Listen up salon addicted actresses, pop stars and writers seeking both a spot on Oprah for their "great American novel" and a shorter, sassier style. If you want to generate positive media attention for chopping your locks, hand those shears over to Ms. Winfrey who will hack your cascading tresses on national television. Well, Hilary Swank's tresses anyway:

 

"Hilary Swank must really trust Oprah Winfrey. The Oscar-winning actress let the talk-show host chop off a little more than 9 inches of her hair during a segment that was to air Friday on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show.'

 

"The TV shearing was done in the name of charity: Swank, 33, donated her locks to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, which works with the American Cancer Society to provide wigs at no charge to women suffering from hair loss caused by their cancer treatments."

 

Somewhere Britney is wishing she had arranged such a smart media move -- and a generous one. Good for Miss Swank. Now let's just hope she doesn't replace her shorn locks with extensions made from the hair of Romanian orphans. Even Amy Winehouse knows that's wrong.