Jay Sebring
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Jay Sebring (October 10, 1933 – August 9, 1969) was a hugely successful international American hair stylist to the stars.
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[edit] Early life
Jay Sebring was born Thomas John Kummer on October 10, 1933 in Birmingham, Alabama. His parents were accountant Bernard Kummer and wife Margarette, and he grew up with one brother and two sisters in a middle class family outside of Detroit, Michigan.
After high school Sebring joined the Navy for four years, and during this time served in the Korean War. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he changed his name to Jay Sebring: Jay, after the first initial of his middle name, and Sebring after the famous Florida car race.
In Los Angeles, Sebring's style of cutting hair proved popular. His clients included Warren Beatty and Steve McQueen. At Kirk Douglas' request, Sebring did the hair styling for the movie Spartacus. He later designed The Doors' Jim Morrison's free-flowing style.
In October 1960 Sebring married a model named Cami - a union which ended unofficially in August of 1963.
[edit] Jay and Sharon Tate
Sebring met the actress Sharon Tate at a party at the Whisky a Go Go club in October 1964, and they began a relationship which, after Sebring's divorce in 1965, led to their engagement. Sebring bought the former home of Jean Harlow on Easton Drive in Benedict Canyon. Tate spent much of her time there, and was also remembered by Sebring's clients as a constant presence in his Los Angeles salon.
Tate went to London in early 1966 to work on The Fearless Vampire Killers with film director Roman Polanski. They began a relationship, and Tate ended her engagement to Sebring, who travelled to London to meet Polanski. He accepted the end of the engagement and befriended Polanski, while remaining a friend to Tate. Polanski would later comment that despite Sebring's lifestyle, he was a very lonely person, who regarded Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski as his family.
[edit] Sebring International
His business, Sebring International, was flourishing, with profitable salons in West Hollywood, New York and London, and Sebring maintained a "playboy" lifestyle, numbering high profile Hollywood personalities such as Warren Beatty among his closest associates. In the summer of 1968, Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate introduced Sebring to Polanski's friend Wojciech Frykowski, and his girlfriend, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, who had recently moved to Los Angeles from New York. Folger later invested in Sebring's hair care products for men.
Though not seeking an acting career, Sebring appeared in an episode of the television show Batman, playing a character based on himself called Mr. Oceanbring. In early May 1969 Sebring opened a new salon at 629 Commercial Street in San Francisco, and a champagne reception followed. Guests included Abigail Folger and her mother Inez, as well as Paul Newman with his wife Joanne Woodward. Sebring's business enterprises continued to flourish.
[edit] Death on Cielo Drive
On August 8, 1969, Sebring, Tate, Frykowski, and Folger went to el Coyote, a Mexican restaurant together. After they returned to the Polanski residence on Cielo Drive, Charles Manson's followers Patricia Krenwinkel, Susan Atkins, Charles "Tex" Watson entered the home. After coercing the four occupants of the house into the living room, they ordered them to lie face down on the floor. Sebring protested and asked the intruders to consider Tate's advanced pregnancy. He was then shot by Watson, who kicked him several times in the face as he lay dying, breaking his nose and eye socket. The group then murdered Frykowski, Folger, and finally Tate, whose pleas for the life of her unborn baby were ignored.
Jay Sebring was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield, Michigan on Wednesday August 13, 1969.
