The Man Who Made the World More Beautiful: My Tribute to My Friend Charlie Miller

Charlie Miller 1944 – 2025 (80)

Professor Joe Goldblatt

Charlie Miller, world renowned hairdresser. Born: 1944 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Died: 14 July 2025, aged 80.

Once again, many years ago, the late great philanthropist Sir Tom Farmer rang my Queen Margaret University office with an idea. He told me in an enthusiastic voice “I have a great speaker for your class!” When I asked about the credentials of this orator Tom said “He is my barber!”

He then explained that his long time friend, the world famous Scottish hairdresser Charlie Miller, had been cutting his hair for many years and during these visits Charlie would share with him his philosophy of life. Tom said “Your students need to hear this!”

I invited Charlie to join me for a coffee at the University and soon learned that we both practiced mindfulness and together we found great benefit in meditation. I also discovered what a deep thinker he was and how his ideas about integrity, aesthetics, and empathy in business would have great value for my 18 year old students. At the end of our visit he agreed to return to the University and speak to my students

A few weeks later I sat in the back of the lecture theatre and was amazed by how nearly 100 mostly female students were mesmerised by the wisdom of this late sixty something hairdresser. They seemed to lean forward and prick up their ears to make certain they did not miss one word of wisdom. At the end of his talk they applauded loudly and for a long time.

His wisdom was delivered with his usual natural humility and he simply and straightforwardly told the students that any success he enjoyed was due to the practice of deeply listening to his customers, treating them with integrity, and seeking the aesthetic outcome in all of life. I was impressed with how this man whose father came from Wick in Caithness, the Highlands, began his career with one barber chair and grew his hairdressing enterprise to include five salons in Edinburgh plus occasional world wide tours to demonstrate his unique talent to thousands.

A couple of years after that first speech he rang me and told me that he would be unable to return to the University to give any more speeches and when I asked why he said “The doctor has diagnosed me as having the early stages of dementia.”

I was speechless. I had never had a close friend share this kind of news with me. When I told Charlie I was very sorry and asked if there was anything I could do to help he said in his typical humble and straightforward manner “It does not bother me.”

Charlie was a master of getting on with it. His business success was not always easy and he spent over 100,000 hours on his feet making others feel and look better. He also was a generous philanthropist whose generosity for teenagers with cancer led him following his retiral to support the Teenage Cancer Trust and deliver  HAIR 4U – a service dedicated to delivering real hair wigs for teenage cancer patients. In 2012, he received his OBE from Her Majesty the Queen.

His wife of sixty years, two successful sons who now lead his business, four loving grandchildren, hundreds of employees and tens of thousands of clients also benefited from his straight forward wisdom and especially his good humour. Charlie was a smile maker in private and in public. With a cock of his head and a sly wink I was often convulsed with long fits of laughter. In fact, no comedian could make me laugh as long and loud as Charlie Miller.

Our friendship actually grew as his dementia increased and we agreed to follow the Dylan Thomas mantra of “Do not go gently into that good night.”  We visited museums, attended concerts, took our wives to dinner, and got on with life until he and his family finally decided that more specialised care was needed and he was welcomed at Queens Manor Care Home in Barnton.

He soon became one of the most popular residents.   All he had to do was look them in the eye, smile and say “I love your hairstyle. You look great!” and they would grin from ear to ear and then melt. 

One day I invited him to the Festival Theatre to see a new musical about the Osmond family. Charlie loved rock and roll music and was thoroughly entertained by the production. When we exited the theatre a woman of a certain age shouted “Are you Charlie Miller?” Charlie looked puzzled, giggled and said shrugging his shoulders “I used to be.” The woman screamed even louder shouting “Girls! It’s Charlie Miller!” Soon we were surrounded by a bevy of sixty year old beauties and Charlie was telling each one how beautiful they were.

I soon realised I was in the presence of a genuine seventy something rock star and I had better plot a quick exit. I saw a taxi pull up in front of the theatre, took Charlie by the arm, and ushered this icon of Scottish hairdressing to the vehicle. We both laughed at our last minute escape all the way back to his care home.

Those students who were so intrigued and inspired by my long –  time friend knew even in their tender youth that wisdom is something that you rarely encounter even in a University classroom. However, that morning, he shared with them his secrets for making the world a more beautiful place for all of us through authenticity, aesthetics, and integrity.

He knew then and I know now that life is beautiful when you practice integrity, invoke empathy, and seek to advance the aesthetic in every human encounter. And indeed, he did this with humility, kindness, thoughtfulness, and generosity that will make me smile, and perhaps help me become a better smile maker myself, all the remaining days of my life.

Charlie often quoted the Buddhist Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hahn who once told his followers that if they were truly grateful for a kindness that had come there way from another person they must say thank you three times to emphasise the depth and importance of their gratitude. Many times, even during the advanced stages of his illness, Charlie would turn to a care worker or a fellow resident and slowly and solemnly say “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

Now as I reflect upon the immense gratitude I have for my friend who indeed made the world more beautiful every day of his long life, I can solemnly say to him now as I did to him many times during his precious time on planet Earth, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” I also know there are thousands of people all over the world joining me in this chorus of gratitude.

Professor Joe Goldblatt is Emeritus Professor of Planned Events at Queen Margaret University