Iranian heritage of Sacha Cohen (Borat's actor) and Freddie Mercury, True or False?
A few years ago, several reputable sources such as The Guardian, reported of Iranian ancestry for the Israeli mother of Sacha Baron Cohen, the famed British comedian and the mastermind behind characters like Ali G. and Borat (blockbuster comedy). Many Persian websites reported and boasted about the Persian ancestry of "Borat!"
Recently, it was confirmed that Cohen will star as Freddie Mercury of the rock band Queen in an upcoming film about the period in the band's history from 1971 leading up to the Live Aid concert in 1985 (partly shown in video below). Because many Persian websites believe Freddie Mercury was also of Iranian heritage, Cohen's new project was seen as confirmation of him returning to his "Persian roots."
But is it true that Sacha Baron Cohen and Freddie Mercury both came from Persian origins? In November 2006, The Website Wikipedia Review reported:
"It seems a vandal added the info that Sacha Baron Cohen aka Borat's mother was of Persian descent back in April). Demonstrating the power of Wikipedia to spread "the truth" it then found its way into the Guardian (September 29th, 2006), Yahoo (unknown date) and Chicago Jewish Community Online (November 8th, 2006). What is worrying is that these people at the Guardian and Yahoo must have just relied on the fact that Wikipedia was true without even checking to see if the info is available elsewhere (which it isn't). ... Apparently the info has now appeared on CNN and Channel4 in the UK."
But how about Freddie Mercury, the late star vocalist of British Rock band "Queen," who was voted in a 2009 Classic Rock poll as "the greatest rock singer of all time?" The rumors about the Persian ancestry of Freddie Mercury (pictured above), are rooted in his real birth name "Farrokh Bulsara." Although Farrokh is indeed a Persian name, but Mercury's family were "Parsi" and he was born in Zanzibar and raised in India until his mid-teens before they moved to England. "Parsi" refers to a member of the larger of the two Zoroastrian communities in South Asia and India. The present-day Parsis descend from a group of Persian Zoroastrians who immigrated to South Asia during 8th century AD due to persecution in post-Islamic Iran. "Iranis" are the other Indian-Zoroastrian community with Persian roots but they came from Iran more recently. So Mercury's Iranian lineage needs tracing for some "1200 years!" He can perhaps be more properly called of "Indian-Zoroastrian" heritage.
Mercury engaged in homosexual relationships starting in mid-1970s and died in 1991 of bronchopneumonia brought on by AIDS. He is seen in the following performing in the 1985 AIDS benefit Mega concert in London.
The zeal by some Iranians to assign only successful or famous people to Iran, is motivated by a proud quest for validation by some. Nations and races are often judged not by their wealthiest and most notable persons, but by the humanity, integrity, and peace practiced "collectively" by the nation.
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