It's well known to fans of "The Wizard of Oz" that actor Ray Bolger was originally cast to play the Tin Man and famed comedian Buddy Ebsen was cast as the Scarecrow. They swapped roles at Bolger's insistence, as Bolger had a personal attachment to the role; he was inspired to become an actor after seeing Vaudevillian Fred Stone play the part on stage when Bolger was a child. Ebsen was fine with changing roles, although he had to drop out of production due to makeup problems. The silvery Tin Man makeup contained powered aluminum and Ebsen breathed in big clouds of it, making him sick. At the time, many merely assumed Ebsen had an allergy. Ebsen was replaced with Jack Haley, and the makeup was altered to be a paste instead of a powder.
With the possible exception of "Star Wars," no film's production has been more meticulously recorded...
With the possible exception of "Star Wars," no film's production has been more meticulously recorded...
- 3/10/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
When you were a kid, you might have thought makeup was for girls (or your grown-up self). You were full of $#!*. Makeup artists are one of the most under-sung components of movie making, though this certainly isn’t a misconception shared by genre fans, who have known for a long time how important the man or woman making the monsters are.
The makeup artists and practical special effects technicians are, in many ways, the driving force of movie magic. It wasn’t Just color coming to Oz that captured our imagination in Wizard Of Oz, it was how vivid that color blossomed in the Wicked Witch’s face, applied by the legendary Jack Dawn. The acting, atmosphere, and set designs for Alien were all top-notch, but it was H.R. Giger’s monstrous xenomorph and creature creations that drove it all home and made it stick with us in our nightmares.
The makeup artists and practical special effects technicians are, in many ways, the driving force of movie magic. It wasn’t Just color coming to Oz that captured our imagination in Wizard Of Oz, it was how vivid that color blossomed in the Wicked Witch’s face, applied by the legendary Jack Dawn. The acting, atmosphere, and set designs for Alien were all top-notch, but it was H.R. Giger’s monstrous xenomorph and creature creations that drove it all home and made it stick with us in our nightmares.
- 8/28/2013
- by Andy Greene
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Fans of classic movies know that "Woman of the Year" marks the beginning of the 25-year partnership, on- and off-screen, between one of film's most beloved and enduring couples: Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Released 70 years ago today (on January 19, 1942), "Woman of the Year" came to define combustible romantic chemistry, thanks to the two fiery, evenly-matched leads. It launched a partnership that lasted until Tracy's death in 1967, a quarter-century union that resulted in nine films and an extramarital affair that was Hollywood's worst kept secret. What fans may not know is how the partnership came to be, who the real-life inspirations were for Hepburn's high-minded columnist and Tracy's earthy sportswriter, or the forgotten screen pairing of the two stars that came four years earlier. Read on for the untold story of "Woman of the Year" and its long afterlife in the realms of Broadway, TV, and magazines. 1. "Woman of the Year...
- 1/19/2012
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
By Scott Essman
In the history of the modern American cinema, there are but few legacies of makeup artists. While the legendary Burman and Dawn names each include three generations of makeup artists, there is but one lasting family that features four working generations: the Westmores of Hollywood. With ties to virtually every studio in the annals cinema, the Westmores have created classic makeups in top contemporary film and TV shows back to the earliest years of silent film.
George Westmore, the patriarch of the Westmore clan at the turn of the century, worked as a wigmaker in his native England — where he was born in 1879 — and gave birth to sons Mont (born in 1902), twins Perc and Ern (born in 1904), Wally (born in 1906), and a daughter, Dorothy (born in 1907). The young family traveled to the U.S. to seek better opportunities and maintained a wig-making and beauty salon business which floated amongst various cities,...
In the history of the modern American cinema, there are but few legacies of makeup artists. While the legendary Burman and Dawn names each include three generations of makeup artists, there is but one lasting family that features four working generations: the Westmores of Hollywood. With ties to virtually every studio in the annals cinema, the Westmores have created classic makeups in top contemporary film and TV shows back to the earliest years of silent film.
George Westmore, the patriarch of the Westmore clan at the turn of the century, worked as a wigmaker in his native England — where he was born in 1879 — and gave birth to sons Mont (born in 1902), twins Perc and Ern (born in 1904), Wally (born in 1906), and a daughter, Dorothy (born in 1907). The young family traveled to the U.S. to seek better opportunities and maintained a wig-making and beauty salon business which floated amongst various cities,...
- 1/12/2010
- by Jesse
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Charles Schram, whose iconic Cowardly Lion make-up for The Wizard of Oz charmed generations of film fans, died Nov. 14 in Los Angeles. He was 97. Born in Los Angeles in 1911, Schram enrolled in art classes at the University of Southern California with William Tuttle. According to Al Taylor and Sue Roy.s book Making a Monster, MGM Make-up Department Head Jack Dawn recruited Schram and Tuttle in 1935 as apprentices after he asked a college dean to recommend a couple of sculpture and painting students who could learn the art of make-up for the 1937 film The Good Earth. The pair went on to collaborate on several films, including The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao, Ben Hur and The Time Machine.
- 12/17/2008
- makeupmag.com
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