Colourblindness is a very common problem, with 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women affected. If you want to know why there is such a big difference between the prevalence in men and women, go and check out my previous blog on the genetics of colourblindness. So, given how common colourblindness is, chances are some famous people are colourblind, right? I think most of you will be surprised by this list, so let's get into it.
The red (brown?) carpet
Like I said before, there are many people who are colourblind, with 300 million people worldwide being affected by the condition. Among those 300 million people are celebrities like: former president Bill Clinton (great start, I know) who has trouble with red and green, Keanu Reeves, who said in an interview he could be colourblind, Paul Newman, who wanted to be a pilot but was denied, Mark Zuckerberg, who apparently chose the colour blue for the Facebook logo, because he could see the best, and even dead people like Mark Twain.
Let me tell you the list definitely goes on with people like Howie Mandel, Meat Loaf (yes that is his name), and Christopher Nolan. Oscar-winning actor, Eddie Redmayne, is also colourblind. It goes to show that even having such a disorder or problem, you can still make it big in life. That being said, it would be wrong to imply that colourblindness doesn’t hinder people. As mentioned previously, Paul Newman couldn’t become a pilot because he was colourblind. Many more people around the world have also been denied various opportunities or career paths that they could’ve excelled at, due to their colour blindness.
The prince of colourblindness
Now there is one famous colourblind person that I haven't mentioned, that I must admit did take me by surprise a little. Prince William. Yeah, that Prince William. He is colourblind! Not even royalty are immune to such a disorder. It is comforting to know that even someone as famous and powerful as Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, struggles to put on matching socks in the morning. According to a military source, Prince William had to change to a different helicopter regiment, as colour blindness can cause difficulty in night time flying.
Now between you and me, if I had applied for a job as a rescue helicopter pilot I would be turned down in a heartbeat because of my colour blindness. I wouldn’t know if we were going up or down, and when you are a rescue helicopter pilot you need to be saving people, not endangering them. But hey, I am not the Queen's grandson, so what do I know? It also poses an interesting question regarding Prince Harry, as he did similar work flying attack helicopters in Afghanistan. I would argue that if you are colourblind you shouldn’t be flying attack helicopters, but I am not heir to the throne of England. I should also say that there is only a 50% chance of 2 sons being colourblind, so Harry is apparently fine.
So there we have it, some of the many famous people around the world who are affected by colour blindness. I hope this has shown normal sighted people, just how far reaching colour blindness actually is, and it doesn’t matter if you are rich or royal, you still have to deal with it. I also hope this shows colourblind people that they are still capable of many things despite their condition, and hopefully in the future you can be capable of much more. Thanks.
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