Joe Dudley, the hair care pioneer and founder of the Dudley Products Company, has died. He was 86.
According to the news delivered by members of his family, Dudley passed away at home after succumbing to Parkinson’s disease, WFMY News 2 reports.
Dudley famously created what became the Dudley hair care empire from the kitchen of his and his wife’s home.
As Dudley worked as a distributor for SB Fuller hair care products, he stirred the formulas in a steel drum with a large spatula and his wife, Eunice, created the labels. They even got their children involved as they screwed the tops on the bottles after the mixtures had cooled and set by the next morning.
From this embryonic stage, Dudley constructed Dudley Products Company in 1967, selling revolutionary hair products. He also created schools that instructed future generations of cosmetologists.
In 1976, Fuller, as a result of health problems, asked Dudley to become president of the Fuller Products Company. Dudley ran both Fuller Products Company and Dudley Products Company from 1976 until 1984. In 1984, Fuller Products Company was purchased by Dudley. The company is now run by his daughter, Ursula Dudley Oglesby.
