Toupee
Encyclopedia
A toupée is a hairpiece
or partial wig of natural or synthetic hair worn to cover partial baldness
or for theatrical purposes. While toupées and hairpieces are typically associated with male wearers, some women also use hairpieces to lengthen existing hair, or cover partially exposed scalp. The desire to wear hairpieces is a response to a long-standing bias against balding that crosses cultures, dating to at least 3100 BC. Toupée manufacturers' financial results indicate that toupée use is an overall decline, due in part to alternative methods for dealing with baldness, and to greater cultural acceptance of the condition.
Toupées are often referred to as "hairpieces", "units", or "hair systems" by those seeking to avoid the negative connotations that the word "toupée" conjures up. Many women now wear hairpieces rather than full wigs if their hair loss is confined to the top and crown of their heads.
While wigs have a very long and somewhat traceable history, the origin of the "toupée" is more difficult to define, but one can reasonably infer that the first toupée was a piece of hair, worn on the head, with the intention of deceiving the viewer into believing the hair was natural, rather than a wig worn for decorative or ceremonial purposes.
wrote Ars Amatoria
("The Art of Love") in which he expressed "Ugly are hornless bulls, a field without grass is an eyesore, So is a tree without leaves, so is a head without hair." Another example of this bias, in a later and different culture, can be found in The Arabian Nights (c. AD 800-900), in which the female character Scheherazade
asks "Is there anything more ugly in the world than a man beardless and bald as an artichoke
?"
The earliest known example of a toupée was found in a tomb near the ancient Predynastic
capital of Egypt, Hierakonpolis. The tomb and its contents date to (ca. 3200 – 3100 BC.)
At least two ancient Greek statues of men wearing toupées survive today, one identified as a Capitoline type, presently located in Thorvaldsens Museum
in Copenhagen
.
Julius Caesar
is known to have worn a toupée. In dismay at his pattern baldness, he tried both wearing a toupée, and shaving his head. Some state that he wore his trademark ceremonial wreath to disguise his shrinking hairline. Roman men of the era were also known to paint their bald heads to appear to have locks of hair.
. Factor's toupées were carefully made and almost invisible, with each strand of hair sewed to a piece of fine flesh-colored lace, and in a variety of long and short hairstyles. Factor, also a Hollywood Makeup innovator, was the supplier of choice for most Hollywood actors.
By 1959, total U.S. sales were estimated by Time Magazine to be $15 million a year. Sears-Roebuck, which had sold Toupées as early as 1900 via its mail order catalog, tried to tap into the market by sending out 30,000 special catalogs by direct mail
to a targeted list, advertising "career winning" hair products manufactured by Joseph Fleischer & Co., a respected wig manufacturer. Toupées continued to be advertised in print, likely with heavier media buys (Advertising media selection
) taking place in magazines with the appropriate male demographic. A typical "advertorial
" can be found in Modern Mechanix.
By 1970, Time Magazine estimated that in the U.S., toupées were worn by more than 2.5 million men out of 17 - 20 million balding men. The increase was chalked up once again to further improvements in hairpiece technology, a desire to seem more youthful, and the long hairstyles that were increasingly in fashion.
From 2002 to 2004, new orders from Aderans’s male customers (both domestic and international) slipped by 30%. Researchers at both the Daiwa Institute and Nomura Research – two key Japanese economic research institutes – conclude that there is "no sign of a recovery" for the toupée industry. Sales for male wearers have continued to fall at Aderans in every year since .
These numbers confirm the media consensus hypothesis that toupée use is an overall decline. No reliable sources have stated numbers for the estimated population of toupée users in the U.S. or internationally, so comparisons to past eras are difficult to make with any accuracy. Regardless, hairpiece manufacturers and retailers continue to market their goods in print, on television, and on the internet.
Toupée manufacture is often done at the local level by a craftsman, but large wig manufacturers also produce toupées. Both individuals and large firms have constantly innovated to produce better quality toupées and toupée material, with over 60 patents for toupées. and over 260 for hairpieces filed at the U.S. Patent Office since 1790.
Interestingly, the first patent for a toupée was filed in 1921, while the first patent for a "hairpiece", was filed in 1956.
s are a technique in which the toupée's base is then woven into whatever natural hair the wearer retains. While this (it is often promised) results in a less detectable toupée, the wearer can experience discomfort, and sometimes hair loss from frequently retightening of the weave as one's own hair grows. After about six months a person can begin to lose hair permanently along the weave area, resulting in traction alopecia
. Hair weaves were very popular in the 1980s & 1990s, but are not usually recommended because of the potential for permanent hair damage and hair loss.
While toupée dealers and manufacturers usually advertise their products showing men swimming, water-skiing and enjoying watersports, these activities can often cause irreversible wear to the toupée. Saltwater and chlorine can cause a toupée to "wear out" quickly. Many shampoos and soaps will damage toupée fibers, which unlike natural hair, cannot grow back or replace themselves.
While dealers of toupées can in fact help many customers to care for their toupées and make their presence virtually undetectable, the hairpieces must be of very high quality to begin with, carefully fit and maintained regularly and carefully. Even the best-cared-for toupée will need to be replaced on a regular basis, due to wear and, over time, to the growing areas of baldness on the wearer's head and changes in shade to remaining hair. Some recommend that if one chooses to use a toupée, three should be owned at any one time - one to wear while its counterpart is being cleaned, and a spare.
and other pharmaceutical remedies were approved for treatment of Alopecia
by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the 1990s. These have proven capable of regrowing or sustaining existing hair at least part of the time.
However, hair transplantation
, which guarantees at least some immediate results, has often replaced the use of toupées among those who can afford them, particularly onscreen celebrities.
.
patients sometimes wear toupées. This type of hairpiece is technically referred to as a hair prosthesis
. A positive self-image has often been said to assist in the recovery process, and doctors often help direct recovering patients to find hairpieces to help project their usual healthy appearance. This effort is particularly made when the recovering patient is a child, or a woman.
Another exception is that if a person's head has been damaged by an accident, or through a surgical procedure, the victim or patient may wish to conceal scarring. Steven Van Zandt
of the E Street Band
wore a toupée in his role on The Sopranos
to cover scarring he had received after a car accident several years prior. While performing onstage, and in his personal life, Van Zandt favors a bandanna.
