1925 – Miss Hattie Wilson Tabourne, Hollywood Hairdresser

Blog readers are asking themselves who is Miss Hattie Wilson Tabourne? Simple, she was a famous Hollywood African American hairdresser whose artistic hairdressing skill was a major contribution to the movie industry and the careers of many Silent Film Stars in early twentieth century, Hollywood.

Miss Hattie came from a very humble background in Nebraska.  As a young child, her family discovered she had a gift for hair dressing, and it was that talent that eventually led her to being discovered while working at a downtown Los Angeles Hairdressing establishment.  Miss Hattie’s discovery led to a long-term contract working as a hairdresser for Famous Players-Lasky Studio and the rest is true Hollywood history.  During her time, in Hollywood she styled the hair of Agnes Ayres, Dorothy Dalton, Nita Naldi, Cecil B. DeMille, Leatrice Joy, Lillian Rich, Pola Negri, Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino during his movie “Blood and Sand”.

On 21 Mar 1923, Miss Hattie’s name was in the major papers as the creator of Gloria Swanson’s hairstyle called ‘Gloria’s Bob’.  While working at Famous Players-Lasky Studios, she had the additional responsibility of training future hairdressers.  On 23 Mar 1925, Miss Hattie died on an operating room table from complications as a result from a surgical procedure.  At the time of her death, she was survived by a son.  Miss Hattie is  buried next to her mother at Evergreen Cemetery, Los Angeles. CA.