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Sydney Guilaroff (November 2, 1907 – May 25, 1997) was a hair stylist during Hollywood’s Golden Age who was the first to receive on-screen credit in films. He worked for more than forty years at the Metro Goldwyn Mayer studios on more than a thousand films. He was instrumental in crafting many of the hairstyles which became the signature looks for numerous film stars.
Guilaroff was born in London, England to Russian Jewish immigrants who later settled in Canada and then New York City. There were times his financial situation forced him to sleep on benches in the city's Central Park.
His Fortunes changed when he was hired as a beautician’s assistant. By the age of sixteen, Guilaroff had become so proficient a hair stylist that he had established a considerable clientele. It was during this period that Guilaroff is said to have created silent screen star Louise Brooks' signature bob. He also devised the hair looks for actresses Corinne Griffith and Miriam Hopkins. He ultimately found a position at one of the city’s most exclusive salons, Antoine’s where he was known as “Mr. Sydney.”
The guiding force in Guilaroff’s rise to prominence as hairdresser to the stars was effectuated by actress Joan Crawford. Crawford brought Guilaroff to Hollywood and MGM where he held the position of chief hair stylist from 1934 into the late 1970s.
At a time when a star’s screen appearance was a significant function of the studio’s image machine, Guilaroff’s skills crafted distinctive looks, which came to be identifiable with the stars for which they were conceived. He was recognized as a master in his profession with an instinctive, creative eye. “…[Guilaroff] gave Claudette Colbert her bangs, made Lucille Ball a redhead, gave Judy Garland her Wizard of Oz braids, and cut, curled, coiffed and cosseted virtually every other MGM star in his 40 year reign as Hollywood’s most creative and celebrated hairdresser.”
Guilaroff maintained his most formidable undertaking had been his work for the 1938 film Marie Antoinette, for which 2,000 court wigs were required and an additional 3,000 wigs for the extra players. He was uncredited hair stylist for Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind (1939).
When Lena Horne filmed her introductions to her scenes in the M-G-M musical retrospective documentary That's Entertainment! III (1994), she requested that Guilaroff come out of retirement to style her hair, some fifty years after he first styled it in Cabin in the Sky (1943).
Over his long and distinguished career, Guilaroff's other clients included Elizabeth Taylor, Lana Turner, Greta Garbo, Lena Horne, Greer Garson, Debbie Reynolds, Ann-Margret, Marilyn Monroe, Katharine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Hedy Lamarr, Kathryn Grayson, Liza Minnelli, Clare Booth Luce, Ginger Rogers, Geraldine Page, Libby Holman, and Nancy Reagan. He was the stylist of choice for such male stars as Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Fred Astaire, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra
Guilaroff won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling for a Miniseries or Special for The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1987) starring Ann-Margret and Claudette Colbert.
