Tracey Ullman & "State of the Union"

Last night's State of the Union-ish speech by President Obama was inspiring, I thought. Have we got a President or have we got a President!! At last!..... What follows is quite unrelated to last night's speech, apart from the title. We missed Tracey Ullman's series, "State of the Union" on Showtime channel last year, but coincidentally had rented a DVD of the series last weekend. It turned out to be one of our best ever choices.

Tracey Ullman is nothing short of genius when it comes to impersonation, her makeup artist is top notch too. In this series of shows she impersonates a collection of well-known American personalities, along with some fictional stereotypical American characters. Each segment forms "A Day of Life in America" for people such as Arianna Huffington, Renee Zellweger, Laurie David, Campbell Brown, a woman from Nebraska, a loopy prison visitor, sports coach from Oklahoma, and many more. There's a review of the series at USA Today, HERE.

I found her humor particularly appealing because, as a fellow Brit, I see the funny side of the same things as she seems to do. She's clever but never cruel, honest without being crude. Her versatility is impressive.

I have written a little about Tracey in ther past, when I compared her chart with that of the late Gilda Radner (see here). Using Tracey's time of birth as stated at Astrotheme, I've re-set her natal chart to take another look.




Without having seen her chart I'd have expected Gemini to feature strongly, but there are no planets in that sign. What we have is a cluster split between Sagittarius and Capricorn; it includes all personal planets except Venus, which is in Scorpio. If this birth time is accurate, then Neptune is slap bang on a Scorpio ascendant. Methinks this is a little convenient, and makes me wonder whether this time of birth is a rectification. Maybe not though, Neptune right on the ascendant angle, the strongest position in the chart, does account for her vivid imagination and creative talent. Whatever her birth time though, Sun and Saturn sextile Neptune in Scorpio, which though not as intense as Neptune on the ascendant, would still provide a harmonious link between her more serious, business-like self and Neptune's imagination and creativity.

In a report of an interview conducted back in 1989 (HERE) Tracey is described as:

"a serious workaholic, a relentless craftsman out to create the best television the world has ever seen."

Sun, Moon and Saturn in Capricorn reflect what was said: Capricorn is a workhorse, ruled by Saturn and that planet joins the Sun and Moon in its home sign. I'm not a bit surprised to see her described as "workaholic".

QUOTE: Work is important to me. I want to do things for principle, not just for the sake of doing them.
(Tracey Ullman)

The other set of planets in neighbouring Sagittarius bring in the lightness Capricorn can lack. Mars and Jupiter are exactly conjoined with Mercury just 4 degrees away, all in Sagittarius - a mutable, happy-go-lucky sort of sign, ruled by Jupiter (so here's another planet in its home sign).

If birth time is correct, Uranus would lie at mid-heaven, the area of the chart relating to career and public standing. Uranus is inventive and a bit off-the-wall, which well describes her on-stage presence.

Again, if time of birth is correct, five of the six clustered planets are squeezed into 2nd house of earnings, possessions and property. Tracey's fortune was assessed at $75 million, some years ago. Emphasis on 2nd house seems appropriate. Her natal blend of Sagittarius and Capricorn reflects so well the talented creative yet business savvy lady Tracey so clearly is.