What do Stanley Tucci, Bruce Willis, Ben Kingsley, and Patrick Stewart, Sean Connery or Samuel L. Jackson all have in common? They are famous fallen follicle ambassadors or bald male role models in today’s world. One qualifying name not on that list, a name very popular in the news recently, is that of Andre Agassi, the tennis world’s former bad boy of the 90’s—the face (and hair) associated with the “Image is Everything” ad campaign by Cannon Camera.
In his recent autobiography “Open,” Agassi ‘opens up’ about his hair issues. Apparently Agassi began to lose his hair when he was just seventeen, however, he chose to hide it with hear weaves and hair systems. This is understandable as Madison Avenue had carved out his image and sponsorships were riding on his talent as well as the look of his a blond, highlighted, feathered, shoulder-length mullet hairstyle with color-coordinated headband.
In his book, Agassi describes the terror he felt when he experienced problems with his hair weave on the night before the 1990 French Open Final. His fear of being exposed as wearing a hairpiece contributed to his sporadic performance in that match. He was afraid to move for fear of losing his hair! Those of us who have worn a wig can surely relate to that fear of being exposed in a public arena! I’ve attempted to play tennis in a wig and it’s quite uncomfortable, definitely not conducive to movement. Agassi was paid for his long-haired bad boy image, was paid well, which is one of the reasons why he didn’t just shave it off when male pattern baldness hit him early on. Finally, he chose to shed his artificial image and rid himself of the cumbersome hairpieces with a head shave!
After this bold move, Agassi is quoted as saying “a stranger stood before me in the mirror and I smiled” When my hair fell out, I too stood before the mirror curiously gazing at the stranger, but I cried. Agassi quickly joined the ranks of bald athletic role models such as Michael Jordan, Duncan Goodhew, Olympic gold medalists for swimming, Charlie Villanueva, NBA basketball player for the Detroit Pistons - it didn’t affect his career, his performance or his ratings. Wasn’t it fortunate for him that men with bald heads are viewed as hip and sexy? Wasn’t it fortunate for him that he had options!
