Jack Pierce

Acteur

5 mei 1889 — 19 juli 1968 (79 years)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jack Pierce (born Janus Piccoula; May 5, 1889 – July 19, 1968) was a Hollywood make-up artist best remembered for creating the iconic makeup worn by Boris Karloff in Frankenstein (1931), along with various other classic monster make-ups for Universal Studios.

In the 1920s, Pierce embarked on a series of jobs in cinema—cinema manager, stuntman, actor, even assistant director, but within a few years he settled on mastering makeup. The head of Universal, Carl Laemmle, was won over with his creative abilities and hired full-time by the studio.

Universal's first "talkie" horror film, Dracula (1931), eschewed elaborate horror make-up. Pierce designed a special color greasepaint for Bela Lugosi for his vampire character, but Lugosi insisted on applying his own make-up. For all film appearances of the character thereafter, Pierce instituted a different look entirely, recasting Dracula as a man with graying hair and a mustache. The most significant creation during Pierce's time at the studio was Frankenstein (1931), with Lugosi originally cast as the Monster. Pierce came up with a design which was horrific as well as logical in the context of the story. So, where Henry Frankenstein has accessed the brain cavity, there is a scar and a seal, and the now famous "bolts" on the neck are actually electrodes: carriers for the electricity used to revive the stitched-up corpse.

As the head of Universal's make-up department, Pierce is credited with designing and creating the iconic make-ups for films like Frankenstein, 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, 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 Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939).

He did a great many historical, old age and character make-ups in TV anthology series such as Screen Directors Playhouse, You Are There and Telephone Time. One episode of that show, a drama called The Golden Junkman, featured Lon Chaney Jr. as an unlettered but kindly Armenian junk dealer who ages from his 30s to his 70s in the course of the story, which Pierce handled with aplomb.

Pierce died in 1968 from uremia.

Jack Pierce's enduring work at Universal has become a huge influence to many in the entertainment field, including make-up artists Rick Baker and Tom Savini. In 2003, Pierce was recognized with a lifetime achievement award from the Hollywood Make-up Artist and Hair Stylist Guild. In May 2013, Cinema Makeup School in Los Angeles dedicated a memorial gallery in his honor.

Movies & Shows on Plex

  • Midsomer Murders
    Midsomer Murders22 seasons
  • De onzichtbare man
    De onzichtbare man1933
  • Straat der verleiding
    Straat der verleiding1945
  • White Zombie
    White Zombie1932
  • Sherlock Holmes: Terror by Night
    Sherlock Holmes: Terror by Night1946
  • Dressed to Kill
    Dressed to Kill1946
  • Son of Dracula
    Son of Dracula1943
  • House of Dracula
    House of Dracula1945
  • Pursuit to Algiers
    Pursuit to Algiers1945
  • Jeanne D'Arc
    Jeanne D'Arc1948
  • The Amazing Transparent Man
    The Amazing Transparent Man1960
  • The Creation of the Humanoids
    The Creation of the Humanoids1962
  • The Brute Man
    The Brute Man1946
  • Giant from the Unknown
    Giant from the Unknown1958
  • Magnificent Doll
    Magnificent Doll1946
  • The Pilgrimage Play
    The Pilgrimage Play1949

Cinematografie

1998
Universal Horror · as Cast
1997
Midsomer Murders · as Grady FeltonOp Plex
1928
The Circus · as Man Operating Ropes (uncredited)

