History Main / DodgyToupee

* In the music video for ''Music/{{Genesis}}'' song "[[Music/GenesisAlbum Illegal Alien]]", Phil Collins wears a toupee that looks like a black mop head and doesn't match his (much lighter) hair. He doffs it for the camera when getting a photo taken.

* Sports journalist Howard Cosell was rather notorious for his toupee. During the first of the many ''Battle of the Network Stars'' specials he (co-)hosted from 1976-88, Creator/LyndaCarter, who somehow didn't know it was a rug, poured a bottle of champagne over his head while celebrating her team winning a tug-of-war contest, ruining his toupee and royally pissing him off.

* Music/EltonJohn started going bald in the mid-seventies and the loss was accelerated by overuse of hair dye. He tried employing all manner of concealment, including two failed hair transplants, before turning to wigs. Some of his rugs have looked as real as a three-dollar bill, while others have been shockingly successful.

* Zero Mostel played with this trope; at one point during his appearance on ''Series/TheMuppetShow'', he makes a gag of revealing that he's wearing a piece. In ''Film/TheProducers'' his character sports a truly hideous combover.

* Creator/JasonAlexander wore a wig for some time in the 2000s. While the piece was of high quality, the dodgy part came from the fact that he's famously bald. He was frank about the rug, saying that he bought it for a self-esteem boost and eventually stopped using it.

* Creator/JasonAlexander wore a wig for some time. While the piece was of high quality, the dodgy part came from the fact that he's famously bald. He was frank about the rug, saying that he bought it for a self-esteem boost and eventually stopped using it.

* Music/EltonJohn has been going bald since at least the mid-seventies, and has employed all manner of methods to conceal as much. Some of his rugs have looked as real as a three-dollar bill, while others have been shockingly successful.

* Words defy explaining the [[http://televangelistswithtoupees.blogspot.com extremely shoddy rug]] of televangelist Ernest Angley.

* Many paparazzi photos exist of Creator/JohnTravolta [[http://j-walk.com/images/BaldScientologist_7884/JohnTravoltaBald.jpg without his rug]]. And given the rise of extremely high-resolution photography, the netting or seams of his various 'pieces are often [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-464845/Does-John-Travolta-wear-wig.html fairly evident]] when he DOES wear them. By 2019, however, he finally embraced the fact that he's bald and now proudly goes out [[BaldOfAwesome with a shaved head.]] Pretty much everyone agreed that he looks ''much'' better. The addition of a very nice beard didn't hurt.

* A [[GenderInvertedTrope rare female example]] in ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'' when [[ActionGirl Okoye]] is undercover with T'Challa and Nakia in South Korea; to cover her [[BaldWomen impressively tattooed head]] she's wearing a jarringly-obvious wig and complains about how she can't wait to take it off again. When her cover is blown and a massive brawl/shootout breaks out, one of the first things she does is [[CombatPragmatist whip it off and throw it right into an attacker's face]].

* Many paparazzi photos exist of Creator/JohnTravolta [[http://j-walk.com/images/BaldScientologist_7884/JohnTravoltaBald.jpg without his rug]]. And given the rise of extremely high-resolution photography, the netting or seams of his various 'pieces are often [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-464845/Does-John-Travolta-wear-wig.html fairly evident]] when he DOES wear them. By 2019, however, he finally embraced the fact that he's bald and now proudly goes out [[BaldOfAwesome with a shaved head.]] Pretty much everyone agreed that he looks ''much'' better. The addition of a [[BadassBeard very nice beard]] didn't hurt.

[[caption-width-right:244:When you want to look ten years younger, there's a small price toupee.]]

* Many paparazzi photos exist of Creator/JohnTravolta [[http://j-walk.com/images/BaldScientologist_7884/JohnTravoltaBald.jpg without his rug]]. And given the rise of extremely high-resolution photography, the netting or seams of his various 'pieces are often [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-464845/Does-John-Travolta-wear-wig.html fairly evident]] when he DOES wear them. By 2019, however, he finally embraced the fact that he's bald and now goes out [[BaldOfAwesome with a shaved head.]]

* In his later years, Creator/JohnWayne wore one. He once remarked: "Oh sure, it's real. Not mine, but it is real hair."

* Sam Donaldson. He wasn't fooling anyone. Even his colleague BarbaraWalters regarded that rug as fair game when it came to her snarky comments.

* During his brief(one year) tenure as the color commentator for Monday Night Football, Jason Witten wore one.

* After having his head shaved during his first fight with Mob, Teruki Hanazawa from ''Manga/MobPsycho100'' wears a ridiculous beehive hairdo wig, affectionately known as "The Haystack," for the 7th Branch Infiltration Arc of the story. It gets sliced in half near the climax, making it look more like his original hairdo, and he eventually ditches it for a new style altogether when his hair grows back.

[[caption-width-right:244: [[SarcasmMode Money well spent.]]]]

* Gargamel wears a wig on his date with Evelyn the enchantress which immediately falls off his head as he enters her house, though his date doesn't really notice, in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' episode "Gargamel's Sweetheart".

For other types of fake hair, see FakeHairDrama. Likely to end in a HairstyleMalfunction.

* Creator/AndyWarhol used to wear rather apparent rug, initially to hide the fact that he was balding, but it soon became part of his signature look.

-->'''Fletcher Reede:''' That is the '''worst''' hair piece I've ever seen! I don't know whether to comb it, or scrape it off with a shovel and bury it in lime.

* A series of Bud Lite commercials called "Real Men of Genius" once paid tribute to this with "Mr. Really Bad Toupee Wearer".

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': Mr Wink of the ThoseTwoBadGuys team Mr Wink and Mr Fibb has one made from his own preserved original hair, which apparently fell out at ''age 14!'' He only puts it on once in the show though.