Amadeus |

In the world of movie makeup effects artists, we all know that Jack Pierce, creator of most of the Universal, is one of most important names in movie history. But right up there next to him, has to be Dick Smith. In a field that was highly secretive, Smith would willingly give up his techniques and tips to anyone wanting to learn, from his recipe for blood, to any number of makeup tricks, he would be more than giving to younger artists. Not to mention he was so incredibly talented, creating some of the most amazing and innovative makeup effects in history.

Every time I see Max Von Sydow in The Exorcist, it still reminds me that for years I really thought Sydow was a 70-year-old actor! But then add in what he did for films like Scanners, Ghost Story, to all the mainstream films like The Godfather, Taxi Driver, and his (finally) Oscar winning work on Amadeus, he never ceased to amaze audiences.

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For this Friday Favorites, we’re going to do something a little different. On this day in 1922, Richard Emerson Smith was born, in Larchmont, New York, and would grow up to become one of the greatest makeup artist of all time. When it comes to the horror genre, while he did work on a few, it was nowhere near as many as some of his contemporaries or the next generation of artists, such as Rick Baker, Stan Winston, or Tom Savini. But the ones he did work on, literally changed movie history. For the longest time, I thought 44-year old Max Von Sydow was a much older man because of the old age makeup Smith did on him for The Exorcist (1973). Not only did he do the character makeup for Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972), but also the realistic bullet hits as well. Continue reading →

Tag Archives: Amadeus

Dick Smith: Godfather of Makeup

Friday Favorites: Dick Smith Remembered