John Lanzendorf
John J. Lanzendorf (1946 – May 27, 2022) was an American hairstylist who amassed one of the world's largest collections of dinosaur-themed artwork. The collection is now owned by the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Lanzendorf grew up in Spooner, Wisconsin and attended cosmetology school. As an adult, he lived in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago. During the 1970s and 1980s, he earned a reputation as one of the favorite hairstylists of Chicago's socialites, where his customers included celebrities such as Bette Midler, Jane Fonda, and Rita Hayworth. He worked with the fashion photographer Victor Skrebneski and had his own studio with partner Hank Blankenship on Chicago's Oak Street. A lover of animals, Lanzendorf kept Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen dogs as well as rare parrots, cockatoos and macaws. Lanzendorf had begun collecting dinosaur-related items as a child, when he found a small plastic dinosaur toy in a cereal box. After recovering from cancer in the early 1990s, he started purchasing sculptures, paintings, and drawings from some of the best-known paleoartists, such as James Gurney, John Gurche, and Michael Skrepnick. He also acquired drawings from the University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno, who became a close friend. By 2000, he owned