A Guide to the Pierre Duval Hair Studio collection, 1958-1997

Biographical Note

The Pierre Duval Hair Studio was opened by Jesse Duval Arrambide and Robert Pierre Teander in San Antonio, Texas in the early 1970s. For their collaboration with the Fiesta Dinner Playhouse in San Antonio owned by actor Earl Holliman, Jesse and Robert became known as the "hairdressers to the stars." They styled and coiffed the hair of such notable talents as Don Ameche, Gary Burghoff, Sandy Dennis, Joan Fontaine, Van Johnson, Dorothy Lamour, Roddy McDowell, Lana Turner, and many more. "Hairdressers to the Stars" was Pierre Duval's business motto and they used the phrase in all their advertising. In addition to visiting actors appearing at the Fiesta Dinner Playhouse, many Fiesta queens and their families relied on Pierre Duval Hair Studio to deliver elegant and often elaborate coiffures.

Jesse Duval Arrambide (1921-2009) was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1921. He moved with his family to Wisconsin and later, Chicago. A World War II Purple Heart recipient, Arrambide went on to become a dance instructor at Arthur Murray Dance Studios who appeared on television and went on nationwide tours for the studio. Arrambide went into hairdressing and was known as a master stylist who specialized in wigs. Often while working as a professional stylist, dancer, and actor, Jesse used Duval as his last name.

Robert Pierre Teander (1938-2013) was born in Chicago, Illinois. Robert met Jesse while dancing at Arthur Murray dance studio in Chicago. Jesse and Robert moved to San Antonio in the 1970s and opened Pierre Duval Hair Studio. Known as the hair dressers to the stars, Arrambide and Teander served as stylists for the Fiesta Dinner Playhouse, a dinner theater owned by actor Earl Holliman from 1977-1983. Teander, an army veteran, was a member of two San Antonio gay social organizations, the Primetimers and Alamo Business Council.

Sources:

• "Robert Pierre and Jess Duval Hair Dressers of the Stars" Fiesta Dinner Playhouse program, undated, MS 425, UTSA Libraries Special Collections
• Jess Arrambide obituary, San Antonio Express-News.May 10, 2009 (accessed May 15, 2014)
• Robert Teander obituary, San Antonio Express-News.April 14, 2013 (accessed May 15, 2014)

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Scope and Content Note

The bulk of the collection consists of albums containing photographs and playbills from the Fiesta Dinner Playhouse . Photographs capture the actors, cast, and sets of the Playhouse which was open from 1977 through 1983. The collection contains autographed photographs from actors, both prominent and little-known. Many actors starring at the Playhouse attended dinners and parties at the home of Robert and Jesse and photographs capture these gatherings. Also in the collection are correspondence, personal photographs, and clippings. One scrapbook is comprised of photographs and clippings collected when Jesse and Robert attended Arthur Murray dance studio in Chicago. The Pierre Duval Hair Studio collection is divided into three series: Fiesta Dinner Playhouse, Personal, and Arthur Murray Dance Studio.

The Fiesta Dinner Playhouse series is comprised of albums containing photographs of cast members and support staff, Jess Arrambide and Robert Teander working at the playhouse as stylists, photographs of cast dinners at Jess and Robert's home, and playbills.

The Personal series is comprised of photographs of Jess and Robert at home and abroad, cards, correspondence, clippings, and assorted theater programs.

The Arthur Murray Dance Studio series contains professional stills and other photographs of Jesse Duval while he worked for Arthur Murray. Group photographs capture Robert and Jesse with others at the dance studio. Also included are clippings about competitions.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

This collection is housed at UTSA's Main Campus and must be accessed via the John Peace Library Special Collections reading room. To request access, please use our Collections Request Form.

Use Restrictions

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

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Related Materials

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], The Pierre Duval Hair Studio collection, MS 425, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.

Acquisition Information

Donation from Stephen Parker in April 2014 (Accession 2014-013).

