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Harrison was born in the UK from part-Irish ancestry. He had humble, working class beginnings, but became the almost legendary lead guitarist in ‘The Beatles.’ Later in his music career, he embraced Hinduism, a belief which led him to organise a charity concert for Bangladesh in 1971. He is listed in Rolling Stone Magazine as number twenty one of “The Hundred Best Guitarists of All Time.” He also had a very successful career as a solo artist and as a film and record producer. Harrison wore his big, bushy moustache for quite a number of years during his musical career, and if you ever got confused with which Beatle was which, this iconic piece of facial hair always served to distinguish him from the rest of the band.

Freddy Mercury

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As the composer of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Freddy Mercury – born Farrokh Bulsara – was one of the most well-known musicians of his time. He was based in the UK but was of Parsis origin, born in East Africa (Zanzibar). He was schooled in India, but shortly after returning to his home country, his family fled to London when he was only seventeen years old, to escape the revolution. He had a clear, four-octave voice range and sensationally ate up the stage when it came to live performances and television (remember the ‘I Want to Break Free’ video?). He died aged forty-five of AIDS related complications in November of 1991. Freddy Mercury wore his moustache during most of his years as a performer. It started big, got smaller, and increased in size again. He was definitely a musician that could not hide in any disguise whatsoever. His moustache was noticeable regardless of anything else he wore – or didn’t wear.

Salvador Dalí

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Born in 1904, Dali had such a unique moustache that the style was named after him. It was long and pointy, curving upwards, with areas past the corner of the mouth shaved.

Salvador Dali was a surrealist painter from Catalan. He was mainly known for his talent in painting, but he was a dab hand at film, sculpture and photography as well. His style was eccentric and flamboyant, and he often attracted attention to himself by exhibiting bizarre behaviour. This sort of eccentricity started when he was at art school, from which he was expelled just before his final exams for stating that none of the instructors were cleaver or talented enough to examine him. He later became heavily involved in controversial politics and eventually was banned from the surrealist society. I blame the moustache.

Robert Mugabe

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Robert Gabriel Mugabe was born in 1924 and has controversially led Zimbabwe for twenty-eight years. He first qualified as a teacher, but has since acquired six degrees – two of them law degrees.

Mugabe has always sported a toothbrush moustache, the same type as Hitler’s (see part part one). Now they’ve spoilt that style for anyone else who fancied himself a toothbrush-moustache kind of man.

Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the current President of Zimbabwe, an office he’s held on to despite the world’s view of him. This position in the beginning, earned him respect and reverence from his countrymen and several Western nations  alike, but he has since become one of the most disliked African Presidents in history. Added to his questionable politics, he also started one of the world’s biggest hyperinflation by printing hundreds of trillions of Zimbabwean dollars.

Thomas Selleck

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Tom Selleck was born in 1945 in Detroit, Michigan. When he was a teenager, he twice appeared in The Dating Game – losing both times. He later became an actor and has also become a successful screenwriter and film producer.  Magnum P.I was his most famous starring role to date, but it could’ve been much different. He was cast as Indiana Jones in The Raiders of the Lost Ark, but when Magnum’s producers refused to release him from his contract, the role went to Harrison Ford instead.

After Selleck decided to do the honourable thing  and stick with Universal Studios, filming was delayed for a period of six months, which meant that he would’ve been able to complete filming as Indiana after all. What a bummer this must have been for him, considering the film series’ continual success.

With his winning smile, and jet black, immaculate moustache, Tom Selleck was noticeable anywhere he went.  The only drawback was that he was sometimes mistaken for Burt Reynolds, another moustached heart-throb. One important thing to note about Selleck, is that the ‘Friends’ (the sitcom in which he played Monica’s sweetheart) producers had to stop having live audiences, because they couldn’t control them when he was appearing. What a star.

Charles Bronson

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Bronson was the eleventh of fifteen children, born to a poverty-stricken Lithuanian family living in Pennsylvania.  When Bronson was ten, his father died, which meant that he had to work in the coal mines for a reportedly one dollar per ton.  When he was twenty-two, he joined the U.S Army Air Forces and served as an Aircraft gunner in WWll. He then changed his name from Buchinsky to Bronson, and after many baby steps in the filming industry, Bronson made his mark and got himself noticed in ‘The Magnificent Seven.’ He is now known for a number of action-hero-type films including ‘The Dirty Dozen.’ His ‘Death Wish’ series was extremely popular and ran for almost twenty years. Bronson died aged eighty-one in 2003, from pneumonia. He was also suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Chuck Norris

