Vidal Sassoon

(LOS ANGELES-AFP) - Pioneering celebrity hairdresser Vidal Sassoon died Wednesday at his California home, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said.

He was 84.

Officers were called to his home on Hollywood's storied Mulholland Drive. He appeared to have died of natural causes, said LAPD spokesman Kevin Maiberger. Family members were present at the time.

Referred to by some as the "founder of hairdressing," he is said to have pioneered the bob haircut and, after opening his first salon in London in 1954, launched a network of outlets around the world.

Sassoon, who grew up in England, had reportedly been fighting leukemia, according to the LA Times, although no further details were immediately available on the cause of death.

The flamboyant hairstylist, who launched a successful hair-care product range and had a US television talk show at one point, was married four times, the newspaper said. He married his last wife Ronnie seven years ago.