From Beverly Hills to Honolulu
By Paula Rath
Advertiser Staff Writer
David Richer of Mo'ili'ili has coiffed the heads of Barbara Walters, Anna Nicole Smith, Ethel Kennedy, Roberta Peters, Marlo Thomas, Carrie Fisher and Gov. and Mrs. Gray Davis, to name just a few. As a Beverly Hills hairstylist for more than 25 years, he saw it all. Now he's writing a book titled "Memoir of a Beverly Hills Hairdresser."
Richer, who worked for years at the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel, talks about seeing Sophia Loren in the elevator and Jackie Onassis in the hotel lobby.
He remembers going to Barbara Walters' hotel suite to style her hair and finding her wrapped in a towel and a turban with phones in both hands. "She was on the phone the entire time I was there. She was unbelievably busy," he said.
Richer calls the late Anna Nicole Smith "the most beautiful person I have ever worked on," and adds, "She loved her son, Daniel. Of all the people in her life, he is the one she talked about, and her face lit up when she did."
The Kennedy women also chose Richer for their stylist when in Southern California. Joan, Courtney and Ethel Kennedy all came to him for their hair.
When visiting Ethel Kennedy's suite to style her hair, Richer noticed a framed photo of her husband (the late Bobby Kennedy) on her nightstand. "It had been over 25 years since his death. I was taken with that," he said.
After more than 30 years of vacationing in Honolulu, Richer decided to make it his home. He is now ensconced in Peggy's Salon, a friendly little place in the New Otani Hotel. He offers free consulations and his prices are not quite at Beverly Hills levels: $45 for a cut and $65 for a cut and blow dry.
To contact Richer, call Peggy's Salon at 924-0422.