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Chuck Norris was born, Carlos Ray Norris, on March 10, 1940, in Oklahoma. He was from a working class family, and was from Irish/Cherokee decent. When he was eighteen, he joined the National Air Force as an Air Policeman, and earned himself the name, Chuck.  He was based in South Korea, which is where he picked up an interest in Tang Soo Du. When he returned to the U.S, he opened a chain of Karate schools for kids, and later became internationally known for his masterful roundhouse kick. His acting career kicked off successfully and he became world-famous in his role as Cordell Walker in ‘Walker, Texas Ranger.’ He’s also known for a number of tough-guy film roles. His moustache has evolved through the years. At one time he had just a moustache, but then graduated to a full beard, then back to just a moustache again.

All these men made an impact creatively, politically, or socially. I am tempted to think that if it wasn’t for the moustaches, they would be ordinary looking men who would not be so readily identifiable. What do you think?

Don’t miss the first part of this series!

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One of the earliest, popular moustached faces in television is that of Groucho Marx, the American comedian and film star. He was born in 1890 and died at the ripe old age of eighty-seven in 1977. At the start of his career, he used grease paint to paint on his outrageously large moustache and eyebrows. However, he soon grew his own – which he wore for the rest of his life. Groucho, in his heyday, was one of the most recognisable celebrities of his time.

Laurel and Hardy

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Stan Laurel – the thin one – was British born. He changed his name from Stanley Jefferson when he moved to America at twenty-two, because he was concerned that his name was too long and fussy for the American show business arena. Oliver Hardy – the bigger one – was American. He was born Norvell Hardy, but also changed his name when he was eighteen years old. They rose to fame on the American TV scene, and were famous around the 1920s – 30s, working mainly in motion pictures and on stage. They managed to appear together in a staggering 106 films. Now how’s that for a partnership! Laurel sported a toothbrush type moustache, the same style as Hitler and Mugabe, but along with his partner, he has provided the world with belly laughs and an impressive amount of slapstick comedy.

Clark Gable

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Another instantly recognizable moustached heart-throb was Clarke Gable. His smooth performance in Gone With the Wind, got him nominated for ‘Best Actor.’ Gable had a hiccoughing start to his life, not only was he registered as a girl on his birth certificate, but his voice was very high and terribly whiny. After much training and make-overs, Clark Gable became what is now known as an A list film star. He worked as a Stage actor between 1924-1930, during which time, he appeared as an extra in many motion pictures. After he made it big-time, his moustache made him probably the most recognizable actor of his time. After all, he played the leading man for most of his film acting life.

Adolf Hitler

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Adolf Hitler was born of parents who were blood-relations to each other, and was the fourth of six children. However, only two of his parents’ children reached adulthood – Adolf and a younger sister. He failed his first year in high school, and had to be put back a grade. During his young years, after twice being refused entry into an art school, he sold his paintings in the street to tourists. Money soon ran out and he eventually found himself homeless. Time progressed, and after being deemed unfit to serve in the Austrian army, he signed up with the Bavarian army during WW1.

He later became a German politician, but the Germans will always rightly point out that he was actually born in Austria. After a year of joining up, he became the leader of what is now known as the Nazi Party, and ruled Germany from 1933-1945. Unfortunately, everyone knows what happened next. This type of moustache would have probably been more widely used, were it not for the fact that this was the man who made it famous.

Mahatma Gandhi

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I included this second picture because it proves that Ghandi had a moustache ever since he was a little boy (but I jest).

His real name was Mohandas Karamchand Ghandi. He was a well-known political and spiritual leader of India. He has since become one of the icons representing non-violent demonstrations and civil rights freedom for downtrodden people all over the world. Mahatma (‘Great Soul’ in Sanskrit) gave up his job as a lawyer in South Africa in 1915, and returned to India to fight the cause of his people living in poverty. He has done so much for the world and the way in which we view our freedom. I think that his round glasses and moustache come together in a way that makes him one of the easiest identifiable men in history.

Frank Zappa

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Zappa was born in 1940 and is of Greek/Arab/Italian decent. He started composing music when he was still at high school.

Zappa was everything and anything. His artistic career over thirty years, saw him as a record producer, guitar player, film director, song writer and solo artist. He had a keen interest in politics and became very active in world affairs during the latter part of his life. He spent all of his music career wearing his trademark bushy moustache with a little goatee under his bottom lip.

All these men made an impact creatively, politically, or socially. I am tempted to think that if it wasn’t for the moustaches, they would be ordinary looking men who would not be so readily identifiable. What do you think?

Part two is now available here

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