Three Things You Probably Didn‘t Know About ’Anti-Fascist Warrior Hairdresser’ Vidal Sassoon
- Posted on May 9, 2012 at 7:01pm by
Tiffany Gabbay
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From shampoos and conditioners to hairdryers and other styling tools, there are few who haven’t used, at some point in his or her lifetime, a Vidal Sassoon product. What most aren’t familiar with, however, is that the late Vidal Sassoon was more than just a trendsetting pioneer in the hairdressing industry. As it turns out, the man credited with popularizing the simple, “wash-and-wear” haircut also fought Islamists, Fascists and Anti-Semitism.
That’s quite a life worth celebrating.
While you will surely hear of his celebrity, and his place in American and British popular culture, Sassoon’s true legacy is one that you will likely not find reported on in any mainstream media outlet.
The orphan
Vidal Sassoon was a Sephardic Jew (Jews of Spanish, North African or Middle Eastern rather than Eastern European descent are typically referred to as “Sephardic”) born in Hammersmith, London. With a womanizing and absentee father, his mother could no longer afford the financial burden of single parenthood.
“I was born in 1928 and by 1931 the Depression was beginning to mount,” Sassoon reminisced during an interview with the Telegraph in 2011. “My father had left us, my brother, and myself. We were in Shepherd’s Bush, but we were being evicted, we had nowhere to go.”
He went on to explain that his uncle took them to a tenement on Petticoat Lane where there was only one toilet to serve four families — and it was located outside. “You froze in January. You would hope that someone had just been to keep the seat warm.”
His family was taken in by his mother’s sister, but with three children of her own, the situation proved untenable. Ultimately, Sassoon’s mother was forced to place him, along with his younger brother, in a Jewish orphanage. While his mother was allowed monthly visits, the two children remained there for seven years.
Sassoon always maintained that he never blamed his mother, who he remained close with her entire life.
The warrior
Upon his return to London, the 14-year-old started apprenticing as a hairdresser and by age 17 longed
to serve in the Second World War. He would soon find out that he did not need to go abroad to fight Fascists, however, as there were plenty right there in England. He was the youngest to join the “43 Group,” an organization founded in 1946 by Jewish veterans who had returned from war only to discover that British Union Fascist Oswald Mosley was fanning the flames of anti-Semitism across the city. Sassoon, along with his compatriots scoured the streets of east London breaking up any and all Fascist gatherings they uncovered. The British news outlet the Telegraph even gave the famed stylist the title, “anti-fascist warrior-hairdresser.”
In a program recorded for the BBC, Sassoon shared the story of how he once turned up to work with a black eye after a night fighting Fascists. Often, the 43 Group were only armed with knives and razor blades.
“I’ll never forget one morning I walked in and I had a hell of a bruise – it had been a difficult night the night before – and a client said to me, ‘Good God, Vidal, what happened to your face?’ And I said, ‘Oh, nothing, madam, I just fell over a hairpin’.”
By 1948, Sassoon did have the opportunity to serve in the military. This time for Israel. At age 20 he joined the Israel Defense Forces predecessor, the Haganah, and fought in Israel’s War of Independence. He described the experience of training with the Israelis in an interview with the Telegraph as “the best year of my life” stating:
When you think of 2,000 years of being put down and suddenly you are a nation rising, it was a wonderful feeling. There were only 600,000 people defending the country against five armies, so everyone had something to do.
Reflecting on his wartime experience, Sassoon continued, “we took a hill and attacked at four in the morning, took them by surprise.”
“It was a hill overlooking a main road where the Egyptian heads of the army were heading. If they had passed this spot they would have been in Tel Aviv in a few hours but we took them. Many Egyptians died trying to get up that hill. They had terrible casualties. A faceless man sent them out there and they probably wanted to be with their loved ones.”
He admitted that the killing saddened him, that he wouldn’t have had any self-respect if he didn’t, but that “somebody had to be one of those somebodies.”
The visionary
By the 1950′s, Sassoon began his hairdressing career in earnest — although back then the highly-shellacked beehive up-do was all the rage. He opened his first salon in London in 1954 but did not break industry-ground until the 1960s when he perfected his trademark bobs and asymmetrical haircuts which liberated women from being slaves to “the dryer.”
