By Denver Louis, Blackvoices.com

Movie audiences the world over have enjoyed his films for years. His film credits include 'Superman III,' 'The Color Purple,' 'Waiting to Exhale,' 'Coming to America,' 'Amistad,' 'Eve's Bayou' and pretty much every Samuel L. Jackson movie for the last 13 years. But Robert Stevenson's work is not in the acting, it's in the hair.

A veteran of the film industry and the master behind the diverse looks of many of BV's Top Black Movies of All Time, Stevenson has been making your favorite actors and actresses look good for nearly 40 years. He is highly regarded for his creativity, speed and, most of all, his attention to detail.

For the past thirteen years on 37 films, he has had the distinct honor of serving as the personal hairstylist for Samuel L. Jackson. His most recent film credits with Jackson include the upcoming films 'Soul Men,' 'The Spirit' and 'Lakeview Terrace.'

With a career that stretches back to the 70's, Stevenson has accumulated many accolades. He has won numerous Emmy Awards and has been a voting member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences--a highly coveted position--for over ten years. In 1983 he was praised by numerous hairstyling publications for setting trends with the loose, curly style he created for newcomer Jennifer Beal in hit movie 'Flashdance.'

Black Voices' own Denver Louis had the opportunity to speak with the prodigious and iconic hairdresser on his vast body of work, his burgeoning art career, his family and his relationship with Samuel L. Jackson.

Have you always aspired to do hair?

Actually no. I didn't start to get interested in hair until I got out of the military. A friend of mine, who was stationed in Germany, wrote me a letter that said when we get back to the states we should get into hair dressing. You know when you're young, you're thinking through everything. I thought it was cool, you see all the women and you say, oh hey, this is slick. But see I had never done hair and I had no clue. So when I got back, I took my G.I. and went to Flavio Beauty College in the Crenshaw area. What happened was, when I started training, I actually really started liking it. I was actually fairly good at it and just didn't know it; it was kind of a gift that I never knew I had. After that... that was it, I knew that was going to be my career.

Even before the army, did you have any future aspirations?

No, none at all. I was a cook. I worked at LAX at the main restaurant there. International Hosts owned it at that time and I trained under them until I got drafted into the military and I ended up being a cook in the service.

How was it like on your very first TV set back in 1969? Was it a little unsettling?

Unsettling wasn't the word, I was scared to death. When I got to Universal, they put me on an apprenticeship program for a few years before I worked on my first show. At that time you had to be an apprentice before you could go to the set. All I did was work in the storeroom and train. After two years, the first show they sent me to was 'McMillan and Wife' with Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James. I was shaking in my boots, but it turned out to be really nice. After a month or so, I was pretty cool with it, though.

Is there a gender that you primary have done hair for?

At first, I did mainly just women. My first actor was Don Mitchell on 'Ironside' and after him I started getting connected with men. I did Richard Pryor and it started going down the line. I did women in there as well.

Of all the actors that you've worked with, what got you to work with Samuel L. Jackson so consistently?

I actually met Sam before he became a big star. I met him when he was just getting started. He had just gotten out of college and I was doing a TV show in Decatur, Georgia with Robert Hooks and Cicely Tyson and Sam was Robert Hook's stand-in. And we just talked; just regular on-set conversation. I didn't see Sam until eight or nine years later when him and Eddie were doing 'Coming to America.' He played the guy that held up the McDowell's and that's where we hooked up again. After that, it was history.

He has done a variety of diverse films over the years. How much personal input have you had as far as his hairstyles have been concerned?

Let me tell you the story about how the wig thing got started and then I'll tell you about his hair. When he started losing his hair, we did a thing and I went and got a hair piece and blended it with his hair. He liked it. It actually looked pretty decent for him and he said, "You know what, since I'm losing my hair, if I just shave it and we wear wigs, I will be able to do whatever I want to do or look any way I want to look. I said, "Yeah man, yeah" and he said, "So that's what we gonna do." He shaved his head and we started doing all the things that you could do with hair.

Around what film did he start to wear the wigs?

The first film we started to do it for was for 'Great White Hype.' And then we did 'Rules of Engagement' and 'The Long Kiss Goodnight.' After that we started going into all kinds of stuff. It's been about 13 years since he's been doing it.

I remember his great hairstyle from Jackie Brown, with the slicked-back hair and the ponytail. Was it your idea or Tarantino's for the hair?

No, that was Sam and I. The way we usually work it is that Sam would read the script and he would give it to me or they'll give it to me. Now he said, "Did you read the script, what did you think about the character?" I would say, "Well I see him like this..." Sam would usually reply, "Well I see it like this, but I like your idea." And usually the make-up man would join in and we would go on and on and on. But usually he would come up with a look that he would like the character to be and then it would be up to me to shape it up and make it so he can see it.

What kind of emotional investment do you put in your individual films? Do you feel like you have a stake in these films?

Yeah, you always do because you feel like it's your work that's up on the screen. You always feel like you have to do your best and you don't want anyone to say anything bad, so you put all that you can into it to make it right. One of the things that has helped me is that I try to pay attention to details. I do all that I can to make it look the way we want it to look and the producers want it to look. Then I add my touch of what I know reality is.

What has been the absolute favorite hairstyle that you have worked on?

Strangely enough, I have two favorites. My first is Sam's hairstyle from the film 'Unbreakable.' It's weird and it was one of my favorites. And my other favorite was Sam's hair in the film 'Formula 51.'

He had cornrows in that movie!

Right, it was the first time anyone had tried to make a wig that looked that real on his head. That was a big trail for us because we had to show the directing producers what it looked like, because they wanted to make him bald. We went to London, I sat the wig on his head and they said, okay that's enough, that's all we need. He was sold.

How long does it take to do Sam's hair?

Well to do Sam's, with make-up and all that, we can do it in an hour-and-a-half or even in an hour. And that's fast. Usually people take two hours, two-and-a-half hours. The whole thing is actually fitting the wig on his head to make it look real. Whatever he's wearing, you have to make it blend.

Let's talk about your pictures. Which came first, your love for hair or the drawings?

Well, I didn't start drawing until 4 years ago. The hair came first. All the things over the years that I've learned and seen through doing hair have been transferred to my drawings. The drawings are caricature faces and I detail the hair. I actually started doing it on the planes and in between productions. As the years went on people started looking at it and started saying that they looked great. I used to just throw them away. Sam and a make-up artist friend of mine bought me a book and I just started saving them.

Have you sold any of your art?

I just had an art show a few weeks ago at the African American Museum here in L.A. That was my first opening. Sam hosted and presented it and it was really nice. We had over 400 people. My wife is a publicist so it was all over the place.

What's the most expensive piece that you've sold thus far?

The most expensive one sold for $450. The response was actually so great that I was actually shocked out of my head. So many people bought the paintings and we actually sold quite a few. I'm thrilled, everything was a plus for me.

Have any of your children or grandchildren showed any inclinations towards hair-styling?

Nah! Nooo! (laughing). My youngest son tried it, and he was pretty good, but he just didn't like it. He's into fashion merchandising and he got more into publicity. Everybody else is doing something else.

At the end of the day, how do you wrap your mind around your collective body of work and all the things that you have done?

You know what, I recently just sat down and thought about it and I was just saying to my wife, Roz that I have put 40 years of my life into this. Many of the films I have done, I have been very proud of. I was telling my granddaughter, when I'm gone, you'll always remember me from all the films that I've done, and you'll say "Oh, that's my grandfather!" That to me is worth it all.