Barber.
Born at Winnipeg on 16 March 1919 to Katherine Woloszinowski (1888-1964) and John Sciak (1879-1958), he lived his entire life in the North End of the city, attending David Livingstone School, King Edward School, and Isaac Newton School. After leaving school he began working as a barber in his father’s shop on the corner of King Street and Alexander Avenue, and remained a barber until his retirement at the age of 88.
Through the years, he gained a long list of loyal clients that would eventually include lawyers, politicians, artists, and filmmakers. Truly a Winnipeg institution, the modest and unassuming “Bill the Barber” was renowned not only for his interesting clientele and his skills giving vintage haircuts, but also for his immense knowledge of old movies. Winnipeg director Guy Maddin recruited him to create the men’s hairstyles for his films Archangel (1990) and Careful (1992). Upon first visiting Sciak in his shop, Maddin flippantly asked him to give him a Von Stroheim haircut (referencing Erich von Stroheim, a famous screen actor), and was startled when Sciak asked to which specific Von Stroheim movie Maddin was referring. Maddin left the shop proudly sporting a Foolish Wives-period cut he declared as “Magnificent!”
In December 1999, the original Sciak barber shop and the building in which it was located were destroyed by arson fire. Many of his regular customers responded with an extraordinary show of support and affection by holding a social for him with ticket sales that raised enough money for him to relocate to the Dynasty building on King Street, where he continued to cut hair until his retirement in January 2008. Along with being featured in filmmaker Noam Gonick’s 1997 documentary about Maddin, Waiting for Twilight, Sciak himself was the subject of a 2005 film by Winnipeg video artist Wendy Buelow, entitled Bill the Barber, which showcased his barbering skills and his unique place in Winnipeg’s vibrant Chinatown community.
He died at Winnipeg on 16 January 2009 and was buried in the Brookside Cemetery.
Birth registration [William Sciak], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 24 January 2009.
“City backs burned-out barber,” CBC News, 28 January 2000.
William Sciak, Manitoba Birth Index, 1870-1917.
John Sciak, FindAGrave.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 12 August 2025
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