Photos courtesy of Morgan Fairchild
“The world knows you as the blonde beauty that you are! Was there ever a time in your career that you were darker – dark blonde or brunette?”
TC: Morgan, you are and always have been my (and all of us girls truth be told) Beauty Icon – tell us who was your icon when you were starting out your career and who is a beauty style icon for you now?
MF: My idols were Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren. I loved Marilyn’s glamour and vulnerability and Sophia’s glamour and exoticism. My mother’s friends would always say, “Oh, you look like a young Grace Kelly”, but I always wanted to be dark and dangerous, like Sophia!!
I was a bit of an artist back then and loved to draw faces. When you draw a woman’s face, you also draw all the makeup tricks to fix the flaws!! I modeled my own makeup after Sophia. I created a dark and dangerous blonde. Nowadays, I think Sophia still has great style!! I love Charlize Theron’s style, and Eva Longoria’s. I think Helen Mirren is great – always elegant and not trying to dress like she’s 20!!
TC: The world knows you as the blonde beauty that you are! Was there ever a time in your career that you were darker – dark blonde or brunette?
MF: I was always a blonde – had white hair when I was born, which I’m told is a bit unique. Most babies are born with dark hair, even if it becomes tow-headed later. Mine was always blonde, even if it is a bit darker now than when I was younger!! You sometimes call people over to see how light my roots are! LOL! I wore a dark wig in a couple of movies.
TC: I know you were a client at Ménage a trois, which is now Meche! Who was your colorist at MAT? Was that your “go to salon” for a long time or did you have a bevy of colorists and stylists in your tenure during your many TV/film roles?
MF: Setsu, one of the owners of Menage a Trois, was my colorist then. She did a great job! Gene Kelly and Burt Lancaster also got their hair done there back then and we got to be buddies while sitting around getting our hair procedures done!! Ah!! The good old days!! I had different stylists for different things. I had one guy for sets and then Hugh York and another gentleman for stills. It’s hard to find people you can rely on to be there for you when you need them. That’s why I value you sooo much, Tracey!
TC: Did you ever color your own hair? How did that work out?
MF: I used to keep my hair platinum blonde, back in the ’60’s and ’70’, by doing it myself with Clairol’s Ultra Light Platinum. No lifting, just toner. People would follow me down the street and ask, “Is that your real hair color”?? It actually looked pretty good. Hairdressers would always doubt me and say, “You can’t get your hair that color just by doing that”. But I did and it worked!!
TC: We know being a blonde, maintaining blonde, now, is a lot kinder to ones hair than say in the 90’s, 80’s and 70’s. How did you keep your blonde so healthy looking and lustrous? Do you have any tricks of the trade that you did? A Morgan Beauty secret? What is your go to product or home remedy now?
MF: Yes, products and procedures are much kinder to hair now! I think the reason my hair stayed in good condition when I was doing my color myself was that I never bleached it – never lifted the roots. I just kept it that way with toner, only. I also did a lot of hot oil treatments then, and protein packs that I would put on and then sit under a hair dryer.
TC: I’d like to know your first memory of our meeting? If I’m right you’ll have “that” same recollection as I!! I was a little awkward!
MF: I first met you over at your and Byron’s Salon. Another colorist had just burned a lot of my hair off and I was obviously looking for a new colorist. My hairdresser told me that you were really great, but every time I’d try to get your attention to say hello, you would look away. I kept wondering what I was doing wrong. Finally, I worked up the nerve to go over to you and
said, “Have I done something to offend you?”. You said, no and that you were a fan and just shy!! So sweet because I am SUCH a fan of YOURS!! “
“Tracey is just a treasure because she really cares about her clients and is sooo careful with the chemicals! After all, even though we want the glamour of the finished product, it IS all done with chemicals!! I really appreciate how attentive and careful Tracey is with all of us! She keeps up with all the latest techniques and products, and never just rests on her incredible laurels – which she easily could!!”
TC: Can you share with us a funny story – an on set or off – that was a hair (extensions/had to wear a wig?) disaster or a hair “wow” moment for you or any story you can share would be terrific!
MF: Just before I started a movie called The Seduction, I went to a new hairdresser, who suggested a new thing called a gel. He said it would make my hair shiny for the movie. HOWEVER, he put on a RED one!! I suddenly had red hair, which was not at all what my producers wanted or were expecting. I had to bleach the hell out of my hair over and over to get it blonde again for the movie – wish I’d known you back then!! I could have cheerfully killed that guy. My hair broke off for a year!
TC: Favorite hair products you are using at the moment? If we walked into “Morgan’s” bathroom what hair products would we discover?
MF: I’m using EVO Volumizer Shampoo and Conditioners right now, and Mauro Scalp Cleanser to remove buildup, so my hair doesn’t fall out from follicle suffocation. I use Sebastian and Elnet and Oribe hairsprays. And my hairdresser uses a Schwartzkopf dry shampoo on my roots, just before finishing me, to give it an extra lift. I also take 5 capsules a day of a product called Seven Treasures from a Chinese herbal store called The Golden Cabinet, to make my hair grow faster. It works!
TC: Top 3 must haves for you hair if you were stranded on a desert island – and you can’t say ME!! Ha!
MF: LOL! OK, no Tracey!! Well, if it’s a tropical island, I’ll need a good de-frizzer and some kind of blowdryer or curling iron to straighten it out. Coconut oil. And a good shampoo to keep it all clean in the heat! A waterproof mascara, eyelash curler and eyebrow pencil, because I also have white eyelashes and eyebrows!! It takes a lot of work to be dark and dangerous, when you are actually a very white, wimpy blonde!!
TC: What’s Morgan’s alter ego hair color – is your alter ego a blonde also???
MF: I occasionally wear a short, auburn wig and always get a lot of compliments on it. It actually goes great with my coloring, much better than a strawberry blonde. May go there, one day!!
I love you Morgan!! Thank you for sharing all this with us and thank you for letting me continue to stare at you! 🙂 @morgfair