Syrup of Figs

One of the greatest secrets of Hollywood was which actors and actresses wore wigs. Many Hollywood publicists held this information close to their chests, only to use the information later to get higher fees. But George Evans, Sinatra’s publicist would never even allude to such a thing for fear of ending up in the river.

Going bald in Hollywood during the studio system was a sure way of losing your career, with the exception, of course, of Telly Savalas and Yul Brinner. But one budding young studio publicist called Stan Jones decided to endorse a men’s grooming product via his actors and actresses at the studio. When the actors found out that the product was an aid for receding hair lines, they refused point blank to endorse any such thing.

Eddie Mannix, a studio chief at MGM found out what Jones was trying to do and Jones was immediately paid off. Nobody knows whether Mannix got the heavies in, or whether he paid Jones a lump sum to open a chicken farm in Idaho. Either way, the stars’ hairlines were from then on kept absolutely quiet until a good 30 years later when the likes of Bruce Willis, Billy Zane and Samuel L Jackson rejoiced in the fact that they had no hair.