Famous mustaches

From Einstein to Groucho, Salvador Dali to Yosemite Sam, many male icons have festooned their faces with fuzz. Here are some of the most memorable mustaches.

Wrestler Hulk Hogan is one of the most prominent proponents of the Fu Manchu mustache. Here he proudly displays it along with his equally impressive biceps as he attends the launch of his book "My Life Outside the Ring" at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, 2009.

In addition to being a mathematical genius and the father of modern physics, Einstein sported a fine mustache. Along with his thck and sometimes wild hair, it helped define the popular image of the brilliant but absent-minded professor.

Who defined urbane and urban savoir-faire better than Billy Dee Williams? But how much less suave would he have looked without his trademark lip ornament? Perhaps that's why he retained it in his most famous role, Lando Calrissian in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi," not to mention in his sometimes controversial malt liquor commericals. Here he is in the 1980s prime-time soap "Dynasty."

Does anything say "totally '80s" more succinctly than the mustache Tom Selleck sported as hip Hawaii-based detective Thomas Magnum? The 80s may be long gone, but Selleck still sports his trademark 'stache, most recently in the critically acclaimed "Jesse Stone" TV-movies based on detective novels by Robert B. Parker.

Hall & Oates met when they fled from a Philadelphia gang gunfight into the same service elevator. John Oates was 5-foot-4 and dark; Daryl Hall was 6-foot-1 and blond. Oates sported a prominent chevron mustache; Hall went barefaced. Their contrasting styles complemented each other as well as their voices, helping them to six No. 1 hits and sold-out arenas in their '70s-'80s heyday.

Along with being a key member of two landmark rock bands, The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, David Crosby sports one of the best-known walrus mustaches this side of Wilford Brimley and the Lorax. Here he arrives for a dinner honoring Neil Young in Los Angeles on Jan. 29, 2010.

"We will rock you," famously sang the late lead singer of Queen, while rocking one of pop's most prominent mustaches. Born on the island of Zanzibar, the powerful vocalist died of AIDS-related illness in 1991 at the age of 45.

The often controversial TV journalist and talk show host has always been known for his penchant for high-profile stories, and his flamboyant mustache fits his style. Here he attends the tenth anniversary of Fox News Channel, on which he often appears, in October 2006.

One of the most famous faces of the 20th century was adorned by a mustache: that of silent film icon Charlie Chaplin. The small 'stache was a key part of Chaplin's Little Tramp character; in his autobiography, Chaplin wrote that he added it to his makeup to "add age without changing my expression."

A drooping mustache was a key part of the title character of "My Name Is Earl," played by former professional skateboarder Jason Lee. But Lee shaved the 'stache for his subsequent role: as a cop in the police drama "Memphis Heat."

Once a symbol of suavity and sometimes sinfulness, the pencil mustache has fallen out of fashion since the days Errol Flynn and David Niven were movie stars. One of its few active proponents is filmmaker and camp icon John Waters.

Would the "CBS Evening News" anchor once famously cited in a poll as "the most trusted man in America" had half as much gravitas without his mustache? Surely it added to the folksy aura that helped make him everybody's "Uncle Walter."

The late singer and actor who came to fame as Lancelot in the musical "Camelot" was nearly as well known for his mustache as his powerful baritone voice -- so much so that in 2008, the American Mustache Institute named its "Robert Goulet Mustached American of the Year" award after him.

The 26th president of the United States, Roosevelt has a place in history as secure as his place on Mount Rushmore. He is known for his boundless enthusiasm, his pioneering conservationism, being the first American to win the Nobel Peace Prize and, oh yes, his fine crop of lip whiskers.

Played by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in the mockumentary "Borat," fictional Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev is a boor, a sexist, and an anti-Semite with an obsession about Pamela Anderson. But his bushy mustache is probably considered the height of fashion in the mythical Kazakhstan he inhabits.

Would private eye John Shaft have been a bad-mutha-shut-yo-mouth without the mustache and accompanying sideburns? Hard to say. But actor Roundtree made the look iconic, playing the title role in the 1971 blaxploitation classic “Shaft,” now part of the National Film Registry.

Bow chica wow wow! For those who haven’t watched "the Charlie Chaplin of porn films" in action, his mustache is still his most recognizable characteristic. In an interview with the American Mustache Institute, Jeremy explains the main reason for his ‘stache: “It makes the nose look smaller.”

Best known today as an iconic horror film star and a voice in Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video, Price actually went barefaced early in his career, in such famous films as "Laura" (1944), for example. But when horror became the main part of his career, the mustache came in. After all, what kind of movie villain doesn't have mustaches to twirl?

Bollywood-to-Hollywood crossover star Anil Kapoor has been a leading man in Indian films for three decades, rocking his trademark mustache in all but three movies, as well as in the final season of "24." But, the “Slumdog Millionaire” star says, standing up for ‘staches wasn’t easy. "There were filmmakers in India that said anyone with a mustache never becomes a big star – a mustache is a no-no," he toldAOSFU98AQEWTASKFDNA0ADGAG2#@$A. "I loved when people said that, because I wanted to prove them wrong."

The handsome star sported a rakish, Errol Flynn-style mustache that fit perfectly into his period role as the leader of a team of Nazi-hunting Jewish soldiers in Quentin Tarantino's World War II drama 'Inglourious Basterds.'

You may be a redneck if you wear a mustache... or you may just be the best-selling comedy recording artist of all time, Jeff Foxworthy. Interestingly, Foxworthy's Blue Collar Comedy Tour costars Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy also sport facial hair.

Burt Reynolds' mustache added to his roguish charm in most of his 90-plus feature films, including the 1977 smash "Smokey and the Bandit."

Named one of the greatest male film stars of all time by the American Film Institute, Clark Gable may have done as much anyone to create a link between mustaches and masculinity in the popular imagination. Gable sported the 'stache in most of his greatest films, including "Gone With the Wind" -- but not in "Mutiny on the Bounty." Naval regulations, perhaps.

The actor who set many female hearts aflutter in "The Last of the Mohicans" disappeared into his role as a 19th-century crime boss in Martin Scorsese's 2002 "Gangs of New York" -- in no small part because he disappeared behind an impressive handlebar mustache. A goateed Leonardo DiCaprio was much more recognizable.

How many people can say they were shorn by Lady O herself? That’s right: Self-help guru Dr. Phil McGraw had his mustache shaved off by Oprah Winfrey live on her show in May 2010.

The feared Soviet dictator was portrayed as massive and powerful in his official portraits, but his mustache may have helped helped disguise the facts that he stood only 5-foot-4 inches tall, had a pock-marked face, and lost many of his teeth.

Surely one of the most impressive mustaches in television history is the oversize set of handlebars belonging to TODAY's own Gene Shalit, who has been reviewing movies for the morning show since January 1973.

Since he burst on the scene on "Saturday Night Live" in 1980, Eddie Murphy has sported a mustache. It has stayed with him though such smash hits as "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Coming to America" and remained in place for such later comedies as the "Nutty Professor" films.

Experimental rock musician Zappa was so closely identified with his trademark mustache that the Zappa Family Trust copyrighted its image after his death in 1993.

Mustachioed Richard Pryor broke ground in stand-up comedy with his frank perspective on race and use of profanity. In 1980 he set himself on fire while freebasing cocaine, sustaining burns on more than half is body -- but his mustache reportedly survived unscathed. Pryor died of a heart attack in 2005.

Actor, director and activist Penn typically sports a mustache and goatee offscreen, but one of the more comical incidents in his career involved the false mustache he wore for his Oscar-winning role in the biodrama "Milk." Penn was doing a kissing scene in the film with costar James Franco when this fake mustache slipped and wound up in Franco's mouth.

Mustaches got a big boost in fashionability thanks to the neatly groomed 'stache adorning "Sully" Sullenberger, the "Hero of the Hudson" who saved the lives of all 155 passengers and crew when he successfully ditched a damaged airliner in New York's Hudson River in January 2009. Later that year he was a finalist for the American Mustache Institute's tongue-in-cheek "Robert Goulet Mustached American of the Year" award.

Legend has it that Groucho Marx's exaggerated greasepaint mustache originated when he did not have time to apply a false mustache before a vaudeville performance. When he later hosted the TV quiz show "You Bet Your Life," Groucho was asked to wear the greasepaint mustache again, but instead he grew a real one that he wore unitl his death in 1977 at age 86.

A thick 1970s-style mustache was an essential part of Will Ferrell's portrayal of the title character in the 2004 comedy "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," a hit spoof of the Me Decade and the "action news" format it ushered in to many local TV staions.

Singer, songwriter, actor, California mayor and congressman, and not incidentally husband of Cher, Sonny Bono packed a lot of accomplishments into his life before his death in a skiing mishap in 1998. One of the less notable ones was a fine horseshoe mustache, which he later trimmed to a more conservative length befitting his status as a Republican politician.

Along with a trenchcoat and an expression of serene cluelessness, a Gallic mustache was an essential part of Sellers' portrayal of inept detective Clouseau. Sellers bumbled and fumbled his way through half a dozen Clouseau comedies starting with "The Pink Panther" in 1963.

Nothing says "New Age" quite so succinctly as shoulder-length hair and a bold mustache -- unless, of course, it is Greek-born musician and former Linda Evans squeeze Yanni. One of the most successful musicians in the world, the keyboardist and composer born Yiannis Hrysomallis prefers the term "contemporary instrumental" to "new age."

The slain activist's neatly trimmed mustache belied his youth; he was only 39 when he died. But his tragically short life was rich in accomplishment, including a Nobel Peace Prize, unprecedented advancement in civil rights, and stirring oratory that will ring for generations.

NBC News' chief White House correspondent is known for his trademark mustache and goatee as well as his political savvy. In 2009, Todd's counterpart at ABC, Jake Tapper, made a wager with Todd on the National League Championship baseball series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies: if the Dodgers won, Tapper would grow a goatee, but if the Phillies won, Todd would have to shave his. The Phillies went on to win the World Series, but Todd declined to shave, choosing instead to donate to charities chosen both by him and Tapper.

Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali's waxed, upturned mustache was an essential part of his flamboyant, outsize personality. "Every morning upon awakening, I experience a supreme pleasure," he famously said, "that of being Salvador Dali."

An ill-tempered cowboy of short stature with red hair and an enormous mustache, Yosemite Sam was created as a foil for Bugs Bunny by Warner Bros. animator Friz Freleng and made his debut in the 1945 cartoon "Hare Trigger." It may be no coincidence that Freleng himself was short, red-haired, and sported a mustache.