About

Known credits:
102
Birthday:
1889-05-05
Place of birth:
Valdetsyou, Greece
Website:
N/A

Jack Pierce

Overview

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.

Known for

Acting
2015 Jack Pierce: The Man Who Made the Monsters Actor Self (archive footage) 59
Average
2008 He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce Actor Self (archive footage) 59
Average
1929 Masquerade Actor Second Reporter N/A
N/A
1928 The Circus Actor Man Operating Ropes (uncredited) 71
Good
1927 Isle of Sunken Gold Actor N/A
N/A
1922 Riders of the Law Actor Pete Gushard N/A
N/A
1917 The Enchanted Kiss Actor Dwarf N/A
N/A

Costume & Make-Up
1962 The Creation of the Humanoids Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1960 Beyond the Time Barrier Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1960 The Amazing Transparent Man Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 56
Average
1958 I Bury the Living Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1958 Giant from the Unknown Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1957 The Brain from Planet Arous Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1956 No. 5 Checked Out Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1955 The Titanic Incident Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist N/A
N/A
1955 The Silent Partner Costume & Make-Up Makeup Department Head N/A
N/A
1955 Lincoln's Doctor's Dog Costume & Make-Up Makeup & Hair N/A
N/A
1953 No Escape Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1951 Tales of Robin Hood Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1950 Blades of the Musketeers Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist N/A
N/A
1949 The Pilgrimage Play Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1949 Master Minds Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1948 Joan of Arc Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1947 Time Out of Mind Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1947 The Egg and I Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1947 Buck Privates Come Home Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1947 Doctor Jim Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist N/A
N/A
1946 Magnificent Doll Costume & Make-Up Makeup Department Head 59
Average
1946 Temptation Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1946 The Brute Man Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1946 The Killers Costume & Make-Up Makeup Department Head 65
Fair
1946 Black Angel Costume & Make-Up Makeup Supervisor 59
Average
1946 Canyon Passage Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1946 Tangier Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1946 Her Adventurous Night Costume & Make-Up Makeup & Hair 59
Average
1946 Dressed to Kill Costume & Make-Up Makeup Department Head 60
Fair
1946 The Cat Creeps Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1946 She-Wolf of London Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1946 House of Horrors Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1946 The Spider Woman Strikes Back Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1946 Little Giant Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1946 Terror by Night Costume & Make-Up Makeup Department Head 60
Fair
1946 Little Miss Big Costume & Make-Up Makeup Department Head 59
Average
1945 Scarlet Street Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 66
Fair
1945 House of Dracula Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1945 Pursuit to Algiers Costume & Make-Up Makeup Department Head 59
Average
1945 The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1945 The Jungle Captive Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1945 The Naughty Nineties Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1945 Sudan Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1944 The Mummy's Curse Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1944 House of Frankenstein Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1944 The Climax Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1944 Gypsy Wildcat Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1944 The Mummy's Ghost Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1944 Jungle Woman Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1944 Cobra Woman Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1943 The Mad Ghoul Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1943 Son of Dracula Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1943 Flesh and Fantasy Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1943 Phantom of the Opera Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1943 Captive Wild Woman Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1943 White Savage Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1943 Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1942 The Mummy's Tomb Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1942 The Ghost of Frankenstein Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1941 The Wolf Man Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 64
Fair
1941 Man-Made Monster Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1940 The Mummy's Hand Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1940 The House of the Seven Gables Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1940 Black Friday Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1939 Tower of London Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1939 Son of Frankenstein Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 61
Fair
1938 Wives Under Suspicion Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1937 Let Them Live Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist N/A
N/A
1937 Night Key Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1936 Two in a Crowd Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist N/A
N/A
1936 Show Boat Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1936 Dracula's Daughter Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1936 The Invisible Ray Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1935 The Raven Costume & Make-Up Makeup Designer 60
Fair
1935 Werewolf of London Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1935 Bride of Frankenstein Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 69
Fair
1934 Imitation of Life Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 60
Fair
1934 Great Expectations Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1934 Half a Sinner Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist N/A
N/A
1934 The Black Cat Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 61
Fair
1933 By Candlelight Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1933 The Invisible Man Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 68
Fair
1933 The Kiss Before the Mirror Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1933 The Big Cage Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1932 The Mummy Costume & Make-Up Makeup Designer 63
Fair
1932 Back Street Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1932 White Zombie Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
1932 Murders in the Rue Morgue Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1931 Dracula Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 67
Fair
1930 King of Jazz Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1928 The Last Warning Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 59
Average
1928 The Man Who Laughs Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 62
Fair
1926 The Lady of the Harem Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist N/A
N/A
1925 The Wanderer Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist 58
Average
It's Always Sunday Costume & Make-Up Makeup Artist N/A
N/A