Although George was a talented makeup and hair stylist, it was all 6 of his sons that accumulated fame as a result of his encouragement for them to work in studios from a young age. George essentially initiated the first makeup department in the world, as he saw that it was imperative to have somewhere to solely take care of makeup and hair.
Perc Westmore became the head of the makeup department for Warner Brothers, and pioneered the first hair colour charts that documented all different shades of blonde, contrary to what was first believed that actresses could only be classified as merely 'blonde' or 'brunette'. In addition to this, he created a latex hand so detailed that its modelling process was used in the medical industry.
Perc is significant in that he worked on the movie 'The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex', and created a historically accurate Elizabethan look on Bette Davis. He shaved her hairline back so that she would appear to be bald underneath the hairpieces she wore, and shaved her eyebrows off so that thin, unnatural lines could be drawn in their place. Moreover, her lips were thinned to create the look of Elizabeth I.
It was the norm for actors and actresses to do their own makeup for films and TV shows before the Westmores came along and became the head makeup artists at an incredible 4 different major studios.
They specialised in beauty, horror and prosthetics, and even today their diagrams and charts are still essential and educational, for example:
References:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/641129/Westmore-Family
http://www.makeupmania.com/blog/interview-with-marvin-westmore-make-up-artist-and-educator/
http://iwanttobeamakeupartist.com/percival-perc-westmore.html
Images:
http://makeupmag.com/images/5322_MA_17_House%20of%20Westmore.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51sOgqywqIL.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51nwD9f3MCL.jpg
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