Over this past weekend my younger brother and I were watching one of the original Batman movies from the 1960s. What was so intriguing not just the original cast or the old 1960 fell of special effects which is no comparison to today's BATMAN films but, that all the makeup was in fact done by Ben Nye!
The film BATMAN(1966) staring the original cast members from the Batman series including Adam West, Burt Ward, Lee Meriwether, Cesar Romero, Burgees Meredith and Frank Gorshin.
All makeup in the film and series was designed by makeup icon Ben Nye father of makeup artist Ben Nye Jr and Dana Nye. Both the film and series makeup direction was determined by the black & white picture in the early series and color film in later yeas. For most characters makeup was somewhat clean and classic for catwoman and more dramatic clown type for The Joker!
Ben Nye was a renowned makeup artist for the Hollywood
film industry for over four decades, from the 1930s to the early 1980s. He worked for such films as
Gone with the Wind (1939),
Miracle on 34th Street (1947),
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953),
The King and I (1956),
The Fly (1958),
Valley of the Dolls (1967), and
Planet of the Apes (1968). The
Ben Nye Makeup Company was started in 1967 Its current
CEO is Nye's son, Dana. The Ben Nye Makeup Company issues the Ben Nye Catalog, which both displays the company's product line, and features its use by famous, notable, or exceptional
makeup artists in the film and theater industries.
Makeup in film has changed a bit over the past centuries compared to recent Batman movies including dark knight and dark knight rises actors portraying most notorious villains including Heath Ledger(THE JOKER) and Anne Hathaway(CATWOMAN) yet Ben Nye is still the top theatrical and film makeup brand used for top artist.
