LONDON, 30 November 2011 – CNBC continues its CNBC Meets series, which profiles some of the world’s most successful people with an exclusive interview with the world-famous hairdresser Vidal Sassoon, on Wednesday, 7 December at 10.00pm GMT.
In his most recent interview to date, Sassoon has a highly personal and moving discussion with CNBC Meets presenter Tania Bryer in which he talks about his impoverished childhood, his years in a Jewish orphanage in the East End of London and candidly about how his mother had to hand him and his brother over, as she could not afford to look after them during the Depression.
Sassoon talks about fighting in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war for the elite Palmach commando unit in the Israeli army and how he only returned to England after he received a telegram from his mother, demanding that he earn a living and that she had had a ‘vision’ that he would become a hairdresser.
From starting his business from a small salon in London’s Bond Street, Sassoon talks about how he revolutionised the hair industry in the 1960s, how he grew his global hair empire and turned his name into a multi-million dollar global brand with salons, a hugely successful product line and academies around the world.
Throughout his extraordinary life, Sassoon has overcome many tragedies and he talks openly about being rocked by the early death of his brother and then his daughter who died of a drug overdose, aged 33. Sassoon shares his feelings on how he coped in the aftermath of such losses and how he now faces the biggest battle of his life, overcoming leukaemia.
Sassoon now spends much of his time giving back through his philanthropic activities. He founded Hairdressers Unlocking Hope, a charity that builds homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina, and The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism in Israel. He also supports new research into treating cancer.
The programme also features interviews with his wife Ronnie Sassoon, filmed at their home in the hills overlooking Los Angeles, with the legendary Mary Quant in London, as well as John Frieda, himself a highly successful hairdresser whose hero is Sassoon.
First transmission date: 7 December 2011, 10.00pm GMT.
Transcript and review copies of the programme are available upon request.
Presenter - Tania Bryer
Producer / Director - Tiffany Jones
Editor - Brian Watkinson
Executive Producers - Tania Bryer and Niaz Samadizadeh
The CNBC Meets series has already featured up close and personal interviews with Tamara Mellon (Jimmy Choo), Richard Desmond (Northern & Shell), Naomi Campbell, John Caudwell (mobile phone tycoon) and Kelly Hoppen (designer).
CNBC is available in the UK on all major pay-tv platforms: Sky (channel 505), Virgin (613), Talk Talk (510), Freesat (210).
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