One thing that probably makes me crazy about the industry that I am apart of is that sometimes our history, the roots of it all gets lost. When it comes down to special fx makeup, Jack Pierce has been more influential to me than any other artist. Yes there are many talented fx artists out there that inspire and motivate me. But Jack Pierce and his legendary vision along with makeup items that some of us by today's standards deem "novice" or archaic created some of the most iconic monster images that still have a strong hold in present day.
You all know the characters he has created. You see them all the time. On t-shirts, on plates maybe even on pajama bottoms (ill be damned that I missed out on the ones Target had a few years ago *sadface*)
As the head of Universal’s make-up department, Pierce is credited with designing and creating the iconic make-ups for films like Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932), The Wolf Man (1941), and their various sequels associated with the characters. Utilizing his “out of the kit” techniques, Pierce’s make-ups were often very grueling and took a considerable amount of time to apply. Pierce was always reluctant to use latex appliances, favoring his technique of building facial features out of cotton and collodion (a strong smelling liquid plastic), or nose putty. Pierce eventually started using latex appliances, most notably a rubber nose for Lon Chaney, Jr. in The Wolf Man (1941) (the edges of the appliance are clearly visible through most of the film), and a rubber head piece for Boris Karloff in The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939). Pierce was not especially liked around Universal, which partly lead to his demise at the studio. His most notorious relationship being with Lon Chaney, Jr., the two despised each other. Both worked on four Wolf Man films and three Mummy films at Universal. Chaney claimed that Pierce compounded difficulties in the long uncomfortable process with the adding on of sticky appliances. Lon’s Wolf Man make-up consisted of yak hair being glued to his face, and having it singed with a hot iron. Chaney furthermore claimed, Pierce would purposely burn him with the hot iron. Chaney also had an allergic reaction to the make-up Pierce used on him in Ghost of Frankenstein. Later, Chaney suffered with Pierce’s laboriously wrapped bandages for three Mummy films. In Jack’s defense,the use of the fused elements of make-up was a needful 8 hour task for the desired effect that Pierce was looking for.
Unfortunately for Pierce, throughout the 1940s, make up artists were dropping their “out of the kit” techniques in favor of molded foam latex appliances that were cheaper, quicker, and more comfortable for the actors. Pierce always known as a stubborn man, continually resisted this way. The old regime at Universal was gone by the late 40s and new studio heads were looking for quicker, more cost-effective make-ups. Pierce was eventually let go from Universal in 1948 after over a decade of creating make-ups. It had become difficult for him to adapt to more modern and less costly methods. Jack was a man of tradition to his own executed designs. In the 1950s, things took a turn for the worse as television broadcasting came onto the scene. The Hollywood studios saw television as competition. Universal started the process of cutting their costs by selling needless studio assets, and trashing the unnecessary things they thought at the time were questionable.
If i could transport myself back in time this would be me:
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