Richard Emerson Smith (June 26, 1922 – July 30, 2014) was an American
special make-up effects artist and author, (nicknamed "The Godfather of Make-Up")
[Fowler, Brandi; Marquina, Sierra (November 13, 2011)]
"Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones, & Dick Smith Receive Honorary Academy Awards"
E! Online. known for his work on such films as ''
Little Big Man'', ''
The Godfather
''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
'', ''
The Exorcist
''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on The Exorcist (novel), his 1971 novel. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller (play ...
'', ''
Taxi Driver
''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...
'', ''
Scanners'' and ''
Death Becomes Her''. He won a 1985
Academy Award for Best Makeup for his work on ''
Amadeus'' and received a 2012
Academy Honorary Award for his career's work.
Early life
Smith was born in
Larchmont, New York
Larchmont is a Village (New York), village located within the Town (New York), Town of Mamaroneck (town), New York, Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York. Larchmont is a suburb of New York City, located approximately northeast of Midt ...
, the son of Coral (née Brown) and Richard Roy Smith.
[Doug Tomlinso]
"Dick Smith Biography (1922–)"
Film Reference. Retrieved October 2, 2012. He attended the
Wooster School in Danbury, Connecticut and
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
, where he studied pre-med, with the intention of entering dentistry, although he majored in zoology.
["Dick Smith – Honorary Award"](_blank)
Oscars.org, 2011 After reading a book on theatrical make-up techniques
[Rodney Appleyar]
, ''Inside Film'', 28 August 2008 titled ''Paint, powder and make-up ; the art of theater make-up from the amateur and class room viewpoint (Strauss, Ivard)'',
he began applying make-up for the Yale drama group.
After graduation, Smith served in the
U.S. Army during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
[Dick Smith Dies at 92; Makeup Artist of Vast Reach](_blank)
Yardley, William. ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
Early career in television
Smith entered the field full-time after the war, and was entirely self-taught. He sent photographs of his work to the film industry, but his work was rejected until his father suggested he might try the emerging new medium of television.
He was appointed as the first make-up director of
WNBC
WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey� ...
(
NBC's station in New York City), working there for fourteen years, often under producer
David Susskind.
Smith pioneered the development of
prosthetic makeup
Prosthetic makeup also known as special makeup effects or FX prosthesis, is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, molding and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic special effects, effects. Prosthetics are used on stage and screen ...
, now better known as special make-up effects, from the basement of his home in
Larchmont, New York
Larchmont is a Village (New York), village located within the Town (New York), Town of Mamaroneck (town), New York, Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York. Larchmont is a suburb of New York City, located approximately northeast of Midt ...
, a district in which he lived through most of his life.
His colleagues though, he commented in a 2008 interview, "tended to be secretive. There was not at all that much make-up work in New York – and Hollywood might as well have been on another planet. They weren’t eager to share anything; and the union did its best to discourage whatever inclination there might have been."
Prosthetic face masks were then normally made in one piece, but Smith made them in three foam latex pieces. Smith's technique allowed the actor to use their full range of facial expressions.
[Mike Barnes]
"Dick Smith, The 'Godfather of Makeup,' Dies at 92"
''Hollywood Reporter'', 31 July 2014 Despite initial criticism from many professional make-up artists at the time, Smith's make-up techniques proved to be superior. The now standard methods of applying prosthetics to faces are those that Smith invented, according to Smith's protégé
Rick Baker in a 2007 interview.
For a television adaptation of ''
The Moon and Sixpence'' (1959), Smith was required to turn
Laurence Olivier into a leprosy victim: "When I finished the make-up, he looked in the mirror and said, 'Dick, it does the acting for me.' I've never forgotten his words."
Other early work by Smith was seen on ''
Way Out'' (1961), a short-lived supernatural syndicated clone of ''
Twilight Zone'', produced by Susskind in New York City, and hosted by
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...
. Most memorable was a make-up of a man (
Barry Morse) who had half of his face suddenly erased by a spilled vial of photo retouching fluid that affected real people when merely applied to their photos. In another ''Way Out'' episode, a ''
Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' make-up created by Smith becomes permanently affixed to an evil actor who then became his character and could never remove his make-up. Smith contributed to all 14 ''Way Out'' episodes, and other 1960s television shows as well.
In 1965, Smith published an instructional book, titled ''Dick Smith's Do-It-Yourself Monster Make-up Handbook'', a special edition of
Forrest J Ackerman's ''
Famous Monsters of Filmland
''Famous Monsters of Filmland'' is an American film genre, genre-specific List of film periodicals, film magazine, started in 1958 by publisher James Warren (publisher), James Warren and editor Forrest J Ackerman.
''Famous Monsters of Filmland ...
'' magazine series.
In 1967, Smith provided special make-up for two episodes of the
supernatural
Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...
soap opera
A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
''
Dark Shadows
''Dark Shadows'' is an American Gothic fiction, Gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulatio ...
''; in the storyline,
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...
Barnabas Collins (played by
Jonathan Frid)
was undergoing medical treatment to change him into a living human being. The experiment goes drastically wrong, and Barnabas ages rapidly, to the appearance of a man over 175 years old. Smith said that designing the make-up appliances for ''Dark Shadows'' "turned out to be valuable preparation for ''Little Big Man''."