1962
The Creation of the Humanoids · as Makeup ArtistOp Plex
1960
Beyond the Time Barrier · as Makeup Artist
1960
The Amazing Transparent Man · as Makeup ArtistOp Plex
1958
I Bury the Living · as Makeup Artist
1958
Giant from the Unknown · as Makeup ArtistOp Plex
1957
The Brain from Planet Arous · as Makeup Artist
1953
No Escape · as Makeup Artist
1951
Tales of Robin Hood · as Makeup Artist
1949
The Pilgrimage Play · as Makeup ArtistOp Plex
1949
Master Minds · as Makeup Artist
1948
Joan of Arc · as Makeup ArtistOp Plex
1947
Time Out of Mind · as Makeup Artist
1947
The Egg and I · as Makeup Artist
1947
Buck Privates Come Home · as Makeup Artist
1946
Magnificent Doll · as Makeup Department HeadOp Plex
1946
Temptation · as Makeup Artist
1946
The Brute Man · as Makeup ArtistOp Plex
1946
The Killers · as Makeup Department Head
1946
Black Angel · as Makeup Supervisor
1946
Canyon Passage · as Makeup Artist
1946
Dressed to Kill · as Makeup Department HeadOp Plex
1946
The Cat Creeps · as Makeup Artist
1946
She-Wolf of London · as Makeup Artist
1946
House of Horrors · as Makeup Artist
1946
Tangier · as Makeup Artist
1946
The Spider Woman Strikes Back · as Makeup Artist
1946
Little Giant · as Makeup Artist
1946
Terror by Night · as Makeup Department HeadOp Plex
1945
Scarlet Street · as Makeup ArtistOp Plex
1945
House of Dracula · as Makeup ArtistOp Plex
1945
Pursuit to Algiers · as Makeup Department HeadOp Plex
1945
1945
The Naughty Nineties · as Makeup Artist
1945
The Jungle Captive · as Makeup Artist
1945
Sudan · as Makeup Artist
1944
The Mummy's Curse · as Makeup Artist
1944
House of Frankenstein · as Makeup Artist
1944
The Climax · as Makeup Artist
1944
Gypsy Wildcat · as Makeup Artist
1944
The Mummy's Ghost · as Makeup Artist
1944
Jungle Woman · as Makeup Artist
1944
Cobra Woman · as Makeup Artist
1943
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves · as Makeup Artist
1943
The Mad Ghoul · as Makeup Artist
1943
Flesh and Fantasy · as Makeup Artist
1943
Son of Dracula · as Makeup ArtistOp Plex
1943
Phantom of the Opera · as Makeup Artist
1943
Captive Wild Woman · as Makeup Artist
1943
White Savage · as Makeup Artist
1943
1942
The Mummy's Tomb · as Makeup Artist
1942
The Ghost of Frankenstein · as Makeup Artist
1941
The Wolf Man · as Makeup Artist
1941
Man Made Monster · as Makeup Artist
1940
The Mummy's Hand · as Makeup Artist
1940
Black Friday · as Makeup Artist
1940
The House of the Seven Gables · as Makeup Artist
1939
Tower of London · as Makeup Artist
1939
Son of Frankenstein · as Makeup Artist
1938
Wives Under Suspicion · as Makeup Artist
1937
Night Key · as Makeup Artist
1936
Two in a Crowd · as Makeup Artist
1936
Show Boat · as Makeup Artist
1936
Dracula's Daughter · as Makeup Artist
1936
The Invisible Ray · as Makeup Artist
1935
The Raven · as Makeup Designer
1935
Werewolf of London · as Makeup Artist
1935
Bride of Frankenstein · as Makeup Artist
1935
The Good Fairy · as Makeup Artist
1934
Imitation of Life · as Makeup Artist
1934
Great Expectations · as Makeup Artist
1934
The Black Cat · as Makeup Artist
1933
By Candlelight · as Makeup Artist
1933
The Invisible Man · as Makeup ArtistOp Plex
1933
The Kiss Before the Mirror · as Makeup Artist
1933
The Big Cage · as Makeup Artist
1932
The Mummy · as Makeup Designer
1932
Back Street · as Makeup Artist
1932
White Zombie · as Makeup ArtistOp Plex
1932
Murders in the Rue Morgue · as Makeup Artist
1931
Frankenstein · as Makeup Artist
1931
Dracula · as Makeup Artist
1930
King of Jazz · as Makeup Artist
1928
The Last Warning · as Makeup Artist
1928
The Man Who Laughs · as Makeup Artist
1925
The Wanderer · as Makeup Artist