The Westmores

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The Westmore's are a legendary family of Hollywood makeup artists whose patriarch was George Westmore.

Westmore opened Selig Studios in Los Angeles in 1917. It was the first makeup department opened at a Hollywood movie studio. He later became head of the makeup department at MGM.

Westmore has a lifetime achievement award named in his honor at the Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards. His grandson Monty, who served as the personal makeup artist to Joan Crawford, received the inaugural award at a ceremony in 2000.

All six of George Westmore's sons — Perc, Ern, Monte, Wally, Bud and Frank — became acclaimed makeup artists. Monte, Monty Westmore's father, was Rudolph Valentino's makeup artist and later worked on "Gone with the Wind."

Perc and Ern Westmore jointly opened the first makeup department at First National Pictures, which was later bought by Warner Bros. Perc Westmore remained as head of the makeup department at Warner Bros. and Ern Westmore opened his own makeup department at RKO and later became head of the makeup department at 20th Century Fox.

Wally Westmore became the longtime head of the makeup department at Paramount. Bud Westmore became the longtime makeup department head at Universal. And Frank, the youngest Westmore brother, worked on Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 version of "The Ten Commandments" and later won an Emmy for his work on the 1972 TV movie "Kung Fu."

The brothers also teamed up in the mid-'30s to open the House of Westmore, a prestigious salon on Sunset Boulevard.

— Dennis McLellan in the Los Angeles Times Nov. 15, 2007

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