Peter Carlo Bessone Raymond (born Raimondo Pietro Carlo Bessone; 11 May 1911 – 17 April 1992), known as Raymond Bessone and also as Mr Teasy-Weasy, Teasie Weasie Raymond and various combinations of these, was a British
hairdresser
A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be re ...
from the 1930s to the 1960s.
Early life and career
Bessone was born Raimondo Pietro Carlo Bessone at 61
Wardour Street
Wardour Street () is a street in Soho, City of Westminster, London. It is a one-way street that runs north from Leicester Square, through Chinatown, across Shaftesbury Avenue to Oxford Street. Throughout the 20th century the street became a ...
,
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develo ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, England of Italian and French parentage and descent. He subsequently Anglicised his name, and legally changed it by
deed poll, to Peter Carlo Bessone Raymond.
His name is sometimes, but incorrectly, given as Pierre Raymond Bessone.
Bessone began his career making false beards and moustaches in his father's barber shop.
He subsequently opened his own
salon in
Mayfair, where he trained
Vidal Sassoon
Vidal Sassoon (17 January 1928 – 9 May 2012) was a British hairstylist, businessman, and philanthropist. He was noted for repopularising a simple, close-cut geometric hairstyle called the bob cut, worn by famous fashion designers including Ma ...
.
Building on his first salon, Bessone developed a chain of highly fashionable salons in the
West End. He later opened outlets in several major cities, including Birmingham.
Bessone was the first hairdresser to appear on television, and had his own show at Saturday teatime.
Regarded as Britain's first celebrity hairdresser, he cultivated a faux French accent and a camp manner.
Bessone liked to pace around his salon and, if a customer approached him, he would then exclaim with exasperation, "Madam, can you not see that I am meditating!"
His
Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End.
Toponymy
Knightsbridge is an ancien ...
salon was replete with gilt mirrors, chandeliers, and champagne fountains.
In 1956 Bessone was flown to the United States by
Diana Dors
Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer.
Dors came to public notice as a blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. Dors was p ...
, for a
shampoo and set, at a cost of £2,500 (equivalent to £).
The stunt caused media controversy since a house could have been bought for the same amount.
In 1957 Bessone launched the ''Shangri-La'' style, based on "the four principles of colour, line, youth and softness" and inspired by his view of
Swiss mountain peaks after being
knocked out
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving strikin ...
in a skiing accident.
In the early 1970s Bessone made a cameo appearance in the television
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''
Crossroads''.
[
]
Hairstyling
Except for girls under 20, Bessone considered that women should avoid having long hair because he considered it ageing. He was also of the opinion that, except for women with very regular features, a central parting should be avoided.
The modern bouffant
A bouffant () is a type of puffy, rounded hairstyle characterized by hair raised high on the head and usually covering the ears or hanging down on the sides.
Etymology
The English word ''bouffant'' comes from the French ''bouffante'', from ...
is considered to be a Bessone invention. He also innovated by dyeing hair with bold colours, including pink, orange and purple.
Horse racing
Bessone was the part-owner of 1963 Grand National
The 1963 Grand National was the 117th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 30 March 1963.
The race was won narrowly by 66/1 shot Ayala, ridden by 19-year-old jockey Pat Buc ...
winner Ayala
Ayala may refer to:
Places
* Ciudad Ayala, Morelos, Mexico
* Ayala Alabang, a barangay in Muntinlupa, Philippines
* Ayala Avenue, a major thoroughfare in the Makati Central Business District, Philippines
* Ayala, Magalang, a barrio in Magalang ...
.
He was also part-owner of 1976 Grand National
The 1976 Grand National (officially known as the ''News of the World'' Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 130th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 3 April 1976. The r ...
winner Rag Trade
The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry.
Industry process
Cotton manufacturi ...
