous female gingers, but when it comes to the male gender one rules the redheads, Prince Harry.

His Royal Highness, Prince Harry

Born Henry Charles Albert David, he is the youngest son to Charles, Prince of Wales, and the late Diana,Princess of Wales. After his mother’s tragic passing Harry decided to continue her philanthropic work, spending his gap year in Australia. He also shot a documentary on the orphans of Lesotho in Africa. He continues his mother’s legacy through his countless charitable efforts, including co-founding the charity Sentebale.

Captain for the British Army: 2005-Present 

Harry served in the British military and was deployed for Afghanistan as a Forward Air Controller in 2007. Harry was the first Royal Family member to serve in a warzone since 1982. In September of 2012, Prince Harry was deployed on another tour in Afghanistan, to last four months, to fly attack helicopters on the front line in the war, led by NATO, against Taliban insurgents.

Known as the rebel of the Royal Family, he is fourth in line for the throne of England but that has not held him back from doing whatever he feels like doing. He has been caught numerous times partying, including smoking weed and underage drinking at he age of 17. In October 2004, Harry got into a scuffle outside of a London nightclub with a paparazzo and bruised the photographer’s lip. In August of 2012, Prince Harry was involved in another scandal as he was photographed nude with a nude blonde female, while partying in Las Vegas.

Scuffle outside a London nightclub, October 2004

Although he has dedicated his life to a philanthropic life and serving his country, this infamous redhead is definitely considered a bad boy. He is most certainly an individual that can make the ginger species proud, with his kind actions, rebellious attitude and good looks. 

Now for your viewing pleasure, a precious scene of Prince Harry dancing with orphans of Lesotho:

The Pop Star Redhead: Geri Halliwell

If you are a fan of redheads in the slightest then you know there is a specific one that dominated the 90s, Ginger Spice.

Geri Halliwell, of the Spice Girls

Geri Halliwell, more commonly known as Ginger spice, is a redhead who rose to fame with one of the most popular girl groups of our generation, the Spice Girls. Now unless you lived under a rock throughout the 90s, you definitely know who the Spice Girls are. They are credited as being the biggest cultural icons of the 1990s due to their overwhelming success, extreme popularity and lasting impression within the world of popular culture.

The Iconic Union Jack Dress

Although she stood out from her fellow band mates because of her flaming hair, Geri Halliwell was also remembered for her infamous Union Jack dress, which she wore at he 1997 BRIT awards. This dress would become synonymous with the Spice Girls and the Girl Power movement. Interestingly enough the dress was actually a plain black Gucci mini, but Geri found it too boring and asked her sister to sew a patriotic tea towel on the front to celebrate her British Roots!

In 1998 the dress sold at a charity auction to the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas for a record £41,320 (Approximately $67,800 US). Because of this price tag Halliwell now holds the Guinness World Record for the most expensive piece of pop star clothing ever sold. This garment is the most famous dress in Brit Pop history and even tops the list of Vogue Magazine's Most Famous Dresses, beating out Princess Diana's wedding dress.

This gorgeous redhead is also the most musically successful of all the Spice Girl members. She has released three popular solo albums and participated in the Spice Girls Reunion Tour in 2007.
Although I may seem to be bias, Ginger Spice is without a doubt my favourite Spice Girl. Her sassy stage presence and talented voice, command the stage. Personally I believe her confidence comes from her unique red locks, and the fact her personal image always stood out from the group.
Now for your listening pleasure, a throwback to 1996.

Wannabe, Spice Girls

The Classic Redhead: Lucille Ball

"Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead." 

Truer words have never been spoken, and they come from the mouth of the infamous redhead Lucille Ball. 

Lucille Ball

Most of you may be familiar with this ginger from the classic television show "I Love Lucy" and if you are not familiar then shame on you! Not only is she an amazing talented woman, but that show is a timeless TV classic. 

Lucille Ball was notorious for her slapstick situation comedy gags and of course her blazing red hair. She is best known for her role as Lucy Ricardo on the “I Love Lucy” show which ran for 6 seasons. She also starred in 4 other TV series.

Although famous for her red locks, she is a natural brunette, but after dying her hair for a role in “DuBaryy was a Lady” she decided to keep her flaming red flow, which would become her screen trademark.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, in Desilu Production chairs

Ball is recognized for being the first woman to run a major television studio, Desilu. Desilu was formed by Ball and her at the time husband Desi Arnaz and is most well known for “Star Trek”, “The Untouchables”, “Mission Impossible” and of course “I Love Lucy”.

Lucille Ball is considered to be one of the most influential and admired stars in Hollywood, having one of the longest television careers. It is my belief that her popularity was truly recognized due to her signature red hair, as she was one of the original Ginger’s of Hollywood.

For your viewing pleasure, a classic scene from "I Love Lucy":

Why Redheads?

First off thank you guys for taking the time to read my blog. My name is Sloane and I am currently a Public Relations student at Niagara College. If you have not personally met me, I will fill you in on a little secret…I am a ginger! That’s right I am a natural redhead and darn proud to be. So when asked to create this blog I knew exactly what I wanted to write about, famous redheads!

Myself, age 7 (look at those luscious red locks)

Redheads are a rare breed and only attribute to 2% of the world’s population. Stereotypically redheads are known to be seductive, opinionated, evil and most commonly hot-tempered. But there is so much more to redheads then what society has deemed us. We are not all soulless demons, who can’t go out in the sun for more then 5 minutes without getting scolded. We are each unique in our own way and I intend to showcase that. So each week on this blog I will share with you a famous redhead and why I believe they are a notable ginge.

I am personally looking forward to learning more about my fellow redheads. But more importantly I am excited to share with others the accomplishments of other carrot tops and how we are all unique within our own way. Hopefully my blog will open up people’s minds to the exceptional creature that is the ginger!