There is nothing that stand out more in some people’s appearance than their eyes.
In fact, some people have become incredibly famous because of their arresting peepers. So what are the stories behind those famous pairs of eyes?
The Afghan Girl
One of the most dramatic photos ever taken was of the astonishing green-eyed Afghan girl who appeared on the cover of National Geographic. Strangely, this was the first time she ever had her photo taken and it was also the last time until she was tracked down 17 years later by the same photographer. It turns out that her name is Sharbat Gula and that her eyes still burned like the way they did on that day in 1984.
Paul Newman
Probably the most famous blue eyes ever to grace the big screen belong to Paul Newman. As well as being bright and attention-grabbing they also have a gentle, friendly aspect to them that helped make him so popular.
Angelina Jolie
Is it just me or do Angelina Jolie´s eyes just not look quite real? In fact, she always looks to me as though some evil scientist has put together bits of different people – presumably all women – to try and create a hybrid superstar. The rather more boring truth is that her unique looks come from a dizzyingly varied family that comes from Germany, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Canada and possibly even the US.
David Bowie
You might have noticed but David Bowie has the weirdest eyes. Its like one is blue but the other is totally a different color. Actually, the fact that his eyes are so memorable goes back to a fight he got into as a kid. A punch in the eye left him with a condition called anisocoria, although some people say it is heterochromia. Basically, either his eyes are two different colors or they just look different because one of the pupils is enlarged. Go figure.
Elizabeth Taylor
Who has ever heard of violet eyes other than when it is Liz Taylor´s peepers we are talking about? Was it a punch in the face that gave her those amazing eyes? It seems that the clothes she wore and makeup she used accentuated her eye color but were they really violet? Some sources suggest that they were such a deep blue that they appeared violet, while others say that they really were darned cotton-picking violet. More interestingly, she was apparently born with some sort of genetic mutation that gave her a double set of eyelashes.
She´s Got Bette Davies Eyes
One sign that you have a famous pair of eyes is when someone writes a song about them. Bette Davis Eyes was a one hit wonder for Kim Carnes in 1981 and the actress herself was said to be a fan of the song. So what was it about her eyes that made them so famous in the first place? They didn’t have the startling color or form of some of the eyes we have looked at so far. Would you believe it is another disease we can thank for Better Davis’ eyes? It seems likely that she had something called thyroid eye disease or Graves’ disease. Of course, the lyrics, “She got Greta Garbo stand off sighs / She’s got Graves’ disease” just wouldn´t have sounded the same. This same condition is also said to affect George Bush, Missy Elliot, and the actress Maggie Smith, who stars in the Harry Potter movies.