There are at least four charities that specialize in providing hairpieces for children that have lost hair due to Chemotherapy, medical treatment or head injury:
in "The Comic Almanack" in 1837, in which he drew the effect of a strong wind, with a man's toupée whipped from his head.
In the 20th century, toupées were a source of humour in virtually all forms of media, including cartoons, films, radio and television. In the 21st century, toupées continue to be a source for humor, with a variety of internet
sites devoted to toupées, with a special emphasis on suspected celebrity hairpiece wearers.
Thadeus Stevens, famed 19th century U.S. Congressman and abolitionist, was known for his humor and wit. On one occasion while in the Capitol, a woman requested a lock of his hair (collecting locks of hair was common at this time). Since he was bald and wearing a toupée, he ripped it off and gave it to her.
J. Hamilton Lewis
, US Congressman and US Senator from Illinois, was famous for his old fashioned dress and "wavy pink toupée" in the US Senate of the 1930s.
In Chapter 21, the Schoolmaster - a minor antagonist
in the book, and a taskmaster that drove his students - is made the object of fun during a School presentation. With all in town present, the Schoolmaster - unsteady from an evening of sneaking alcohol - is attempting to draw a map of the US on the chalkboard. From above him in the attic, a cat is being slowly lowered through a trapdoor directly above his head. As soon as the cat can reach it, the cat snags the schoolmaster’s toupée, revealing his bald head.
Harold's Toupée
A 1913 black and white silent film starring Louis Simon, a silent film comedian.
Safety Last
Harold Lloyd's classic 1923 film includes a sequence in which a mouse crawls up the leg of Lloyd's trousers while he dangles from the outside of a building, sending him into contortions. When he finally shakes it out, the mouse falls down the wall of the building and in the process removes a toupée from a spectator peering out of a lower window.
Laurel and Hardy
Short Subjects
Laurel and Hardy did not make a particular film devoted to toupée humor, but it was included in many of their films in the 1920s and 1930s. Their frequent supporting actor, Jimmy Finlayson
, would often make an appearance wearing an outrageous mustache or humorously obvious toupée.
The Wings of Eagles
Notable for being the only film in which John Wayne
intentionally showed his naturally balding head. After Wake of the Red Witch
(1948), John Wayne
wore a toupée for every film, with the exception of later scenes of The Wings of Eagles
(1957), in which he played Frank Wead
, (aka Spig Wead) a naval aviation pioneer and screenwriter. In the World War II
-era scenes, the older Spig Wead has a noticeably bald head - Wayne's own. In both The Fighting Kentuckian (1949) and North to Alaska
(1960), Wayne's hairpiece is knocked off during a fight scene, unnoticed until after each film's release. A similar occurrence happens in The Quiet Man
, only this time Wayne's cap falls off after a punch, and he's not wearing his rug underneath. Wayne never denied wearing a hairpiece and during the Harvard Hasty Pudding Club
roast of him he answered a student's question about his "phony hair with the reply "It's not phony. It's real hair. Of course, it's not mine, but it's real."
An Everlasting Piece
A 2000 comedy with dramatic elements, set in Belfast in the 1980s. It features a pair of door-to-door toupée salesmen - one Catholic, one Protestant. The pair build an unlikely business and friendship, and a book of customers on both sides of the conflict.
made himself the butt of many jokes on his radio show, including jokes about his cheapness and his toupée. In fact, he only wore a hairpiece for certain character roles in films, but he recognized the laugh value and since it was radio, no one could tell he wasn't wearing one.
George Burns
also admitted that he wore a toupée on his radio show with Gracie Allen
but it was not played up on the show except when the joke called for it.
Ron Santo
, the color commentator
for Chicago Cubs
radio broadcasts, wore a toupée, and often joked about it with his on-air partner Pat Hughes
, hinting that he had different toupées for different occasions. They also referred to incidents such as Santo leaving a toupée in his hotel room, or when he accidentally scorched his toupée by standing near an overhead heater at Shea Stadium
.
Toupées were perhaps most famously used for comedy in an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show
, Episode 128 "Coast-to-Coast Big Mouth". During the episode, Mary Tyler Moore
, playing the part of Laura Petrie, wife of Rob Petrie played by Dick Van Dyke
accidentally reveals to a television audience that Rob's boss, the famous television comedian Alan Brady, played by Carl Reiner
, wears a toupée. This running gag about Alan Brady's toupée on The Dick Van Dyke Show was based on Max Liebman, the producer of Your Show of Shows
(1950), who also wore a toupée.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Episode 41 of Monty Python's Flying Circus
, which first aired on November 7, 1974, featured a skit named "Toupée Department" in which all the employees of the store are wearing atrocious toupées, but none of them realize that their fellow employees are bald. (They all think they're the only one wearing a toupée.) When Eric Idle
walks in with a full head of real hair, they all believe he is wearing a toupée and try to convince him to buy a better one.
Seinfeld
In Season 6, Episode 99 of Seinfeld
, "The Scofflaw
", George Costanza
wears a toupée for the first time. In Episode 102, "The Beard
", George wears his toupée to a date set up by Cosmo Kramer
, only to find that the woman, Denise, is bald. When he turns her down and tells Elaine about it, she yells "YOU'RE BALD!" to George, who replies "I was bald". Elaine then tears the toupée from George's head and throws it out the window, with George nearly jumping out after it. Later, George decides to continue seeing Denise, who after realizing George is bald, turns him down. Jason Alexander
, the actor portraying Costanza, wore a small toupée for his part as the agent Albert J. Peterson in the 1995 TV movie of Bye Bye Birdie.
Cheers
It was revealed that Sam Malone wore a toupée over the bald spot on the back of his head, in the episode called "It's Lonely at the Top."
The Sopranos
The Sopranos used toupées for dark humor twice during the run of the series. First during Season Two, in Do Not Resuscitate
, when Tony Soprano
has the Executive Director of the Green Grove Retirement Community murdered to prevent him from informing on him to the police, and the New Jersey State Trooper coming across his abandoned car, finds the toupée before the body, which was in the trunk. Second, during Season Four, in Whoever Did This, Christopher Moltisanti
finds that Ralph Cifaretto wears a toupée when it slips off his head while he attempted to dismember his dead body.
