I've tried to make screenshots of Lisa Lambe and to find pictures on the internet of Oscar Wilde in which they look similar. But it's not single pictures. It doesn't work that way.
I am a great admirer of Oscar Wilde and all of his archievements, both artistically but also politically. I have also seen many pictures of him and recently I got the Wilde Album, written and put together by his grandson Merlin. I already knew most of these photos and other pictures (caricatures, drawings made by himself, pictures of his family, etc.) but some of those were new. And while looking at some of his younger pictures (taken when he was in his twenties or early thirties).
Well, when watching Believe a while ago - when I was in one of my most extreme Wilde phases - I noticed how much Lisa Lambe resebles him. I know, the comparison of them might seem odd at first, but I think that way. Sure, he was a large man who died more than a century ago and we only know black and white photos of him (colour wouldn't help anyways, he looked way different from her in that case, with gray eyes, pale skin and dark hair) but their similarities are undeniable.
Let's begin with their basic "structure". Oscar's apperance didn't profit from his lifestyle, descriptions made by people who met him ranged from "fat" over "greasy" to "bad teeth". Well, of course, those do not at all apply to Lisa (and not always to Oscar himself, at least in younger years). Oscar was very tall, while I think it's difficult to see Lisa's actual height. Oscar had both muscles and fat on his body, not just one of it. One could easily see that, he was both strong and soft no matter how large or slim he was at that time. Lisa Lambe is a slim woman, but she's not bony. In fact, she, too, has a rounded strenght on her, however in a slender shape. The similarity can also be seen in their posture. Lisa, just like Oscar, sometimes looks a tiny bit like a puppet, held withs trings on her shoulder. Her back is straight, very upright. However, her head is always slightly titled - unless she rises it high for some reason. Oscar often posed like that. It was very typical for him.
The most similarities can be found in their faces. While Oscar surely looked like a man and Lisa definitely looks like a woman, both their faces could look very slightly androgynous. Not very much, but one could do with little work put them both in a theatrical play or movie playing opposite genders. That is not meant in a negative way, not at all. Both of them have defined bone structures and notably similar chins (a bit wider, not pointy), noses (straight, but slightly bowed ideal size) and cheekbones (not very high but defined). However, they both have rounded faces, a kind of "baby fat", which blurs the structure at times, while at other times one can easily see it. They both have wide set, slightly downturned eyes and they look especially similar. The lower lid is very light and both look like they constantly wear white eyeliner in it. Probably because of their slightly downturned heads, they both often look up to the sky or the roof, which gives both of them a constantly dreamy expression. Lisa's eyes are brown, but still rather light and look very much like Oscar's. One wouldn't notice a difference in a black and white picture. Both of them have very full lips with deep corners, similar teeth (though Lisa's are in a far superious state, I'm only talking about the shape) and a very charming and honest smile, which goes quite wide and "fills" their cheeks a lot.
Also, there are thse similar movements, expressions and gestures, which can hardly be captured, but are easily visible, if you know as many pictures of both of them as I do.
Oscar had many different hairstyles, his hair was very full, like Lisa's. In many pictures it's straight, in others it's wavy. Several pictures show Oscar with extremely curly hair, which seems to be his natural structure. In childhood pictures, it's either longer and curly or wavy, or short and straight or in riglets as a small child. Lisa's hair is naturally curly, but always different, as she "modifies" it a bit. Sometimes, it's wavy, sometimes it's in ringlets, sometimes it's in classic curls. The most "natural" pictures I've seen of her (in which she was very young, in her late teens or early twenties) with wild, unruly curled hair. A full structure, similar to Oscar's natural hair.
Oscar once met a fortune teller, who told him he would reach all good things with his left hand. He was cross-handed, not fully ambidextrous, he used his right hand for writing and his left hand for nearly everything else. It was the hand he preferred to use. Lisa's left-haded.
Then, there's more to them both than the looks. I've mentioned their smiles and movements. But I did not yet mention their voices. Of course, that's a difficult thing to do. No living person knows what Oscar Wilde's voice sounded like. There are descriptions, but no recordings (not counting the one which is most likely a fake made in the 60s and less likely to be Oscar Wilde than the possible video of him walking down the streets of Paris during the Exposition Universelle and which also has a very bad sound quality) and most of all, there is no Oscar anymore
We have to go with descriptions. His voice is said to have been beautiful, "warm like brown velvet and sounding like a cello". That of course, doesn't fit Lisa Lambe's crystal clear and fresh voice very much. But Oscar is also said to have had a distinctly lilt in his voice, a similarity he shares with our Lil' Lambe. While some claim Oscar didn't have a great musical talent (there's no proof for that! he was a multitalent, a poet, dramatist, novelist, essayist, journalist, editor, actor, speaker, photographer, painter and designer at once - why not a musician, too?) he did sing often very beautifully. Mostly traditional Irish songs, in Irish language, lilting and he mostly sang to his children.
Just the way he told faity tales. He often did that and his interaction with children - while portraying all the characters from his tales at once with different voices - was outstanding. He gave them a lot of attention, more than his adult audience, nearly as much as his work. If you look at a video of Lisa and her interaction with the audience, one can easily see how very much attention she's paying to the children and how much they adore her. And one can also see how much she uses her acting talent while telling a story in a song.
Oscar is said to have his looks from his mother, though I think he resebles both of his parents - still, mostly her. She's from Wexford and has English and Italian heritages. However, she was very Irish and loved Ireland. Oscar's father was Irish too - of distant Dutch descent. He was from Kilkeevan. I wonder where our Lil' Lambe roots from. It's a small island after all, and I am very sure they are distantly (or not even that distantly) related.
I hope I will find some pictures in which I can show what I mean later, but I can't promise. You might think I'm crazy.
