JP
Jack Pierce
Actor, Additional Credits
Born May 5, 1889Died July 19, 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.
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.
Jack Pierce Filmography
| 1998 | Universal Horror · as Cast |
| 1997 | Midsomer Murders (TV Series) · as Grady Felton |
| 1928 | The Circus · as Man Operating Ropes (uncredited) |
| 2015 | Jack Pierce, the Maker of Monsters · as Self (archive Footage) |
| 2002 | |
| 1996 | |
| 1950 | This Is Your Life (US) (TV Series) · as Self |
| 1962 | The Creation of the Humanoids · as Makeup Artist |
| 1960 | Beyond the Time Barrier · as Makeup Artist |
| 1960 | The Amazing Transparent Man · as Makeup Artist |
| 1958 | I Bury the Living · as Makeup Artist |
| 1958 | Giant from the Unknown · as Makeup Artist |
| 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 Artist |
| 1949 | Master Minds · as Makeup Artist |
| 1948 | Joan of Arc · as Makeup Artist |
| 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 Head |
| 1946 | Temptation · as Makeup Artist |
| 1946 | The Brute Man · as Makeup Artist |
| 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 Head |
| 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 Head |
| 1945 | Scarlet Street · as Makeup Artist |
| 1945 | House of Dracula · as Makeup Artist |
| 1945 | Pursuit to Algiers · as Makeup Department Head |
| 1945 | The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry · as Makeup Artist |
| 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 Artist |
| 1943 | Phantom of the Opera · as Makeup Artist |
| 1943 | Captive Wild Woman · as Makeup Artist |
| 1943 | White Savage · as Makeup Artist |
| 1943 | Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man · as Makeup Artist |
| 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 Artist |
| 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 Artist |
| 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 |