NYPD Blue
In Season One, mobster Alphonse Giardella, a nemesis of NYPD Detective Andy Sipowicz
is seen wearing a toupée. Sipowicz frequently points out Giardella's "rug" and is seen violently removing it from his head during a drunken assault against the mobster following a dismissed case in court (brought on by Sipowicz's harassment of the mobster). Giardella's wig would be removed two more times when Sipowicz would throw a plant pot at him and during his murder when rival mobsters gunned him down for his role in testifying to United States' Attorneys.
Wheel of Fortune
At the end of the April 1, 2008 episode, Pat Sajak
says to Vanna White
that he "lives the lie" and wears a toupée. She thinks he is kidding and he dares her to rip it off his head. After much hesitation, she does and Pat is shown with a shaved head. He then makes a reference to Howie Mandel
of Deal or No Deal
. This was revealed to be an "April Fool's" joke in a later episode of the show, which included footage of Sajak having a bald cap applied, and then being fitted for a full wig that matched his own hair. It was said that Vanna did not know exactly what was going to be revealed when she tugged on the wig, allowing for her natural expression of shock.
Spitting Image
Puppets of Paul Daniels
and his wig with a life of its own were often featured on Spitting Image
. On his own website, Daniels says that he laughed at the sketches and used his wig humorously in his own work.
Golden Girls
A toupée would often be the joke when talking to Dorothy Zbornak's ex-husband, Stan Zbornak. Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty
) used to tease Stan all the time about his toupée.
This list is presented for illustrative purposes, to show the prevalence of toupée use throughout history: it is not intended to mock the wearers. Due to sensitivities regarding the living, only deceased, publicly known (and often, self-admitted) toupée wearers, are listed here. These include:
Fake hair
Artificial hair integrations, more commonly known as hair extensions, add length to human hair.Hair extensions are methods of adding commercial hair to natural hair. These methods are used to conceal thinning or hair loss in concentrated areas. Another form of extensions are feather extensions...
or partial wig of natural or synthetic hair worn to cover partial baldness
Baldness
Baldness implies partial or complete lack of hair and can be understood as part of the wider topic of "hair thinning". The degree and pattern of baldness can vary greatly, but its most common cause is male and female pattern baldness, also known as androgenic alopecia, alopecia androgenetica or...
or for theatrical purposes. While toupées and hairpieces are typically associated with male wearers, some women also use hairpieces to lengthen existing hair, or cover partially exposed scalp. The desire to wear hairpieces is a response to a long-standing bias against balding that crosses cultures, dating to at least 3100 BC. Toupée manufacturers' financial results indicate that toupée use is an overall decline, due in part to alternative methods for dealing with baldness, and to greater cultural acceptance of the condition.
Toupées and wigs
While most toupées are small and designed to cover bald spots at the top and back of the head, large toupées are not unknown.Toupées are often referred to as "hairpieces", "units", or "hair systems" by those seeking to avoid the negative connotations that the word "toupée" conjures up. Many women now wear hairpieces rather than full wigs if their hair loss is confined to the top and crown of their heads.
Etymology
According to various sources referenced by Dictionary.com, toupée is related to the French words "top," or "tuft;" tuft as the curl or lock of hair at the top of the head, not necessarily relating to covering baldness. Toupée is related to the diminutive toupe more recently (as of the 17th century).History
Use and attitudes in ancient history
The desire for men to wear hairpieces is a response to a long-standing cultural bias against balding men that crosses cultures. Between 1 BC and AD 1, the Roman poet OvidOvid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
wrote Ars Amatoria
Ars Amatoria
The Ars amatoria is an instructional love elegy in three books by the Roman poet Ovid, penned around 2 CE. It claims to provide teaching in three areas of general preoccupation: how and where to find women in Rome, how to seduce them, and how to prevent others from stealing them.-Background:After...
("The Art of Love") in which he expressed "Ugly are hornless bulls, a field without grass is an eyesore, So is a tree without leaves, so is a head without hair." Another example of this bias, in a later and different culture, can be found in The Arabian Nights (c. AD 800-900), in which the female character Scheherazade
Scheherazade
Scheherazade , sometimes Scheherazadea, Persian transliteration Shahrazad or Shahrzād is a legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights.-Narration :...
asks "Is there anything more ugly in the world than a man beardless and bald as an artichoke
Artichoke
-Plants:* Globe artichoke, a partially edible perennial thistle originating in southern Europe around the Mediterranean* Jerusalem artichoke, a species of sunflower with an edible tuber...
?"
The earliest known example of a toupée was found in a tomb near the ancient Predynastic
Predynastic Egypt
The Prehistory of Egypt spans the period of earliest human settlement to the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt in ca. 3100 BC, starting with King Menes/Narmer....
capital of Egypt, Hierakonpolis. The tomb and its contents date to (ca. 3200 – 3100 BC.)
At least two ancient Greek statues of men wearing toupées survive today, one identified as a Capitoline type, presently located in Thorvaldsens Museum
Thorvaldsens Museum
The Thorvaldsen Museum is a single-artist museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, dedicated to the art of Danish neoclassicistic sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen , who lived and worked in Rome for most of his life . The museum is located on the small island of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen next to...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
.
Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
is known to have worn a toupée. In dismay at his pattern baldness, he tried both wearing a toupée, and shaving his head. Some state that he wore his trademark ceremonial wreath to disguise his shrinking hairline. Roman men of the era were also known to paint their bald heads to appear to have locks of hair.
19th century
In the United States, toupée use (as opposed to wigs) grew in the 19th century. One researcher has noted that this is in part due to a shift in perceptions over the perceived value of aging that occurred at that time. Men chose to attempt to appear younger, and toupées were one method used.
...since 1800, the U.S. Census generally shows far more 39-year-olds than 40-year-olds. Furthermore, the costume of men switched from a design clearly intended to make the young look older to one that was clearly intended to make the old look younger. For example, this era saw the decline of the wig and the rise of the toupée.
20th century
By the 1950s, it was estimated that over 350,000 U.S. men wore hair pieces, out of a potential 15 million wearers. Toupée manufacturers helped to build credibility for their product starting in 1954, when several makers advertised hair pieces in major magazines and newspapers, with successful results. Key to the promotion and acceptance of Toupées was improved toupée craftsmanship, pioneered by Max FactorMax Factor
Max Factor & Company is a cosmetics company, founded during 1909 by Maksymilian Faktorowicz , Max Factor, a Polish-Jewish cosmetician. Max Factor & Company was a related, two-family, multi-generational international cosmetics company before its sale in 1973 for $500 million dollars...
