Frank Sinatra was a notorious womanizer during his heyday that had a penchant for sleeping
with every woman that he could.
The star certainly wasn’t above throwing money around to get the women he wanted, but
the woman that Frank gladly paid $20,000 a year for wasn’t a lover.
Instead, this woman actually served a much more interesting function for the beloved
crooner.
Join Facts Verse as fans can’t believe that Frank Sinatra paid $20,000 for this woman.
Frank Sinatra Loved to Keep Up Appearances It should come as no surprise to Frank Sinatra’s
biggest fans that the beloved crooner was fairly particular about the way that he looked
during his lifetime.
This was particularly true during the star’s heyday when his fraternizing was at its peak.
Frank became known as much for his impeccable style as for his talents, and he could rarely
be found looking disheveled or unkempt.
Frank Sinatra attempted to make his dashing appearance seem as if it took no effort for
him to maintain, and he was largely successful.
However, the inside scoop from those that knew the singer best has shone some light
on how much work the man really put into his looks.
Actress Shirley MacLaine used to be a good friend of Frank Sinatra’s, and she has recalled
fondly and humorously how she used to watch as Frank would go about making himself up
for his various public appearances.
It seems that Frank put more care into his looks than she did, and she could hardly believe
her eyes as she watched all the elaborate procedures that the star had to go through
to look the way that he did.
Although Frank spent a great deal of his time drinking, gambling, and barely sleeping, his
appearance made it hard to tell that he didn’t take good care of himself.
While speaking on the matter of Frank’s appearance, Shirley also noted that it was
ironic Frank should care so much about his looks when he could be seen in his personal
life fraternizing with mafia members, drinking, gambling, and cheating on his spouses.
Perhaps Frank’s obsessive insistence on keeping up appearances came from some place
of guilt inside of his heart, or maybe the star was simply afraid of the public finding
out who he really was.
Frank’s Strict Grooming Standards In order to keep up his appearances, Frank
Sinatra had to keep incredibly strict standards about his looks.
The star was known for his excessive hygiene practices, as well as his impeccably tailored
suits.
To top it all off, the man was always exceptionally groomed.
However, for much of the star’s career, it seems that the hair on his head wasn’t
his own.
Instead, Frank was a longtime user of toupees.
Frank’s hair started thinning fairly early on in his career, and the star’s ego wouldn’t
allow him to be seen out in public without his impeccable hairdo.
Therefore, the beloved crooner was forced to turn to toupees in order to fill the hole
on his head.
When it came to picking out toupees, Frank used the same care that he exercised when
picking out his impeccably tailored suits.
Just like Frank’s suits, the star’s toupees were custom-made for him by the best in the
business.
Not only were Frank’s toupees excellent, but the singer was also always sure to keep
numerous extras on hand just in case he needed a new look or replacement.
Frank’s Toupee Lady One might think that Frank ensuring he had
plenty of extra toupees on hand wouldn’t have been too complicated of a matter.
However, the lugging around of the star’s hairpieces was actually a full-time job and
one that paid exceptionally well!
The person that Frank put in charge of carrying around his toupees was apparently just an
inconspicuous looking little old lady with grey hair.
She could be constantly seen following behind Frank with a giant bag full of toupees, with
the singer apparently requiring her to carry around 30 toupees at a time.
According to the little old lady, Frank then had another 30 toupees that he was carrying
around on his own person.
It’s doubtful that Frank could’ve needed all of these toupees in one day, but the singer
simply wanted to be prepared.
For her services, the little old woman that carried around Frank’s toupees was given
around $400 a week, which comes out to around $20,000 a year.
Frank’s little old toupee lady followed him around wherever he went, whether he was
performing a show or acting in a motion picture.
Most folks eventually caught on to what the little old lady’s job was, and it wasn’t
exactly a secret.
A surprising number of stars have worn toupees over the course of Hollywood history.
Frank certainly wasn’t the only person of his stature in the entertainment industry
that needed a toupee in order to keep up appearances, and toupees are still more common than most
of the public might realize today!
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How Many Hairpieces Did Frank Carry Around?
Frank Sinatra’s go-to hairpiece was a traditional black one that he could be seen wearing the
majority of the time.
