Finding Birth Data on Celebrities
Not Included in Standard Reference
Works
Writing directly to public figures is a commendably direct route, but
is not too effective. A "star" gets thousands of letters, most
of them asking for something, and they end up in a secretary's
wastebasket. Even when I introduce myself as a journalist using Data News
letterhead, I rarely get more than a 1-2% return. However, if I have the
name of a mutual acquaintance this dramatically improves the odds. We have
included a sample letter for you to adapt as well as some
tips to increase
your chances of a response.
Most of the vital statistics offices have been closed to the public
over the last 20 years. Very few states allow birth records to be accessed
and those, "for research only." Most states only send birth
certificates to the person on the certificate, a parent, or a genealogical
researcher if the person on the birth certificate is now deceased. Most
state vital statistics offices require documentation that we have a legal
right to the information. One astrologer I know was able to obtain birth
data on a famous serial killer by claiming him as a brother. While I can't
advocate this approach I am not above gratefully reprinting this data when
it is passed on to me. If we know the county seat where the person is
born, going in person to the County Registration office is often
surprisingly productive. If we had a national network of astrologers who
were willing to do this, we could build up a central database with some
dispatch.
However thanks to the anonymity of the Internet things are looking up.
We can go to www.vitalrec.com
to see the specific rules for each state. Many of the states have the
application on line with instructions for filling it out. Applications
require us to have the father's and mother's (maiden) name – which
brings us to the next step in the research process.
Sometimes the names of parents are found in the biography sites listed
on our links page. Who's Who gives the names of the parents; however as a
warning, the birth dates given in Who's Who are notoriously unreliable.
Otherwise we might find out the place of birth on a website and then call
directory assistance if it is a small town. Parents of public figures are
a much more fruitful avenue for obtaining birth data than approaching the
public figure or their secretary directly. If we don't get the parents we
may end up with a relative that can give us the phone number of the
parents. This approach requires utter sincerity to get through people's
natural suspiciousness in these modern times. Enthusiasm about our
interest in astrology and casually mentioning that we know how to read
charts may get us into a dialog of trust, followed by a quick mini-reading
which obligates them to work on our behalf to get the birth data from
their famous relative.
To find the birthplace, I recommend going to the Celebrity data sites
listed on our links page (astrodatabank.com/links.htm).
It is the most comprehensive listing of celebrity data sites on the web.
Celebrity Birthdays A2Z (davytany.tripod.com/indexa2z.htm)
and Famous Birthdays (www.famousbirthdays.com)
are the largest birthday
sites with the most birthplaces listed, but don't include birth times. The
astrology sites with celebrity data sometimes have birth times that we
don't have in the AstroDatabank – but rarely – and a birth time without a
source is not much better than ouja-board data.
We may also draw on our astrological training and choose a good day for
this work. We look for good aspects to our natal Sun, Moon, Mercury or
Venus from the Sun, Jupiter or Venus to get good hospitality when we make
the call. Look at the aspect configurations for the day as well as from
transiting planets to natal plants. Look for good aspects to or from Pluto
when doing the initial digging – especially to the Moon or Asc.
Building AstroDatabank is a community effort. Each person who brings us
data plays an integral part in the building of this community resource.
Hunting down data can be lots of fun. I wish I had more time for this
pursuit, but I am up to my ears just entering data that has been sent me
from over thirty years of collecting. Please keep me abreast of your
efforts and remember – I'm generous with trades!
Sample Letter
AstroDatabank relies on astrologers like you to help us continually
add to and update our records with new information. We have provided a
sample letter that you can adapt should you wish to write to a newsmaker
or celebrity for birth information. Anything in italics below will need to
be customized to your situation or to your newsmaker/celebrity. Please
review the “tips” page for some “Dos” and “Don’ts” on how you can increase
your chances of receiving a response. If you do receive a response that
yields birth information, including time of birth, for a celebrity or
newsmaker, we invite you to send it to us with the source of your
information. We will credit you as the referral for any data and sources
you provide. Happy researching!
Your return address
Date
Dear Mr./Ms. _____:
I’d like to invite you join hundreds of
other people from (insert an industry name or other identifier, like
“Hollywood” or “the movie industry” or “business”) in having your
name and a capsule view of your accomplishments listed in AstroDatabank,
a biographical software program. AstroDatabank has a significant web
presence with over 90,000 visits per month as well as a professional,
continuously growing and updated software program, designed to provide
astrologers with a research and study tool. Since we have found that
people who are in the public eye use their charts more effectively than
the average person, charts of celebrities and newsmakers are critical to
our ability to continually improve our astrological techniques and to
educate professional astrologers for the future. For example,
astrologers might use our data to study the astrological patterns that
are most common in the charts of actors or authors or to study timing
for successful ventures or awards. For these and other studies, we rely
on the good will of people like you to help us bring astrology into the
more scientific world of research.
All that we ask is that you send us by
e-mail or regular mail:
- Your birth date (month, day, year):
- Your birth time (hour and minute):
- Your birthplace (city and state as well
as country if outside the US):
- Your birth name if different from your
current name:
- Source of the data (e.g. directly from
birth certificate in hand; from family member’s memory; from baby
book; own recollection of family member’s statement; rectified from
approximate time, etc.):
In return for your help, we would be happy
to provide you with two free astrological reports, based on your birth
data, from our sister company, The Astrology Software Shop. Your choices
might include, for example, a natal report based on your own personal
birth data, and a forecasting report, which looks at your year ahead.
You can visit the Astrology Software Shop at:
www.astrologysoftwareshop.com.
Please visit our website: (www.astrodatabank.com)
for more information as well as for a glance at some of the other
celebrities who are already included in AstroDatabank. If you have any
questions, please don’t hesitate to call (insert phone number) or
write (insert E-mail address).
Very sincerely yours,
Your signature
Data Researcher
Do's and Don'ts
- Do use “Mr.” or “Ms.” unless you know the individual personally or
have talked with him/her on the telephone.
- Do maintain a professional, sincere, gracious attitude in all your
correspondence or phone conversations.
- Do refer the individual to
www.astrodatabank.com; it can lend legitimacy to your request for
data.
- Do sign with your name and be sure to include your own contact
information (address, phone number).
- Do tailor the letter to the individual situation.
- Do try ahead to obtain a contact, in the office or in public
relations perhaps, who can take your letter to the individual whose
birth time you are trying to obtain.
- Don’t be too effusive with praise; it can sound insincere.
- Don’t use humor unless you know the person well; it can backfire
since we all have different ideas of what’s funny.
- Don’t be more wordy than you need to be; the recipient is busy and
gets hundreds, maybe thousands, of fan letters.
- Don’t ask for an autograph, picture or any other favors in the same
correspondence. We want to keep our request strictly professional and to
improve our odds of receiving a response.
- Do use the title “Data Researcher” under your name; it adds
legitimacy.
- Do forward any timed birth data your receive along with your notes
about how and from whom you obtained it to:
Pat Taglilatelo (Pat@AstroDatabank.com), or
by mail to:
AstroDatabank Company
12 June Terrace
Worcester, MA 01602
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