. Factor's toupées were carefully made and almost invisible, with each strand of hair sewed to a piece of fine flesh-colored lace, and in a variety of long and short hairstyles. Factor, also a Hollywood Makeup innovator, was the supplier of choice for most Hollywood actors.
By 1959, total U.S. sales were estimated by Time Magazine to be $15 million a year. Sears-Roebuck, which had sold Toupées as early as 1900 via its mail order catalog, tried to tap into the market by sending out 30,000 special catalogs by direct mail
Direct mail
Advertising mail, also known as direct mail, junk mail, or admail, is the delivery of advertising material to recipients of postal mail. The delivery of advertising mail forms a large and growing service for many postal services, and direct-mail marketing forms a significant portion of the direct...
to a targeted list, advertising "career winning" hair products manufactured by Joseph Fleischer & Co., a respected wig manufacturer. Toupées continued to be advertised in print, likely with heavier media buys (Advertising media selection
Advertising media selection
Advertising media selection is the process of choosing the most cost-effective media for advertising, to achieve the required coverage and number of exposures in a target audience.-Frequency:...
) taking place in magazines with the appropriate male demographic. A typical "advertorial
Advertorial
An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of an editorial. The term "advertorial" is a portmanteau of "advertisement" and "editorial." Merriam-Webster dates the origin of the word to 1946....
" can be found in Modern Mechanix.
By 1970, Time Magazine estimated that in the U.S., toupées were worn by more than 2.5 million men out of 17 - 20 million balding men. The increase was chalked up once again to further improvements in hairpiece technology, a desire to seem more youthful, and the long hairstyles that were increasingly in fashion.
21st century
Toupée and wig manufacture is no longer centered in the U.S., but in Asia. Aderans, based in Japan, is one of the world’s largest wigmakers, with 35% share of the Japanese domestic market.From 2002 to 2004, new orders from Aderans’s male customers (both domestic and international) slipped by 30%. Researchers at both the Daiwa Institute and Nomura Research – two key Japanese economic research institutes – conclude that there is "no sign of a recovery" for the toupée industry. Sales for male wearers have continued to fall at Aderans in every year since .
These numbers confirm the media consensus hypothesis that toupée use is an overall decline. No reliable sources have stated numbers for the estimated population of toupée users in the U.S. or internationally, so comparisons to past eras are difficult to make with any accuracy. Regardless, hairpiece manufacturers and retailers continue to market their goods in print, on television, and on the internet.
Manufacture
Toupées are often custom made to the needs of the wearer, and can be manufactured using either synthetic or human hair. Toupées are usually held to one's head using an adhesive, but the cheaper versions often merely use an elastic band.Toupée manufacture is often done at the local level by a craftsman, but large wig manufacturers also produce toupées. Both individuals and large firms have constantly innovated to produce better quality toupées and toupée material, with over 60 patents for toupées. and over 260 for hairpieces filed at the U.S. Patent Office since 1790.
Interestingly, the first patent for a toupée was filed in 1921, while the first patent for a "hairpiece", was filed in 1956.
Hair weaves
Hair weaveHair weave
A hair weave is a very general term used to describe human or artificial hair used to alter one's natural hair appearance by adding additional hair to one's natural hair or by covering the natural hair altogether with human or synthetic hair pieces. The highest-quality extension hair is Indian...
s are a technique in which the toupée's base is then woven into whatever natural hair the wearer retains. While this (it is often promised) results in a less detectable toupée, the wearer can experience discomfort, and sometimes hair loss from frequently retightening of the weave as one's own hair grows. After about six months a person can begin to lose hair permanently along the weave area, resulting in traction alopecia
Traction alopecia
Traction alopecia is a form of alopecia, or gradual hair loss, caused primarily by pulling force being applied to the hair. This commonly results from the sufferer frequently wearing his/her hair in a particularly tight ponytail, pigtails, or braids...
. Hair weaves were very popular in the 1980s & 1990s, but are not usually recommended because of the potential for permanent hair damage and hair loss.
Use and maintenance
While toupée dealers attempt to match the toupée's color to the natural hair color of the wearer, sometimes the colors are not identical. This color mismatch is often exacerbated when a toupée is poorly cared for and fades, or the wearer's hair color turns gray while the toupée retains its original color. However a good salon will take this into account and will have the expertise to handle any problems. New technology has allowed hair manufacturers to mimic human hair, over coming all the weaknesses of human hair.While toupée dealers and manufacturers usually advertise their products showing men swimming, water-skiing and enjoying watersports, these activities can often cause irreversible wear to the toupée. Saltwater and chlorine can cause a toupée to "wear out" quickly. Many shampoos and soaps will damage toupée fibers, which unlike natural hair, cannot grow back or replace themselves.
While dealers of toupées can in fact help many customers to care for their toupées and make their presence virtually undetectable, the hairpieces must be of very high quality to begin with, carefully fit and maintained regularly and carefully. Even the best-cared-for toupée will need to be replaced on a regular basis, due to wear and, over time, to the growing areas of baldness on the wearer's head and changes in shade to remaining hair. Some recommend that if one chooses to use a toupée, three should be owned at any one time - one to wear while its counterpart is being cleaned, and a spare.
Alternatives
Men typically wear toupées after resorting to less extreme methods of coverage. The first tactic is to make remaining hair appear thick and widespread through a combover. Other alternatives include non-surgical hair replacement, which consists of a very thin hair piece which is put on with a medical adhesive and worn for weeks at a time.Medications and medical procedures
Propecia, RogaineMinoxidil
Minoxidil is an antihypertensive vasodilator medication which also slows or stops hair loss and promotes hair regrowth. Now off-patent, it is available over-the-counter for the treatment of androgenic alopecia. Minoxidil must be used indefinitely for continued support of existing hair follicles and...
and other pharmaceutical remedies were approved for treatment of Alopecia
Androgenetic alopecia
Androgenic alopecia is the most common cause of hair loss and thinning in humans. Variants appear in both men and women. Androgenic alopecia also occurs in chimpanzees, and orangutans. In humans, this condition is also commonly known as male pattern baldness...
by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the 1990s. These have proven capable of regrowing or sustaining existing hair at least part of the time.
