Celebrity hairdresser Vidal Sassoon, who cut and styled the hair of royalty, film stars and models, has died aged 84.
Los Angeles police officers went to Sassoon's home this morning and discovered he was dead of natural causes.
London-born Sassoon, who was reported a year ago to be suffering from leukaemia, was regarded as the greatest and most innovative hairdresser of his generation.
His creative, easy-maintenance cuts were an integral part of the Sixties look and fitted in perfectly with the fledgling women's liberation movement.
Sassoon developed a popular line of shampoos and styling products bearing his name. His slogan was "If you don't look good, we don't look good".
Sassoon was born to Jewish parents in London on January 17 1928. His father abandoned the family, who then moved to the East End of London with his aunts.
But he was soon sent to an orphanage in Maida Vale where he spent six years, before being evacuated during the war to Trowbridge, in Wiltshire.
By Paul Cockerton- Comments
- 9 May 2012 20:58
'Greatest hairdresser of his generation' Vidal Sassoon dies, aged 84
Los Angeles police officers went to his home and discovered Sassoon, who was suffering from leukaemia, was dead of natural causes
Chelsea FC via Getty
Celebrity hairdresser Vidal Sassoon, who cut and styled the hair of royalty, film stars and models, has died aged 84.
Los Angeles police officers went to Sassoon's home this morning and discovered he was dead of natural causes.
London-born Sassoon, who was reported a year ago to be suffering from leukaemia, was regarded as the greatest and most innovative hairdresser of his generation.
His creative, easy-maintenance cuts were an integral part of the Sixties look and fitted in perfectly with the fledgling women's liberation movement.
Sassoon developed a popular line of shampoos and styling products bearing his name. His slogan was "If you don't look good, we don't look good".
Sassoon was born to Jewish parents in London on January 17 1928. His father abandoned the family, who then moved to the East End of London with his aunts.
But he was soon sent to an orphanage in Maida Vale where he spent six years, before being evacuated during the war to Trowbridge, in Wiltshire.
Getty
On his return, aged 17, his mother had him apprenticed to a hairdresser. At that time, Sassoon became interested in anti-semitism, opposing "fascists preaching hate on every corner".
He subsequently joined the 43 Group, which originally comprised 43 Jewish ex-servicemen, but which grew to be 1,000-strong.
During one heated fray, he was arrested and spent the night in jail, only to be freed the next morning by a judge who told him to "be a good boy".
In 1948, he left Britain to fight in the Israeli War of Independence for the Palmach (Israeli army).
On his return, he began to work for Raymond "Mr Teasy-Weasy" Bessone, but he needed to do something about his Cockney accent.
"In those days, you couldn't get hired in the more fashionable West End with an Artful Dodger accent like mine. I went to the theatre week after week to hear English the way it was meant to be spoken."
He opened his own Bond Street salon in 1958, and his trademark five-point bob revolutionised hairdressing.
