Jack Dawn

Birthday:

02/10/1892

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.



Credits

Right Cross (1950)
Makeup Designer
Duchess of Idaho (1950)
Makeup Artist
Three Little Words (1950)
Makeup Artist
Mystery Street (1950)
Makeup Designer
Father of the Bride (1950)
Makeup Designer
Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
Makeup Artist
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Makeup Designer
Stars in My Crown (1950)
Makeup Artist
The Reformer and the Redhead (1950)
Makeup Designer
Side Street (1950)
Makeup Supervisor
Nancy Goes to Rio (1950)
Makeup Artist
Ambush (1950)
Makeup Artist
On the Town (1949)
Makeup Artist
Tension (1949)
Makeup Artist
Adam's Rib (1949)
Makeup Designer
Battleground (1949)
Makeup Artist
That Forsyte Woman (1949)
Makeup Designer
Challenge to Lassie (1949)
Makeup Designer
The Red Danube (1949)
Makeup Artist
Madame Bovary (1949)
Makeup Artist
In the Good Old Summertime (1949)
Makeup Designer
The Great Sinner (1949)
Makeup Artist
Neptune's Daughter (1949)
Makeup Artist
The Stratton Story (1949)
Makeup Designer
Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
Makeup Designer
Hills of Home (1948)
Makeup Designer
The Kissing Bandit (1948)
Makeup Designer
The Three Musketeers (1948)
Makeup Designer
Julia Misbehaves (1948)
Makeup Artist
A Date with Judy (1948)
Makeup Artist
Easter Parade (1948)
Makeup Designer
The Pirate (1948)
Makeup Artist
Summer Holiday (1948)
Makeup Artist
Big City (1948)
Makeup Artist
Good News (1947)
Makeup Designer
Desire Me (1947)
Makeup Designer
The Unfinished Dance (1947)
Makeup Designer
Cynthia (1947)
Makeup Artist
Song of the Thin Man (1947)
Makeup Designer
The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947)
Makeup Designer
Dark Delusion (1947)
Makeup Designer
The Sea of Grass (1947)
Makeup Artist
Undercover Maisie (1947)
Makeup Artist
The Arnelo Affair (1947)
Makeup Artist
Green Dolphin Street (1947)
Makeup Designer
Lady in the Lake (1946)
Makeup Artist
The Yearling (1946)
Makeup Designer
Undercurrent (1946)
Makeup Designer
Easy to Wed (1946)
Makeup Artist
Two Sisters from Boston (1946)
Makeup Designer
Two Smart People (1946)
Makeup Artist
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Makeup Artist
The Hoodlum Saint (1946)
Makeup Artist
The Harvey Girls (1946)
Makeup Designer
They Were Expendable (1945)
Makeup & Hair
Yolanda and the Thief (1945)
Makeup Artist
She Went to the Races (1945)
Makeup Artist
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood (1945)
Makeup Designer
Ziegfeld Follies (1945)
Makeup Artist
Anchors Aweigh (1945)
Makeup Designer
Thrill of a Romance (1945)
Makeup Designer
The Valley of Decision (1945)
Makeup Designer
Son of Lassie (1945)
Makeup Designer
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
Makeup Designer
National Velvet (1945)
Makeup Artist
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Makeup Artist
Mrs. Parkington (1944)
Makeup Designer
Kismet (1944)
Makeup Designer
The Canterville Ghost (1944)
Makeup Designer
Bathing Beauty (1944)
Makeup Designer
The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)
Makeup Designer
Gaslight (1944)
Makeup Designer
Lassie Come Home (1943)
Makeup Artist
Thousands Cheer (1943)
Makeup Designer
The Man from Down Under (1943)
Makeup Designer
Bataan (1943)
Makeup Artist
Above Suspicion (1943)
Makeup Designer
Keeper of the Flame (1943)
Makeup Artist
The Human Comedy (1943)
Makeup Artist
For Me and My Gal (1942)
Makeup Designer
Tortilla Flat (1942)
Makeup Artist
Nazi Agent (1942)
Makeup Artist
The Vanishing Virginian (1942)
Makeup Designer
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Makeup Artist
Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
Makeup Artist
Comrade X (1940)
Makeup Artist
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Makeup Artist
Escape (1940)
Makeup Designer
Pride and Prejudice (1940)
Makeup Artist
20 Mule Team (1940)
Makeup Designer
Strange Cargo (1940)
Makeup Artist
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President (1939)
Makeup Artist
Ninotchka (1939)
Makeup Designer
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Makeup Artist
Miracles for Sale (1939)
Makeup Artist
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
Makeup Artist
On Borrowed Time (1939)
Makeup Artist
Broadway Serenade (1939)
Makeup Artist
Stand Up and Fight (1939)
Makeup Designer
Boys Town (1938)
Makeup Artist
Marie Antoinette (1938)
Makeup Artist
Conquest (1937)
Makeup Artist
Way Out West (1937)
Makeup Artist
Trouble for Two (1936)
Makeup Artist
Mark of the Vampire (1935)
Makeup Artist
The Big Trail (1930)
Makeup Artist