[<<Back]

Wig Specialities has been in existence for over forty years and is one of the major suppliers to the Film, Television and Theatre business both in Great Britain and internationally. All work is created completely by hand, involving the latest techniques and is overseen personally by the Managing Director Richard Mawbey. Under his guidance the company has achieved major recognition amongst producers, hairdressers and performers alike. Great personal interest is taken on all projects and we are happy to travel worldwide in order to fulfil our customers’ needs.

Recent or soon to be seen projects include over 170 wigs for The Producers at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, De-Lovely ( all wigs including Kevin Kline as Cole Porter ) Alfie with Jude Law, Susan Sarandon and Sienna Miller, Closer, directed by Mike Nichols and starring Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen, the new Batman movie, The River Queen with Samantha Morton, Stephen Rea and Keifer Sutherland, now filming in New Zealand, These Foolish Things starring Anjelica Houston, Julia McKenzie and Lauren Bacall, Being Julia starring Annette Bening, filmed in Prague, a new television adaptation of Kidnapped for the BBC, Something the Lord Made (Alan Rickman ) for HBO in the USA, a major mini series on the life of Casanova and a huge number of wigs and hairpieces made for the new film version of Oliver Twist, directed by Roman Polanski and starring Sir Ben Kingsley as Fagin.

Over the years we have been responsible for making wigs and hairpieces for many major film projects. These include: Amadeus, Roman Polanski’s The Pianist, Tomb Raider 1 and 2 with Anjelina Jolie, Without a Paddle (Burt Reynolds) Shanghai Nights, Beyond Borders, Titanic, Prozac Nation (Jessica Lange and Christina Ricci) Con-Air, The Hunt for Red October, Nicholas Nickleby, The Punisher, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Mask of Zorro, Wilde, Star Wars – The Phantom Menace, Greystoke, Willow, Jefferson in Paris, Kenneth Branagh’s Love’s Labour Lost – Hamlet & Frankenstein, Surviving Picasso, Entrapment, Jude, The End of the Affair, The Man in the Iron Mask, Richard III, Michael Collins, Angela’s Ashes, Scandal, The Rock, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Tomorrow Never Dies, The Fifth Element, Anna Karenina, Yentel, Superman, The Whales in August, Face-Off, One Hundred and Two Dalmatians, The House of Mirth, Finding Forrester, Wit, Le Pacte des Loups, Sexy Beast, The Golden Bowl, Die Another Day, Madonna-The Hollywood Video.

For Television projects have included: Churchill – The Gathering Storm starring Vanessa Redgrave and Albert Finney, Little Britain (a particular favourite) Waking the Dead, My Parents are Aliens, Sherlock Holmes starring Rupert Everett, The Harry Hill Show, Miss Marple, French and Saunders, Monarch of the Glen, World Shut Your Mouth, The Catherine Tate Show, Cutting It, Sean Connery’s Millions, Foyle’s War, Paul Whitehouse, Steve Coogan (Alan Partridge and more) Porc Peis Bach, The House of Elliott, Human Remains, Poirot, Where The Heart Is, At Home With The Braithwaites, Last of the Blonde Bombshells, Longitude, David Copperfield, The League of Gentlemen, Alistair McGowan’s Big Impression, Nicholas Nickleby, Madame Bovary, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and several series with Harry Enfield.

In 2000 the company worked on more than fifty wigs and hairpieces for the first Harry Potter film which included one of the longest wig and beard creations ever for Richard Harris as “Dumbledore” the Wizard. For BBC Television there has been work on a huge account of the lives of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, starring Sir Nigel Hawthorne, David Suchet, Sir Alec McGowan, Jonathan Pryce and Dame Diana Rigg.

In the theatre, apart from The Producers we have made all the wigs for Kiss Me Kate (West End and National Tour) Thoroughly Modern Millie (West End and forthcoming National Tour) The Three Sisters (Kate Burton and Kristin Scott Thomas) 18 years of Starlight Express in London and subsequently in Japan and Australia, Contact, Beautiful and Damned, Up for Grabs and for the last fifteen years, Dame Edna Everage, now starring in her new hit show on Broadway.

[<<Back]