Sally Hansen (1908Sally Genevive Finney. United States Census (1920). Omaha Ward 10, Douglas, Nebraska, United States. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), District 114, Sheet Number 12A, Household ID: 291, Line Number 37 – December 16, 1963) was an American businesswoman, inventor, dancer, actress, and writer. She was the

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous founder of Sally Hansen, Inc., a manufacturer of women's nail and beauty products.

Early life

Sally Genevieve Hansen (née Finney) was born in 1908 in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

, to Thomas M. and Jennie M. Finney, the owners of a small cosmetics company, La Finné. As a teenager, she left home to become a dancer in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, California, landing roles on stage and screen, including ''The Orpheus Four'', ''Friendly Enemies'', and ''Spring is Upon Us''. Hansen became a frequenter of the Hollywood social scene during the

Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the U ...

Career

Writer

While working as a dancer and actress in Hollywood, Hansen wrote (under her maiden name Sally Finney) a column titled "Your Candid Mirror" for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''. Over the span of 91 articles, Hansen provided beauty and lifestyle advice, celebrating women and encouraging readers to be confident in their own skin.

Entrepreneur

House of Hollywood

After her early career as a dancer, Hansen took over her parents' failing cosmetics company and reinvented it as House of Hollywood in partnership with her husband and her brother. By the early 1940s, Hansen expanded House of Hollywood to include , the largest private brand cosmetic house in Southern California. She was also made president of the California Cosmetics Association, its first female chair. Hansen's success with House of Hollywood led her to be offered the chance to expand through S. H. Kress & Co. Under the label La Bonita, she created the products Cool Off (make-up designed to not run in the heat) and Film Tone, inspired by the makeup she knew from film sets.

Sally Hansen, Inc.

In 1946, Hansen quit House of Hollywood and left Hollywood to create her own eponymous beauty company in New York City, Sally Hansen Inc., with a logo modeled on her own signature. Its first two trademarks were Hard As Nails and Mend-A-Nail. Hansen employed mostly women in her factory – championing and supporting women in the workforce. Hansen sold the brand in 1962 to Maradel Products.United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark Assignment Abstract of Title. Serial No. 72067005, Reg No. 688093. September 21, 1962 The brand eventually became the number one nail brand in the United States, and, , was distributed in over 55 countries.

Personal life

Hansen married three times. First, at 19 years old to Eugene Gunther, a man who would turn out to be a philanderer, and in 1929 Hansen filed for divorce on grounds of "excessive intoxication" and violence, including one documented incident of being "slapped across the face". On November 20, 1932, Hansen married Adolf M. Hansen, "Hans", a doctor, surgeon, and socialite. Although the couple led a glamorous happy life, filled with parties, Hansen's ambitions outmatched his and on October 1, 1946, Hansen again filed for divorce. In 1947, Hansen was married for the third time to Jack Newton, a man 11 years her junior.

Death

Hansen died at age 56, on December 16, 1963, after a 6-month fight with lung cancer. Her grave is small and simple: A flat plaque that until 2014 was buried in mud and barely visible, located at Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, Los Angeles County, California.

Financial legacy

The 1962 sale of Sally Hansen, Inc. netted Hansen approximately $11 million (accounting for inflation to 2017). With her death one year later, the remainder of her estate was left to her husband Jack Newton, approximately $4 million, along with some small gifts for close friends.Last Will and Testament: Sally Hansen Newton

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Sally 1908 births 1963 deaths American actresses American cosmetics businesspeople American female dancers 20th-century American women writers Businesspeople from Kansas 20th-century American inventors 20th-century American dancers Women inventors Nail polish 20th-century American businesspeople