While some younger pro-wrestling fans might recognize Mae Young for being the older woman taking on opponents in the ring throughout the '90s and 2000s, many fail to realize that she was a pioneer in the sport in the 1940s and '50s. Mae Young was a roughneck and extremely aggressive wrestler during her prime years, known for being a striker and submission specialist. She and her opponents helped popular the sport that is now televised around the world with her hardcore in-ring style, grace, and poise. Mae Young can easily be considered one of the first world-renowned wrestlers ever becoming the first woman alongside Mildred Burke to tour post-war Japan in 1954.
There has been conflicting reports on when Mae Young officially started her professional wrestling career. According to Young, she has stated that re first match was in 1939 and later stated that her first match was 1940. However, records have shown that she began wrestling in Memphis, TN in 1941. Young wrestled for several independent promotions from the 1940s to the 1970s winning the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) United States Women's Championship (1x), the NWA Women's Tag Team Championship (1x), and the NWA Florida Women's Championship (1x). In 1999, Young signed a contract with the WWE where she would make sporadic appearances until close to her death in 2013. Prior to passing away, Young was inducted in the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum and WWE Hall of Fame for her contributions to the sport.
They may be beautiful, rich and famous, but celebrities are human too, and that means they're just as prone to getting sick as the rest of us. And just like us, some celebs even live with chronic conditions that can take a toll on their day-to-day lives. But eczema – also referred to as dermatitis – is a common dry skin condition. Symptoms include dry, itchy, red and scaly skin. In more extreme cases, the skin can crust and bleed. According to the National Eczema Association, 1 in 10 individuals will develop eczema in their lifetime. And given these statistics, it’s hardly a surprise there are a few celebrities out there who have eczema too.
The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, 37, suffered from eczema in her teens. Kate was bullied heavily whilst attending Downe House girls’ boarding school, according to the Duchess’s friend Jessica Hay. According Hay, Middleton’s bullies made fun of her eczema. ‘It didn’t help that she was so tall and self-conscious about her eczema,’ Hay told CelebNow. Studies have shown children with moderate and extreme atopic dermatitis are more likely to suffer from conditions like anxiety and low self-esteem, which has a knock-on effect on their school work and ability to make friends.
Although Brad Pitt, 55, has not spoken about the issue himself, his co-star Cate Blanchett disclosed that Pitt was suffering from eczema during filming of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. In an interview with Scotland’s Daily Record, the actress said, ‘We went through three weeks of make-up tests and he was covered in eczema from it all.’ Blanchett sweetly loaned Pitt her skin cream to deal with the dermatitis, that had developed due to the use of prosthetic makeup worn during filming. Prosthetic make-up isn’t the hugest concern for us non-Hollywood folk, nevertheless, what is a concern, is how makeup can trigger eczema flair up. Unless makeup brushes are constantly washed (let’s be real, they’re not), they become a breeding ground for bacteria. This can lead to clogged pores and irritated sensitive skin.
Adele, 31, stated that her eczema flared up when she became a new mom. During a press conference in 2013 after her Golden Globe win for Best Original Song for the Bond film Sykfall, the singer said: ‘I am exhausted. That’s how [motherhood] changed me. I have eczema from boiling bottles.’ Research carried out by the BMJ (formerly known as the British Medical Journal) has revealed that contact dermatitis has the potential to have ‘detrimental’ impact and in the worst case scenarios can even threaten some sufferers ability to work.