They came by bus, scooter and Rolls Royce to get their hair cut by Charlie Miller

The life and times of 'the best dressed man in Edinburgh' who revolutionised hairdressing in the Capital

Charlie Miller and client Sir Sean Connery. Pic: Charlie Miller Hairdressing

It could all have been so different for Charlie Miller, the hairdressing legend who helped raise £10,000 for charity by cutting hair at the North Pole and counted the greatest James Bond, Sir Sean Connery, amongst his celebrity customers.

He also gifted a set of hair clippers to the Dalai Lama in 1998. The course his life took might best be summed up the Buddhist spiritual leader’s observation: “Remember that sometimes not getting what you want can be a wonderful stroke of luck.”

After leaving school he had applied to become a drummer in the Royal Marines after seeing a performance at the Tattoo. But aged just 15 he was too young and sent on his way.

He would later say: "I wipe the sweat off my brow now to think about it because as soon as that was done, I was off. I wanted to be a hairdresser." And what a hairdresser he was to become.

Charlie Miller passed away this week aged 80, after living with dementia for several years, within weeks of his great friend Sir Tom Farmer – the man whose hair he cut at the North Pole to raise cash for the Teen Cancer Trust. He leaves behind a loving and much-loved family, four salons which bear his name in Scotland’s Capital, and a trophy cabinet stuffed to the gunnels with awards and accolades.

‘People came from all over Edinburgh’

After training at legendary barber “Bob’s” in the city centre, he struck out on his own at the tender age of 20 when he opened “His Hair” in Prestonfield. It quickly drew in style-conscious men and then women from around the Capital.

“I'm not exaggerating, people came from all over Edinburgh to me because of what I was doing," he said later. "They would come down on the bus, they would come down on their scooters and they would come down in their cars. They would come down in all sorts of ways and I mean some really classy cars, there was a couple of Rolls Royces that came down."

Business continued to grow until, in 1971, he moved to Stafford Street and the business changed to Charlie Miller Hairdressing. The rest, as they say, is history – and one that has been littered with testimonies to his talent and to its international recognition. This was a man at the top of his game.

Hollywood came to visit

Awards flowed, including National Hairdressers Federation ‘Hairdresser of the Year’, Lifetime Achievement Awards from The Guild of Hairdressers and the Fellowship for British Hairdressing, and a Legend Award from the Association Internationale Presse Professionnelle Coiffure at a private ceremony in Edinburgh.

Then there’s the small matter of becoming the first Scottish hairdresser to be honoured with an OBE, by the late Queen in 2012. His fame sas such that the great and good would visit his salon when in Edinburgh. Clients included Hollywood star Leslie Neilsen and fashion design superstar Donna Karan.