Famous hairstyling pioneer Vidal Sassoon was found dead in his California home on Mulholland Drive this morning. Sassoon, 84, died of natural causes with his family at his bedside. According to the AP, there will be no police investigation and no further details are available at this time.



Sassoon was born in England in 1928, and after his father's early death, his impoverished mother placed him and his brother in a Jewish orphanage for seven years. Upon his return to London he left school at the age of 14 and began a hairdressing apprenticeship at his mother's request. Later he fought in the Israeli army before fulfilling his mother's dream and becoming a hairdresser. "I thought I'd be a soccer player but my mother said I should be a hairdresser, and, as often happens, the mother got her way," he told the AP in 2007.



He opened his first salon in London in 1954, and in 1963 he revolutionized the current popular hairstyles with modern, angular bob cuts. This style was made famous by British designer Mary Quant, the woman responsible for popularizing mini skirts. Sassoon's geometric wash-and-wear hairstyles drew lots of attention, as they were so perfect they required little to no styling--ideal for the women's liberation movement going on at that time.



"My idea was to cut shape into the hair, to use it like fabric and take away everything that was superfluous," Sassoon told the Los Angeles Times in 1993. "Women were going back to work, they were assuming their own power. They didn't have time to sit under the dryer anymore."



Sassoon rose to international fame in 1968 after giving actress Mia Farrow her pixie cut in the film "Rosemary's Baby." He flew to Hollywood and cut off her long hair for a whopping $5,000. The style is still imitated to this day. He opened more salons in London and the United States, and in 1973 Sassoon launched his own line of hair care products with the slogan, "If you don't look good, we don't look good." He also established Vidal Sassoon Academies to teach young stylists his perfected technique.



Sassoon moved to Los Angeles in the '70s while searching for a chemist, and he's remained there ever since. He sold his business interests in the early 1980s and started the Vidal Sassoon foundation to support causes like The Boys Clubs of America and the Performing Arts Council of the Music Center of Los Angeles. He has written three books, and a 2010 documentary, "Vidal Sassoon: The Movie," showcased his life as a legendary hair stylist.



Sassoon was married four times and had four children with his second wife, a part-time actress named Beverly Adams. His eldest daughter Catya, an actress and model, died in 2002 of an accidental overdose. Sassoon is survived by three children and his forth wife, Ronnie.



Related links:

BellaSugar Chats with Vidal Sassoon

The Tools Top Hairstylists Can't Live Without

The Best Short Haircut for Your Face Shape



VIdal Sassoon cutting Mia Farrow's hair on the set of Rosemary's Baby