However, hair transplantation
Hair transplantation
Hair transplantation is a surgical technique that involves moving individual hair follicles from one part of the body to bald or balding parts . It is primarily used to treat male pattern baldness. It this case, grafts containing hair follicles that are genetically resistant to balding are...
, which guarantees at least some immediate results, has often replaced the use of toupées among those who can afford them, particularly onscreen celebrities.
Baldness as fashion, acceptance of hair loss
Other trends leading to the decline in toupée use include a rise in acceptance of baldness by those men afflicted with it. Short haircuts, in fashion since the 1990s, have tended to minimize the appearance of baldness, and many balding men choose to shave their heads entirely - a trend sparked in part by famous male pattern baldness sufferer Michael JordanMichael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
.
Chemotherapy and injury
An important exception to the typical reasons for wearing a toupée is that recovering chemotherapyChemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
patients sometimes wear toupées. This type of hairpiece is technically referred to as a hair prosthesis
Hair prosthesis
A Hair prosthesis , is a custom-made wig specifically designed for patients who have lost their hair as a result of medical conditions or treatments, such as alopecia areata...
. A positive self-image has often been said to assist in the recovery process, and doctors often help direct recovering patients to find hairpieces to help project their usual healthy appearance. This effort is particularly made when the recovering patient is a child, or a woman.
Another exception is that if a person's head has been damaged by an accident, or through a surgical procedure, the victim or patient may wish to conceal scarring. Steven Van Zandt
Steven Van Zandt
Steven Van Zandt is an Italian-American musician, songwriter, arranger, record producer, actor, and radio disc jockey, who frequently goes by the stage names Little Steven or Miami Steve...
of the E Street Band
E Street Band
The E Street Band has been rock musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972.The band has also recorded with a wide range of other artists including Bob Dylan, Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Air Supply, Dire Straits, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Nicks, Tom Morello, Sting, Ian...
wore a toupée in his role on The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
to cover scarring he had received after a car accident several years prior. While performing onstage, and in his personal life, Van Zandt favors a bandanna.
There are at least four charities that specialize in providing hairpieces for children that have lost hair due to Chemotherapy, medical treatment or head injury:
- Locks of Love - A charitable organization for children who have lost their hair after medical treatment
- Wigs for Kids - A charitable organization for children who have lost hair due to chemotherapy
- The American Cancer Society Tender Loving Care Wigs
- Hair That Cares, Inc. - A charitable organization for adults and children who have lost their hair after medical treatment and Alopecia
In popular culture
Toupées have a long and often humorous history in Western culture. The toupée is a regular butt of jokes in many media, with a typical toupée joke focusing on the wearer's inability to recognize how ineffective the toupée is in concealing his baldness. An early instance of "toupée humor" was an illustration by George CruikshankGeorge Cruikshank
George Cruikshank was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience.-Early life:Cruikshank was born in London...
in "The Comic Almanack" in 1837, in which he drew the effect of a strong wind, with a man's toupée whipped from his head.
In the 20th century, toupées were a source of humour in virtually all forms of media, including cartoons, films, radio and television. In the 21st century, toupées continue to be a source for humor, with a variety of internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
sites devoted to toupées, with a special emphasis on suspected celebrity hairpiece wearers.
Politics
J. Hamilton Lewis
J. Hamilton Lewis
James Hamilton Lewis was the first Senator to hold the title of Whip in the United States Senate. Lewis was born in Danville, Virginia, and also grew up in Augusta, Georgia...
, US Congressman and US Senator from Illinois, was famous for his old fashioned dress and "wavy pink toupée" in the US Senate of the 1930s.
Books
The Adventures of Tom SawyerThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. The story is set in the Town of "St...
In Chapter 21, the Schoolmaster - a minor antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
in the book, and a taskmaster that drove his students - is made the object of fun during a School presentation. With all in town present, the Schoolmaster - unsteady from an evening of sneaking alcohol - is attempting to draw a map of the US on the chalkboard. From above him in the attic, a cat is being slowly lowered through a trapdoor directly above his head. As soon as the cat can reach it, the cat snags the schoolmaster’s toupée, revealing his bald head.
Movies
Toupées have been a source for humor since the early days of cinema, in part due to the lack of sound and the strong visual componenent in any "loss of toupée humor". Some notable examples include:Harold's Toupée
A 1913 black and white silent film starring Louis Simon, a silent film comedian.
Safety Last
Harold Lloyd's classic 1923 film includes a sequence in which a mouse crawls up the leg of Lloyd's trousers while he dangles from the outside of a building, sending him into contortions. When he finally shakes it out, the mouse falls down the wall of the building and in the process removes a toupée from a spectator peering out of a lower window.
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
Short Subjects
Laurel and Hardy did not make a particular film devoted to toupée humor, but it was included in many of their films in the 1920s and 1930s. Their frequent supporting actor, Jimmy Finlayson
Jimmy Finlayson
James Henderson "Jimmy" Finlayson was a Scottish actor who worked in both silent and sound comedies. Bald, with a fake moustache, Finlayson had many trademark comic mannerisms and is famous for his squinting, outraged, "double take and fade away" head reaction, and characteristic expression...
, would often make an appearance wearing an outrageous mustache or humorously obvious toupée.
The Wings of Eagles
The Wings of Eagles
The Wings of Eagles is a 1957 Metrocolor film about Frank "Spig" Wead and US Naval aviation from its inception through World War II. The film is a tribute to Wead from his friend, director John Ford....
Notable for being the only film in which John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
intentionally showed his naturally balding head. After Wake of the Red Witch
Wake of the Red Witch
Wake of the Red Witch is a 1948 drama film from Republic Pictures starring John Wayne and Gail Russell, produced by Edmund Grainger, and based upon the novel by Garland Roark...
(1948), John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
wore a toupée for every film, with the exception of later scenes of The Wings of Eagles
The Wings of Eagles
The Wings of Eagles is a 1957 Metrocolor film about Frank "Spig" Wead and US Naval aviation from its inception through World War II. The film is a tribute to Wead from his friend, director John Ford....
(1957), in which he played Frank Wead
Frank Wead
Frank Wilbur "Spig" Wead was a U.S. Navy aviator turned screenwriter who helped promote United States Naval aviation from its inception through World War II.-Military service:A 1916 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Wead began to promote Naval Aviation after World War...
