ABSTRACT

Throughout his career, Tony Curtis was known as much for his hair as for his acting talents. The Tony Curtis haircut consisted primarily of a curled coif on the forehead, a semi-crew-cut top and a full nape-all accented with a heavy dollop of grease. His hair was first noticed in his second film, City Across the River and his popularity continued growing with each successive release. Curtis, born into a Jewish Orthodox family in the Bronx, considered his haircut to be phony: It all began because he couldn't afford a haircut. Then he thought his very gift was something so mystical and magical that by cutting his hair as he thought it would be gone.