It is often said that Jack Pierce was cranky and authoritarian. He designed and created countless other monsters and grubby assistants for Universal’s monster movies, in addition to his work glamourizing Universal’s stars and painting rosy cheeks on Deanna Durbin. Jack Pierce also created The Wolfman, The Mummy (an amazing head-to-toe makeup job), he gave Lugosi’s Dracula a widow’s peak. Even today, after almost 80 years of ubiquity, transformation and parody, it is still unlike anything else. The final result was, of course, extraordinary. An early test photo exists of Karloff wearing a rougher version of the Frankenstein head, with curious “clamped horns” growing out of the forehead. Pierce produced numerous drawings, carved clay models and eventually worked with an ever-patient Boris Karloff, building and refining the makeup on the actor’s face. He proposed, negotiated, and experimented. No doubt the makeup was adjusted and tweaked as suggested and subject to approval from on high, but it is clear the impetus was Pierce’s. When all is said, the full credit for the creation of the classic Frankenstein image belongs squarely and indisputably with Universal’s head makeup-up artist, Jack Pierce. In the film Gods and Monsters, director James Whale is wholly credited with the concept, that much is fiction, yet Whale - who always seemed to know exactly what he wanted - must have provided some input. Actor Boris Karloff, it is said, came up with the Monster’s droopy eyelids, and clearly contributed a sunken cheek by vitue of removing a dental bridge. The original director attached to the Frankenstein project, Robert Florey, claimed he suggested the Monster’s neck bolts. The concept, up to a point, was collaborative. The classic, flat-top Frankenstein Monster is an icon of the 20 th Century.
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