Bald was not only beautiful on TODAY Wednesday, it was also record-setting.
Barber David Alexander of American Haircuts and 73 brave souls on Rockefeller Plaza set the Guinness World Record for the most heads shaved in an hour as part of this week's "Spring Breakers TODAY" series. The record-setting effort was done to help raise awareness for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which has generated more than $212 million for child cancer research since 2000 by shaving more than 354,000 heads.
Alexander, who hails from the Atlanta area, shaved his 73rd head with 11 seconds to spare, beating the previous mark by one scalp. The record was immediately verified by Guinness World Records adjudicator Mike Janela. It was the latest effort to help St. Baldrick's by Alexander, who has raised more than $676,000 for the foundation and even has the St. Baldrick's logo tattooed across his heart.
"I feel great,'' Alexander said amid a pile of hair. "I'm a little hairy."
The 73 men and women who participated helped bring awareness to the work done by St. Baldrick's for children like 6-year-old Joseph Maroney, who learned last week that he is in remission from leukemia.
"You kind of get to a point where you think all the news that you're going to hear is bad news,'' his mother, Gemma Maroney, tearfully told TODAY.
At a St. Baldrick's event in November, Joseph's father, Christian, and his two younger brothers, Sean and Thomas, each had their head shaved in support of Joseph.
"It made me super happy,'' Joseph told TODAY.
The record-setting effort on Wednesday also brought plenty of smiles to Rockefeller Plaza.
"Bald never looked so beautiful,'' said Al Roker, who knows a thing or two about a smooth pate.
After setting two Guinness World Records in two days, next up is a run at the largest exercise ball class in history on Thursday.