They Weren't Always Bald
Men are still sensitive about losing their hair, but some actors have embraced it with pride and dignity. Others...not so much.
Do you remember when these actors had hair?
Jason Statham
Maybe the single most iconic bald movie star working today, Jason Statham has been pretty much bald since the very start of his acting career—but he wasn't always an actor...
...When He Had Hair
Jason Statham was actually a competitive diver when he was young—and yes, he had a full head of hair back then!
Vin Diesel
The first word you think of when you hear Vin Diesel? Family.
The second word? Bald.
You've got to dig hard to find photos of him with hair, but back when he made a certain instructional video...
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
A young Vin Diesel taught the world how to break dance in Breakin In The USA. He had hair, and he looks nothing like the way I pictured.
Breakin' in the USA: Break Dancing and Electric Boogie Taught by the Pros, IMDb
Howie Mandel
It feels like famous germaphobe Howie Mandel has always been bald, like he should be bald—but believe it or not, he isn't actually bald!
RoweCo, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
Unlike most of the men on this list, Mandel wasn't even losing his hair when he started shaving his head. He actually started shaving it because of his OCD, saying that a shaved head "just feels cleaner".
photo by Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Bruce Willis
Unlike so many other actors his age, Bruce Willis embraced his baldness around the year 2000 and never looked back. He became so recognizable as a bald man that young people might not even recognize a certain popstar named Bruno...
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
Moonlighting. Die Hard. The Sixth Sense. His R&B singing alter-ego Bruno. All the most iconic Bruce Willis roles...and yet I still picture him bald in my head!
Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Johnson has worn many hats in his career: He's been an entrepreneur, a movie star, a wrestler, a football player, a bald guy—and yes, a guy with hair.
Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
It can be hard to remember, but Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson had hair for pretty much his entire professional wrestling career and for his first several movies. I could have sworn he was bald the whole time?
Laurence Fishburne
When you play Morpheus, you're going to go down in history as one of the most iconic bald men in history. But Laurence Fishburne had a long career before The Matrix.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
Personal favorite pick for "Movie to see Laurence Fishburne with hair"? A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, New Line Cinema
Samuel L. Jackson
It seems like Samuel L. Jackson refuses to age. In fact, there's only one way to tell if a picture of him is old or not...
...When He Had Hair
Jackson had hair when he was younger, but he was already 45 when he broke through into stardom with Pulp Fiction. His hair didn't last too long after that, so he's forever locked in our minds as an iconic bald guy.
John Travolta
John Travolta has recently embraced baldness after decades of...struggling to find the right look. He has gone through a lot of different hairpieces, but none of them could really match the original.
...When He Had Hair
Unfortunately, the fact that young John Travolta's hair looked so good is probably part of why all the hairpieces looked so...wrong.
Stanley Tucci
Stanley Tucci transcends baldness into a whole new dimension. I can't picture anything but bald Tucci—but he did once exist.
Martin Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
Stanley Tucci noticed that he started losing his hair in his 30s, still early in his career. Rather than go down the hairpiece/plugs route, he decided to just shave it all off.
Stanley, it's working for you.
Ed Harris
Ed Harris has had his iconic half-bald haircut for pretty much his entire career. It goes perfectly with his gaunt, angry look, so it's hard to picture him without it. And yet.
Gage Skidmore from, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
It takes a lot of guts for an actor to accept their male pattern baldness without even going full bald. Harris did have hair when he started, but when his hair started falling out, he just rolled with it.
Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley the movie star has been bald for pretty much his entire career, but would you believe he had to shave his head for Gandhi?
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
Ben Kingsley was a working theatre actor in London for 15 years before he got into movies and TV, so that's at least 15 years of hair acting before he became the Ben Kingsley we know.
Towpilot, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Sean Connery
Sean Connery was bald by the time he played James Bond, so pretty much every time you've ever seen him, he's probably been wearing a hairpiece. You've got to go way back to find the real thing.
Stuart Crawford, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
Sean Connery has hair in his earliest headshots, but he started thinning when he was 20. He spent years wearing hairpieces before embracing it.
ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner's bald head and icy cold stare were the things that made him a movie icon. He was one of the only working bald actors in Hollywood for decades—but he didn't start out his career like that.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
Brynner started his career with hair, but soon started to go bald. Back in those days, bald was not an option for a Hollywood actor, but Brynner just embraced it—and not only did it guarantee him roles for the rest of his life, but he also said it was "freeing".
Michael Chiklis
Picture Michael Chiklis with hair. You can't do it. Detective Vic Mackey with hair? It just doesn't make sense. But you're forgetting about the Commish.
iDominick, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
Chiklis worked as an actor for years with hair. He even starred in his own show, The Commish, with hair—by then though you could definitely tell what the future was going to hold.
Billy Zane
The only thing that isn't 100% believable in James Cameron's Titanic is Billy Zane's hair. You've got to go back a lot further to find the real thing.
...When He Had Hair
Zane's first-ever appearance on screen was as one of Biff's friends in Back To The Future. Bet you missed him—but maybe it was that luscious head of hair!
Back To The Future, Universal Pictures
John Malkovich
There's never been an actor as...specific as John Malkovich. His looks, his voice, his mannerisms—there's no one else like him.
It feels like being bald is a part of that—but he's been around a lot longer than most people realize.
Elena Ringo, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
John Malkovich got his first Oscar nomination all the way back in 1985, for his performance in the drama Places in the Heart—and he had a full head of hair. Well, almost.
TriStar, Places in the Heart (1984)
Mark Strong
Mark Strong has hair in a ton of movies, but unless that movie is very old, you're looking at a wig. He's been bald since the mid-90s, which means you've got to go way back to see his real hair.
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
Mark Strong embraced balding in 1994's Captives, his second-ever film role, and never looked back. But you can still see his real hair in his earliest TV work in the 1980s.
RoweCo, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Steve Harvey
Steve Harvey has embraced his baldness so well that it's hard to remember when he had hair, but it wasn't so long ago.
Angela George, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
Unlike a lot of the men on this list, Harvey had hair for much of his adult life. It was right around his 50th birthday that he started to lose it. By 2008, he embraced it and went full bald. The mustache ain't goin anywhere though.
Columbia, The Steve Harvey Show (1996-2002)
Jon Cryer
Jon Cryer had amazing locks in the 80s, but baldness came for him eventually. Unfortunately, it came at a terrible time...
...When He Had Hair
It's one thing to go bald, but it's another when you're currently starring on the biggest sitcom on TV—and your character has hair. Cryer had to navigate that minefield—but since Two and a Half Men ended, he's embraced the bald look.
Pretty in Pink, Paramount Pictures
Danny Devito
Danny Devito is just...Danny Devito. We all know who Danny Devito is, and what he looks like. He was even bald on Taxi, and that show debuted in 1978!
But if you keep going back you can find it.
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
Devito did have hair when he got his first big movie role in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest—though you've gotta admit, it was already starting to go.
United Artists, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Wesley Snipes
Wesley Snipes has only recently embraced the bald look. The time has finally come—but few guys on this list had hair as good as his.
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
Has another actor ever rocked the flat top as hard as Wesley Snipes? I'm genuinely asking.
Jungle Fever, Universal Pictures
Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson has rocked the bald look for over 30 years now, so it's almost hard to remember a certain adorable, country bumpkin in a certain Boston establishment.
Justin R. Pacheco, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
Woody Harrelson landed the role of Woody on Cheers when he was 23 and fresh out of college. Apparently he was so perfect for the role that in his audition, he landed the job before he even said a single word!
I wonder if he'd have gotten it if he didn't have those blonde locks...
Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Terry Crews
Despite what Idiocracy would have you believe, Terry Crews does not have long, luscious locks falling to his shoulders. He is a famously bald man. But when he wasn't so famous, he wasn't so bald either...
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
...When He Had Hair
Terry Crews was bald when he started acting, and he was bald when he played professional football before that—but you can still find pictures of him when he had hair.
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