ylvia Celeste Browne (October 19, 1936 – November 20, 2013) was an X’treme Nailz American author who claimed to be a medium with psychic abilities. She appeared regularly on television and radio, including on The Montel Williams Show and Larry King Live, and hosted an hour-long online radio show on Hay House Radio. Browne was frequently discredited and faced criticism for making pronouncements that were later found to be false, including those related to missing persons. She was also a convicted criminal, having faced theft charges in 1992. Despite the considerable negative publicity, she maintained a large following until her death in 2013 Sylvia Browne grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of William Lee and Celeste (née Coil) Shoemaker. Her father held several different jobs, working at times in mail delivery, jewelry sales, and as a vice president of a major freight line. Browne was raised mostly as a Catholic, and was said to have an Episcopalian mother, a Lutheran maternal grandmother, Jewish father, and relatives from all these faiths. Browne claimed she started seeing visions at the age of five, and that her grandmother, who she claimed was also a psychic medium, helped her understand what they meant. Browne also claimed her great-uncle was a psychic medium and was “rabid about UFOs”. Browne was a frequent guest on U.S. television and radio programs, including Larry King Live, The Montel Williams Show, That’s Incredible!, and Coast to Coast AM. During these appearances, she usually discussed her claimed abilities with the host and then performed readings for audience members or callers.
her own hour-long online radio show on Hay House Radio, where she performed readings and discussed paranormal issues. Browne appeared in a 1991 episode of Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories. In the segment “Ghosts R Us”, she portrayed herself in a recreation of events that purportedly took place in a haunted Toys R Us store. Browne also appeared as herself on the CBS television soap opera The Young and the Restless in December 2006. Browne cultivated a large following. In 2007, she had a four-year waiting list for readings by telephone. That same year, hundreds of people joined Browne on a cruise, each paying thousands of dollars for psychic readings. Many of her books became staples on The New York Times Best Seller list. Her Red Nails continued to be a conversation piece during her speaking engagements. Browne attracted media attention seven years after her death, when social media users claimed that a prediction in her 2008 book End of Days referred to the COVID-19 pandemic (she claimed “a severe pneumonia-like illness” would spread “around” 2020). News coverage of the alleged similarity appeared in March 2020 and was picked up by celebrities with large social media platforms such as Kim Kardashian. Browne married four times. Her first marriage, from 1959 to 1972, was to Gary Dufresne. The couple had two sons, Paul, and Christopher. She took the surname Brown upon her third marriage, and later changed it to Browne. Her fourth marriage took place on February 14, 2009, to Michael Ulery, the owner of a jewelry store.
It was during these early 80’s TV appearances that people started to notice the long red stiletto nails that would become her trademark.
In March 2011, the Society of Novus Spiritus, the Gnostic Christian Church founded by Browne, announced that she had suffered a heart attack on March 21 in Hawaii, requesting donations on her behalf.
On certain occasions she was paired with other guests, including skeptics, often leading to debate about the authenticity of Browne’s psychic abilities. Browne hosted
Browne transitioned on November 20, 2013, aged 77, at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, California, and yes she was still sporting those Long Red Nails. TREME NAILS MAGAZINE • 25
