Janis Levy, best known as one of the iconic 'Cadbury's Flake girls' from the 1980s, has swapped the glamour of Hollywood for a career in hair loss solutions. Levy, now 56, is the owner and Creative Director of Hair Development, a company specialising in hair replacement and extensions.
Levy first appeared in the famous Flake advert in 1985 at the age of 17, walking through a field of sunflowers before riding off on a horse-drawn caravan. The commercial became the longest-running Flake advert of all time, lasting nine years, and catapulted her to fame.
After her success in advertising, Levy moved to Los Angeles, where she mingled with stars like Sylvester Stallone and Joan Collins. She secured a role in the crime drama Remington Steele alongside Pierce Brosnan and spent 14 years in LA, also participating in the Writers' Program at UCLA.
However, Levy returned to the UK after having her daughter and took over her father's business, Hair Development, alongside her cousin Mark Burns. Her father, Stanley, a hairdresser trained in Paris, founded the company in East London in the 1970s.
Today, Hair Development provides hair extensions for major films and TV shows such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, and Strictly Come Dancing, as well as helping clients who have undergone chemotherapy or suffer from alopecia. The company has recently been shortlisted for the SME National Business Awards in the Positive Impact category.
Reflecting on her career change, Levy said: 'It's a very sensitive subject – you look after so many people. It makes a really big difference to how they look and how they feel.'
