Sorry, but am still very sure it was dyed. There is no reason that blonde hair does darken in such a very, very quick way naturally. However, we all are allowed to think what we want. There's no harm. :D Take care* Nici

With regard to Oskar's hair being blonde in the "Columbo" episode. He had been in California with his son and therefore outside and in one pool or another. He loved being near water. In Rex Reed's interview with him he refers to Oskar's "baby blonde hair." This was done in '68. Another thing to remember is that if someone's hair is turning grey (when it has been dark) the color chosen is the color that was the original darker tone. In these cases a person winds up looking as if he or she (I have known both) were nearly dead, their skin color goes paper white. Oskar did not fight his age. He reveled in "becoming a patriarch." Unless he did it for a role.

Hair
I'm afraid I have to agree with Nici. Now that I think about it, OW was far too blond, skin wise, everything...for his hair to darken so much and so suddenly. To me, it is obvious his hair was dyed. It did not look natural at all. I could be wrong, now. But I really do not believe so. I do know that many blondes do get darker with age. But not THAT dark...and not over fifty. If anything he would have become gray-headed, not dark-haired. You have the right to believe whatever you want. And it's great you corresponded with him. Many of us would have liked to have had that honor. But...I still believe he dyed his hair. It is just too obvious! And that is all I have to say on this subject. He was one of the greathest, no matter what color his hair. And I wish you the best, Pamela. It is great you have such wonderful memories.

Amen! :D

Concerning OW's hair: I think you are right, Nici: In his later years his hair was obviously dyed, badly dyed. It's written in the books about him and one can also see it. A good hairdresser would have done it in a better way. Maybe he dyed it by himself as he also cutted his hair by himself. In Voyage of the Damned (1976), where he is acting as a Jew his hair is darker (and his eyes are brown!) than in Columbo (1975) but the colour is nice with several shades of brown. Obviously made by a good hairdresser.

Oh sorry, I have only read page 1 before putting my quote, therefor I wasn't aware of this long exchange about that theme. Of course, I would have respected, that the discussion was closed by the "Amen". Greetings to all of you from Susanne

No, nothing is closed, as long as someone is itnterested in a topic. :D Don't worry Susanne, it's great to have you here. I didn't know about the fact that he had brown eyes in "Voyage of the Damned"; but I only saw the movie once.

Oskar's eyes
Hello, susanne I too am delighted to see again your name on the new forum, but Oskar has in no way the brown eyes in "voyage of the damned ", Susanne, you have to have a severe problem in your color television. chloe

Hello Chloe, I will check it out- with a new copy of the movie on the Pc and on the TV and will come back with what I found. Thank you for your response, Chloe! Susanne

Hello Chloe and all of you: Chloe is right and I was wrong: My new copy of the movie shows OW with blue eyes - a bit darker than in Ship of Fools but still blue. Thank you Chloe for being the watchman of the truth!! Greetings, Susanne

His eyes have always appeared to me as being a very piercing blue steel color.

Eyes and mustache
I always thought his eyes blue until I saw a couple of movies where they looked brown. That is what led me to ask Nici what color his eyes were. When she told me they were blue and sent me a photo, I was delighted to know that I had been right originally... And...I thought I would not like him in a mustache...but in "Voyage of the Dammed", which I just saw this past week for the first time, I realized he did not look that bad. His hair was darker, and though I like it better blond, he was still as attractive and charming as ever. Even that mustache did not stop his true charms and beauty from shining through.l

Eyes and mustache
You are completely right !!

Absolutely correct. His eye color seems to change in various scenes of films because of the dominating colors around him and the lighting. For a good example of this watch him in "Shoes of the Fisherman." His eyes were quite a deep blue and tend to look almost black in black and white films. And, in some scenes in color films as well. That deep a blue is unusual.... but very attractive and tricky to get right on film. Oskar himself, you realize, could not have cared less. A less vain actor has never been born. If he fussed over something that sounded like that it was because he felt it was wrong for the character he was playing, not for how he looked himself. For "Ship of Fools" (in his own opinion, his best work on film) the Hollywood costumers had assigned him a plain suit. He, quite correctly pointed out that a ship's doctor would wear the uniform of the ship's line staff. So, he wound up wearing one intended for an "extra."