HAROLD MELVIN
Black Beauty’s “Mane Man”
Mr. Harold Melvin was the elite hairdresser for the Black Rich, Famous and Celebrated in the 1960’s & 1970’s. During his beauty reign his clients included Eunice Johnson owner of EBONY & Fashion Fair, Diahann Carroll, Ruby Dee, Eartha Kitt, Lena Horne, Diana Ross, Cicely Tyson and Josephine Premice et al. Moreover, Mr. Melvin worked on some of the biggest Black movies of his day; they are classics now: The Landlord, Buck & the Preacher, Sounder, Claudine and on and on. From Beauty Brands to the Beauty Models, from the groundbreaking television series Julia to the Academy Awards & the White House, Mr. Melvin was the “Mane Man” for “Black is Beautiful”. He was there the day she was born, and he did her hair for her birthday! Therefore, we lovingly thank Mr. Melvin for his wondrous contribution to the collective Black image as being chic and beautiful.
“Movies preserve the moment. They rarely preserve the hands that shaped it. Harold Melvin’s were among those hands, and Black beauty has never forgotten his name, even if the record does.”
— Corey Huggins Founder READY to BEAUTY
A Warm December, 1973
Directed by and starring Sidney Poitier, A Warm December follows Dr. Matt Younger, a widowed American physician who takes his young daughter to London. There he falls for Catherine Oswandu, played by Esther Anderson, the niece of an African ambassador. He later learns she is dying of sickle cell anemia.
The film was conceived in the shadow of Love Story (1970), the doomed romance blockbuster that swept the country. This Black led, Black cast film echoed that same tragic arc of love found and then lost to illness. But its central illness told a specifically Black experience, as sickle cell anemia disproportionately affects Black communities.
Produced by Poitier's own First Artists Production Company, the film marked his second outing as a director. Esther Anderson's performance won her a 1973 NAACP Image Award for Best Actress. And the hair styling for the film was done by the celebrated stylist Harold Melvin. Melvin's work on A Warm December placed his craft on an international production. It stands as yet another documented instance of his artistry extending beyond his famous clientele and into Hollywood's visual record.