(credit to Larry Lehmer) Philadelphias Joseph Cirello: Stylist to the Stars Joseph Cirello never had a hit record. He never lip-synced on Bandstand. Yet to some people he was as well-known as his famous clients, which included Philadelphia stars Fabian, Bobby Rydell and Frankie Avalon. You can add Frank Sinatra, James Dean, Elvis Presley and Humphrey Bogart to Cirellos client list, from his days in Hollywood when he was known as Stylist to the Stars. Cirello was born to cut hair, spending much of his youth in his uncles barber shop, sweeping up hair, washing out mugs and learning the tricks of the trade. After he set up a shop of his own, he was determined to make his mark in the barbers world. Practicing on a blind kid for 18 months, Cirello perfected a swept-back cut that he called The Swing, after the popular music of the period. In 1940, Cirello took his unusual cut to a competition at the Statler Hotel in New York City where he walked off with the most unusual cut title. Its popularity took off, though Philadelphia kids took to calling it the ducks ass, which was shortened to a more G-rated DA. Hollywood soon came calling and Cirello headed west with a 10-year contract to cut hair on movie sets. He stayed nearly 20 years, though, before returning to Philadelphia in 1960 and opening a shop at Fifth and Wharton streets. Although his fellow barbers were slow to figure out the DA, Cirello always claimed it was simple: just cut out a canal down the back of the head, apply liberal amounts of Wildroot Cream Oil or Butch Wax to the hair and comb it over the top of the head and along the sides into the canal. There were variations, like the high wave of a pompadour or the hanging curl of an elephant trunk across the middle of the forehead, but the DA was decidedly a Philadelphia creation. Cirello, who later moved his shop to Society Hill, died on Feb. 13, 1994, at age 79.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 18:57:52 +0000
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