#17. Erin Gray

The Ultimate 50

17. Erin Gray

2008 Update

Erin is now an author, in addition to her other talents. This January picture showing off her instructional book about acting actually hides a great-looking head of hair -- curled at the ends for bounce, with hints of great fullness on her right side. We think it's the best display of her hair in years.

But of course, we remain struck by the perfection of Erin's Buck Rogers years. This polished wavy style had tremendous flexibility in tough situations, yet could bounce back into position practically without a flaw. It held through several fights -- but what would happen if she flipped a villain over her shoulder, judo style?

Thanks to the web site of an all-American Gray fan, we can find out. A collection of video clips sorts out boring dialogue, to give you Erin's amazing style in action. But oh no -- we found this! A clip called "Unchained" reveals her mass of thick hair fell in by the force of her flip. The eyes are covered, and her nose is barely visible.

Erin has to lift her head to shake the style back into proper position, and there's hardly any mussing after that. But still, the Super-waves are in her eyes for a couple of seconds. The camera lingered on this shot long enough to leave no doubt about what happened.

It's perhaps a wonder no camera captured this before, or that it took us so long to find this moment. Erin's spectacular Super-Hair seemed so vulnerable for so long -- and the fact that only have this brief moment of collapse is testimony to the beautiful brilliance she's shown with hair over several decades.

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2006 Update

Erin's hair has shown a bit more length in the last couple of years. This picture from a 2005 science fiction convention (still the best place to see her) shows a shoulder-length sidepart style. It doesn't have the amazing body of years gone by, but we imagine she'd know how to add it and maneuver her hair out of trouble if required. Erin's still unbeaten, to our knowledge.

If you want to see Erin's classic look, we found a site called "PX Drive" with plenty of awe-striking pictures. If only she'd try some of those looks again....

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2004 Update

Your best chance to see Erin nowadays is at fantasy conventions -- events such as "Comic-Con" and "Dragon-Con." And as if this Wireimage picture from February, her hair can only be called Con-servative -- short and tight, no longer thick and lush with waves. It's probably better for the Tai Chi exercises she does, but less thrilling for Hair Fans.

Several web sites remain for you to remember Erin's hair at its peak -- on TV, in movies and in Virginia Slims ads. This adults-only site promises both "sacred" and "profane" photos -- and the first page of profane pictures didn't seem X-rated at all, although we didn't go beyond it.

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2002 Update

Erin's not acting as much these days, more content to help battered women. She's still beautiful and popular, but so many recent pictures are online that it's hard to get a true feel for her current style. This photo shows her long locks trimmed to neck-length -- yet the hair still looks good. There's plenty of thickness, and some bangs are added to keep the cut out of the eyes.

A check of the photos on Gray's web site shows a wide range of styles from her career -- including a photo at the top of the home page that's as close to defeat as we've seen her style. For a wider selection of pictures, going back to the jaw-dropping perfection she showed in the "Buck Rogers" days, try this web site of several actresses.

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