Jack Pierce was born in Greece on 5 May 1889.
Only real obsessives know who Pierce was. But everyone knows his work. He created the makeup for all the iconic Universal horror monsters. The most important is Frankenstein’s monster. At this point, the look of the monster is more important than the novel itself. And modern designs are always reflecting it. (This is also partly due to intellectual property law — at least until 2027!)
Pierce started as an actor in silent films — in addition to doing other stuff on productions. He started doing makeup in the late 1920s. His first notable film was The Monkey Talks, where he created a design that would not look out of place in Planet of the Apes. He also created the incredibly creepy makeup for The Man Who Laughs.
At that time, Lon Chaney Sr was the makeup master at Universal. But he left the studio in 1928. So Universal made Pierce the head of its makeup department. Despite this title, he did most of the important work himself.
Jack Pierce’s first design for the Frankenstein monster was based on the 1920 German film, The Golem: How He Came into the World. That featured a pageboy hairstyle, which is more in keeping with the character’s presentation on stage and in the 1910 silent film version. This seems to have been the design that Bela Lugosi screen-tested with. If so, it is hard to blame the man for passing on the role.
Pierce also created the looks of The Mummy and The Wolf Man. He also popularized the use of the widow”’s peak hairline — something that was still iconic in the 1960s with Eddie Munster.
Universal fired Pierce in 1946 after he had given it two decades of service. No one really knows why. But he went on to work as an independent — mostly in lower budget films. And then he made the move to TV. He spent the last four years of his career as makeup artist on Mister Ed.
Let’s watch one of Jack Pierce’s non-Universal films, which features an incredible widow’s peak, White Zombie.
Other 5 May Anniversaries
Filmmakers:
- Charles Lamont (1895-1993): Director of several Abbott & Costello horror-comedies.
- Joseph Stefano (1922-2006): Screenwriter of Psycho.
- Michael Murphy (1938-): Actor in Phase IV and Shocker.
- Lance Henriksen (1940-): Actor in Aliens and Pumpkinhead.
- John Rhys-Davies (1944-): Actor in Raiders of the Lost Ark and sequels.
- Richard E Grant (1957-): Actor in Withnail and I and Warlock.
- Henry Cavill (1983-): Hunk who has starred as Superman.
Films:
- Brainstorm (1965): Noir about a bad romance.
- The Evil (1978): A doctor buys a house to start a rehab clinic and unleashes a demon.
- Return of the Boogeyman (1994): A woman has prophetic nightmares.
- Gladiator (2000): A gladiator gets revenge for the murder of his family.
- Final Stab (2001): Fake murder game turns real.
- Cryptz (2002): Rappers go to strip club full of vampires.
- An American Haunting (2005): A 19th-century family is haunted.
- Mission: Impossible III (2006): Another impossible mission.
- The Jack in the Box (2020): Evil jack-in-the-box toy.
Jack Pierce via IMDb under Fair Use.