, (aka Spig Wead) a naval aviation pioneer and screenwriter. In the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
-era scenes, the older Spig Wead has a noticeably bald head - Wayne's own. In both The Fighting Kentuckian (1949) and North to Alaska
North to Alaska
North to Alaska is a 1960 comedic western movie directed by Henry Hathaway and John Wayne . It starred Wayne along with Stewart Granger, Ernie Kovacs, Fabian and Capucine....
(1960), Wayne's hairpiece is knocked off during a fight scene, unnoticed until after each film's release. A similar occurrence happens in The Quiet Man
The Quiet Man
The Quiet Man is a 1952 American Technicolor romantic comedy-drama film. It was directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen and Barry Fitzgerald. It was based on a 1933 Saturday Evening Post short story by Maurice Walsh...
, only this time Wayne's cap falls off after a punch, and he's not wearing his rug underneath. Wayne never denied wearing a hairpiece and during the Harvard Hasty Pudding Club
Hasty Pudding Club
The Hasty Pudding Club is a social club for Harvard students. It was founded by Nymphus Hatch, a junior at Harvard College, in 1770. The club is named for the traditional American dish that the founding members ate at their first meeting...
roast of him he answered a student's question about his "phony hair with the reply "It's not phony. It's real hair. Of course, it's not mine, but it's real."
An Everlasting Piece
An Everlasting Piece
An Everlasting Piece is a 2000 American comedy film. The movie was directed by Barry Levinson and written by and starring Barry McEvoy. The plot involves two wig salesmen, one Catholic and one Protestant, who live in war torn Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the mid-'80s...
A 2000 comedy with dramatic elements, set in Belfast in the 1980s. It features a pair of door-to-door toupée salesmen - one Catholic, one Protestant. The pair build an unlikely business and friendship, and a book of customers on both sides of the conflict.
Radio
Jack BennyJack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
made himself the butt of many jokes on his radio show, including jokes about his cheapness and his toupée. In fact, he only wore a hairpiece for certain character roles in films, but he recognized the laugh value and since it was radio, no one could tell he wasn't wearing one.
George Burns
George Burns
George Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, film, radio, television and movies, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became...
also admitted that he wore a toupée on his radio show with Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
but it was not played up on the show except when the joke called for it.
Ron Santo
Ron Santo
Ronald Edward Santo was an American professional baseball player and long-time radio sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1974, most notably as the third baseman for the Chicago Cubs. A nine-time All-Star, he was a powerful hitter who was also a good defensive...
, the color commentator
Color commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
for Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
radio broadcasts, wore a toupée, and often joked about it with his on-air partner Pat Hughes
Pat Hughes (baseball)
Vergil Patrick "Pat" Hughes has been the play-by-play voice of the Chicago Cubs, working for WGN radio, since 1996. He partnered with color commentator Ron Santo, former All-Star third baseman for the Cubs from 1996 until 2010, when Santo died of cancer. Their unique on-air chemistry came to be...
, hinting that he had different toupées for different occasions. They also referred to incidents such as Santo leaving a toupée in his hotel room, or when he accidentally scorched his toupée by standing near an overhead heater at Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
.
Television
TV comedy writers often resort to the toupée as a joke involving episodes involving blind dates, television personalities, vanity or all three. Typical scenarios involve either the wearer having a "sudden embarrassing reveal" or "obliviously not realizing his toupée is missing or askew." Notable, and more creative, uses of the toupée for TV comedy include:Toupées were perhaps most famously used for comedy in an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
, Episode 128 "Coast-to-Coast Big Mouth". During the episode, Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore is an American actress, primarily known for her roles in television sitcoms. Moore is best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show , in which she starred as Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman who worked as a local news producer in Minneapolis, and for her earlier role as...
, playing the part of Laura Petrie, wife of Rob Petrie played by Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...
accidentally reveals to a television audience that Rob's boss, the famous television comedian Alan Brady, played by Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner is an American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian. He has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during this career...
, wears a toupée. This running gag about Alan Brady's toupée on The Dick Van Dyke Show was based on Max Liebman, the producer of Your Show of Shows
Your Show of Shows
Your Show of Shows is a live 90-minute variety show that appeared weekly in the United States on NBC , from February 25, 1950, until June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca....
(1950), who also wore a toupée.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
Episode 41 of Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
, which first aired on November 7, 1974, featured a skit named "Toupée Department" in which all the employees of the store are wearing atrocious toupées, but none of them realize that their fellow employees are bald. (They all think they're the only one wearing a toupée.) When Eric Idle
Eric Idle
Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....
walks in with a full head of real hair, they all believe he is wearing a toupée and try to convince him to buy a better one.
Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
In Season 6, Episode 99 of Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
, "The Scofflaw
The Scofflaw
"The Scofflaw" is the 99th episode of the NBC sitcom "Seinfeld". It was the 13th episode for the 6th season. It aired on January 26, 1995.-Plot:...
", George Costanza
George Costanza
George Louis Costanza is a character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Jason Alexander. He has variously been described as a "short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man" , "Lord of the Idiots" , and as "the greatest sitcom character of all time"...
wears a toupée for the first time. In Episode 102, "The Beard
The Beard
"The Beard" is the 102nd episode of the NBC situation comedy Seinfeld. This was the 16th episode for the 6th season. It aired on February 9, 1995.-Plot:...
", George wears his toupée to a date set up by Cosmo Kramer
Cosmo Kramer
Cosmo Kramer, usually referred to as simply "Kramer", is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Michael Richards...
, only to find that the woman, Denise, is bald. When he turns her down and tells Elaine about it, she yells "YOU'RE BALD!" to George, who replies "I was bald". Elaine then tears the toupée from George's head and throws it out the window, with George nearly jumping out after it. Later, George decides to continue seeing Denise, who after realizing George is bald, turns him down. Jason Alexander
Jason Alexander
Jay Scott Greenspan , better known by his professional name of Jason Alexander, is an American actor, writer, comedian, television director, producer, and singer. He is best known for his role as George Costanza on the television series Seinfeld, appearing in the sitcom from 1989 to 1998...
, the actor portraying Costanza, wore a small toupée for his part as the agent Albert J. Peterson in the 1995 TV movie of Bye Bye Birdie.
Cheers
Cheers
Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
It was revealed that Sam Malone wore a toupée over the bald spot on the back of his head, in the episode called "It's Lonely at the Top."
