Over the course of the last few years, Movember has become one of the standout charitable landmarks in the calendar.
Around the world, men let the hair on their top lip run wild for a very good cause: to benefit men’s health charities that support prostate and testicular cancer as well as those that help deal with mental health.
This year is no different, and we’re delighted to say that a group of our Aussie colleagues in our Perth office have been participating and raising funds for the Movember Foundation. Find out more about the excellent work of the Movember Foundation, and make a donation, here.
As a tribute to them, and to everyone who has helped raise money for this very worthy cause, here’s a list of ten of the most iconic moustaches in history (in no particular order).
Charlie Chaplin
Born into poverty in South East London, Chaplin’s extraordinary, 70-year career led to him becoming the first Hollywood superstar. Today he’s recognised as one of the most important figures in film history.
Despite being produced more than 100 years ago, many of his films, especially those featuring his iconic role as ‘The Tramp’, are still some of the funniest committed to celluloid. The iconic tramp image, complete with bowler hat, cane and toothbrush ‘tache is reproduced to this day on all sorts of items, including T-shirts, mugs and posters.
Salvador Dalí
Even his full name – Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marquess of Dalí de Púbol – is an artistic gem. As the famous exponent of surrealism, it’s somehow fitting that he had a ‘tache equally surreal.
If you look at pictures, you’ll see that there’s no single Dali look. He created a whole series of wondrous creations on his top lip that often seemed to defy gravity.
Tom Selleck
Selleck shot to fame in his role as private detective Thomas Sullivan Magnum PI (or ‘Magnum 3.142’ as he’s known to the cognoscenti).
The programme ran for eight series and the sunshine, expensive sports cars, and beach scenes aplenty scream ‘America in the 80s’. More recently, he’s starred as a patriarchal senior police officer in Blue Bloods, with his moustache still just as outstanding as it was more than 30 years ago.
Clark Gable
In the golden era of Hollywood, Gable shone most brightly. His manner was one of suave sophistication and his neatly trimmed pencil moustache topped off his image perfectly.
We could have chosen any number of actors from the same era with similar moustaches – Ronald Colman, David Niven, and Douglas Fairbanks Junior to name but three – but Gable’s status as the King of Hollywood meant he was the obvious choice.
Hulk Hogan
His unique ‘football goal’ style moustache makes him easily one of the most recognisable sporting celebrities in the world.
Hogan probably did more than anyone to popularise pro-wrestling in the 1980s, taking it from very much a minority ‘sport’ to the massive money-making entertainment machine it is today.
Freddie Mercury
As one of the most charismatic frontmen in rock history, Freddie Mercury led the rock group, Queen, to become arguably the greatest live act of their era.
Mercury’s luxurious ‘1970s New York style’ moustache could easily be seen from the back row of the string of stadiums where they played. It was so iconic it actually had its own Facebook page.
Borat
Borat Sagdiyev is Sacha Baron-Cohen’s wonderful satirical creation. His fictitious Kazakhstani journalist travels across the US making documentaries featuring real-life interactions with Americans that force you to suspend disbelief as you’re killing yourself laughing.
His ‘tache is an integral part of his image, along with the flammable suit, mankini, and the wide-eyed innocent stare.
John Cleese
Up until the mid-1970s, Cleese had never grown a moustache. In all his appearances in a series of ground-breaking comedy shows, including Monty Python’s Flying Circus, his top lip had remained open to the elements.
It was only when deciding on the image for his next comedic character that the idea of giving it a ‘tache came to mind. Thus, the neurotic hotel owner, Basil Fawlty, sported a typically English middle-class moustache. The rest, as they say, is history.
Even 45 years on, Fawlty Towers is still one of the greatest sitcoms ever, and moustachioed Fawlty is regularly voted the top comedy character of all time.
Errol Flynn
One of Australia’s most well-known actors, Flynn packed a lot into his 50-year life. One of the biggest stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, his roles in films such as The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Charge of the Light Brigade made him a household name.
Rarely seen without his debonair pencil moustache, the Tasmanian-born actor was dogged by controversy and financial difficulties in his later years but remains one of the iconic faces of Hollywood cinema.
Dennis Lillee
Australian cricket has produced many iconic moustaches over the years – we could have included David Boon, Merv Hughes, Mitchell Johnson and many more in this section – but Dennis Lillee’s majestic lip furniture was no aerodynamic barrier to him becoming one of the most feared fast bowlers of his generation.
Now in his seventies, there may not be quite as much hair up top, but Lillee still sports a very fine ‘tache.
