Salvador Dalí’s distinctive facial hair is so iconic that it frequently lands on most memorable mustache lists, along with Burt Reynolds’, Charlie Chaplin’s, and Mr. Monopoly’s. It was also the subject of much curiosity, which is why on a 1954 episode of The Name’s the Same, Gene Rayburn asked the Spanish painter if the thin, upturned mustache was some kind of joke. “This is the most serious part of my personality,” Dalí responded. “It’s a very simple Hungarian mustache. Mr. Marcel Proust used the same kind of pomade for his mustache.” Given the importance of the mustache to Dalí, it’s only natural that when he was interred in 1989, the wispy hairs were perfectly styled. Nearly 30 years later, Dalí’s remains have been exhumed – revealing that in 2017, he still puts the follicularly challenged to shame.
Following 61-year-old Pilar Abel’s claim that she is the artist’s daughter, a Madrid judge ordered a paternity test in June. As a result, forensic experts exhumed Dalí’s remains – located at the Dalí Theatre and Museum in Figueres – last week. According to the Chicago Tribune, his ‘stache remained in “its classic shape of ten past ten.” Only five people oversaw the removal of nail and hair samples and two long bones.
If DNA testing finds that Abel is Dalí’s daughter, she could claim as much as a quarter of his estate. If she is not, the Dalí foundation will seek to recoup the costs of the exhumation. Representatives for the estate believe exhumation was based on flimsy evidence. Officials sent the samples to a lab in Madrid, and results could come in over the next few weeks.