LEFT-HANDEDNESS
by Bernard Bale
Do you worry about your child's left-handedness? No need to fret, just take a look at these left-handed celebs. It didn't do them any harm.
Imagine being beaten just because you are left-handed! That happened to legendary actor Peter O'Toole and he is not the only one to have suffered. If you are left-handed you are in good company. Some of the most celebrated people are left-handed and they have all learned to cope.
Stars don't come much bigger than Julia Roberts
"I hated being left-handed as a girl because it was treated as some kind of handicap. People either felt sorry for me or tried to encourage me to use my right hand," she said. "Either way I felt patronised and I hated it. I didn't want to be the centre of attention simply because I was left-handed. As far as I was concerned, could I read and write? Yes, I could. Did it matter that I held the pen in my left hand? No, it didn't.
Peter O'Toole had a horrible time as a young left-hander.
"I went to a Catholic school and the nuns actually beat me to try and make me use my right hand - it was unbelievable," said Peter. "I still cannot understand why they found it so unacceptable that I should be left-handed. I was not left-handed just to spite them yet they punished me for it. I don't consider that I have been let down by life simply because I am left-handed. I actually think it improved my cricket!".
History has revealed many famous names who were left-handed - Michaelangelo for one. It did not impair his skill as an artist. Napoleon Bonaparte became a legend of European history even though he was left-handed as was Julius Caesar and Joan of Arc.
Who else? Far too many to give a full list here but how about H.G. Wells, Queen Victoria, Mark Twain, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, Alexander the Great and even Leonardo Da Vinci? In more modern times we have Marilyn Monroe, Dick Van Dyke, Bruce Willis, Mark Hamill, Goldie Hawn, Sarah Jessica Parker or Angelina Jolie.
The music world has also been blessed with its share of left-handers. Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Ringo Starr, and even legendary composers like Beethoven and Mozart. The phenomenal Cole Porter was left-handed as are two of today's megastars of music - Sir Paul McCartney and Celine Dion.
"I didn't find it easy to play guitar," Sir Paul admitted. "I was helped a lot by John Lennon who taught himself to play left-handed just so that he could help me. It was a brilliant gesture. When you grow up left-handed you don't really think there could be problems with something like playing guitar but most things are made with right-handed people in mind."
Celine Dion has never considered being left-handed to be a problem.
"I am a singer and I would sound the same were I left-handed or right-handed. The only awkward thing about being left-handed is that when you write, your hand covers what you have written and you have to move your hand to see the words. That can be a nuisance and makes you a little slower but you get used to it. People sometimes confuse slow with stupid but look at all the talented people who are left-handed - they are definitely not stupid."
Amazingly, four of the last five US Presidents including President Barak Obama have been left-handed so it certainly doesn't seem to harm any political careers.
But what about sports stars?
They don't come any more legendary than Pele, brilliant with both feet but totally left-handed when signing autographs.
"I had to work extra hard to be able to play with both feet but I have never tried to be anything other than left-handed for everything else, " he explained. "I have often had people show surprise when I sign an autograph. They say, 'Oh, you're left-handed' as if I have an illness. It is very funny really. It has never bothered me - I like to be a little different."
Left-handedness doesn't stop you starring in TV soaps either. Just ask William Roache who has been Ken Barlow in Coronation Street almost as long as he has been Bill Roache.
"I think there is something of a stigma attached to being left-handed in that it is seen as some sort of abnormality and yet it isn't really.Just because most people are right-handed, it doesn't mean that being different makes you some kind of freak.
Bob Geldof, who is also naturally gifted with left-handedness, has the final word.
"I don't think it makes any difference whether you are right-handed or left-handed as long as your right hand knows what your left hand is doing - and not many people have mastered that yet!"
