In the history of the modern American movies, there are but few legacies of makeup artists. Only one family features four working generations: the Westmores of Hollywood. With ties to virtually
every studio in the annals cinema, the Westmores created classic makeups back to the earliest years of silent film.

At the turn of the century, the patriarch of the English immigrants, George, was a wigmaker in his homeland. Later, he set up the first makeup department at any studio during the silent era. All of his six sons (he also had a daughter) became prominent makeup artists, running studio
departments and making their names in makeup artistry through the century.

Starting at Paramount studios was Wally Westmore, responsible for creating one of the earliest onscreen “transformation” scenes for 1932’s “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” starring Frederic March. In the film, March creates a believably kind and gentle Dr. Jekyll until his consumption of a treacherous formula results in the animalistic Mr. Hyde.

When the character changes from doctor to demon and back, Westmore utilized several techniques with the special effects department. First, time-lapse photography was used where the camera would stop and March would get into Westmore’s chair for one stage of transformation. March would be placed in the exact same position and the camera would start again, so that on
film, he would appear to dissolve from one incarnation to the next. For certain moments, the actor would maintain the exact same position, and with the camera off, Westmore would attend
to him right on the set! Still, for other seamless transitions, Westmore would use a reddish color to achieve the makeup, and with a red filter over the camera lens (the film was black and white and the red would never appear), it would hide the makeup until the desired moment. The red filter would be removed, revealing the hideous change into Mr. Hyde. After Westmore’s work in this film, the concept of the transformation scene was appropriated by everyone from Jack Pierce to Jack Dawn in coming years.

Following the great success of “Dr. Jekyll” (March won an Academy Award for best actor), the following year, Westmore created the first screen version of H.G. Wells’ “Island of Lost Souls,” followed by numerous makeup achievements throughout Wally’s career.

Perc Westmore was the department head at Warner Bros. where he worked on numerous classic films, including “Casablanca.” In 1939 he was brought to RKO by their department head, Mel Berns to work on a big prosthetics project, a sound remake of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” Though Berns had an entire building and 33 hairdressers and makeup men under him at the department, his friend, Perc, had been brought in to create the prosthetic makeup pieces for star Charles Laughton.

At that same time, there had been key developments in the use of prosthetics on films including Jack Dawn’s “The Good Earth.” Then, with the assistance of the Bau brothers – George and Gordon – a new type of foam rubber was being developed. It made the concept of applying complicated makeups to actors’ faces much easier for makeup artists and more comfortable
for actors. Thus, Perc developed a complete makeup for Laughton, including a deformed face
and gruesome hump, and the Baus were responsible for making the foam rubber – often called latex – which made up the materials for the hunchback makeup.

Seen most prominently in the horrifying whipping on the pillory, Laughton’s makeup was a resounding success for both Westmore and the Bau brothers, who would go on to revolutionize
prosthetics in films in the ensuing decades.

After Jack Pierce left Universal Studios in 1947, Bud Westmore ran their department for the next
quarter century. Utilizing many of the techniques that his brother Perc and the Bau brothers initiated, Bud simplified Pierce’s handmade makeup methods to the delight of his actors. Using prosthetic appliances to create character makeups, Westmore also shortened the makeup process.

One of his first major assignments was replicating Pierce’s horror characters for the comic romp, “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.” In place of Pierce’s choice to build up the Frankenstein Monster’s massive head by hand every day, Bud Westmore recruited veteran Jack Kevan to create Glenn Strange’s Monster using a foam rubber head. Similarly, under Westmore’s direction,
Emile LaVigne, most notable for creating the Tin Man makeup in “The Wizard of Oz,” created The Wolf Man for “Meet Frankenstein” using prefabricated foam rubber appliances. Additionally, Béla Lugosi, 17 years after he appeared in the original “Dracula,” reprised his role as The Count. The horror-comedy was an unqualified hit and put Westmore on the same plane as his
famous brothers.

In 1954, the Universal makeup department was tasked with the huge job of creating the title character in “Creature From the Black Lagoon.” With Kevan, sculptor Chris Mueller, designer Millicent Patrick, and a young Bob Dawn – son of MGM’s Jack Dawn – in the laboratory, Westmore’s team devised a foam rubber suit for actor Ben Chapman and swimming double Ricou Browning. The classic monster reappeared in two 1950s sequels.

In subsequent years, Bud got many choice assignments, including the Lon Chaney biography,
“Man of a Thousand Faces.” Again, he and Kevan used foam rubber appliances to re-create
many of Chaney’s classic makeups, using actor James Cagney. Though Cagney’s round face was in contrast to Chaney’s long rectangular head, Westmore and Kevan suggested the original makeups, such as the Hunchback of Notre Dame, without replicating them.

By the early 1970s, five of the six Westmore brothers had passed away – brother Frank lived and wrote a definitive family biography, “The Westmores of Hollywood” – but their offspring continued the makeup legacy. Even today, the Westmore name is prominent in makeup artistry, with younger family members entering the business on a regular basis

About the Author
Scott Essman has been writing about makeup and movie craftsmanship since 1995. As part of his company, Visionary Cinema, Essman has also created memorable tributes to makeup history, including special events to honor Dick Smith, John Chambers, and Jack Pierce. In 1998, his tribute to the makeup for “The Wizard of Oz” was celebrated on Hollywood Boulevard at the historic Mann’s Chinese Theater. In 2000, Essman published his first book, “Freelance Writing for Hollywood,” and that same year, he published a 48-page special magazine about the work of Universal Studios’ makeup legend, Jack Pierce. In 2001, he was joined with Universal to nominate Pierce for a star on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame.

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