Processing Information

Processed by Melissa Gohlke, Library Assistant, May 2014.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Fiesta Dinner Playhouse

Photograph albums contain photographs of Fiesta Dinner Playhouse productions, behind-the-scenes photographs, promotional stills of actors-many autographed thanking Jesse and Robert, notes from actors, photographs taken at Pierre Duval Hair Studio and at dinner parties at the home of Jesse Arrambide and Robert Teander. Albums also include playbills for Fiesta Dinner Playhouse productions. Some albums house items from multiple productions while other albums are devoted to a single production.

Box

1

Photograph albums

The Boyfriend starring Dorothy Lamour, Neil Simon's Chapter Two, starring Jane Powell1980-1981 View Contents

Breaking up the Act, a Ross Hunter/Jacque Mapes production, 1983 View Contents

Harvey, starring Roddy McDowall, The Pleasure of His Company, starring June Lockhart and Hayden Rorke, A Single Indiscretion, starring Eve Arden, undated View Contents

Catch Me if You Can, starring George Maharis, Never Too Late, starring Abe Vigoda, 1980 View Contents

Send Me No Flowers, starring Van Johnson, 1979 View Contents

Welcome Home, starring Cesar Romero, There Goes the Bride, starring Martin Milner, The Hasty Heart, starring James Macarthur, 1981 and undated View Contents

Box

2

The Girl in the Freudian Slip, starring Don Ameche, Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, starring Howard Hartman and Sally Spencer, 1982 View Contents

Mister Roberts, starring Earl Holliman and Hayden Rorke, The Georgia Gentleman, starring Forrest Tucker, 1981-1982 View Contents

Annie Get Your Gun, starring Ann-Marie Blake and Dean Russell, A Good Look at Boney Kern, starring Gary Burghoff, 1981 and undated View Contents

"Once More with Feeling, "starring Cyd Charisse, undated View Contents

I Ought to be in Pictures, starring Donald O'Connor, Murder Among Friends, starring Lana Turner, The Oscar Ladies, starring Nanette Fabray, 1982 and undated View Contents

Box

3

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, starring Ronny Graham, 1981 View Contents

Butterflies are Free, starring Wesley Eure and Alison Arngrim, Las Mariposas Son Libres, starring Rita Macedo, The Lion in Winter, starring Joan Fontaine, 1982 and undated View Contents

Once Upon a Mattress, starring Susan Rush and Kevin Brooks Winkler, 1982-1983 View Contents

Fiddler on the Roof, starring Fyvush Finkel1979 View Contents

Arsenic and Old Lace, starring Earl Holliman, Irene Tedrow, Elisha Cook, Henry Brandon, and Gertrude Flynn, Murder at Howard Johnson's, starring Jo Anne Worley, Wait Until Dark, starring Sandy Dennis, 1980 View Contents

Photographs of Jesse and Robert with celebrities, autographed stills, 1981 and undated View Contents

Box

4

The Sound of Music, starring Peggy Walton-Walker and Marshall Borden, 1980 View Contents

Photographs

Cast and support staff, sets, 1977-1983 View Contents

Forum sets and dress rehearsal, 1981 View Contents

Autographed photographs of actors, undated View Contents

Assorted

Emergency numbers, undated

Note from Joan Fontaine,1979 View Contents

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Personal

Box

4

Photographs

Jesse and Robert at home and abroad, 1961-1963 and undated View Contents

Jesse, Robert, and others, undated View Contents

Box

OM1

Scrapbook pages,1976-1982 and undated View Contents

Box

4

Clipping, 1977

Village Dinner Theater program, correspondence, clippings from John Rashad Kamal, 1979 View Contents

Tony Bennett love stamp, 1987 View Contents

Christ Lutheran Church letter to Jess and Robert, 1989 View Contents

Theater programs, 1987 and undated View Contents

Cards, 1989-1997 and undated View Contents

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Arthur Murray Dance Studio

Box

4

Photographs and clippings, 1958-1976 and undated View Contents

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