As I’ve stated before, Larry David is a personal hero of mine.
Hell, he’s even a member of my bald hall of fame!
So, when I saw that Larry David was the main guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, naturally I had to DVR it. And the interview didn’t disappoint! Scroll down to the bottom of this page if you want to skip my hair loss-related commentary and just watch the clip.
Of course, my favorite bit was when Larry discussed his hair loss. He noted how frequently people yell at him on his show, Curb Your Enthusiasm. The insults used to, by and large, pertain to his baldness. “Bald asshole,” is the most common taunt he’s subjected to, as you already know if you watch the show.
But now that Larry’s 70 and the overwhelming majority of his peers are also either full or partial members of the bald community, he’s found that the insults are different this year. Now, Susie Green and his other foes are apparently referring to him as an old a-hole or bastard or schmuck!
“Did you ever think you’d miss being called a bald bastard?” Kimmel inquired.
“No, I never thought I’d miss it,” David replied!
“I’m Proud of How I Accepted My Baldness”
That was another great quote from the interview. David also states, for the record, that he never felt subconscious about his balding, nor did he ever flirt with a toupee! Curb fans know that Larry despises men who use minoxidil, wear toupees, get hair transplants, and he’s not even all that crazy about the dudes who buzz their heads! “We don’t know how bald you are,” he once told Paul Shaffer, the former band leader on The Late Late Show with David Letterman. And accordingly, Larry said he did not consider Shaffer, a full class 7 on the Norwood Scale, to be a member of the bald community!
LD Went to a Dermatologist at One Point
This was perhaps the most interesting reveal in the interview. Larry disclosed to Jimmy that he once visited a dermatologist and asked, “Is it going to keep getting worse?!” He wanted to how long he had, essentially.
Reminds me of the Seifeld episode, when Elaine’s boyfriend asked George for a hair loss “prognosis” and George gave him a year left with hair, before advising him to “live dammit!” Yeah…
Live Dammit
That’s the moral of the story, ultimately. Larry can be a small and petulant and selfish man, but he didn’t let his hair loss define him or make him feel embarrassed or stop him from becoming a living legend. Hell, A-List megastar Jennifer Lawrence reportedly has a massive crush on him! And why not? Gentlemen, women don’t care about hair as much as you might think, as I point out in my 12 steps to dating success for bald men article.
Wrapping it Up (and the Video)
Man, Larry’s really letting that Norwood 7 grow out these days, too! That takes some serious cojones, my friends. I’d compare his look to the mob-boss hairstyle, which I consider the most straight-up gangster hairstyle for balding men. I rambled on for awhile there….Anyway, here’s the clip. Enjoy!
Robert Price is a writer, consumer advocate, and hair loss researcher with thousands of hours of experience in the field. His goal is to keep you out of the hair loss rabbit hole, underworld, or whatever you want to call it. He founded Hair Loss Daily, the unbiased hair loss blog, in 2016. You can learn more about Robert in the my story section of this website.
I’m far more grateful than proud. Other than praying go bald and begging God to make me bald, I could do nothing about it. The choice wasn’t mine. But lucky me, MPB was included in my DNA, so I was ‘doomed’ to eventually go bald. And I did finally go bald. What I am most grateful for is that very early in my childhood I fell madly in love with the prospect of going bald. That desire only intensified over time. When I finally went bald I was thrilled and grateful. But I don’t flaunt it. Nor do I try to hide it. I don’t ever talk about it. I pretend to miss my hair when friends or family commiserate me on my bald condition. Only my wife knows how I truly feel. She has promised me not to tell anyone else how much I love being bald. However, when the subject comes up, she is always quick to tell everyone how much she loves it. And believe me, she LOVES it, almost as much as I do.
Funny, what most men dread, I eagerly desired. Most men will stop at almost nothing to preserve or regrow their hair. I, on the other hand, couldn’t lose mine soon enough or fast enough. Had there been a safe way to make MPB happen for me, I wouldn’t have hesitated a minute to do it.
I’m with you Eric!
I’m sure it sounds ridiculous to most people, but it’s just an attribute that I always associated with masculinity and virility. It never bothered me one bit to lose my hair. I’m glad to know I’m not the only person who likes sporting the power donut!