Jean Burt Reilly
Actor
August 26, 1915 — February 15, 1981 (65 years)
Jean Elizabeth Burt usually credited as Jean Burt Reilly was an American hair stylist whose career in Hollywood spanned nearly four decades.
Born in Vananda, Montana, and educated at San Diego High School, Burt began her career as a radio performer in the early 1930s. She later toured with the Marx Brothers performing scenes from A Night at the Opera (1935) and appeared uncredited in the film as the manicurist in the famous stateroom scene. She also appeared as a telephone operator in A Day at the Races (1937). A few months before the latter film's release, she passed the California State Board of Cosmetology examination in permanent waving. She subsequently worked for Max Factor as an advisory expert on makeup before becoming a Hollywood hair stylist.
Her first film as a hair stylist was Casablanca (1942), beginning a 39-year screen career. By the mid-1950s, Reilly had become head of hair styling at Warner Bros., frequently working in a supervisory capacity. Her credits included The Music Man, Days of Wine and Roses, Robin and the 7 Hoods, Ensign Pulver, My Fair Lady, The Great Race, Camelot, Cool Hand Luke, Rocky II, Ordinary People and Raging Bull. Her final film was True Confessions (1981).
Reilly also worked extensively in television, including The Alaskans, *77 Sunset Strip, No Time for Sergeants, Mister Roberts and F Troop. She and Billie Laughridge won an Emmy for Eleanor and Franklin in 1976, and Reilly received another nomination for Ike: The War Years in 1979. In 1967, she also helped create a new look for Petula Clark.
Her work on Raging Bull received an unusually prominent tribute when Robert De Niro thanked her during his Academy Award acceptance speech after winning Best Actor for the film.
Decades after A Night at the Opera, Burt's tiny uncredited appearance became the subject of a running fascination on The Marx Brothers Council Podcast. Co-host Bob Gassel in particular had repeatedly spoken about trying to discover the identity of the mysterious manicurist. Her identity was eventually uncovered by Robert “Bob” Stryker, who uploaded a clear screengrab of her to Ancestry.com. Stryker had used the same method to identify to try and identify her around half a dozen times over the years but never got a result. The discovery produced an unexpected result: rather than being simply an otherwise unknown featured extra, the manicurist turned out to be a woman who went on to have a substantial career of her own behind the scenes in Hollywood.
Reilly married Max Factor chemist Glenn B. Weible in 1940. Following his death in 1943, she married film editor Thomas Reilly in 1949. On June 24, 1962, she was recognised for 25 years of service by Hollywood Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Local 706.
She died in Los Angeles on February 15, 1981, aged 65.
Born in Vananda, Montana, and educated at San Diego High School, Burt began her career as a radio performer in the early 1930s. She later toured with the Marx Brothers performing scenes from A Night at the Opera (1935) and appeared uncredited in the film as the manicurist in the famous stateroom scene. She also appeared as a telephone operator in A Day at the Races (1937). A few months before the latter film's release, she passed the California State Board of Cosmetology examination in permanent waving. She subsequently worked for Max Factor as an advisory expert on makeup before becoming a Hollywood hair stylist.
Her first film as a hair stylist was Casablanca (1942), beginning a 39-year screen career. By the mid-1950s, Reilly had become head of hair styling at Warner Bros., frequently working in a supervisory capacity. Her credits included The Music Man, Days of Wine and Roses, Robin and the 7 Hoods, Ensign Pulver, My Fair Lady, The Great Race, Camelot, Cool Hand Luke, Rocky II, Ordinary People and Raging Bull. Her final film was True Confessions (1981).
Reilly also worked extensively in television, including The Alaskans, *77 Sunset Strip, No Time for Sergeants, Mister Roberts and F Troop. She and Billie Laughridge won an Emmy for Eleanor and Franklin in 1976, and Reilly received another nomination for Ike: The War Years in 1979. In 1967, she also helped create a new look for Petula Clark.
Her work on Raging Bull received an unusually prominent tribute when Robert De Niro thanked her during his Academy Award acceptance speech after winning Best Actor for the film.
Decades after A Night at the Opera, Burt's tiny uncredited appearance became the subject of a running fascination on The Marx Brothers Council Podcast. Co-host Bob Gassel in particular had repeatedly spoken about trying to discover the identity of the mysterious manicurist. Her identity was eventually uncovered by Robert “Bob” Stryker, who uploaded a clear screengrab of her to Ancestry.com. Stryker had used the same method to identify to try and identify her around half a dozen times over the years but never got a result. The discovery produced an unexpected result: rather than being simply an otherwise unknown featured extra, the manicurist turned out to be a woman who went on to have a substantial career of her own behind the scenes in Hollywood.