The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
The Sopranos used toupées for dark humor twice during the run of the series. First during Season Two, in Do Not Resuscitate
Do Not Resuscitate (The Sopranos episode)
"Do Not Resuscitate" is the fifteenth episode of the HBO original series "The Sopranos" and the second of the show's second season. It was written by Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess and Frank Renzulli, directed by Martin Bruestle and originally aired on Sunday, January 23, 2000.-Starring:* James...
, when Tony Soprano
Tony Soprano
Anthony John "Tony" Soprano, Sr. is an Italian-American fictional character and the protagonist on the HBO television drama series The Sopranos, on which he is portrayed by James Gandolfini. The character was conceived by The Sopranos creator and show runner David Chase, who was also largely...
has the Executive Director of the Green Grove Retirement Community murdered to prevent him from informing on him to the police, and the New Jersey State Trooper coming across his abandoned car, finds the toupée before the body, which was in the trunk. Second, during Season Four, in Whoever Did This, Christopher Moltisanti
Christopher Moltisanti
Christopher "Chris" Moltisanti, played by Michael Imperioli, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was Tony Soprano's protégé and a Capo in the Soprano crime family.-Biography:...
finds that Ralph Cifaretto wears a toupée when it slips off his head while he attempted to dismember his dead body.
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
In Season One, mobster Alphonse Giardella, a nemesis of NYPD Detective Andy Sipowicz
Andy Sipowicz
Andy Sipowicz is a fictional character and protagonist on the popular ABC television series NYPD Blue. Dennis Franz portrayed the character for its entire run....
is seen wearing a toupée. Sipowicz frequently points out Giardella's "rug" and is seen violently removing it from his head during a drunken assault against the mobster following a dismissed case in court (brought on by Sipowicz's harassment of the mobster). Giardella's wig would be removed two more times when Sipowicz would throw a plant pot at him and during his murder when rival mobsters gunned him down for his role in testifying to United States' Attorneys.
Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
At the end of the April 1, 2008 episode, Pat Sajak
Pat Sajak
Pat Sajak is a television personality, former weatherman, actor and talk show host, best known as the host of the American television game show Wheel of Fortune.-Early life:...
says to Vanna White
Vanna White
Vanna White is an American television personality and film actress best known as the hostess of Wheel of Fortune since 1982.-Early life:...
that he "lives the lie" and wears a toupée. She thinks he is kidding and he dares her to rip it off his head. After much hesitation, she does and Pat is shown with a shaved head. He then makes a reference to Howie Mandel
Howie Mandel
Howard Michael "Howie" Mandel is a Canadian stand-up comedian, television host, and actor. He is well known as host of the NBC game show Deal or No Deal, as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. Before his career as a game show host, Mandel was best known for his role on...
of Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which was the Dutch Miljoenenjacht produced by Dutch producer Endemol. It is played with up to 26 cases with certain sums of money...
. This was revealed to be an "April Fool's" joke in a later episode of the show, which included footage of Sajak having a bald cap applied, and then being fitted for a full wig that matched his own hair. It was said that Vanna did not know exactly what was going to be revealed when she tugged on the wig, allowing for her natural expression of shock.
Spitting Image
Spitting Image
Spitting Image is a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Television. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one for editing in 1989....
Puppets of Paul Daniels
Paul Daniels
Paul Daniels, born Newton Edward Daniels on 6 April 1938, is a British magician and television performer. He achieved international fame through his television series The Paul Daniels Magic Show, which ran on the BBC from 1979 to 1994.-Early life:...
and his wig with a life of its own were often featured on Spitting Image
Spitting Image
Spitting Image is a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Television. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one for editing in 1989....
. On his own website, Daniels says that he laughed at the sketches and used his wig humorously in his own work.
Golden Girls
A toupée would often be the joke when talking to Dorothy Zbornak's ex-husband, Stan Zbornak. Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty
Estelle Getty
Estelle Scher-Gettleman , better known by her stage name Estelle Getty, was an American actress, who appeared in film, television, and theatre...
) used to tease Stan all the time about his toupée.
Music
Songs and Albums featuring toupées are rather rare, but include:- Hell Toupée, by TurbonegroTurbonegroTurbonegro is a Norwegian punk rock band that was initially active from 1989 to 1998, and later reformed in 2002. Their style combines glam rock, punk rock and hard rock into a style the band describes as "deathpunk"....
- Purple Toupée, by They Might Be GiantsThey Might Be GiantsThey Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...
- Nashville Toupée, by Southern Culture on the SkidsSouthern Culture on the SkidsSouthern Culture on the Skids, also sometimes known as SCOTS, is an American rock band that was formed in 1983 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina...
- Haunted Hairpiece, by Wax Factor
- Hairpiece Lullaby 1 & 2, by Sonic YouthSonic YouthSonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
- Give Me Back My Wig, by Stevie Ray VaughanStevie Ray VaughanStephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
(actually by Hound Dog TaylorHound Dog TaylorTheodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor was an American Chicago blues guitarist and singer.-Career:Taylor was born in Natchez, Mississippi in 1915 . He originally played piano, but began playing guitar when he was 20...
, but covered by Vaughan) - Pico's Mexican Hairpiece, by The Jerky Boys
- Toupée, by Australian comedy duo Lano & Woodley
- Wig, by the B-52'sThe B-52'sThe B-52's are an American rock band, formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976. The original line-up consisted of Fred Schneider , Kate Pierson , Cindy Wilson , Ricky Wilson , and Keith Strickland . Following Ricky Wilson's death in 1985 Strickland switched to guitar...
- Cocaine & Toupées, by Mindless Self IndulgenceMindless Self IndulgenceMindless Self Indulgence is an American musical group formed in New York in 1997. Their music has a mixed style including rap, punk rock, alternative rock, electronica, techno and industrial...
- Ebay, by Weird Al Yankovic
Known wearers
Wearers of toupées take pains to keep their use secret, but all too often, its presence is obvious, or at least evident enough to engender suspicion. Film and television stars of both past and present often wear toupées for professional reasons, particularly as they begin to age and need to maintain the image their fans have become accustomed to. However, many of these same celebrities go "uncovered" when not working or making public appearances.This list is presented for illustrative purposes, to show the prevalence of toupée use throughout history: it is not intended to mock the wearers. Due to sensitivities regarding the living, only deceased, publicly known (and often, self-admitted) toupée wearers, are listed here. These include:
- Bud AbbottBud AbbottWilliam Alexander "Bud" Abbott was an American actor, producer and comedian. He is best remembered as the straight man of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Lou Costello.-Early life:...
