The 8 Most Important Jheri Curls Ever, from Pedro Martinez to Michael Jackson
I first became acquainted with Jheri Curls as an elementary school-aged kid watching Michael Jackson do his signature moonwalk move while performing his hit song Billie Jean during a TV special in the 1980s Immiediately feeling inspired, I rushed to the bathroom, got a handful of baby oil and applied it gratuitously in hopes of replicating what I perceived as the hippest new hairstyle.
Instead, all I got was a pair of greasy hands and a smack across the face for wasting my mother’s moisturizer.
While the hairstyle never stuck with me individually (thanks, Mom), it certainly caught on like wildfire with black people across the country — quite literally in at least one instance. What were Jheri Curls? A fine mist of chemicals you sprayed onto your hair that would “activate’’ on contact, loosening up your curls and adding a lustrous sheen. Some called it a wet look, others called it greasy, but from the mid-1980s through the early 90s, Jheri Curls endured, probably a bit longer than some might have liked.
And although Comer Cottrell, the black hair-care entrepreneur who helped bring the unique hairstyle to the masses, died this week, the trend lives on, thanks to the many, many folks who are too settled in their ways to change their hairstyles now.
Stench be damned, Jheri Curls have rightfully earned their spot in regrettable hairstyle history, right alongside mullets. Which is why we decided to celebrate Cottrell’s life by taking a look back at the most important Jheri Curls in pop-culture history.
1) Samuel L. Jackson, “Pulp Fiction’’
Jackson’s old-school appearance in the 1994 film belied his character’s murderous, tough-guy persona, which is probably why he could get away with rocking Jheri Curls in the first place. (What, are you gonna tell him they’re played out?)
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2) “Coming to America’’
“ER’’ actor (and Hartford, Conn., native!) Eriq LaSalle played a slimy executive at Soul Glo, his family’s Jheri Curl-esque business. He was a walking advertisement for the product, always admiring his shiny locks while administering the potion via a handy spray bottle.
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3) Ice Cube, “Boyz n the Hood’’
As Doughboy, a gang-affiliated parolee, rapper Ice Cube unabashedly sported Jheri Curls — a stereotype of black Los Angeles gangbangers in the ‘80s. With his omnipresent 40 of malt liquor, Doughboy commanded fearful respect. His look — angry eyebrows beneath a shiny, curly mane — became iconic.
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4) Keenan Ivory Wayans, “Hollywood Shuffle’’
Before he struck gold on “In Living Color,’’ Wayans played a homicidal breakdancer (aptly named Jheri Curl) who was perilously — and hilariously — reliant on his supply of “activator.’’
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5) Pedro Martinez
Although his Jheri Curl use was never confirmed, the former Red Sox ace’s hair seemingly one day just up an appeared exponentially more lustrous and curly than ever before. It is unclear if he used the lubrication to his advantage on the Fenway Park mound.
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6) A.C. Green
The former Los Angeles Lakers forward — and perpetual thorn-in-the-side to the Celtics — maintained a Jheri Curl from mid-80s well into the 90s.
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7) Deion Sanders
The athlete who split his time between football and baseball personified the glitz and glamour that had long been associated with Jheri Curls. If you had a Curl back then, it meant you were doing something big. As did the Mr. T-worhty ropes of gold routinely draped around Deion’s neck.
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8) Michael Jackson
The King of Pop made the unctous hairstyle popular beyond Cottrell’s greasiest dreams. He may have abandoned his signature shiny tresses later in his career, but for many, Jackson he will always be associated with Jheri Curls.
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(And Grammies. And scandals. And… Well, mostly for Jheri Curls.
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Of course, the Jheri Curl didn’t come without its fair share of risks. In 1984, while shooting a commercial for Pepsi, a planned pyrotechnical blast ignited his hair, sending him to the hospital without much of his treasured hair and suffering from second- and third-degree burns to his scalp. for a spell.
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But he and his Curl eventually made a miraculous recovery, going on to achieve even more fame together.
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