However, that didn’t stop the singer from paying $20,000 a year to have a little old
lady carry around 30 backup toupees of all different styles just in case.
This woman’s name was Helen Turpin, and she has become somewhat of a notable figure
due to the strange job she performed.
Frank’s Toupee Lady was Handsomely Paid The aforementioned $20,000 a year that Helen
Turpin was paid in order to trail behind Frank Sinatra and lug around his toupees would equate
to roughly $180,000 of today’s dollars when adjusted for inflation.
This is no small sum, and it’s proof that Frank Sinatra took his toupees incredibly
seriously!
The care that Frank Sinatra put into his toupees paid off for the majority of the star’s
career, as most people didn’t even realize that the singer’s hair wasn’t his own.
However, those that knew Frank have shared that the star’s taste in toupees seemed
to dwindle towards the end of his life, as he began to favor synthetic hairpieces to
ones made with natural hair.
Back when Frank’s hairpieces were always on point, one of the men who helped ensure
their quality was a man by the name of Joseph Paris.
Joseph Paris is still around making hairpieces for celebrities today!
Joseph Paris: The Man Behind Frank’s Toupees Toupees might be a lot more complicated than
most people realize, and that’s where Joseph Paris comes in!
Joseph worked with Frank during his early career, and now he works with current celebrities
to ensure that they look just as dapper as Frank did.
It might surprise viewers to learn about the kind of high-profile clientele that can be
found in Joseph’s office, as he is rumored to have served such notable clients as Burt
Reynolds, Charlie Sheen, Matthew McConaughey, Ashton Kutcher, and Ben Affleck.
Joseph Paris certainly has a vast amount of knowledge about toupees, and it’s surprising
to learn how much work goes into ensuring that a toupee looks natural when sitting on
a star’s head.
According to Joseph, it’s better for stars to use clips to keep their toupees attached
to their heads than to try and use some kind of medical bonding because the medical bonding
can become unsanitary and start to stink.
Back in the day, Joseph’s toupee skills made Frank Sinatra one of his regular clients.
Frank would come to Joseph to get custom hairpieces made just for him.
In order to customize a hairpiece for a client, not only do measurements have to be made,
but the exact consistency of hair has to be determined.
It seems that many people buy ready-made toupees that have too much hair, providing an unnatural
look.
When a celebrity comes to Joseph to get a custom-made hairpiece, they don’t have to
deal with this.
More Celebrities Wear Toupees Than You Realize!
Since Frank Sinatra’s heyday, numerous other methods for dealing with hair loss have been
offered up to the public.
However, it still seems as if the toupee stands among all of them as the most popular.
There have been numerous other stars over the course of Hollywood history that have
relied on toupees, and some of them are still around fooling people with their hairpieces
to this day!
Ted Danson is one such star, and it appears that he has been utilizing toupees to hide
his hair loss since the days of Cheers.
John Wayne started using a toupee in 1948, and the beloved Western star was never one
to try to hide the fact that he had to seek extra help to cover up his lessening hair.
Like Frank did during his heyday, John Wayne liked using custom-made hairpieces crafted
from human hair.
Humphrey Bogart also wore a toupee throughout most of his career.
The aforementioned Burt Reynolds hid his toupee usage from the public until the revelation
of toupee receipts during his bankruptcy trial made the fact impossible to conceal.
The receipts showed that Burt had spent upwards of $100,000 on toupees over the course of
his career.
Sean Connery is another star that wore a toupee, with some rumors claiming that the Scottish
actor had to use hairpieces to hide his receding hairline as far back as his James Bond days.
Finally, Frank Sinatra’s fellow Rat Pack member Bing Crosby was another star that famously
wore a hairpiece.
Unlike Frank, Bing eventually came to terms with his loss of hair, going without his toupee
for a string of WWII USO shows.
Although one might assume that the woman Frank Sinatra spent $20,000 a year on was one of
his lovers, it was actually a little old lady that he paid to carry around his toupees.
Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Frank Sinatra had to start wearing
toupees fairly early on in his career and that he traveled with as many as 60 toupees
on him at a time in order to keep up his appearances?
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