Jack Dawn Video | Interviews

Jack Dawn (February 10, 1892 - June 20, 1961) was an acclaimed American make-up artist whose career spanned thirty-seven years, during which 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... MORE

Jack Dawn (February 10, 1892 - June 20, 1961) was an acclaimed American make-up artist whose career spanned thirty-seven years, during which 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 MGM, 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 LESS