Britney Spears and J.K. Rowling--Who Can Tell Them Apart?

J.K. Rowling’s personal rags-to-riches story is as magical as anything she has conjured up in her “Harry Potter” series: Once upon a time, she was a divorced mom on public assistance who dreamed of being a published writer; now she’s known worldwide as the creator of wizard Harry and his fantastic tales. Her first of four published books (in a planned series of seven) has been made into a movie, which just opened, and a movie based on Book 2 is in the works. Rowling reportedly is the second-richest woman in Britain, behind only the queen.

We couldn’t help but think, when we heard Rowling’s story, that it sounded a bit familiar. Of course, fairy-tale stories have always enchanted a culture hungry for happily-ever-after. And, as of late, the tales of a few other high-profile women have left celeb-watchers spellbound. Actress Anne Heche, in her newly released autobiography, “Call Me Crazy,” describes her troubled and impoverished childhood with a father who died of AIDS. Then there’s the new bio “Madonna” by Andrew Morton (which is competing with two other new Madonna bios), which says Madonna was deeply affected by the death of her mom when the singer was only 5.

Still, Heche’s story, which involves accounts of incest and drug use, might be more scary tale than fairy tale, and if Madonna ever wore rags as a child in her middle-class suburban Detroit household, it would have been to make a fashion statement.

There was someone else Rowling reminded us of.... Now, we’re not sure how this idea got implanted in our heads, but after a bit of navel-gazing, we decided we were thinking of pop princess Britney Spears. After all, times were tight in Spears’ Louisiana household when she was growing up--in her autobiography, “Britney Spears’ Heart to Heart,” her mom and co-author, Lynne, explains that the family saw to it that Britney had dance and music lessons even when they were struggling to pay bills.

And as with Rowling, Spears’ renown is spectacular for its seeming suddenness and saturation--she now is practically the planet’s mega-pop star. Her third album, “Britney,” has just come out, she’s on a North American tour and she stars in her first movie in February.

Anyway, to make a short story long, we got to thinking about what else Spears and Rowling have in common. Here’s how we’re seeing it:

* Who? Who?: Before Rowling published “Harry Potter” in her early 30s, no one knew who she was. When 19-year-old Spears hits her early 30s, will anyone remember who she was?

* Sweet dreams: Rowling dreamed of being a writer since she wrote her first story at age 6. Spears dreamed of being a performer since beginning dance classes as a toddler. (But here’s where the two differ big-time: Spears always wanted to be famous; publicity-shy Rowling says she was amazed more than a handful of people ended up reading her first Potter book.)

* Vanishing act: Rowling created an Invisibility Cloak, so if Harry gets in a tight spot, he can disappear. When Spears gets in the spotlight, her clothes tend to disappear.

* Double dare!: Rowling brewed up a heart-stopping game called Quidditch in which players fly around on brooms at breakneck speed. Spears plans to stick her neck out and bungee jump on live TV during her upcoming Las Vegas concert.

* Good works: Rowling worked as a researcher for Amnesty International before becoming a famous writer. Spears is donating a dollar of each concert ticket sold for her current North American tour to help children of New York City firefighters and police officers killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

* Good sports: Both stars have performed in front of huge crowds. Rowling once did a reading at Toronto’s Skydome. Spears performed at halftime during the last Super Bowl.

* Featured creatures: From goblins to trolls, Rowling creates great nonhuman characters. Spears was a cast member of “The Mickey Mouse Club.”

* There’s no tellin’: Rowling’s pretty hush-hush about what boy star Harry Potter will be up to in Book 5. Spears is hush-hush about what she and boy star Justin Timberlake of ‘N Sync are up to.

* The end: Rowling’s stories depict the triumph of good over evil. Spears’ career depicts the triumph of style over substance.