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)