success of The Man Who Laughs Junior announced his decision to make movies out of the classic horror novels and Junior gave Pierce free reign to apply his skills to the development of characters for these projects. First on the list was Dracula, which had enjoyed a run as a successful stage adaptation of the Bram Stoker classic in 1927. At first, Junior and Senior Laemmle wished to cast the premiere “horror” star of the time, Lon Chaney, though by the late 1920s, Chaney had been well-established as a great deal more than a horror film star. However, in the summer of 1930, Chaney died, in effect creating an opening for Jack Pierce to forge his own name as a makeup artist, albeit one who created characters on other actors. Eventually, the Laemmles would make Jack Pierce their key player in the regular production of the many horror films which Universal would release in the early and mid-1930s.
dracula
Jack Pierce’s first attempt to create an unforgettable screen character in the new sound era of filmmaking was essentially thwarted by the star of the first project “greenlit” by Junior Laemmle in 1930. While Dracula afforded Pierce the chance to bring a vampire character unlike any seen before to the screen, Béla Lugosi arrived in California with different plans. As Lugosi had always applied his own makeups on stage, he assumed the same situation would occur in Universal’s film version. Steadfast that he make himself into the cinematic version of Count Dracula (below), Jack Pierce was relegated to designing a green greasepaint for the character (through Max Factor’s organization), and likely designed the widow’s peak hairstyle in concert with hairstyling department head Lily Dirigo. Instead of working on the title character, Pierce, Dirigo, and costume designer Vera West collaborated to create the looks for Helen Chandler as Mina (above left) and the Count’s brides (above right). Nonetheless, when it was released in February of 1931, Dracula was an unqualified smash, and the Universal brass clamored for a follow-up. Though Lugosi was originally cast as the Monster when screenwriter-director Robert Florey was putting together the next Universal horror effort, Frankenstein, Junior Laemmle dismissed the test footage, claiming that the Lugosi Monster was too derivative of the title character in the German classic Der Golem (1920). When both Lugosi and Florey were subsequently assigned to Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), an incalculable opportunity arose for Jack Pierce, Universal, and fans of the horror film genre.
frankenstein
“I believe this character has been the greatest of all monsters portrayed in motion pictures,” said a Jack Pierce to TV host Wayne Thomas in 1962. The original Frankenstein from 1931 remains a benchmark for movie makeup. Pierce described in great detail what inspired his classic character conception after he read the novel—given to him by Carl Laemmle Junior—three times in 1930. “I did research work for six months before I created the Frankenstein monster,” he said. “It was a lot of hard work, trying to find ways and means, what can you do? Frankenstein wasn’t a doctor; he was a scientist, so ... he had to take the head and open it, ... and he took wires to rivet the head. I had to [add] the electrical outlets to connect electricity in here on the neck. I made it out of clay and put hair on it and took it in to Junior Laemmle’s office He said, ‘you mean to tell me you can do this on a human being?’ I said, ‘positively.’ He said, ‘all right, we will go the limit.’ From then on, the story was written, and we went to work. “
For Pierce’s first Frankenstein film — there were six eventual sequels for which he would create a monster — he described the process of assembling the character. “The wig was made with a cotton roll on the top to get the flatness and the circle that protrudes out from the head,” he revealed. “Instead of giving [the
dracula
Jack Pierce’s first attempt to create an unforgettable screen character in the new sound era of filmmaking was essentially thwarted by the star of the first project “greenlit” by Junior Laemmle in 1930. While Dracula afforded Pierce the chance to bring a vampire character unlike any seen before to the screen, Béla Lugosi arrived in California with different plans. As Lugosi had always applied his own makeups on stage, he assumed the same situation would occur in Universal’s film version. Steadfast that he make himself into the cinematic version of Count Dracula (below), Jack Pierce was relegated to designing a green greasepaint for the character (through Max Factor’s organization), and likely designed the widow’s peak hairstyle in concert with hairstyling department head Lily Dirigo. Instead of working on the title character, Pierce, Dirigo, and costume designer Vera West collaborated to create the looks for Helen Chandler as Mina (above left) and the Count’s brides (above right). Nonetheless, when it was released in February of 1931, Dracula was an unqualified smash, and the Universal brass clamored for a follow-up. Though Lugosi was originally cast as the Monster when screenwriter-director Robert Florey was putting together the next Universal horror effort, Frankenstein, Junior Laemmle dismissed the test footage, claiming that the Lugosi Monster was too derivative of the title character in the German classic Der Golem (1920). When both Lugosi and Florey were subsequently assigned to Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), an incalculable opportunity arose for Jack Pierce, Universal, and fans of the horror film genre.
frankenstein
“I believe this character has been the greatest of all monsters portrayed in motion pictures,” said a Jack Pierce to TV host Wayne Thomas in 1962. The original Frankenstein from 1931 remains a benchmark for movie makeup. Pierce described in great detail what inspired his classic character conception after he read the novel—given to him by Carl Laemmle Junior—three times in 1930. “I did research work for six months before I created the Frankenstein monster,” he said. “It was a lot of hard work, trying to find ways and means, what can you do? Frankenstein wasn’t a doctor; he was a scientist, so ... he had to take the head and open it, ... and he took wires to rivet the head. I had to [add] the electrical outlets to connect electricity in here on the neck. I made it out of clay and put hair on it and took it in to Junior Laemmle’s office He said, ‘you mean to tell me you can do this on a human being?’ I said, ‘positively.’ He said, ‘all right, we will go the limit.’ From then on, the story was written, and we went to work. “
For Pierce’s first Frankenstein film — there were six eventual sequels for which he would create a monster — he described the process of assembling the character. “The wig was made with a cotton roll on the top to get the flatness and the circle that protrudes out from the head,” he revealed. “Instead of giving [the
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