Jack Dawn
Personal Info
Known for
Costume & Make-Up
Gender
Male
Birthday
1892-02-10
Day of Death
1961-06-20 (69 years old)
Place of Birth
Fleming, Kentucky, USA
Jack Dawn
Biography
Jack Dawn (February 10, 1892 - June 20, 1961) was an American make-up artist whose career spanned thirty-seven years. He worked on more than two hundred films, many of them regarded as classics by historians and moviegoers alike.
As a boy living on a Kentucky farm, Dawn chopped faces in sandstone he found on the banks of a nearby creek, using a chisel, a hammer, and a spoon. He eventually gravitated to Hollywood, where he found work as an extra, portraying an Indian brave for $3 a day. He served with the British during World War I, then returned to the American film capital to work as a make-up assistant and part-time actor at Universal Pictures. One of his first creations was a stiff, uncomfortable mask he wore in the role of an ape in 1925. In order to make masks that were more elastic and lifelike, he began to experiment with a variety of materials. After nine years of research while working at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he developed a synthetic plastic he called vinylite resin for which he received a patent. Its first application was used to create the Chinese faces for the mostly white cast of The Good Earth in 1937.
Two years later, Dawn was assigned the task of giving life to three non-human characters - a scarecrow, a tin man, and a lion - in MGM's now-classic musical film The Wizard of Oz, based on L. Frank Baum's novel. He also created the green makeup for Wicked Witch of the West Margaret Hamilton and multiple looks for Frank Morgan, who portrayed five different characters in the film, as well as for the Munchkins. His work resulted in some of the most recognizable makeup designs ever created for a Hollywood production.
In 1943, Dawn approached the San Diego Naval Hospital with an offer to help World War II soldiers whose faces and hands had been disfigured in battle. He created inlays that helped patients appear normal between multiple plastic surgery operations.
Dawn worked with many of Hollywood's legendary performers, including Laurel and Hardy, Greta Garbo, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Bert Lahr, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Greer Garson, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Ingrid Bergman, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner, Fred Astaire, and Betty Hutton.
Dawn died in Glendale, California, five years after retiring from films. He was buried with an unmarked grave in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.
Known For
Acting
(1937)
The Romance of Celluloid
as Self
Crew
(1950)
Duchess of Idaho
Makeup Artist
(1950)
Ambush
Makeup Artist
(1950)
Nancy Goes to Rio
Makeup Artist
(1950)
The Reformer and the Redhead
Makeup Designer
(1950)
Annie Get Your Gun
Makeup Artist
(1950)
The Asphalt Jungle
Makeup Designer
(1950)
Mystery Street
Makeup Designer
(1950)
Stars in My Crown
Makeup Artist
(1950)
Side Street
Makeup Supervisor
(1950)
Black Hand
Makeup Artist
(1950)
Shadow on the Wall
Makeup Artist
(1950)
The Big Hangover
Makeup Artist
(1950)
Please Believe Me
Makeup Artist
(1950)
Right Cross
Makeup Designer
(1950)
Father of the Bride
Makeup Designer
(1950)
Three Little Words
Makeup Artist
(1950)
The Outriders
Makeup Designer
(1949)
The Stratton Story
Makeup Designer
(1949)
That Forsyte Woman
Makeup Designer
(1949)
The Red Danube
Makeup Artist
(1949)
Battleground
Makeup Artist
(1949)
Challenge to Lassie
Makeup Designer
(1949)
Neptune's Daughter
Makeup Artist
(1949)
In the Good Old Summertime
Makeup Designer
(1949)
