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Milo Beauty and Barber Supply

March 11, 1984

Styles for a Super Star

Collin and Jan Jamison met while working as stylists on the film “Goodbye Mr. Chips” in 1958. Married in 1969, the couple continues to work together on various film projects.

In their latest venture, Barbra Streisand personally selected the Jamisons to create the hairstyles for her movie, “Yentl,” which was written, directed, produced and starred in by Ms. Streisand.

The MILO Corporation brings you the exclusive interview to provide insights into the exciting world of working with today’s popular celebrities.

[Barbra-Archives Note: this article courtesy of Dean Selzer, from his collection. I've excerpted only the Yentl-relevent portions of the article on this page.]

MILO: How were you selected to be the hairstylists for “Yentl”?

Collin: I think somebody referred us to Barbra Streisand. Then we had the opportunity to meet with her about a year before shooting began.

Jan: She also did some fact-finding to see what kind of work we had done in the past.

MILO: Barbra envisioned “Yentl” many years ago. Were you involved from the beginning in the selection and planning of the hairstyles that would be used, particularly because it was a period picture?

Collin: Yes. We were asked to read the script in advance to build images of the characters in our minds. That way, every one is thinking on the same wavelength once the shooting begins. Then we would try the different styles on the set artists to get the total picture of how they looked.

MILO: Did you find it difficult to reproduce the turn of the century styles?

Collin: No, you just have to get to know the period. When I first started in the film industry and had to do a period film, I panicked a bit. But now I go to the library, get some books and thoroughly research that time in history.

MILO: Being a major motion picture, did Barbra actually have her hair cut to give her the boyish look?

Jan: No, it was a wig. Initially, we considered three different wigs. The first one was too coarse, so we decided to order the finest quality hair available, which came from Poland.

Collin: We bought the natural colors. As you know, there are two colors of natural hair: brown and blonde. We mixed the two types until they blended with Barbra’s brown hair with golden highlights. We finally got it to match perfectly.

MILO: Many of the scenes in “Yentl” were shot on location. Do you enjoy working away from the studio?

Collin: Yes, of course, it depends on where you are. I’ve worked at some really lousy locations and some really awful ones.

MILO: How long was a typical shooting day on “Yentl”?

Collin: We started working about 7:00 in the morning, and Barbra and the other stars would come in around 8:00 a.m. At the end of the day, by the time we got the wig off and redressed it for the next day’s shooting, it was usually 9:00 -9:30 p.m. before we went home. We’re always the first to arrive and the last to leave.

MILO: When you work together, such as you did in “Yentl,” how do you decide who is going to do a particular character?

Collin: In this film I did Barbra and I couldn’t possibly cover the other leading lady, so Jan did her because they were in many scenes together.

End.

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