Erika Thomas - Max Factor and Hollywood: A Glamorous History

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2016 by Erika Thomas

All rights reserved

First published 2016

e-book edition 2016

ISBN 978.1.43965.875.8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016948314

print edition ISBN 978.1.46713.610.5

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

Imagine the immense radius that comprises Los Angeles today. Then imagine that before the days of the motorcar or trolley car and before any freeways were in place, Max Factor would pedal on his bicyclecosmetics and wigs in towover pastoral terrain some thirty miles out to the San Fernando Valley and locales beyond to sell his wares to the likes of Cecile B. DeMille and the many pioneering producers like him. It becomes clear, the painstaking work that went into every tube of Supreme Greasepaint, pot of Lip Pomade and sumptuous set of eyelashes Factor would so exquisitely engineer. His immense passion and dedication would cause him to become a major success in Hollywood and, subsequently, throughout the world, and he would set the standard by which an entire industry would operate for more than a century to come. Max Factor didnt just invent glamour. He pioneered the everyday use of commercial cosmetics, taking them from being utterly disdained to widely celebrated around the world.

Envision the excitement the moviegoing public had upon seeing their favorite stars onscreen and in fan magazines like Motion Picture and Photoplay. In the early years, aside from movies and magazines, all that the public had was imagination. There were no paparazzi, no television or social media, no way to access information by the ton like we do today. There were only the iconic faces of movie stars, projected onto a vast, luminescent screen, and the beauty created by Max Factor.

Marc Wanamaker provided the images for this book. It was a pleasure working with such an expert and someone whose knowledge of Hollywood and Los Angeles history is boundless. Many a time, Ive e-mailed him in a pinch, in need of specific high-resolution vintage images for one of the magazines I freelance for. And my requests have run the gamutfrom a World War IIera Burbank Airport or a bikini-clad Annette Funicello on the beach in Malibu to Frank Sinatra at Capitol Records and Marilyn Monroe boarding an American Airlines flight at LAX. No matter what the request, he seems to have every photograph of every person within his immense collection. From trolley cars to movie studios to location filming, nobody knows more about Los Angeles history than Marc.

It was also a pleasure working with Jaclyn Smith, who was such an iconic part of Max Factor ad campaigns throughout the 1970s and 80s. In one conversation with her, she referenced her unforgettable Epris commercial, saying, Part of the art of being a woman is knowing when not to be too much of a lady, as if she were on television leaning confidently on her elbow, one hand resting in her trademark thick brown waves. As hard as it is to think of the stunning actress without Charlies Angels immediately coming to mind, Smith shared with me that she started appearing in Max Factor campaigns before she was ever cast on the show. She also shared with me how much the iconic looks Max Factor first invented influence her personal style to this day and that Hollywood has yet to recapture that mystique.

The famed Max Factor Makeup Studio was more than a landmark. It was a virtual glamour factorya place that headquartered beauty, where color cosmetics were manufactured, packaged and shipped to all corners of the globe for adoring fans of Max Factor, makeup and the movies. When Donelle Dadigan purchased the dilapidated building, she would singlehandedly save the historic structure from what would have more than likely been an ill fate and, in the process, curate the most renowned collection of beauty artifacts and memorabilia in the world. Thanks to her meticulous work, the Hollywood Museum remains a beacon of glamour and a symbol of Hollywoods halcyon golden era.

Thank you to the fabulous Ms. Debbie Reynolds for sharing her experience with the makeup guru at what was a pivotal time for motion pictures and Max Factor and Company alike and to Richard Adkins at the Hollywood Heritage Museum for imparting his knowledge about the evolution of movie making. Endless thanks to my husband, Frank, and our children, Sydney and Kellen, for continually supporting me in my creative endeavors.

INTRODUCTION

It was from his Highland Avenue glamour factory that the Father of Modern Makeup would not only birth innumerable beauty innovations but would also create signature looks for some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, catapulting them to superstardom and causing the whole world to emulate them.

The landmark building where unprecedented beauty trails were blazed operated as a virtual mini city for decades. It was the place where cosmetics were conceived, designed, manufactured, distributed and retailed. It was where starlets on the verge of major fame came to have their careers launched, and after a time, it would be where all women could and would go to get some glamour.

Prior to Max Factor introducing his makeup line to the public, paint, if ever worn by a woman on the street, was something to be gravely admonished. After all, this was during the prudish, conservative post-Victorian era and at a time when purity was the ideal personification of what it meant to be feminine. Coventry Patmores nineteenth-century poem The Angel in the House still reflected the societal ideals and expectations of women. Moral women did not paint their faces.

But Max Factor would change the worlds perception in an epic way, beginning first with Hollywood, turning the tide of what it meant to look and feel attractive and what it meant to be femaleliberating women and creating an entire industry in the process. Did Max Factor know he would come to build something of such lasting phenomenon at the time? Though it was his desire for his business to be successful, it wasnt likely that he did. One thing is for certain, however: the man who began his career sewing costumes for the opera in his home country of Russia would carry out his passion and innate talent for innovating the aesthetically pleasing as if he were born to do nothing else.

Max Factor did more than apply makeup to the faces of Hollywood. In fact, he invented glamour. Without him, the cosmetics industry as we know it today would never have come into existence. This book is not only homage to the many accomplishments of a beauty pioneer, but it is also one to the golden era of Hollywood, which the man himself created. It is a reminder to celebrate glamour. Enjoy this book and all of the glorious vintage images and beauty tips within it. Keep a copy on your night table, give it as a gift to a fellow beauty loverand never forget to be glamorous.