
Jack Pierce
Personal Info
Known for
Costume & Make-Up
Gender
Male
Birthday
1889-05-05
Day of Death
1968-07-19 (79 years old)
Place of Birth
Valdetsyou, Greece
Jack Pierce
Biography
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.
Acting
(2015)
Jack Pierce: The Man Who Made the Monsters
as Self (archive footage)
(2008)
He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce
as Self (archive footage)
(1929)
Masquerade
as Second Reporter
(1928)
The Circus
as Man Operating Ropes (uncredited)
(1927)
(1922)
Riders of the Law
as Pete Gushard
(1917)
The Enchanted Kiss
as Dwarf
Crew
It's Always Sunday
Makeup Artist
(1962)
The Creation of the Humanoids
Makeup Artist
(1960)
The Amazing Transparent Man
Makeup Artist
(1960)
Beyond the Time Barrier
Makeup Artist
(1958)
I Bury the Living
Makeup Artist
(1958)
Giant from the Unknown
Makeup Artist
(1957)
The Brain from Planet Arous
Makeup Artist
(1956)
No. 5 Checked Out
Makeup Artist
(1956)
Prima Donna
Makeup Artist
(1956)
Affair in Sumatra
Makeup Artist
(1955)
Lincoln's Doctor's Dog
Makeup & Hair
(1955)
The Silent Partner
Makeup Department Head
(1955)
The Titanic Incident
Makeup Artist
(1953)
No Escape
Makeup Artist
(1951)
Tales of Robin Hood
Makeup Artist
(1950)
Blades of the Musketeers
Makeup Artist
(1949)
Master Minds
Makeup Artist
(1949)
The Pilgrimage Play
Makeup Artist
(1948)
Joan of Arc
Makeup Artist
(1947)
The Egg and I
Makeup Artist
(1947)
Time Out of Mind
Makeup Artist
(1947)
Doctor Jim
Makeup Artist
(1947)
Buck Privates Come Home
Makeup Artist
(1946)
Black Angel
Makeup Supervisor
(1946)
Tangier
Makeup Artist
(1946)
Temptation
Makeup Artist
(1946)
Little Miss Big
Makeup Department Head
(1946)
Little Giant
Makeup Artist
(1946)
Canyon Passage
Makeup Artist
(1946)
The Killers
Makeup Department Head
(1946)
Dressed to Kill
Makeup Department Head
(1946)
Terror by Night
Makeup Department Head
(1946)
The Brute Man
Makeup Artist
(1946)
She-Wolf of London
Makeup Artist
(1946)
House of Horrors
Makeup Artist
(1946)
The Cat Creeps
Makeup Artist
(1946)
Magnificent Doll
Makeup Department Head
(1946)
The Spider Woman Strikes Back
Makeup Artist
(1946)
Her Adventurous Night
Makeup & Hair
(1945)
The Jungle Captive
Makeup Artist
(1945)
Sudan
Makeup Artist
(1945)
The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
Makeup Artist
(1945)
Scarlet Street
Makeup Artist
(1945)
The Naughty Nineties
Makeup Artist
(1945)
Pursuit to Algiers
Makeup Department Head
(1945)
House of Dracula
Makeup Artist
(1944)
House of Frankenstein
Makeup Artist
(1944)
Gypsy Wildcat
Makeup Artist
(1944)
The Climax
Makeup Artist
(1944)
Cobra Woman
Makeup Artist
(1944)
The Mummy's Curse
Makeup Artist
(1944)
The Mummy's Ghost
Makeup Artist
(1944)
Jungle Woman
Makeup Artist
(1943)
The Mad Ghoul
Makeup Artist
(1943)
Son of Dracula
Makeup Artist
(1943)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
Makeup Artist
(1943)
Flesh and Fantasy
Makeup Artist
(1943)
White Savage
Makeup Artist
(1943)
Captive Wild Woman
Makeup Artist
(1943)
Phantom of the Opera
Makeup Artist
(1942)
The Ghost of Frankenstein
Makeup Artist
(1942)
The Mummy's Tomb
Makeup Artist
(1941)
The Wolf Man
Makeup Artist
(1941)
Man-Made Monster
Makeup Artist
(1940)
The House of the Seven Gables
Makeup Artist
(1940)
The Mummy's Hand
Makeup Artist
(1940)
Black Friday
Makeup Artist
(1939)
Son of Frankenstein
Makeup Artist
(1939)
Tower of London
Makeup Artist
(1938)
Wives Under Suspicion
Makeup Artist
(1937)
Night Key
Makeup Artist
(1937)
Let Them Live
Makeup Artist
(1936)
Dracula's Daughter
Makeup Artist
(1936)
Two in a Crowd
Makeup Artist
(1936)
Show Boat
Makeup Artist
(1936)
The Invisible Ray
Makeup Artist
(1935)
Werewolf of London
Makeup Artist
(1935)
Bride of Frankenstein
Makeup Artist
(1935)
The Raven
Makeup Designer
(1935)
The Good Fairy
Makeup Artist
(1934)
Imitation of Life
Makeup Artist
(1934)
The Black Cat
Makeup Artist
(1934)
Half a Sinner
Makeup Artist
(1934)
Great Expectations
Makeup Artist
(1933)
The Kiss Before the Mirror
Makeup Artist
(1933)
By Candlelight
Makeup Artist
(1933)
The Big Cage
Makeup Artist
(1933)
The Invisible Man
Makeup Artist
(1932)
Murders in the Rue Morgue
Makeup Artist
(1932)
Back Street
Makeup Artist
(1932)
White Zombie
Makeup Artist
(1932)
The Mummy
Makeup Designer
(1931)
Dracula
Makeup Artist
(1930)
King of Jazz
Makeup Artist
(1928)
The Last Warning
Makeup Artist
(1928)
The Man Who Laughs
Makeup Artist
(1926)
The Lady of the Harem
Makeup Artist
(1925)
The Wanderer
Makeup Artist