“My idea was to cut shape into the hair, to use it like fabric and take away everything that was superfluous,” Sassoon said in 1993 in the Los Angeles Times. “Women were going back to work, they were assuming their own power. They didn’t have time to sit under the dryer anymore.”
After working as a stylist for the lead actresses in two major motion pictures, Sassoon expanded his business, opening more salons, and eventually academies in England and the United States. He also developed a line of haircare products that are still on offer in stores across the world. You might recall his trademark slogan: “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good.”
Sassoon maintained the belief that hairdressing was an artform and shared his personal and professional experiences in three books over the course of his lifetime. He told the Chicago Tribune in 2004 that he was proud to work in the hairdressing industry:
“Hairdressers are a wonderful breed,” he said. “You work one-on-one with another human being and the object is to make them feel so much better and to look at themselves with a twinkle in their eye. Work on their bone structure, the color, the cut, whatever, but when you’ve finished, you have an enormous sense of satisfaction.”
The philanthropist
All of these experiences combined shaped Sassoon into an ardent philanthropist who was active in a number of charities and causes. Notably, in 1982, the Israeli War veteran founded The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was also a major contributor to The Boys Clubs of America and the Performing Arts Council of the Music Center of Los Angeles.
Sassoon remained an outspoken critic of anti-Semitism until his death, once saying that disgraced fashion designer John Galliano could and should “go to prison for six months” over a vitriolic outburst in which he professed his love for Adolf Hitler.
It was also clear that the style icon cherished family. He had four children, one of whom died on New Year’s Eve in 2002 of an apparent drug overdose and left behind three children of her own. In the Telegraph interview, Sassoon was markedly distraught by the experience and one could tell that he had hoped his daughter would have availed herself of all the opportunities he and her mother had provided her.
His other children include a daughter, Eden, and sons Elan and David, the latter of whom was adopted — likely indicative of the former orphan’s compassion and empathy.
In the same Telegraph interview cited above, Sassoon recalled his mother fondly, saying “in the final analysis my mother was proud of me.”
Sadly, after a three-year-long battle with Leukemia, the brilliant businessman and visionary, pop-culture icon, righteous warrior, and member of the Greatest Generation died at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday. He was 84.
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Comments (43)
Detroit paperboy
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 11:49pmWow, very cool story , I hadn’t even heard he passed away……R.I.P. Sir……
Report Post »Anamah
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 2:18amMy deep respect for you Vidal. What a great man!
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 6:36amI agree. I knew none of that. It was very enlightening.
Report Post »DanielBurke
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 7:08amA true patriot for his country. Bravo, Sir. RIP
Report Post »SOL52
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 11:34pmExcellent article. Thanks for printing it. I’ll only take exception to the phrase “is adopted” regarding one of Sassoon’s sons. Adoption is a legal act that occurs at one point in time; a point action. It is not an ongoing process. Once adopted, a child is a full and equal member of the family, no further distinction being made between siblings. The correct wording is “was adopted”. Sassoon, as a knowledgeable Jew, would have known this.
Report Post »mils
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 9:49amwe never use the word “adopted”…our kids are family, period.
Report Post »htowneric
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 11:00pmWhy am I just finding this out about him now, hmm. sad. RIP that was a very interesting group he was in: GROUP 43, thats awsome
Report Post »KellyR
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 10:58pmShalom Aleichem, Vidal!
Report Post »dontbotherme
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 10:11pmI had no idea of his amazing life story. This will be a lesson to me to remember that people are more than their jobs or professions. God bless his family & legacy.
Report Post »thibx
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 9:18pmgreat guy i wish more were like him. thank you sir
Report Post »petey
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 9:05pmI’ve always liked that guy,and now I absolutely love him.
Report Post »counts01
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 8:59pmWho would have thought this about Vidal Sassoon? As Chuck Stein wrote above my post, “… not exactly the kind of man I think of when I think of a ” hairdresser.“ ” I looked on other news websites and I could not find a hint of anything as meaningful as what is printed here about him. Only one mentioned that he fought with the IDF in 1948… that’s it.
Report Post »May the Lord comfort his family at this time.
Sagacious
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 8:30pmwonderful, thank you…!!
Report Post »WendyM
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 8:20pmWhat a wonderful, kind, courageous man. A quiet hero, which makes him more the hero. Rest in Peace
Report Post »Mojoron
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 8:00pmWhat a great story. I had no idea. I guess he would be a patriot if he were american.
