ADOLF AND RUDOLF DASSLER
Once upon a time, in pre-World War II Germany, siblings Rudolf
and Adolf (or ‘Rudi’ and ‘Adi’, as they preferred to be known)
were partners in the Dassler Brothers Sports Shoe Company –
a business so small they operated out of their mum’s laundry.
But when African-American track champion Jesse Owens donned
a pair of their sneakers at the 1936 Olympics – and won four gold
medals while doing so – everyone suddenly wanted to get their
mitts on the Dasslers’ sneaks. Sadly, success coupled with family
tension drove the brothers apart; Rudi even suspected that Adi had
schemed to get him called up for Nazi military service. So, in 1948,
they split – Adi going off to set up sports shoe company Adidas
(a combination of his first and last names), while Rudi founded
the competing Puma. Both kept operations in their hometown
of Herzogenaurach, employing most of the local population on
opposite banks of the town’s river. It was forbidden to date or
marry someone from the rival company, and supposedly, people
looked at the shoes you were wearing before deciding whether
to talk to you. Such was the animosity that the brothers even
insisted on being buried at opposing ends of the same cemetery................ ....
OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND AND JOAN FONTAINE
Only one woman can win the Academy Award for Best Actress in
any given year, and in 1942, a pair of sisters both happened to be
nominated: Olivia de Havilland for her role in Hold Back the Dawn,
and Joan Fontaine for Hitchcock’s Suspicion. Joan won. You’d think
that Olivia would be happy for her little sis – or at least, not pissed
off – but she didn’t even offer Joan a simple “congrats”. The truth
was, Olivia had always been jealous of her sibling – growing up,
they’d competed for their parents’ attention, acting jobs, boys
(as editor of her high school newspaper, Olivia published a fake
will, stating, “I bequeath to my sister the ability to win boys’ hearts,
which she does not have at present”), and she’d even broken Joan’s
collarbone, according to the tabloids. The bad blood lasted their
entire lifetimes. Olivia even withheld the news of their mother’s
death, telling Joan after the fact that she’d have been too busy
to attend the funeral, anyway – a burn if ever there was one....................
CLEOPATRA AND PTOLEMY XIII
Little brothers can be pretty annoying, but rarely do you have
to co- rule an empire with them. Or marry them. Cleopatra was
required to do both. Following their father’s death, 18-year-old
Cleopatra and her 10-year-old bro Ptolemy XIII became jointEgyptian monarchs (with a regent acting on Ptolemy’s behalf, given
he was so young his voice hadn’t even broken yet). But Cleopatra
never wanted to share power with her brother, and had his name
removed from all documents – a move that was super-rebellious at
the time, as females were supposed to be subordinate to their male
co-rulers. Unfortunately for Cleopatra, Ptolemy XIII got revenge by
banishing his big sister to Syria, which in turn triggered a civil war.
She retaliated by seducing Julius Caesar, forming a political alliance
and eventually having his child (the story goes that she snuck into
his palace inside a rug, sausage roll-style). Not long after, the
Romans won the Battle of the Nile, and Ptolemy XIII drowned while
trying to regain the throne. (Side note: Cleopatra later killed her
half-sister Arsinoe, and ordered the death of her even younger
brother, Ptolemy XIV, in order to reign as queen alongside her son.)
...................EPPIE LEDERER AND PAULINE PHILLIPS
Growing up, twins Esther ‘Eppie’ Friedman and Pauline ‘Popo’
Friedman were inseparable, wearing identical clothes, working
together on their school newspaper, and marrying their husbands
in a double wedding ceremony. Truly, theirs was a hunky-dory
sibling-ship – until 1956, when Eppie scored the role of the
Chicago Sun-Times’ “Dear Ann” advice columnist, following
the death of the original Ann (a big deal, given the column was
syndicated across America). Miffed, Popo launched her own
rival column, “Dear Abby”, for their hometown rag the Sioux
City Journal, on the proviso they didn’t publish “Dear Ann”. The
sisters didn’t speak for the next eight years, but had plenty to say
about each other in print. Popo penned a story for Life magazine
discussing Eppie’s nose job, while Eppie wrote of her twin, “She’s
just like a kid who beats a dog until somebody looks, and then
she starts petting it.” Though the pair has since passed away,
the feud lives on through their daughters, who have battled
over the right to publicly grieve for their estranged aunts.
...................DAVE AND RAY DAVIES
Anyone with ears and regular access to popular Western music
will know The Kinks’ 1963 hit single “You Really Got Me”. One of
the first songs to feature guitar distortion, the dance-inducing
number was instrumental in shaping the future sounds of the punk
and metal genres – so, pretty important in the musical world. But
North London brothers Dave and Ray Davies, the band’s driving
force, grew shitty with each other, arguing over who created
the song’s iconic sound. Ray claimed he’d been responsible for
generating the awesome fuzz by stabbing an amp with a knitting
needle, while Dave counterclaimed that he’d come up with the
sound by slashing his amp with a razor blade. The bitterness
has lasted for decades, with each accusing the other of stealing
credit in order to gain royalties. Now and then the band toys
with the idea of a Kinks reunion, but Dave reckons it’s unlikely,
saying of his brother, “I just can’t stand to be with him. About an
hour with Ray’s my limit, so it would be a very short reunion.”
...................HARRY HOUDINI AND THEODORE HARDEEN
Sometimes, just sometimes, sibling rivalry can be a good thing,
and not lead to viciousness or war or breaking each other’s
bones. Harry and Theodore Houdini are a prime example of this.
Performing together on Coney Island, the magicians were known
as ‘The Brothers Houdini’ – until Harry went solo. Theodore,
still keen to make it as an illusionist, changed his surname to
Hardeen and followed suit by going it alone. Throughout their
lifelong careers as magicians, the siblings would continuously try
to one-up each other – all in the spirit of brotherly competition,
of course. When Harry’s straightjacket escape routine garnered
widespread attention, for example, Theodore made it a touch more
bad-arse by doing it in front of an audience, instead of behind a
screen. Then, Harry took it one step further, escaping from the
jacket while dangling precariously from a crane. Happily, the rivalry
remained professional; Harry wrote in his will that Theodore should
receive all his props, effects and the right to use his illusions,
while Theodore named one of his sons Harry in tribute.family feud
FORGET SCUFFLES OVER CHORES
AND THE LAST SLICE OF CAKE –THESE FAMOUS SIBLING RIVALRIES
LED TO WARS, BROKEN BONES,
AND IN ONE CASE, DEATH.Wor d s Mia Timpanolearn something new