Vidal Sassoon

Vidal Sassoon, who has died aged 84 of leukaemia, was the inventor of the bob and the greatest and most innovative hairdresser of his generation.

The man who started life with what he described as "an Artful Dodger" accent, cut and styled the hair of royalty, film stars and models, during a career in which he revolutionised hairdressing.

But he was also prominent in a campaign on behalf of Jewish ex-servicemen and in 1982 founded the Vidal Sassoon International Centre for the Study of Anti-Semitism, a non-political organisation.

Sassoon was born to Jewish parents in London. His father abandoned the family, which then moved to the east end of London with Sassoon's aunts. But he was soon sent to an orphanage in Maida Vale where he spent six years, before being evacuated during the war to Trowbridge, in Wiltshire.

On his return, aged 17, his mother had him apprenticed to a hairdresser. At that time, Sassoon became interested in anti-Semitism, opposing "fascists preaching hate on every corner".

He subsequently joined the 43 Group, which originally comprised 43 Jewish ex-servicemen, but which grew to be 1000 strong. During one heated fray, he was arrested and spent the night in jail, only to be freed the next morning by a judge who told him to "be a good boy".

In 1948 he left Britain to fight in the Israeli War of Independence for the Palmach (Israeli army).

On his return he began to work for Raymond "Mr Teasy-Weasy" Bessone, but he needed to do something about his Cockney accent. "In those days, you couldn't get hired in the more fashionable west end with an Artful Dodger accent like mine. I went to the theatre week after week to hear English the way it was meant to be spoken," he said.

He opened his own Bond Street salon in 1958, and his trademark five-point bob revolutionised hairdressing. Sassoon was the father of modernist style and was also a key force in the commercial direction of hairstyling, turning his craft into a multi-million-dollar industry. Mary Quant called him the "Chanel of hair".

Among his many celebrated clients were the Duchess of Bedford, the model Jean Shrimpton, Terence Stamp and Mary Quant.

He conducted his business in the US as well as Britain and was hailed in both countries as a past master of his art.

In 2009 he collected his CBE from the Queen at Buckingham Palace, praising the monarch's hair afterwards for its "beautiful colour".

At the time he said his life so far had been "an extraordinary adventure". He added: "I've had so many star quality clients but when a working girl comes in and she's saved five shillings to have a great haircut once a month, I treat her like a princess."

In 2010 he released an autobiography and talked about his fame in the 1960s, when he styled many of the key movers and shakers – including being flown to the US to style Mia Farrow for her role in Roman Polanski's cult film Rosemary's Baby. "I loved that time. It was when the 'meritocracy' took over," he said. "It wasn't the demise of the aristocracy, but you had to strive to get to the top. There were so many young people giving Britain the kind of name it had never had before – it had been so stodgy."

Sassoon opened more salons in England and expanded his empire into the US. He also put his name to a string of shampoos and styling products, using the advertising slogan: "If you don't look good, we don't look good."

In his later years he had several health scares, including a quadruple bypass, treatment for cancerous sores and pneumonia.

Sassoon was married four times. His first wife, Elaine, left him for the then British water ski champion David Nations. His second wife, actress Beverly Adams (with whom had three children and one adopted son), divorced him after 13 years and his third marriage to dressage champion Jeanette Hartford was short-lived.

He is survived by his fourth wife, Ronnie, a former advertising executive.