Famous people... who were actually dentists
I was at a hands-on dental course last week and - at the end of the day -the delegates and speaker all went out for a meal.
The conversation soon treaded familiar ground and it didn't take long for us to begin pondering ...what job would you do if not dentistry ?
I recalled a friend of mine, who -during lockdown -decided to quit dentistry in order to relocate to Southern France to successfully run cycling tour holidays.
This got me thinking about dentists who have gone on to do different things and achieved fame in their new vocation.
Here are some of my favourites ...
Footballing dentists:
Jim Craig ... Celtic's European Cup winning right back studied dentistry at Glasgow University whilst starring for Jock Stein's side. You'd have been lucky to see the dental students in my year walk to lectures ...let alone win European football's showpiece event
Hugo Sanchez ...Real Madrid's 1980s and 90s somersaulting Mexican striker - widely regarded as the greatest Mexican footballer of all-time is in fact a dentist. Hugo graduated while playing as a striker for the National University of Mexico. After signing for Real Madrid - Hugo's passion for dentistry understandably waned ...although he did go on to star in Colgate commercials on Mexican tv.
Pop Star dentists
Dr Alban ....Usually dental students squander their money in nightclubs, however, Swedish dentist Dr Alban actually supplemented his student grant money by DJ-ing in Stockholm nightspots.
He scored a surprise hit in 1992 with "It's my Life". After hitting number 1 in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Sweden and no 2 in the U.K....his interest in pursuing a career in dentistry waned. He now appears on 90s revival tours playing a huskier version of the incessantly repetitive but annoyingly catchy "it's my life"...."stop telling people how to run their business"...sage advice Dr
Dentists in art
The subject in "The Scream" was actually a dentist ...only kidding
But...the glum pitch-fork wielding farmer in "American Gothic" the most parodied painting of all-time was in fact a dentist.
In seeking a model miserable enough to be the subject for his soon to famous Gothic masterpiece ....it reputedly took artist Grant Wood approximately 4 seconds to realise who would fit the bill...yup..his dentist
Dentists who became TV stars
Sofia Vergara - better known as Gloria off Modern family attended Dental School in Mexico. No doubt following in the footsteps of Colgate TV-commercial actor and fellow dentist Hugo Sanchez - see above- Sofia was soon auditioning her way towards small screen stardom. After landing a lead role in the Globally popular Disney-produced comedy 'Modern Family' ..her interest in dentistry waned.
Any we've missed ? Probably !....Let us know !
Blog No 5