Monday, July 07, 2014

Yes, I Really Did Have An Afro Once

Someone asked me on this post, after I mentioned something about having an afro when I was younger, if I really did have an afro.

And yes, I really did. Although, I had no idea that I could have an afro until I got my hair cut in a NYC salon.

Up until that point, I had been using a hot comb (remember those?) to straighten the waves in my hair because not only was it wavy, but also very FRIZZY. Yet, what I didn’t realize was that using a hot comb was actually making my hair frizzier. So yes, my hair may have been straighter-looking, but it looked like I had a headful of straight frizz instead of wavy frizz.

Anyway, when I moved to NYC in 1974, I had my hair cut by one of the stylists at the infamous Paul McGregor Hair Salon. And what was interesting is that instead of blow-drying my hair, he suggested that I sit under heat lamps and allow it to dry naturally because he could tell, just from cutting my hair, that if I did this I would have a killer afro – which back then was a very popular style that people were paying big bucks for by having their hair permed.

So, I did as he suggested and ended up loving it! From that point on, I never took a hot comb to my hair, I just let it dry as it was.

Here is a photograph that was taken of me back in the ‘70’s. It’s a photo I used as a headshot when I first started out as an actor. I was about 19-years old then.

Now before you look, I have to warn you that you might do one of two things: either laugh, or scream in horror. Or, you might even do both.

Are you ready?

Okay, here it is…

Alright, shut up, I can hear you all laughing and screaming right now.

But hey, I don’t blame you because I am too. And not so much about the hair, although it does look like an afro in the shape of a well-padded crash helmet, but more so about the whole picture in general and my POSE. Would you look at how WRINKLED my shirt collar was! And what on earth ever possessed me to put a wool sweater over the shirt is beyond me. I look like a college student in this photo who went to an Ivy League school in some godforsaken state that didn't sell clothing irons.

And please take note to my EYEBROWS. They appear as though they were drawn on using a black Sharpie marker.

Looking at this photo now, it’s no wonder I didn’t get many calls to audition for parts because the only role I would have ever been cast as would be for one of the Marx Brothers...

Either that, or a stand-in double for the role of Greg Brady in TV show, The Brady Bunch…

Yes, I really did have an afro once.

Have a-fro of a Monday, y'all!