Vidal Sassoon | |
|---|---|
 Sassoon in 2006 | |
| Born | 17 January 1928 Hammersmith, London, England |
| Died | 9 May 2012 (aged 84) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Citizenship |
|
| Occupations |
|
| Notable work | five-point cut |
| Spouses | Elaine Wood
(m. 1956; div. 1958)Jeanette Hartford-Davis
(m. 1983, divorced)Rhonda "Ronnie" Holbrook
(m. 1992) |
| Children | 4, including Catya |
| Website | www |
Vidal Sassoon CBE (17 January 1928 – 9 May 2012) was a British hairstylist, businessman, and philanthropist. He was noted for repopularising a simple, close-cut geometric hairstyle called the five-point cut, worn by famous fashion designers including Mary Quant and film stars such as Mia Farrow, Goldie Hawn, Cameron Diaz, Nastassja Kinski and Helen Mirren.[2]
His early life was one of extreme poverty, with seven years of his childhood spent in an orphanage. He quit school at age 14, soon holding various jobs in London during World War II. Although he hoped to become a professional football player, he became an apprentice hairdresser at the suggestion of his mother.
After developing a reputation for his innovative cuts, he moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s, where he opened the first worldwide chain of hairstyling salons, complemented by a line of hair-treatment products.[3][4]
He sold his business interests in the early 1980s and began funding Israeli think tanks with his profits. Vidal Sassoon: The Movie, a documentary film about his life, was released in 2010. In 2009, Sassoon was appointed CBE by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. In 2012, he was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork, the album cover for the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, to celebrate the British cultural figures of the prior six decades.[5]
- ^ "Sassoon, Vidal". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- ^ Helen Mirren with a chin length bob, Hairfinder
- ^ Martin, Richard. Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, St. James Press (2000) p. 313
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
ksbwwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "New faces on Sgt Pepper album cover for artist Peter Blake's 80th birthday". The Guardian. 2016.