By Emily Feimster

"The fact that a generation of movie stars is getting tattoos is helping to erase the stigma attached to them as a lower-class thing," says Vince Hemingson, producer of www.vanishingtattoo.com which features an extensive list of celebrity tattoos. "Celebrities are the new royalty in pop culture and they have extraordinary influence."

Some of Hollywood's top actors have gone under the needle. Check out this list of previous Oscar winners with tattoos! Julia Roberts, Jodie Foster, Jessica Lange, Geena Davis, Marisa Tomei, Whoopi Goldberg, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry, and Charlize Theron all sport the ink. Could it be the secret to their success? As for the men, how about Oscar winners Robert De Niro, Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Sean Penn, Cuba Gooding Jr., Billy Bob Thornton, and Ben Affleck. Having a tattoo or two certainly hasn't hurt their careers.

It could have even brought some luck to the undefeated "Lord of the Rings" bunch. Nine of the actors including Viggo, Orlando, Sean, Ian, and Elijah got the same tattoo - an elvish design meaning "The Nine" (for the 9 members of the fellowship of the ring). Director Peter Jackson also got a design for the number 10 as the honorary 10th member of the Ring.

Grammy award winner Melissa Etheridge has a white tattoo on the back of her neck that says "skin," the name of one of her CD's. She said in an interview, "There's just something about a tattoo. I can see how people want to get more of them." But will the fact that so many people now have tattoos make it less appealing to those Hollywood trend setters? "I don't think so," says tattoo historian Hemingson. "I think the trend, if there is a discernible one, is for celebrities to get 'custom' tattoo work that in some way symbolizes something important to them as opposed to walking in off the street and picking out a piece of flash off the tattoo shop walls."

Here's a list of celebrities who have chosen to get a little more personal with their tattoos:
• Robert Downey Jr. has an image of himself as a superhero
  on his bicep and his son's name Indio nearby
• Scottish actor Ewan McGregor has a heart and dagger
  tattoo featuring the names of his daughters Clara and
  Esther, and his wife Eve's name is on his right arm
• Minnie Driver has a rose tattooed on her buttocks
• Heath Ledger has a tattoo that he designed himself on his
  right bicep showing the center of the universe with the
  sun, earth, and moon. He also has a "KAOS" bracelet
  tattoo on his left wrist for his three sisters (Kate, Ashleigh,
  Olivia) and his mother (Sally)
• Musician Usher has the word "Usher" with a sword going
  through it on his left arm and his brother's name "James"
  on his upper left calf
• Heather Locklear has her husband's name Richie Sambora
  on her groin
• Christina Aguilera has "Xtina" on the back of her neck
• Country singer Tim McGraw has the word "Faith" for who
  you know who on his arm
• Justin Timberlake has his initials tattooed on his ankle and a
  large angel on his back with the word "Guardian" above it
• Alicia Keys has the words "Think 4 Urself" on her lower
  back

And then there are those celebs who professed their love permanently in ink who now probably wish they didn't. Pamela Anderson had "Tommy" tattooed on her finger, but now it says "Mommy." Who knows if Tom Arnold still has his large portrait of Roseanne tattooed on his chest? Let's hope not. When Johnny Depp was dating Winona Ryder he had "Winona Forever" on his arm, which he later had changed to "Wino Forever." The queen of tattoos Angelina Jolie had "Billy Bob" on her arm, which she had painfully removed by lasers after they split. It couldn't have been as painful as seeing those two together, though! Billy Bob followed suit and had Jolie's name removed from his forearm. "I had it covered up with an angel and it says 'Peace'. It's like, basically, my way of saying, 'No hard feelings'," commented Thornton. Sean Penn can feel his pain in more ways than one after it's been rumored that he had his ex-wife's name "Madonna" removed. Now Jude Law might want the name of a good doctor since he has the words from a Beatles song on his right forearm as a tribute to his wife, er, ex-wife Sadie.

Be it in Hollywood or in the rest of the country, there is no doubt that tattoos are making their way onto the skin of many Americans. Some say they bring good luck, they may even provide protection, or they may just be another way of professing one's love and dedication to a significant other. Clearly the latter aren't aware of our country's divorce rate! For celebrities, getting tattoos seem to be as popular as getting them removed. Considering the enormous physical pain involved, this is one Hollywood trend you don't want to follow!