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David Bowie's Odd-Looking Eye Explained

We may never get answers to some of David Bowie's bizarre behavior, but at least we now know why his eyes look so different from each other. As it turns out, the Thin White Duke's ocular oddity is the result of fight from a romantic rivalry in his teens.

"When I was 14 I fell in love with a girl. I was crazy about her. Only trouble was, my best mate had a bit of a soft spot for her too, but I was the winner," Bowie told biographer Mark Spitz, according to the Daily Express. "I moved in before he'd even made up his mind about how to approach her. Next day I was at school boasting to my mate about what a Casanova I was and he became terribly annoyed. In fact he threw a punch at me."

"It caught me in the eye and I stumbled against a wall and onto my knees," Bowie added. "At first he thought I was kidding. It wasn't a very hard punch but obviously caught me at a rather odd angle."

George Underwood, Bowie's friend and then foe, also gave his two cents to Spitz. "He knew damn well why I did it," Underwood said. "We both wanted to go out with her and I was lucky enough to get a date. On the day of the date David rang me up and said that she had to cancel. So I didn't go but he had made up the whole story. The girl stood around for over an hour waiting for me as I discovered later. It was a bastard thing to do and I was furious with him, so it developed into a fight between us. And during the punch-up I caught his eye with a fingernail."

The sphincter muscles in Bowie's left eye were torn and after some operations, his pupil remains permanently open. "For quite a while I was very embarrassed about it," Bowie said. "Although I could see very well out of the eye, it made me self-conscious."

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Leah Collins

If you all have ever looked at your eyes when dilated, you'll notice your eyes are a different color, due to the colors in your iris being compressed. His eyes, I believe, are the same color, just distorted looking due to the dilation.

August 14 2011 at 11:04 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sarah petro

Like muchogroucho over there,i also am still wondering why Bowie's eyes are different colors...I thought demystifing that theory was the whole point of the news article.I've been wondering about The reason for his eyes being two different colors for 30 yrs(i'm almost 38.Subtracting the yrs i was too young too notice anything),i suppose it's like a riddle"which came first,the chicken or the egg?"I guess I'll never find out.

October 24 2009 at 7:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rem

This is in response to Carl who said: It was over a girl, huh? Guess he was just in that mood that week...
In case you didn't know, David Bowie is married to a female, model Iman.

October 23 2009 at 10:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Rem's comment
debbie

REM he's married to a women now but back in the day he went both ways.

October 25 2009 at 3:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
John

I've seen many pics of Bowie and his eyes. So why do
they show a pic of him squinting for a story about why
he's got one,' eyeball wide open' ?

October 23 2009 at 9:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike

...ALL THESE YEARS, FINALLY A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP!!!WGAF?

October 23 2009 at 8:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
shannon

What is retardE? Is that like retarded?

October 23 2009 at 7:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
diana

awww i feel so bad for that girl, gosh y do guys have to be like that. :(

October 23 2009 at 7:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Greg

now why in the heck would Underwood believe Bowie when he told him that she had to cancel why would she tell Bowie and not Underwood. Just goes to show you how stupid a 14 yr old can be what a dummy.

October 23 2009 at 7:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
carl

It was over a girl, huh? Guess he was just in that mood that week...

October 23 2009 at 5:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tiwi

a sphincter says what?

October 23 2009 at 4:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply