Kirk Cameron was better known as Mike Seaver, the curly haired teenager in the TV show Growing Pains and who himself was a cool heartthrob always getting in trouble. Read about his curls and how he was one of the hair emblems of the late 80s for us curly men!
If you read my article on cool Fido Dido and his curly hair, you then probably remember all the talk about the late 80s and early 90s, the crazy/cool paraphernalia, my pirate earring and, of course, Kirk Cameron!
Kirk Cameron was a curly haired dude best known for his role as Mike Seaver in the TV hit Growing Pains. He was a child actor/teenage heartthrob who became famous worldwide during the aforementioned epoch of the late 80s through the popularity of his role and the show. I used to be a fan of Growing Pains back in the day and Mike Seaver was a fictional character that I identified with in my very younger years. Fresh as a cucumber, witty and always getting himself in trouble, we both shared many traits and the fact that he too had curly hair was even cooler in my eyes.
Kirk had a trick “up his sleeve” any time there was an exam (not that I did too…)
Of course, the child actor grew and, while he somewhat vanished into oblivion, his curly hair legacy remained strong. A classic Type II curly guy, Kirk Cameron was known for his curly mane styled with medium length at the top, scissor cut sides and a short curly mullet (damn you, 80s; the stuff we did!). He would keep a similar hairstyle through the 7 years of Growing Pains only that the small mullet was eventually cut to yield a more suitable style for his curly hair as he went from witty child to heartthrobbing teenager (Kirk sported a medium length shaggy hairstyle on the top with trimmed sides/back).
No, this is not my dearly preserved autographed picture of him…
These days, the now aged 41 year old Kirk Cameron (California, October 12, 1970) keeps himself busy but hasn’t really focused on mainstream TV. He is a born-again Christian and enjoys evangelizing, which has causes some controversy in the last years as he has strongly opposed the theory of evolution publicly (among other notorious public incidents). As his fame subsided, he also decided to tame his curls and sport a more conservative look and hairstyle (well, he ain’t 16 anymore) but you can still recognize that quirky “Mike Seaver trademarked” smirk that he was well known for many moons ago.
Those curls are too conservative, Kirk!
Credit: Gage Skidmore
Here, Kirk shows us a hairstyle which works great for medium length Type II curls
Credit: Alan Light (flickr.com)
Kirk Cameron was a curly icon for the younger crowd in the late 80s and early 90s and showed us young curly dudes that having curly hair was cool and carried a sense of uniqueness. You all know by now that at Manly Curls we strongly dig this cool attitude towards curly hair in us men so, Mr. Cameron, you are our well-deserved Inspirational dude for today!
All the best,
Rogelio
P.S: Check out below the theme song for the Growing Pains show. You can actually see how Kirk Cameron’s hair changed in early puberty from straight hair to Type II curls, an scenario which many curly men report having occurred to them too (myself included). The song is by B.J. Thomas and Jennifer Warnes and is called “As Long as We’ve Got Each Other” (great song, by the way).