Reilly married Max Factor chemist Glenn B. Weible in 1940. Following his death in 1943, she married film editor Thomas Reilly in 1949. On June 24, 1962, she was recognised for 25 years of service by Hollywood Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Local 706.
She died in Los Angeles on February 15, 1981, aged 65.
FreeMovies & Shows on Plex
Filmography
| 1937 | A Day at the Races · as Telephone Operator (uncredited) |
| 1936 | The Unguarded Hour · as Lady In Huge Hat (uncredited) |
| 1935 | A Night at the Opera · as The Manicurist (uncredited)On Plex |
| 1981 | True Confessions · as Hairstylist |
| 1980 | Raging Bull · as Hairstylist |
| 1980 | Ordinary People · as Hairstylist |
| 1979 | Rocky II · as Hairstylist |
| 1978 | Paradise Alley · as Hairstylist |
| 1978 | F.I.S.T. · as Hair Designer |
| 1978 | Casey's Shadow · as Hairstylist |
| 1977 | Telefon · as Hairstylist |
| 1974 | The Towering Inferno · as Hairstylist |
| 1974 | The Klansman · as HairstylistOn Plex |
| 1974 | Mame · as Hairstylist |
| 1973 | The Thief Who Came to Dinner · as Hairstylist |
| 1971 | Dirty Harry · as Hairstylist |
| 1971 | The Omega Man · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1970 | Rabbit, Run · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1970 | There Was a Crooked Man... · as HairstylistOn Plex |
| 1970 | The Monsters of Babaloo · as Hair Designer |
| 1969 | The Good Guys and the Bad Guys · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1969 | The Learning Tree · as Hairstylist |
| 1969 | The Big Bounce · as Hairstylist |
| 1968 | Finian's Rainbow · as Hairstylist |
| 1968 | Assignment to Kill · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1968 | Sweet November · as Hairstylist |
| 1968 | Firecreek · as Hairstylist |
| 1967 | Cool Hand Luke · as Hairstylist |
| 1967 | Wait Until Dark · as Hairstylist |
| 1967 | Camelot · as Hairstylist |
| 1967 | Countdown · as Hairstylist |
| 1967 | First to Fight · as HairstylistOn Plex |
| 1967 | Hotel · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1966 | Not with My Wife, You Don't! · as Hairstylist |
| 1966 | An American Dream · as Hairstylist |
| 1966 | Chamber of Horrors · as HairstylistOn Plex |
| 1966 | Any Wednesday · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1966 | A Fine Madness · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1966 | A Big Hand for the Little Lady · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1966 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? · as Hairstylist |
| 1966 | Harper · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1965 | Inside Daisy Clover · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1965 | Never Too Late · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1965 | The Great Race · as Hair SupervisorOn Plex |
| 1965 | Marriage on the Rocks · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1965 | Brainstorm · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1965 | My Blood Runs Cold · as Hairstylist |
| 1965 | Two on a Guillotine · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1964 | Sex and the Single Girl · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1964 | Dear Heart · as Hairstylist |
| 1964 | My Fair Lady · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1964 | Youngblood Hawke · as Hairstylist |
| 1964 | Ensign Pulver · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1964 | Robin and the 7 Hoods · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1964 | A Distant Trumpet · as Hair Designer |
| 1964 | The Incredible Mr. Limpet · as Hairstylist |
| 1963 | Dead Ringer · as Hair SupervisorOn Plex |
| 1963 | Palm Springs Weekend · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1963 | Mary, Mary · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1963 | Spencer's Mountain · as Hairstylist |
| 1963 | Critic's Choice · as Hairstylist |
| 1962 | Gypsy · as Hairstylist |
| 1962 | The Chapman Report · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1962 | House of Women · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1962 | The Music Man · as Hair SupervisorOn Plex |
| 1962 | Rome Adventure · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1961 | A Majority of One · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1961 | Portrait of a Mobster · as Hairstylist |
| 1961 | Susan Slade · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1961 | Claudelle Inglish · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1961 | Parrish · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1961 | A Fever in the Blood · as Hairstylist |
| 1960 | Sunrise at Campobello · as Hair Supervisor |
| 1948 | Whiplash · as Hairstylist |
| 1948 | The Decision of Christopher Blake · as Hairstylist |
| 1944 | The Conspirators · as Hairstylist |
| 1942 | Casablanca · as Hairstylist |