Westmore's Star

Original post date Friday, October 3, 2008

Westmore's of Hollywood Receive Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 1645 Vine Street(West side of the Street just below Hollywood Blvd.)Friday October 3, 2008 - 11:30am

Hollywood, CA.- Legendary Makeup men, The Westmore's of Hollywood will receive their Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2008. The official word from Hollywood's honorary Mayor, and Walk of Fame Chairman, Johnny Grant, “Today I am happy to announce an array of celebrities who have earned this recognition for a combination of professional achievement and community involvement.”

Pioneers of their industry, the announcement came in January, Johnny pointed out that - "...Westmore's not only created, but defined the role of makeup artists in Motion Pictures." Wigmaker, George Westmore made history when he opened the very first makeup department in 1917 at Selig-Polyscope Studios. George's oldest sons, Monte, Ern, Perc, and Wally went on to open their own makeup departments at Warner Brothers, RKO, and Paramount. By the 1930s nearly every motion picture studio had a Westmore heading up their makeup department. In 1935, the Westmore brothers teamed up to open the most opulent salon of its time, glamour mecca; The House of Westmore on 6638 Sunset Strip. Bud Westmore ran the makeup department at Universal for 24 years where he helped create the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Youngest son, Frank was a freelance makeup artist and worked with Cecil B. deMille on The Ten Commandments and wrote a family biography appropriately titled, The Westmore's of Hollywood.

The third generation Westmore's brothers, Monty Jr., Marvin, and Michael have all made their own significant mark in Hollywood. Monty Jr. was personal makeup artist to Paul Newman and Joan Crawford (Monty passed in 2007). Marvin created the fashion forward makeup for the epic film, Blade Runner, and Michael was behind the alien creations on the Star Trek series and won an Oscar for his work on Mask. Their artistic hand has influenced Hollywood film and television where stars were made, and most were made up by the Westmore's. Since this announcement Hollywood has lost it's Honorary Mayor Johnny Grant - We are very proud that one of the last efforts Johnny left Hollywood was the nomination of The Westmore's of Hollywood to receive this long over looked honor. The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California that serves as an entertainment hall of fame. It is embedded with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of not only human celebrities but fictional characters honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for their contributions to the entertainment industry. The Walk of Fame is maintained by the self-financing Hollywood Historic Trust. The first star, awarded on February 9, 1960, went to Joanne Woodward.

press release courtesy of Westmore Academy of Cosmetic Arts

photo courtesy of Charley Gallay/Getty Images

Due to scheduling conflicts, I was unable to make it to the ceremony. :( I will be getting some more information regarding the ceremony and parties from my inside source soon!