1928 Maria Falconetti – Went bald for her portrayal of Joan of Arc in La Passion. It is said to be one of the most astonishing performances ever committed to film, and it would remain her final cinematic role.
1979 Star Trek: The Motion Picture debuts in theaters. Persis Khambatta plays the bald Lieutenant Ilia. Star Trek nerds all over the world masterbate.
Ève Salvail is a Canadian supermodel born on April 7, 1973 in Matane, Quebec. She was one of the top fashion models of the 1990s and the first top model who shaved her head. She created a lot of interest with this avant-garde look among fashion designers. She still sports very short hair, although no longer shaved. She has a tattoo of a Chinese dragon on her scalp.
1990 Sinéad O’Connor’s first two albums (1987′s The Lion and the Cobra and 1990′s I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got) gained considerable attention and mostly positive reviews. She was praised for her unique voice and her original songs. She was also noted for her appearance: her shaved head, angry expression, and sometimes shapeless or unusual clothing.
I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got contained her international breakthrough hit “Nothing Compares 2 U”, a song written by Prince and originally recorded and released by a side project of his, The Family. Aided by a memorable and well received video by John Maybury which consisted almost solely of O’Connor’s face as she performed the song, it became a massive international hit, reaching #1 in several countries. She eventually won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance but boycotted the award show protesting against its extreme commercial nature.
O’Connor’s career received a significant blow — especially in the United States — on October 3, 1992, when she appeared on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest, on a show hosted by Tim Robbins. She was singing an a cappella version of Bob Marley’s “War” to protest sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, and added a lyric about “child abuse.” She then presented a photo of Pope John Paul II to the camera while singing the word “evil,” after which she tore the photo into pieces, said “fight the real enemy,” and threw the pieces towards the camera. Almost immediately, NBC’s switchboard was jammed with thousands of complaints. To this day, NBC refuses to allow the footage to be rebroadcast. Instead, they show footage from the dress rehearsal where she smiles and bows after finishing the song.
The reaction to Sinéad’s act of defiance was swift. In the resultant media furor, O’Connor was booed off stages and verbally abused by audiences. Her records were destroyed, and radio stations refused to play her songs.
1997 Demi Moore plays GI Jane in this action movie that tells the story of the first woman to undergo SEAL (Sea, Air, and Land) training. Lieutenant Jordan O’Neil (Moore’s character) is hand-picked by a U.S. Senator Lillian de Haven (Anne Bancroft) to go through the rigorous Navy SEAL training right along with the men. Jordan O’Neil faces sexism and physical challenges as well as the horse-trading by the Senator who selected her for the experimental program.
1999 Joan Jett shaved her head for her ‘Fetish’ album. Talk about an artist commited to her work.
1999 Bai Ling completely shaved her head for her role in Anna and the King. Her mane was more than three feet long and she mulled over the decision for months. In the end, it was a wise move, as her scenes as the doomed character Tuptim became even more poignant for it.
2000 Remember that episode of Who’s The Boss that Angela Bauer shaved her head and admited to Tony her need for kinky sex? Neither do I, but Judith Light did shave her head for a play called ‘Wit’ in which she plays someone with metastatic ovarian cancer in the fourth stage — and there is no fifth.
2006 Natalie Portman shaved her head for her role in the film adaptation of Alan Moore’s graphic novel, V for Vendetta, released in March 2006. Her shaved head was first seen publicly at the Revenge of the Sith premieres. She kept her hair short for most of 2005, had a fauxhawk mohawk, and briefly sported a full mohawk in late August, saying that it was “kind of wonderful to throw vanity away for a bit”.
2007 After spending 24 hours in rehab Britney Spears goes “nuts” and shaves her head. Some say she is close to a mental breakdown, others say it’s a cry for help, I say rehad makes you crazy.