Mel Berns (September 27, 1897 - May 7, 1977) was an American

make-up artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and Prosthetic makeup, prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other simil ...

. He was the Head of Makeup at

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...

for more than twenty years.

Career

Berns began his career in the entertainment industry while working as an agent at the

William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best-known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ...

. Later he became the Head of Makeup at

for more than twenty years, creating the makeup for

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...

and

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

and

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose Katharine Hepburn on screen and stage, career as a Golden Age of Hollywood, Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong ...

's screentest. He was a lifelong friend of

, who makes ample reference to their friendship in her autobiography: ''Ginger: My Story''. He worked extensively in television after leaving RKO, notably the ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and four short stories, all of which involve a ...

'' series. "The crew is giving it the best of Hollywood's techniques," Burr told columnist

Erskine Johnson Erskine Johnson (December 14, 1910 - June 14, 1984) was a Hollywood gossip columnist who worked for the Hearst newspaper chain and appeared on the radio and in motion pictures. Career His column "Hollywood Notes" was syndicated by the Newspap ...

. The crew included veteran make-up artist Berns. The baseball player

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

had severe scarring from acne on his face. Mel Berns developed makeup for Ruth so that Ruth could feel more comfortable in public. A picture of Ruth and Berns shows Ruth in a smock and Berns applying makeup to his face. The picture is autographed to Berns by

Film credits

* '' A Bill of Divorcement'' (1932) * ''

Morning Glory Morning glory (also written as morning-glory) is the common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae, whose taxonomy and systematics remain in flux. These species are distributed across numerous genus, gene ...

'' (1933) * ''

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

'' (1933) * ''

Christopher Strong ''Christopher Strong'' (also known as ''The Great Desire'' and ''The White Moth'') is a 1933 American pre-Code romantic drama film produced by RKO and directed by Dorothy Arzner. It is a tale of illicit love among the English aristocracy and ...

'' (1933) * '' Professional Sweetheart'' (1933) * ''

Rafter Romance ''Rafter Romance'' is an American 1933 Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film, which was based on the 1932 novel of the same name by John Wells, stars Ginger ...

'' (1933) * ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details th ...

'' (1933) * ''

Flying Down to Rio ''Flying Down to Rio'' is a 1933 American pre-Code musical film famous for being the first screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, although lead actors Dolores del Río and Gene Raymond received top billing. Among the featured pla ...

'' (1933) * ''

The Son of Kong ''The Son of Kong'' (also known and publicized simply as ''Son of Kong'') is a 1933 American Pre-Code Hollywood, Pre-Code Adventure film, adventure Monster movie, monster film produced by RKO Pictures. Directed by Ernest Schoedsack and featuring ...

'' (1933) * ''

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

'' (1934) * ''

The Gay Divorcee ''The Gay Divorcee'' is a 1934 American Musical film, musical romantic comedy film directed by Mark Sandrich and starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It also features Alice Brady, Edward Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes (actor, born 1906), Erik ...

'' (1934) * ''

Roberta Roberta is a feminine version of the given names Robert and Roberto. It is a Germanic name derived from the stems *hrod meaning "famous", "glorious", "godlike" and *berht meaning "bright", "shining", "light". People with the name *Roberta Achtenbe ...

'' (1935) * ''The Nitwits'' (1935) * ''Alice Adams'' (1935) * ''Top Hat'' (1935) * ''Sylvia Scarlett'' (1935) * ''Follow The Fleet'' (1936) * ''Mary of Scotland'' (1936) * ''Swing Time'' (1936) * ''Shall We Dance'' (1937) * ''Stage Door'' (1937) * ''Bringing Up Baby'' (1938) * ''Carefree'' (1938) * ''Bachelor Mother'' (1939) * ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (1939) * ''The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle'' (1939) * ''Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman'' (1940) * ''Citizen Kane'' (1941) * ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' (1942) * ''Mr. Lucky'' (1943) * ''The Curse of the Cat People'' (1944)

References

American make-up artists 1897 births 1977 deaths {{US-makeupartist-stub