Report Post »toomuchgovt
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 7:57pmThank you for telling me the truth about a interesting man. May he now finally find peace with the Lord.
Report Post »Mikes MuuMuus - Home of the Big Boy Burqa
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 7:46pmWow. Who knew?
Report Post »I guess Vidal‘s gallant history and background didn’t fit the media’s narrative for a male hairdresser (who’s ever heard of a Gallant Hairdresser anyway?) Vidal’s accomplishments fighting the fascists and the anti-Semites weren’t mentioned that much (if ever that I can recall). On second thought, I probably didn’t listen very intently when people talked about Vidal Sassoon. I guess I was “conditioned” to prejudge people the likes of Vidal Sassoon.
momrules
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 7:46pmI had no idea. Vidal was quiet about his heroism, as most true heros are.
Rest in peace……..
Report Post »cemerius
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 7:44pmWow! I never would have guessed!
Report Post »just my opinion maybe not yours
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 7:41pmNow go over and read what CBS published! All about hair styling but very very little about who he was as a real person!! No mention of him being in an ophanage or much about his family ties!! And it says he moved to Palestine to join the Israel Army.
May he rest in peace!
Report Post »aueni
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 11:08amA much more important story than Obozo’s stand on gay marriage.
Report Post »JLSpyder
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 7:34pmWow. Just, wow. I need to read more stories like this. Now I need to find a good biography of Mr. Sassoon. off to Amazon…..
Report Post »anthonyC
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 7:33pm“Sassoon remained an outspoken critic of anti-Semitism until his death, once saying that disgraced fashion designer John Galliano could and should “go to prison for six months” over a vitriolic outburst in which he professed his love for Adolf Hitler.”
And yet he is called an Anti-Fascist? Hmmmmmmmmmm.
Report Post »OldDiehardNascarFan
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 8:01pm@ANTHONYC Perhaps you should read more for practice. “… disgraced fashion designer John Galliano could and should “go to prison for six months” over a vitriolic outburst in which he professed his love for Adolf Hitler.”…”
Report Post »marvlus
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 9:39amAnthonyc, what is confusing about that? Makes perfect sense to me.
Report Post »Juniemoon
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 7:33pmWhat a life! God blessed you Vidal and I’m sure you knew it. Sad to hear of your passing, the world needs more like you.
Report Post »Windsong
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 7:30pmWhat wonderful story. We so rarely hear of ‘famous’ heroes today. God bless Vidal Sassoon for his honor and his accomplishments. His products should be purchased by all free people, instead of the newly socialist French products. Socialists/Marxists/Communists only want and money – for a very few in their regimes – and power to rule over the lifes of their starving, unhappy and uneducated minions.
Report Post »What those czars haven’t figured out is that the Patriots with honor and integrity have one hundred times the power, and provide their compatriots with happiness, experience, accomplishment and that special dream that anyone can do anything they want as long as they are willing to work hard for it. Patriots are loved by the citizens, while czars are hated because they starve, beat, punish and threaten the minions who have the audacity to disagree with them.
Barack Obama has experienced both now. He was truly adored and we all had great hopes for his promises to make this a nation of Americans, create jobs and decrease our deficits. In fact, he has divided this country by race, creed, class and religion. He has shunned small business, and clearly sided with the unaffordable ‘unions’. Those who didn‘t vote for him still don’t like him and those who did vote for him are completely disenchanted. As a man full of hopeful ideas, he was adored. As a Marxist who wants power and control, he is just another impotent politician with no honor or dignity.
It’s sad.
FeliciaJewel
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 7:29pmI never knew, his story is sad and at the same time inspirational. Prayers for his family and friends.
Report Post »Blazebanned
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 7:26pmWho would have thunk it of him, may he R.I.P.
Report Post »Quiata
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 7:18pmI wish there were more people, like Vidal Sassoon, who make the world a better, happier (and more stylish) place just by doing what they do every day. May he rest in peace.
Report Post »Mark0331
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 7:16pm…What a life story, awesome…but to the idiotic Left he is, as always, an evil capitilist and ‘racist’ Jew…the Left cannot ‘claim’ him, even better…the dude picked himself up by the bootstraps and did something with his life, without the need for Govt assistance…..RIP
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 7:10pmWow. Not exactly the kind of man I think of when I think of a “hairdresser.”
Report Post »