Sunday, February 23, 2025, 1:44AM |  34°
MENU
Advertisement
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto visits the North Shore on Thursday. Normally clean-shaven, he has been growing in his beard since late August.
3
MORE

Bill Peduto touted a North Shore parking garage, but let's talk about his whiskers instead

Adam Smeltz/Post-Gazette

Bill Peduto touted a North Shore parking garage, but let's talk about his whiskers instead

It started as a fluke, the salt-and-pepper beard that envelops Bill Peduto’s jaw from ear to ear.

But now that it has grown in, the Pittsburgh mayor said he’s sticking with it — at least until Christmas, anyway. He might even costume himself as an Ewok — the furry Star Wars creature — for Halloween.

“I think the beard is very Ewok-like, although I would prefer considering it more like Henry Clay Frick or Czar Nicholas II,” Mr. Peduto said Thursday, indulging a reporter after an appearance on the North Shore. (He was there to highlight the Gold 1 parking garage near Heinz Field, designated the world’s first “Parksmart Gold” project for its sustainability features.)

Advertisement

The mayoral facial hair has stirred buzz across city hall and onto the internet the past few weeks, drawing both fans and pans. Normally clean-shaven, Mr. Peduto, 53, of Point Breeze, said he started letting his stubble go during a break in late August.

For the first time in five years, he said, he had a full week and an extra weekend away from work. He faced a big to-do list at home but “accomplished very few things.”

“I said to myself, after three days of not shaving: ‘What if I grow a beard?’” Mr. Peduto said. “So it was sort of a delusional way for me to think I accomplished something.”

He kept it going over Labor Day. After “hitting the ‘Snooze’ three times” that morning, he didn’t have time to shave before marching in the annual parade in Downtown, he added. “And so I kept it. That’s the entire background of it.”

Advertisement

So far, Mr. Peduto has trimmed the growth twice. He figures he’ll keep doing that, lest he look disheveled or too much like Santa Claus. His whiskers seem to grow faster now than when he embraced the unshaven look in 2014, he said.

Another thing: He doesn’t dye his hair — and he won’t dye his beard, either, the mayor said. The sharp color contrast between his new bristles and jet-black hair inspired plenty of speculation, both online and off.

“Just for the record, I’ve never dyed my hair in my life,” Mr. Peduto said. “My dad lived his entire life with never having gray go beyond the temple. My brothers [are] all the same: The gray hair never raised above the temple.

“It’s one of the wonderful benefits of being Italian.”

Adam Smeltz: 412-263-2625, asmeltz@post-gazette.com, @asmeltz.

First Published: October 4, 2018, 6:39 p.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
York County District Attorney Timothy J. Barker reacts during a news conference regarding the shooting at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York, Pa. on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025.
1
news
Police officer killed, gunman dead in shooting at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York
The University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning
2
business
Amid funding uncertainty, Pitt pauses doctoral admissions
Elon Musk told federal workers Saturday that they must respond to an email by summarizing their accomplishments for the week, repeating a tactic he used to cull the workforce at his social media company.
3
news
Elon Musk gives all federal workers 48 hours to explain what they did last week
Pirates outfielder DJ Stewart gets congratulations from teammates after his home run against the Baltimore Orioles in the first game of the Grapefruit League season at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla., on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025.
4
sports
5 takeaways from Pirates' spring training victory over Orioles
Mike Lange’s family, coworkers, and friends stand on the ice during a memorial celebration of Lange’s career and life at the PPG Paints Arena before the Penguins take on the Washington Capitols on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. Mike passed away on the 19th and was a beloved play-by-play announcer for the Pittsburgh Penguins for 46 years.
5
sports
Jason Mackey: Penguins hit all the right notes in honoring icon Mike Lange
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto visits the North Shore on Thursday. Normally clean-shaven, he has been growing in his beard since late August.  (Adam Smeltz/Post-Gazette)
Former Pitt football player Curtis Martin stands next to Mayor Bill Peduto to announce a new multi-use sports complex in Homewood Tuesday at the City-County Building.  (Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)
State Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Allegheny, left, Pittsburgh Councilwoman Darlene M. Harris, center, and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, right, sign a symbolic beam to be raised to mark the expansion of The Children's Museum and museumlab into the neighboring former Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny on Sept. 21 in Allegheny Center.  (Stephanie Strasburg/Post-Gazette)
Adam Smeltz/Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST local
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story