The Great Sinner
Makeup Designer
(1949)
Adam's Rib
Makeup Designer
(1949)
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Makeup Designer
(1949)
On the Town
Makeup Artist
(1949)
Tension
Makeup Artist
(1949)
Madame Bovary
Makeup Artist
(1948)
Hills of Home
Makeup Designer
(1948)
The Three Musketeers
Makeup Designer
(1948)
Big City
Makeup Artist
(1948)
Julia Misbehaves
Makeup Artist
(1948)
Summer Holiday
Makeup Artist
(1948)
The Pirate
Makeup Artist
(1948)
Easter Parade
Makeup Designer
(1948)
The Kissing Bandit
Makeup Designer
(1948)
A Date with Judy
Makeup Artist
(1947)
Good News
Makeup Designer
(1947)
The Arnelo Affair
Makeup Artist
(1947)
The Sea of Grass
Makeup Artist
(1947)
The Unfinished Dance
Makeup Designer
(1947)
Desire Me
Makeup Designer
(1947)
The Hucksters
Makeup Designer
(1947)
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
Makeup Designer
(1947)
Dark Delusion
Makeup Designer
(1947)
Cynthia
Makeup Artist
(1947)
Song of the Thin Man
Makeup Designer
(1947)
Green Dolphin Street
Makeup Designer
(1947)
Undercover Maisie
Makeup Artist
(1946)
The Harvey Girls
Makeup Designer
(1946)
The Hoodlum Saint
Makeup Artist
(1946)
Two Smart People
Makeup Artist
(1946)
Easy to Wed
Makeup Artist
(1946)
Undercurrent
Makeup Designer
(1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Makeup Artist
(1946)
Two Sisters from Boston
Makeup Designer
(1946)
Lady in the Lake
Makeup Artist
(1946)
The Yearling
Makeup Designer
(1946)
Till the Clouds Roll By
Makeup Designer
(1945)
Yolanda and the Thief
Makeup Artist
(1945)
Son of Lassie
Makeup Designer
(1945)
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
Makeup Designer
(1945)
She Went to the Races
Makeup Artist
(1945)
The Valley of Decision
Makeup Designer
(1945)
Ziegfeld Follies
Makeup Designer
(1945)
Thrill of a Romance
Makeup Designer
(1945)
National Velvet
Makeup Artist
(1945)
They Were Expendable
Makeup & Hair
(1945)
Anchors Aweigh
Makeup Designer
(1945)
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Makeup Designer
(1944)
Mrs. Parkington
Makeup Designer
(1944)
Kismet
Makeup Designer
(1944)
Bathing Beauty
Makeup Designer
(1944)
Gaslight
Makeup Designer
(1944)
The Canterville Ghost
Makeup Designer
(1944)
Meet Me in St. Louis
Makeup Designer
(1944)
The White Cliffs of Dover
Makeup Designer
(1943)
The Human Comedy
Makeup Artist
(1943)
Keeper of the Flame
Makeup Artist
(1943)
The Man from Down Under
Makeup Designer
(1943)
Bataan
Makeup Artist
(1943)
Above Suspicion
Makeup Designer
(1943)
Thousands Cheer
Makeup Designer
(1943)
Lassie Come Home
Makeup Artist
(1942)
Tortilla Flat
Makeup Artist
(1942)
The Vanishing Virginian
Makeup Designer
(1942)
Nazi Agent
Makeup Artist
(1942)
For Me and My Gal
Makeup Designer
(1941)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Makeup Artist
(1941)
Ziegfeld Girl
Makeup Designer
(1940)
The Philadelphia Story
Makeup Artist
(1940)
Pride and Prejudice
Makeup Artist
(1940)
20 Mule Team
Makeup Designer
(1940)
Little Nellie Kelly
Makeup Designer
(1940)
Strange Cargo
Makeup Artist
(1940)
Comrade X
Makeup Artist
(1940)
Escape
Makeup Designer
(1939)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Makeup Artist
(1939)
Miracles for Sale
Makeup Artist
(1939)
Broadway Serenade
Makeup Artist
(1939)
Ninotchka
Makeup Designer
(1939)
Stand Up and Fight
Makeup Designer
(1939)
On Borrowed Time
Makeup Artist
(1939)
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
Makeup Artist
(1939)
The Wizard of Oz
Makeup Designer
(1938)
Boys Town
Makeup Artist
(1938)
Marie Antoinette
Makeup Artist
(1937)
Way Out West
Makeup Artist
(1937)
Conquest
Makeup Artist
(1936)
Trouble for Two
Makeup Artist
(1935)
Mark of the Vampire
Makeup Artist