#21. Morgan Fairchild

The Ultimate 50

21. Morgan Fairchild

2006 Update (revision 1)

There was good reason for Hair Fans to get pumped up about this woman in 2006. Fairchild returned to prime-time TV -- and returning to her main element, starring in a 13-week soap opera called Fashion House. This promotional photo found shoulder-length hair seemingly relying more on curl than thickness, compared with times past. We found a YouTube video clip in which she stands stiletto-to-stiletto with co-star Bo Derek....

....and takes a serious slap to the face!

Her seemingly slicked-down long sidepart has stray strands loose on the weak side (her left) -- but from what we saw, the hair remained undefeated.

Then came another battle on 9 October, after Fairchild's character ruined the wedding plans of Derek's character. Fairchild dared to visit Derek's home to rub it in - which, of course, meant war. Her hair looked heavily sprayed in preparation for this, yet rested perhaps only an inch or two off the right eye.

Fairchild and Derek wrestled first for a portrait - and Fairchild's Super-Hair held firmly, as she crashed the painting over Derek's head and made her tumble to her knees.

Fairchild turns away for a moment, protecting the vulnerable side of the style. But then Derek gets up, and a serious (well, as serious as this show can be) wrestling match develops!

Fairchild is grabbed by the back of the neck, above a yet-uncut wedding cake....

....and Derek puts her in it face-first! Then holds her in it for one solid second! Can Fairchild's Super-Hair possibly last through this?

Based on this shot, no. A strip of the longer hair came free -- and perhaps helped by the heaviness of the cake on it, it fell in Fairchild's eyes. But note the style still stays solidly well-rounded, on her right side.

Isn't it only fitting that after seemingly 30 years of perfect hair, Fairchild would fall in this sort of way -- in a struggle for survival, where her strong style appeared it might miraculously escape yet again? She truly has locks worthy of Super-Hair legend, and one drop after decades of great styles certainly does not take away from that.

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2004 Update

You never know where you might find Morgan these days. She's been a guest on That 70's Show (shown at left), and exchanged political views with cable talk show host Joe Scarborough. And through it all, Morgan's hair remains unscathed, unbeaten -- and usually as attractive as ever.

A dip of her head shows spray supports this style -- but well-cut bangs long have been among her secrets to success. The aptly-named Morgan Fairchild tribute can show you literally hundreds of examples over the years, where Fairchild's fabulous hair has rested fractions of an inch from defeat -- only to remain perfect and precise. It's no wonder she won our first Crown Award early in 2003 for Best Blonde.

(Late P.S.: As we updated Fairchild, we discovered the cable channel SoapNet has brought her short-lived 1984 drama Paper Dolls out of mothballs on Saturday nights. There's no better way to compare her style success then and now.)

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2002 Update

What a renaissance this woman's hair is making! After trimming it to helmet short a few years ago, Morgan has let the style grow back out to the "long and strong" look that made her famous. You can see her lovely layers in current Old Navy "Rugby Bunch" commercials. (Shame on this store for not posting her on its web site.)

Fairchild recaptured our attention early in 2002 as a guest star on the now-cancelled That 80's Show. A summary of a serious test she faced there is in our Cutting Edge section. It's all enough to make her Top Ten potential again.

Our top picture is from Fairchild's web site, where you can find several photos of her current style. If you'd like a more long-range view of how this unbeaten hair has fared over four decades, try the large gallery of a big Fairchild fan.

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