CHICAGO (AP) — Margaret Vinci Heldt, who became a hairstyling celebrity after she created the famous beehive hairdo in 1960, has died at age 98.
Ahlgrim Funeral Home in the Chicago suburb of Elmhurst said Monday that Heldt died Friday at a senior living community.
The beehive became a cultural phenomenon during the 1960s and evolved into a style worn for decades as Hollywood’s starlets walked red carpets. Heldt created the style at the request of a hairstyling magazine that published images of it in February 1960 and called it “the beehive” because of the shape.
LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 25: The Simpsons character Marge Simpson attends “The Simpsons” 350th episode block party on the New York street of Fox Pico Lot on April 25, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images)
Heldt grew up in Chicago and said she became fascinated with hair as a young girl. Heldt opened her own salon on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue in 1950.
She later earned industry accolades in 2010 and 2011.
