Bud Westmore was one of the more famous members of the legendary Westmore family dynasty which dominated, and in many ways expanded, the art of makeup in Hollywood cinema. Patriarch George Westmore began at Metro Pictures in 1917, developing techniques still in use today. His greater contribution, though, may have been in fathering six sons, all of whom went into makeup design. In the 1930s and 40s, the Westmore boys divvied up most of Hollywood among themselves. The eldest, Monte, was at Selznick International, Perc was ensconced at Warner Bros., Ernest worked for 20th Century-Fox and Eagle-Lion, Wally enjoyed a lengthy tenure at Paramount, and Frank, the youngest, free-lanced and later did much TV. Bud, the second youngest son, worked at Universal from the late 40s till his death in 1973. Bud Westmore was born Hamilton Adolph, but changed his first names to George Hamilton both in tribute to his father and after the rise of Hitler made Adolph an unpopular name in the US. After free-lancing in the 40s (including work at "Poverty Row" studio PRC on the classic noir "Detour" 1945), Westmore joined Universal. He became one of the best known of the Westmores partly because of his work creating monsters...

Bud Westmore was one of the more famous members of the legendary Westmore family dynasty which dominated, and in many ways expanded, the art of makeup in Hollywood cinema. Patriarch George Westmore began at Metro Pictures in 1917, developing techniques still in use today. His greater contribution, though, may have been in fathering six sons, all of whom went into makeup design. In the 1930s and 40s, the Westmore boys divvied up most of Hollywood among themselves. The eldest, Monte, was at Selznick International, Perc was ensconced at Warner Bros., Ernest worked for 20th Century-Fox and Eagle-Lion, Wally enjoyed a lengthy tenure at Paramount, and Frank, the youngest, free-lanced and later did much TV. Bud, the second youngest son, worked at Universal from the late 40s till his death in 1973.

Bud Westmore was born Hamilton Adolph, but changed his first names to George Hamilton both in tribute to his father and after the rise of Hitler made Adolph an unpopular name in the US. After free-lancing in the 40s (including work at "Poverty Row" studio PRC on the classic noir "Detour" 1945), Westmore joined Universal. He became one of the best known of the Westmores partly because of his work creating monsters for horror films, long a staple genre of Universal's output. Westmore's credits in screen terror included "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948), "The Strange Door" (1951), "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954), "The Mole People" (1956), "Curse of the Undead" (1959), and the Universal-TV sitcom spoof, "The Munsters" (1964-66). A challenge he met with distinction was recreating silent horror star Lon Chaney's makeup for the biopic "The Man of a Thousand Faces" (1957).

The majority of Westmore's credits, though, were in other genres, and included "A Double Life" (1947), "Imitation of Life" (1959), "Father Goose" (1964), and "Airport" (1970). Late in life he also did many TV-movies such as "The Outsider" (1967), "Night Gallery" (1969), and "I Love a Mystery" (1973).

CAST: (feature film)