The Westmore Family

The Westmore’s are family of Hollywood makeup artists credited with having introduced the art of makeup to the motion-picture industry.

Born in Great Britain, on the Isle of Wight, George Westmore (1879–1931) fought in the South African (Boer) War and, after marriage to a hometown friend, Ada Savage (died 1923), opened his first hairdressing salon. He moved to Canterbury and then to Canada and the United States, working as a hairdresser in various cities before gravitating to Los Angeles in 1917. There he soon got a job at the Selig Studio and established the first studio makeup department in history; a few months later he moved to Triangle Studios, supervising the makeup for such stars as Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Billie Burke, Norma Talmadge, and Theda Bara. During the 1920s, however, his own work came to be overshadowed by that of his sons; and a series of disappointments, together with an unhappy second marriage, led to his suicide in 1931.

All his six surviving sons became heads or assistant heads of makeup departments of major studios. Montague George Westmore (1902–40), known as “Mont,” first worked free-lance for such directors as Cecil B. deMille but eventually joined the studios of David O. Selznick, supervising makeup during the screen tests for as well as the filming of Gone with the Wind (1939). Percival Harry Westmore (1904–70) headed the makeup department of First National Pictures and then of the company that absorbed it, Warner Brothers, where he remained for 27 years, joining Universal Studios only late in life. Perc was also the chief administrator of the elegant salon on Sunset Boulevard, The House of Westmore (1935–65), though all the family were financially involved.

Perc’s twin brother, Ernest Henry Westmore (1904–68), known as “Ern,” worked at First National and then became head of makeup at RKO; while there he won the first award ever given to a makeup artist by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, for his work on the film Cimarron. Ern later supervised makeup at 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation. Walter James Westmore (1906–73), known as “Wally,” headed the makeup department at Paramount Studios for 41 years (1926–67). Hamilton Adolph Westmore (1918–73), known as “Bud,” worked at Paramount and 20th Century-Fox and then was makeup chief at Universal Studios for almost 24 years (1946–70). Frank Westmore (1923–85) was long associated with Paramount Pictures.

Some third-generation Westmores also became prominent in the art of makeup—not only in theatrical makeup but also in therapeutic makeup for victims of facial burns, diseases, or accidents.

George:

Smilin' Through (Franklin) 1922

Secrets (Borzage) 1924

Mont:

Blood and Sand (Niblo) 1922

Monsieur Beaucaire (Olcott) 1923

A Sainted Devil (Henabery) 1924

Cobra (Henabery); The Eagle (Brown) 1925

Son of the Sheik (Fitzmaurice); The King of Kings (DeMille) 1926

Mexicali Rose (Kenton) 1929

Scarface (Hawks) 1932

The House of Rothschild (Werker) 1934

Mutiny on the Bounty (Lloyd) 1935

Intermezzo (Ratoff); Gone with the Wind (Fleming) 1939

Rebecca (Hitchcock) 1940

Perc:

Stella Dallas (H. King); The Lost World (Hoyt) 1925

Bordertown (Mayo) 1934

Captain Blood (Curtiz); A Midsummer Night's Dream (Reinhardt and Dieterle) 1935

Cain and Mabel (Bacon); The Story of Louis Pasteur (Dieterle); The Walking Dead (Curtiz) 1936

The Life of Emile Zola (Dieterle); Dead End (Wyler) 1937

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (Curtiz); The Return of Dr. X (V. Sherman); Juarez (Dieterle); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Dieterle) 1939

Kings Row (Wood) 1941

Casablanca (Curtiz) 1942

The Blue Veil (Bernhardt) 1951

The Catered Affair (Brooks) 1956

Munster, Go Home! (Bellamy) 1966

The Arrangement (Kazan) 1969

There Was a Crooked Man . . . (Mankiewicz) 1970

Ern:

The Sea Beast (Webb) 1926

Cimarron (Ruggles) 1930

Way Back Home ( Old Greatheart ) (Seiter) 1931

A Bill of Divorcement (Cukor) 1932

Lost Horizon (Capra) 1937

Wally:

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Mamoulian); Island of Lost Souls (Kenton) 1931

Alice in Wonderland (McLeod) 1933

The General Died at Dawn (Mielstone) 1936

Spawn of the North (Hathaway); Professor Beware (Nugent) 1938

The Great Man's Lady (Wellman) 1942

Breakfast at Tiffany's (Edwards); One-Eyed Jacks (Brando) 1961

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Ford) 1962

Hud (Ritt) 1963

The Carpetbaggers (Dmytryk); Lady in a Cage (Grauman); Robinson Crusoe on Mars (Haskin) 1964

Harlow (Douglas) 1965

The Oscar (Rouse); This Property Is Condemned (Pollack) 1966

Barefoot in the Park (Saks) 1967

The Odd Couple (Saks); Will Penny (Gries) 1968

The Molly Maguires (Ritt); There Was a Crooked Man ... (Mankiewicz) 1970

Bud:

Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (Pichel) 1948

The Creature from the Black Lagoon (Arnold) 1954

Tarantula (Arnold); This Island Earth (Newman) 1955

Creature Walks among Us (Sherwood); The Mole People (Vogel) 1956

Deadly Mantis (Juran); Land Unknown (Vogel); Man of a Thousand Faces (Pevney) 1957

Flower Drum Song (Koster); Lover Come Back (Delbert Mann) 1961

Lonely Are the Brave (Miller); That Touch of Mink (Delbert Mann); To Kill a Mockingbird (Mulligan) 1962

The List of Adrian Messenger (Huston); Captain Newman, M.D. (Miller) 1963

I Saw What You Did (Castle); The War Lord (Schaffner) 1965

Madame X (Rich); The Plainsman (Rich) 1966

Thoroughly Modern Millie (Hill); The War Wagon (Kennedy) 1967

Madigan (Siegel) 1968

Death of a Gunfighter (Smithee); Sweet Charity (Rosse); Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (Polonsky) 1969

Airport (Seaton); The Forbin Project (Sargent) 1970

Soylent Green (Fleischer) 1973

Frank:

Beyond the Blue Horizon (Santell) 1942

Tars and Spars (Green) 1946

Unconquered (DeMille) 1947

Let's Live a Little (Wallace) 1948

Storm Warning (Heisler) 1950

Rancho Notorious (F. Lang) 1952

All I Desire (Sirk) 1953

Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Lamont) 1954

The Mountain (Dmytryk); The Ten Commandments (DeMille)1956 

The Joker is Wild (C. Vidor); The Buster Keaton Story (Sheldon) 1957

Hot Spell (Daniel Mann); Houseboat (Shavelson); The Match-maker (Anthony); The Buccaneer (Quinn) 1958

The Rat Race (Mulligan) 1960 

My Geisha (Cardiff); Two for the Seesaw (Wise) 1962

Irma La Douce (Wilder) 1963

What a Way to Go! (Lee Thompson) 1964

The Flight of the Phoenix (Aldrich) 1965

Two Mules for Sister Sara (Siegel) 1970

Fool's Paradise (McLaglen); The Beguiled (Siegel) 1971

Kung Fu (Thorpe)1972

The Towering Inferno (Guillermin and Allen); Mr. Ricco (Bogart) 1974

Farewell, My Lovely (Richards) 1975

Reference: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/641129/Westmore-Family