Call her Kojak

On her website, Mary Ellen Foster writes about shaving her head in 1996.

With some who shave, it starts with a bad haircut. In Mary Ellen's case, it started with a dye-job that she wanted gone. After living with very short hair for a while, she decided to take the plunge and go all the way.

Actually, I did it the day before Halloween, the 30th, because it had just been an all-around bad day and I needed something to make me feel happy and in control of my life. So I went over the hairdressers and told them to shave it bald.

And once again, they did.

Not without asking me if I was absolutely certain I wanted to do this, mind you. And I did feel a bit of a twinge in my gut when the razor started going across my skull -- no turning back now, Foster...

I first shaved my head on a bad day, too. It worked; shaving brightened my day.