Jay Sebring…Cutting to the Truth attacks the indignity of a person being remembered, not for his significant achievements, but for his victimhood. Jay Sebring was, along with his friend Sharon Tate, one of the Manson Family’s murder victims. But Sebring invented – by himself – the men’s hairstyling industry. And as what we now call an influencer, he led American men out of the Brylcreem Age.
This documentary is directed by Anthony DiMaria, the son of Sebring’s sister. The film is remarkably well-sourced, with Sebring’s sister, his best Navy buddy, his first wife, his first hair-cutting partner and Hollywood pals like actor Stuart Whitman. There’s even footage with Sebring’s first celebrity customer – Vic Damone (!), who introduced him to the Rat Pack and other crooners like Paul Anka; actors like Steven McQueen, Paul Newman and Henry Fonda soon followed.
Oddly, we meet Sebring himself through an industrial film he commissioned; this is as stilted as any of the industrial films of the 60s, so we don’t get any excitement coming from Sebring, only his drive and passion for hair styling. But that’s OK, because we get a sense of Sebring’s vitality and charisma through the people who knew him.
It took a substantial time it took to uncover the actual but unimaginable facts of the Manson Family’s murderous lunacy. Jay Sebring sadly reminds us that, during this period, the stories of the victims were sullied, when even mainstream media feasted on lurid speculation. Jay Sebring busts up those urban legends, adds some under-reported facts about Sebring’s actions during the Manson attack and a glimpse into what could have been a future with Sharon Tate.
Cinequest hosts the world premiere of Jay Sebring…Cutting to the Truth.