Film work (late 1960s–1975)
In the film ''
Little Big Man'' (1970), the 30-something
Dustin Hoffman played a man in extreme old age at several points in the film — similar, and with a very similar makeup design, to Smith's work making the 40-something actor Jonathan Frid look 175 years old in the film ''
House of Dark Shadows'' (MGM, also 1970). "In the original book of ''Little Big Man'', Dustin's character is 110," Smith observed, "but the director
Arthur Penn
Arthur Hiller Penn (September 27, 1922 – September 28, 2010) was an American filmmaker, theatre director, and producer. He was a three-time Academy Award nominee for Academy Award for Best Director, Best Director, and a Tony Awards, Tony Awa ...
just said out of the blue one day: 'Let's make him 121 instead'. I worked six weeks on the old age make-up, using photographic references for every wrinkle."
Smith also consulted Australian make-up artist
Roy Ashton, having seen his work on the British horror film ''
The Man Who Could Cheat Death'' (1959), in which
Anton Diffring was made to appear of extreme old age.
Smith had to use other methods, as an alternative to prosthetics, to create an aged Don Corleone in ''
The Godfather
''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
'' (1972) because
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia'' was unwilling to have such appliances applied because of time considerations. Instead, Smith used stipple effects moving across the face from the actor's eyes. A dental device called a "plumper" caused Brando's jowls to droop.
To depict the bleeding of characters after they had been shot, Smith said he "created the first ever bleeding special effects in this movie by creating bladders that were hidden under a foam latex forehead, with a
squib that detonated the bladder, allowing blood to pour through a pre-arranged hole in the middle of the forehead."
Smith was also one of the early pioneers of combining make-up with on-set "practical" special effects, beginning with ''
The Exorcist
''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on The Exorcist (novel), his 1971 novel. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller (play ...
'' (1973).
[Lee Gamblin]
A Personal Tribute to Make-up Legend Dick Smith
, ''Fangoria'', 16 January 2015 Smith's expertise gained prominence and acclaim through the variety and ingenuity of his many effects for ''The Exorcist''.
"''The Exorcist'' was really a turning point for make-up special effects," Rick Baker told ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' in 2007. "Dick showed that makeup wasn't just about making people look scary or old, but had many applications. He figured out a way to make the welts swell up on
Linda ">lairs stomach, to make her head spin around, and he created the vomit scenes."
For the head spinning effect, Smith created a mechanical dummy.
[Valerie J. Nelso]
"Dick Smith dies at 92; 'Exorcist' makeup man won Oscar for 'Amadeus'"
''Los Angeles Times'', 31 July 2014
Film work (1975–1989)
Smith also created the make-up for
Robert De Niro
Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...
's Travis Bickle character in ''
Taxi Driver
''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...
'' (1976), as well as creating the effects for the blood-drenched finale.
Smith and
Paul LeBlanc won the
Academy Award for Best Makeup for their work on ''
Amadeus'' (1984).
Once again, he had to age a leading actor in the film.
For the film he transformed the 44-year-old
F. Murray Abraham, as
Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian composer and teacher of the classical period (music), classical period. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subje ...
, into an elderly man.
[Hillel Itali]
"'Godfather of Makeup' Dick Smith Dead at 92"
''ABC News'' (Associated Press, NYC), 31 July 2014 "Once I looked into a mirror, at my face, I felt like it was completely convincing," Abraham once commented.
"Actors have to feel like they are the person they are portraying. I think my work has helped many to achieve that," Smith once said.
Smith received a second Academy Award nomination for his work on ''
Dad'' (1989), for which he was required to age
Jack Lemmon, then in his mid-60s, into an octogenarian.
Later life (1990–2014)
He later worked on films such as ''
Death Becomes Her'' (1992), ''
Forever Young'' (1992) and ''
House on Haunted Hill'' (1999),
["Dick Smith, 'godfather of make-up', dies aged 92"](_blank)
BBC News, 31 July 2014 his last credit. In later life, Smith concentrated on teaching his methods to up-and-coming make-up artists.
Smith was awarded an
Academy Honorary Award for his life's work
in November 2011,
the first ever make-up artist to be so honored.
Smith died in Los Angeles on July 30, 2014, at the age of 92,
survived by two sons.
"Dick Smith Dead: ‘Godfather of Makeup’ Dies at 92"
''Variety'', 31 July 2014
Partial filmography
*'' House of Dark Shadows'', directed by Dan Curtis (1970)
*'' Little Big Man'', directed by Arthur Penn (1970)
*'' Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?'', directed by Ulu Grosbard (1971)
*''The Godfather
''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
'', directed by Francis Ford Coppola (1972)
*''The Exorcist
''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on The Exorcist (novel), his 1971 novel. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller (play ...
'', directed by William Friedkin (1973)
*''The Godfather Part II
''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic film, epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, loosely based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather (novel), The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Cop ...
'', directed by Francis Ford Coppola (1974)
*'' The Sunshine Boys'', directed by Herbert Ross (1975)
*''Taxi Driver
''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...
'', directed by Martin Scorsese (1976)
*'' Marathon Man'', directed by John Schlesinger (1976)
*'' The Deer Hunter'', directed by Michael Cimino (1978)
*'' Scanners'', directed by David Cronenberg (1981)
*'' Nighthawks'', directed by Bruce Malmuth (1981)
*'' The Hunger'', directed by Tony Scott (1983)
*'' Starman'', directed by John Carpenter (1984)
*'' Amadeus'', directed by Miloš Forman (1984)
*'' Sweet Home'', directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (1989)
*'' Death Becomes Her'', directed by Robert Zemeckis (1992)
*'' House on Haunted Hill'', directed by William Malone (1999)
References
Notes
References
External links
Dick Smith's website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Dick
1922 births
2014 deaths
Academy Honorary Award recipients
American make-up artists
Best Makeup Academy Award winners
Best Makeup BAFTA Award winners
Military personnel from Connecticut
Military personnel from New York (state)
People from Larchmont, New York
United States Army personnel of World War II
Yale University alumni