. Although Bessone had bought the gelding himself for 18,000 guineas, at a public auction at Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
, he later sold two 25% shares in the horse to businessmen William Lawrie and Herbert Keane. With trainer Arthur Pitt the horse ran the 1975 Grand National
The 1975 Grand National (officially known as the ''News of the World'' Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 129th renewal of the Grand National Horse racing, horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse, Aintree near Liverpoo ...
, only managing to complete the course. Under trainer Fred Rimell
Thomas Frederic Rimell (24 June 1913 – 12 July 1981), better known as Fred Rimell, was a British champion National Hunt racing jockey and horse trainer. He was champion jockey three times and leading trainer five times. Rimell was the fi ...
, the following year, the horse won both the Welsh Grand National
The Coral Welsh Grand National is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Chepstow, Wales, over a distance of abo ...
at Chepstow
Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the wester ...
and the Grand National at Aintree. Bessone had hoped for a third win in 1977.[
His racing colours were ice blue and wine halved, sleeves reversed.
]
Personal life
Bessone was married to the actress Rosalie Ashley and had three daughters.
In 1979 his 28-year-old daughter Amber, who was pregnant, was killed when returning from a family wedding. Her car crossed a damaged section of the M4 motorway crash barrier
Traffic barriers (sometimes called Armco barriers,AK Steel (formerly Armco) genericized trademark also known in North America as guardrails or guard rails and in Britain as crash barriers) keep vehicles within their roadway and prevent them fro ...
and hit an oncoming Porsche. The two people in the Porsche, as well as Bessone's daughter, her husband and two children, were all killed instantly. Several weeks after the accident it was discovered that the male passenger killed in the Porsche was Brian Field
Brian Arthur Field (15 December 1934 – 27 April 1979) was an English solicitor's clerk who was one of the masterminds of the 1963 Great Train Robbery. He was the crucial link between the key informant known only as "''Ulsterman''" (who came u ...
, one of the organizers of the 1963 Great Train Robbery, who had changed his name to Brian Carleton.
Bessone received the OBE in 1982, for services to hairdressing. He died in Berkshire on 17 April 1992, aged 80.
Cultural references
James Dreyfus
James Dreyfus (born 9 October 1968) is an English actor most notable for roles on television sitcoms '' The Thin Blue Line'' as Constable Kevin Goody, and '' Gimme Gimme Gimme'' as Tom Farrell. Dreyfus is most recently known for a role as Rever ...
starred as Mr. Teasy-Weasy in the 2004 comedy film '' Churchill: The Hollywood Years''. Sir John 'Teasy-Weasy' Butler, in Monty Python, was based on Bessone. In sci-fi comedy '' Red Dwarf'', having been asked to navigate light speed and cut Rimmer's hair simultaneously, Holly says "I'm not a combination of the speaking clock
A speaking clock or talking clock is a live or recorded human voice service, usually accessed by telephone, that gives the correct time. The first telephone speaking clock service was introduced in France, in association with the Paris Observ ...
, Moss Bros., and Teasy-Weasy!" – Holly, Red Dwarf. In one episode of the 1950s BBC radio program ''Hancock's Half Hour
''Hancock's Half Hour'' was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy series, broadcast from 1954 to 1961 and written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sidney James; the radio version also co-starred, ...
'' titled ''Hancock's Hair''. Sid James
Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series.
Born to a mi ...
calls himself "Raymond" and Bill Kerr
William Henry Kerr (10 June 1922 – 28 August 2014) was a British and Australian actor, comedian, and vaudevillian.
Born in South Africa, he started his career as a child actor in Australia, before emigrating to Britain after the Second Wor ...
's response includes the nickname "Mr. Teasy-Weasy".
Bibliography
*''Hair and All That: incorporating National Service coiffures'', 1940.
References
External links
Newsreel film of Raymond Bessone
Pathé News
Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era. The Pathé News archive is known today as British Pathé. Its col ...
, 20 May 1957.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bessone, Raymond
British hairdressers
English racehorse owners and breeders
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
People from Soho
English people of Italian descent
English people of French descent
1911 births
1992 deaths