Jack Dawn

Jack Dawn

  • Birthday: 1892-02-10
  • Deathday: 1961-06-20
  • Place of birth: Fleming, Kentucky, USA

Biography

Jack Dawn (February 10, 1892 - June 20, 1961) was an American make-up artist whose career spanned thirty-seven years. 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 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 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 to three non-human characters - a scarecrow, a tin man, and a lion - in MGM's now-classic musical film The Wizard of Oz, based on L. Frank Baum's novel. He also created the green makeup for Wicked Witch of the West Margaret Hamilton and multiple looks for Frank Morgan, who portrayed five different characters in the film, as well as for the Munchkins. His work resulted in some of the most recognizable makeup designs ever created for a Hollywood production. In 1943, Dawn approached the San Diego Naval Hospital with an offer to help World War II soldiers whose faces and hands had been disfigured in battle. He created inlays that helped patients appear normal between multiple plastic surgery operations. Dawn worked with many of Hollywood's legendary performers, including Laurel and Hardy, Greta Garbo, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Bert Lahr, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Greer Garson, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Ingrid Bergman, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner, Fred Astaire, and Betty Hutton. Dawn died in Glendale, California, five years after retiring from films. He was buried with an unmarked grave in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.

Filmography

Production

Meet Me in St. Louis

1944

As Makeup Artist

The Philadelphia Story

1940

As Makeup Artist

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

1941

As Makeup Artist

Mark of the Vampire

1935

As Makeup Artist

The Human Comedy

1943

As Makeup Artist

Gaslight

1944

As Makeup Designer

20 Mule Team

1940

As Makeup Designer

Mystery Street

1950

As Makeup Designer

Tortilla Flat

1942

As Makeup Artist

Ziegfeld Follies

1945

As Makeup Artist

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

1939

As Makeup Artist

Boys Town

1938

As Makeup Artist

Stars in My Crown

1950

As Makeup Artist

Neptune's Daughter

1949

As Makeup Artist

Miracles for Sale

1939

As Makeup Artist

Broadway Serenade

1939

As Makeup Artist

The Canterville Ghost

1944

As Makeup Designer

The Wizard of Oz

1939

As Makeup Artist

Easter Parade

1948

As Makeup Designer

Father of the Bride

1950

As Makeup Designer

Marie Antoinette

1938

As Makeup Artist

Trouble for Two

1936

As Makeup Artist

Stand Up and Fight

1939

As Makeup Designer

The Man from Down Under

1943

As Makeup Designer

The Romance of Rosy Ridge

1947

As Makeup Designer

The Kissing Bandit

1948

As Makeup Designer

The Vanishing Virginian

1942

As Makeup Designer

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

1949

As Makeup Designer

On the Town

1949

As Makeup Artist

Strange Cargo

1940

As Makeup Artist

Undercurrent

1946

As Makeup Designer

Nazi Agent

1942

As Makeup Artist

On Borrowed Time

1939

As Makeup Artist

Tension

1949

As Makeup Artist

Madame Bovary

1949

As Makeup Artist

The Postman Always Rings Twice

1946

As Makeup Artist

Two Sisters from Boston

1946

As Makeup Designer

Comrade X

1940

As Makeup Artist

Bataan

1943

As Makeup Artist

The White Cliffs of Dover

1944

As Makeup Designer

Three Little Words

1950

As Makeup Artist

A Date with Judy

1948

As Makeup Artist

Dark Delusion

1947

As Makeup Designer

Thrill of a Romance

1945

As Makeup Designer

Conquest

1937

As Makeup Artist

Lady in the Lake

1946

As Makeup Artist

Above Suspicion

1943

As Makeup Designer

National Velvet

1945

As Makeup Artist

Cynthia

1947

As Makeup Artist

Ziegfeld Girl

1941

As Makeup Artist

They Were Expendable

1945

As Makeup & Hair

Anchors Aweigh

1945

As Makeup Designer

Lassie Come Home

1943

As Makeup Artist

Thousands Cheer

1943

As Makeup Designer

Song of the Thin Man

1947

As Makeup Designer

Escape

1940

As Makeup Designer

The Picture of Dorian Gray

1945

As Makeup Designer

For Me and My Gal

1942

As Makeup Designer

Green Dolphin Street

1947

As Makeup Designer

The Yearling

1946

As Makeup Designer

Undercover Maisie

1947

As Makeup Artist

The Stratton Story

1949

As Makeup Designer

Pride and Prejudice

1940

As Makeup Artist

Mrs. Parkington

1944

As Makeup Designer

Kismet

1944

As Makeup Designer

The Harvey Girls

1946

As Makeup Designer

Duchess of Idaho

1950

As Makeup Artist

The Hoodlum Saint

1946

As Makeup Artist

The Sea of Grass

1947

As Makeup Artist

The Unfinished Dance

1947

As Makeup Designer

Big City

1948

As Makeup Artist

Julia Misbehaves

1948

As Makeup Artist

Summer Holiday

1948

As Makeup Artist

Battleground

1949

As Makeup Artist

The Red Danube

1949

As Makeup Artist

Yolanda and the Thief

1945

As Makeup Artist

Annie Get Your Gun

1950

As Makeup Artist

The Great Sinner

1949

As Makeup Artist

Two Smart People

1946

As Makeup Artist

Son of Lassie

1945

As Makeup Designer

Challenge to Lassie

1949

As Makeup Designer

Way Out West

1937

As Makeup Artist

Good News

1947

As Makeup Designer

The Arnelo Affair

1947

As Makeup Artist

That Forsyte Woman

1949

As Makeup Designer

Hills of Home

1948

As Makeup Designer

Ambush

1950

As Makeup Artist

Keeper of the Flame

1943

As Makeup Artist

The Three Musketeers

1948

As Makeup Designer

Nancy Goes to Rio

1950

As Makeup Artist

Bathing Beauty

1944

As Makeup Designer

The Pirate

1948

As Makeup Artist

The Asphalt Jungle

1950

As Makeup Designer

She Went to the Races

1945

As Makeup Artist

In the Good Old Summertime

1949

As Makeup Designer

Ninotchka

1939

As Makeup Designer

The Valley of Decision

1945

As Makeup Designer

Right Cross

1950

As Makeup Designer

Adam's Rib

1949

As Makeup Designer

The Reformer and the Redhead

1950

As Makeup Designer

The Big Trail

1930

As Makeup Artist

Easy to Wed

1946

As Makeup Artist

Side Street

1950

As Makeup Supervisor

Desire Me

1947

As Makeup Designer

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