George's Barber Shop in Foxborough has a Real Man's History

George Bentley, the owner of George’s Barber Shop, has been in Foxborough for more than 15 years but he’s well-versed in many professions.

“I did all kinds of things,” he said.

Bentley said he had been a bar owner in Costa Rica during the mid 1970s and then worked on rigs for Exxon doing exploratory drilling for uranium. It was there that he saw a particular barber shop in Wyoming that made him think drilling was not what he wanted to do with his professional life.

“It struck me as a nice way to make a living,” he said. “When I was in Wyoming, I went to a barber shop and said some day when I settle down that’s what I’m going to do.”

Bentley, originally from Weston, said he went to barber school after drilling and has been doing it ever since. Before drilling for radioactive material out west, Bentley said he was in the food service industry.

“In Fort Lauderdale [Fla.] I used to live on the beach and ran a barbeque concession there,” he said.

Bentley said he also opened up a bar in San Jose, Costa Rica called Black Beard’s, but his reasoning for going was rather unique.

“Back then Robert Vesco was an overseas investor, he took everybody’s money and took off to Costa Rica,” he said. "I knew Donald Nixon, met him in Boston and he said to come on down to Costa Rica, so I did.”

After opening George’s in 1995, Bentley said he’s had some pretty famous customers over the years, even if he or they didn’t know it yet.

“[Tom] Brady was a rookie when we cut his hair, he was a third-string quarterback,” he said. “No one ever knew who he was. I didn’t even ask him for his autograph back then.”

Bentley added the New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick also used to frequent the shop.

“He didn’t talk too much, but was nice and polite,” he said.

The barber shop itself is a men’s shop, and aside from the stuffed bear coming out of the wall above the mirror, it’s a pretty standard affair.

Bentley said he and a guide bagged the black bear out in Maine on a fishing trip. The area where they were fishing was so remote, about 100 miles from any paved road, that carrying a gun was a safety precaution.

“If something happens out there, no one’s going to be there to help you,” he said.

They were fishing in a river and the bear came out of the foliage on the opposite bank.

“We were fishing and the bear came hanging out and started coming towards us across the river,” he said. “He got within 10-feet and the guide said to let him have it.”

There certainly won't be a lack of things to talk about if you stop by Bentley's shop for a haircut.

The hours of George's Barber shop are Tuesday, Wednesday and Fridays, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.