(wore a front toupée in early films) - Marv AlbertMarv AlbertMarv Albert is an American television and radio sportscaster. Honored for his work as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he is commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball." From 1967–2004, he was also known as "the voice of the New York Knicks."Including Super Bowl XLII, Marv has called...
- Fred AstaireFred AstaireFred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
(he appeared sans toupée while entertaining the troops overseas) - Raymond BaileyRaymond BaileyRaymond Thomas Bailey was an American actor on the Broadway stage, movies, and television. He is best known for his role as wealthy banker, Milburn Drysdale, in the television series The Beverly Hillbillies....
- Bruce ForsythBruce ForsythSir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson, CBE , commonly known as Bruce Forsyth, or Brucie, is an English TV personality...
- Edgar BergenEdgar BergenEdgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.-Early life:...
- Humphrey BogartHumphrey BogartHumphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
- George BurnsGeorge BurnsGeorge Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, film, radio, television and movies, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became...
- Julius CaesarJulius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
- Archie CampbellArchie CampbellArchie Campbell was an American writer and star of Hee Haw, a popular long-running country-flavored network television variety show...
- this Hee HawHee HawHee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...
comedian was said to be so sensitive about his balding head that he would not let visitors see him in the hospital because he could not put on his toupée. - Sean ConnerySean ConnerySir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
Bond actor, used toupee only in movies - Gary CooperGary CooperFrank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
(he was not totally bald but used a "thickening" toupée in later years, which was on display at the Max FactorMax FactorMax Factor & Company is a cosmetics company, founded during 1909 by Maksymilian Faktorowicz , Max Factor, a Polish-Jewish cosmetician. Max Factor & Company was a related, two-family, multi-generational international cosmetics company before its sale in 1973 for $500 million dollars...
Museum in Hollywood) - Howard CosellHoward CosellHoward William Cosell was an American sports journalist who was widely known for his blustery, cocksure personality. Cosell said of himself, "Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. I have been called all of these...
- Bing CrosbyBing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
(chose not to wear a toupée during WWII USO Tours) - Peter CushingPeter CushingPeter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
often wore a toupée in films in later years, but equally often appeared without it, letting the character he was playing dictate the hair style. - Bobby DarinBobby DarinBobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
- Charles O. FinleyCharles O. FinleyCharles Oscar Finley , nicknamed Charlie O or Charley O, was an American businessman who is best remembered for his tenure as the owner of the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team. Finley purchased the franchise while it was located in Kansas City, moving it to Oakland in 1968...
, former owner of the Oakland AthleticsOakland AthleticsThe Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum.... - Ted Healy (Original owner of the Three StoogesThree StoogesThe Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
) - Charlton HestonCharlton HestonCharlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
- Gene KellyGene KellyEugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
(when not on camera, he wore caps or trilby hats) - Jack KlugmanJack KlugmanJacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman is an American stage, film and television actor known for his roles in sitcoms, movies, and television and on Broadway...
- he wore one during his time on The Odd CoupleThe Odd Couple (TV series)The Odd Couple is a television situation comedy broadcast from September 24, 1970 to July 4, 1975 on ABC. It starred Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison. It was based upon the play of the same name, which was written by Neil Simon.Felix and Oscar are two divorced men....
and Quincy, M.E.Quincy, M.E.Quincy, M.E., also called Quincy, is a United States television series from Universal Studios that aired from October 3, 1976, to September 5, 1983, on NBC...
, but his appearances on Match GameMatch GameMatch Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
during the same time, he did not wear one. - Frankie LaineFrankie LaineFrankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
- Bela LugosiBéla LugosiBéla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
(he was not bald, but in DraculaDraculaDracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
he wore a front toupée to give him a widow's peak) - Fred MacMurrayFred MacMurrayFrederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
- Miles MallesonMiles MallesonWilliam Miles Malleson was an English actor and dramatist, particularly known for his appearances in British comedy films of the 1930s to 1960s. Towards the end of his career he also appeared in cameo roles in several Hammer horror films, with a fairly large role in The Brides of Dracula as the...
- Groucho MarxGroucho MarxJulius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
- he wore one for his television quiz show You Bet Your LifeYou Bet Your LifeYou Bet Your Life is an American quiz show that aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio in October 1947, then moved to CBS Radio in September...
, but during the same period would sometimes appear on talk shows without it. - John L. Mica US Congressman from Florida
- James C. MortonJames C. MortonJames C. Morton was an American character actor. He appeared in 187 films between 1922 and 1943.-Career:...
- Charles Nelson ReillyCharles Nelson ReillyCharles Nelson Reilly was an American actor, comedian, director and drama teacher known for his comedic roles in theater, movies, children's television, animated cartoons, and as a panelist on the game show Match Game....
- it was a long-standing joke on Match Game; in the 1970s. During the airing of one broadcast, he actually took off his toupée and loaned it to a bald guest. - Carl ReinerCarl ReinerCarl Reiner is an American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian. He has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during this career...
- the comic actor would regularly appear with or without the toupée, depending on the requirements of the role. - Rob ReinerRob ReinerRobert "Rob" Reiner is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and political activist.As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence as Archie and Edith Bunker's son-in-law, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, on All in the Family. That role earned him two Emmy Awards during the 1970s...
- Reiner started wearing a hair piece during the second season of All in the FamilyAll in the FamilyAll in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
to hide his premature hair loss, as he was playing a character who was in his early 20's. - John D. RockefellerJohn D. RockefellerJohn Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
- William RothWilliam V. Roth, Jr.William Victor "Bill" Roth, Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a veteran of World War II and a member of the Republican Party, who served as U.S. Representative and U.S...
, Senator from Delaware - Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
- James StewartJames Stewart (actor)James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
- James TraficantJames TraficantJames Anthony Traficant, Jr. is a former Democratic Representative in the United States Congress from Ohio . He represented the 17th Congressional District, which centered on his hometown of Youngstown and included parts of three counties in northeast Ohio's Mahoning Valley...
- Billy VaughnBilly VaughnRichard "Billy" Vaughn was an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, orchestra leader, and A&R man for Dot Records....
- John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
- Hank Williams
- Ray MillandRay MillandRay Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...