The Westmores of Hollywood

“Their artistic abilities were phenomenal. The beauty and the horror that you saw coming out of all of those different studios was directly because of their involvement.” - Sue Cabral Ebert, President of the Make-up Artists and Hairstylist’s Guild IATSE Local 706

The Westmores have been doing makeup for Hollywood for four generations. They created the "Hollywood beauty" and makeup for Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davies, Elizabeth Taylor, Farrah Fawcet, and many, many more. 

Marilyn Monroe

Magazine Advert for Tru-Glo liquid makeup

company: Westmores Hollywood Cosmetics

1952

(source: library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess_BH1939 -date: Oct 18th 2014)

It all started with George Henry Westmore, a hairstylist and wigmaker from England. In 1917 founded the first makeup department at Selig Studios and used to make house calls for rising stars seeking the perfect look. At that time, he didn't know much about makeup so he traded makeup lessons for hairstyling services and thats how he learned to do beauty makeup. He had six sons; Monte, Ern, Perc, Wally, Frank, and Bud who all followed his footsteps and who were the makeup artists throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood. They led makeup departments in other studios such as Universal studio, Paramount, Warner Bros etc. 

George Westmore

(source: findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10371 -date: Oct 18th 2014 )

Montague George Westmore (Mont) first worked as a free-lance makeup artist and then joined the studios of David O. Selznik. He supervized makeup during the screen tests and did makeup for films such as Gone with the Wind, Scarface, Cobra and Rebecca. He also worked on Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek Insurrection, with his wife, June Westmore.

Some of his work

(source: makeupmag.com/article/id/600  -date: Oct 18th 2014)

Ernest Henry Wesmore (Ern), Percivals twin brother, worked at RKO Studios, Eagle-Lion Studios, and 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation as a makeup director on more than 50 films. He won the first award ever given to a makeup artist by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scences for his work on the film Cimarron. Along with his three brothers, he was involved in the creation of the House of Westmore- a place of beauty, primarily for women on Sunset Boulevard. He had his own television series called The Ern Westmore Hollywood Glamour Show where he talked about makeup tips and beauty suggestions.

Ern Westmore

(source: findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5469  -date: Oct 18th 2014)

Percival Harry Westmore (Perc) worked at Warner Brothers studio for 27 and joined Universal Studios later. He was the chief administrator of the elegant salon on Sunset Bulevart, too. He worked with Bette Davies, Jane Wyman, Kay Francis, Loretta Yound etc. His most notable work was Charles Laughton's makeup in the remake of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. During his life, he collected a number of clips and recordings of him and his family and combined them into 42 scrapbooks which were after his death, in 1971, donated to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scences.

Perc Westmore prepares Martha Vickers for The Time, the Place and the Girl

1956

(source: http://acertaincinema.com/media-tags/perc-westmore/ -date: Oct 18th 2014)

Commercial for new Lux soap with Jane Fonda

1967

Hamilton Adolph Westmore (Bud) decided to legally change his name to George Hamilton Westmore in the 1940s due to the comments about his middle name. Worked at Paramount, 20th Century- Fox and was makeup chief at Universal Studios for 24 years. Universal Studios even named the largest building on the back lot 'Bud'. He is credited on over 450 movies and television shows;To Kill a Mockingbird, Man of a Thousand Faces, Creature from the Black Lagoon and the TV show Munsters. 

Cast of The Munsters; 1964-1966

(source: http://hollywoodmoviecostumesandprops.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/munsters-monster-make-up-display.html  -date: Oct 18th 2014)

Walter James Westmore (Wally) was makeup artist at Paramount Studios for 41 years. He did makeup on more than 300 films; The Lady Eve, Going My Way, Breakfast At Tiffany's, Sabrina Fair, That Kind Of Woman and Alice in Wonderland are just some of them. 

His granddauther, Pamela Westmore, has been working as a makeup artist since 1982.

Wally and Audrey Hepburn on the set of Sabrina Fair (1953)

(source: liachang.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/charmed-by-audrey-life-on-the-set-of-sabrina-book-signing-by-lia-chang/audrey-hepburn-in-makeup_5/ -date: Oct 18th 2014)

Frank Westmore, like his brother Wally, was a makeup artist at Paramount Studios. He won the Emmy Award for "Outstanding Achievment in Makeup" in 1972 for TV series Bonanza, Hart to Hart and Kung Fu. In 1978 he was nominated with his nephew Michael Westmore for A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story. He was a co-writer of the family biography The Westmores of Hollywood (1976).

On the set of Planet of the Apes 
1968

(source: planetoftheapes.wikia.com/wiki/Frank_Westmore -date: Oct 18th 2014)

Michael Westmore, George's grandson, started his career at Universal Studios in 1961 and worked there for 40 years. He also worked for CIA and created makeup kits for spies. Michael is best known for his work on the film Rocky and won 9 Emmy Awards for TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation. In 1958 he won the Academy Award for Make-up for his work on the film Mask. Today, he continues a family tradition of teaching the art of make-up.

Michael on the set of Star Trek (1993)

(source: forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2011/11/18/resistance-is-futile/ -date: Oct 18th 2014)

Marvin Westmore is Monte's son. Some of the most famous films he worked on were: Dr. Dolittle, Blade Runner, Vegas Vacation and MacGyver.founded the George Westmore Research Library and Museum in Burbank, California. It was created to serve the students of the Westmore Academy of Cosmetic Arts. The Academy was taken over by Empire Beauty Schools in 2010 and closed in 2012, but the library and museum remains open. 

The Westmores were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk od Fame for Motion Pictures.

http://westmoremuseum.wordpress.com/z-to-a-westmore/ (date: Oct 18th 2014)

http://marvingwestmore.wordpress.com/westmore-hollywood-star/ (date: Oct 18th 2014)

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/641129/Westmore-Family (date: Oct 18th 2014)

http://www.filmreference.com/Writers-and-Production-Artists-Vi-Win/The-Westmore-Family.html (date: Oct 18th 2014)