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Peter Pell's (Barry Morse) "Soft Focus" mask on a face display with a mask cast from Way Out. In the Season 1 episode "Soft Focus," vain photographer Peter Pell discovers a retouching fluid that alters the real faces of the people in his portraits whenever he corrects their photographs. After using the fluid to punish his unfaithful wife, Louise (Joan Hotchkiss), by artificially aging her photograph, Pell also applies it to his own photo to make himself younger. When Louise learns of his secret and retaliates by splashing the fluid across his photograph, half of Pell's face is wiped away entirely, leaving one side a smooth, featureless blank with only a single eye remaining.
Makeup artist Dick Smith documented the making of this effect in issue #16 of Famous Monsters of Filmland, describing how he built the mask out roughly half an inch beyond Barry Morse's own face to camouflage his real features, taped down Morse's nose flat, and substituted a glass eye for the socket, as using Morse's real eye would otherwise have appeared unnaturally deep-set on camera. Smith used a plaster life-mask from Morse's face as the foundation for the piece, then sculpting the noseless "wiped clean" face in clay before casting the final foam latex appliance from a plaster mold. In doing so, Smith was applying the sectional, built-out prosthetic approach he was refining on the series — work that industry historians researching the era's early television makeup effects have pointed to as among the most significant achievements of his pre-Hollywood career, and a foundation for the techniques he'd later bring to The Exorcist, Little Big Man, and Amadeus.
This lot originated from the collection of Dick Smith. This lot consists of one foam latex "Soft Focus" mask with a glass eye on a plaster face display, and one plaster cast of the mask. This lot shows evidence of cracking in the foam latex and should be handled with caution. Dimensions: (largest) 9.25" x 6.5" x 4.25" (23.50 cm x 16.50 cm x 10.75 cm)
Estimate: $1,500 - 3,000
View all lots from WAY OUT (T.V. SERIES, 1961)
View all lots from Dick Smith Collection
Regarded as "The Godfather of Makeup," renowned special makeup effects artist and author Richard Emerson Smith, known professionally as Dick Smith, was a pre-med student at Yale University when he encountered the theatrical makeup book Paint, Powder and Makeup that changed the trajectory of his life. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Smith began his illustrious career in television as the first makeup director of WNBC. Entirely self-taught, Smith pioneered the development of prosthetic and practical makeup with techniques that are now considered the standard in film and television, such as making prosthetics in multiple pieces to allow actors full range of facial expression. He is also credited with creating realistic age makeup as an alternative to prosthetics, blending special effects with hidden bladders and squibs, and for innovating the combination of makeup with on-set "practical" effects, as seen in William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973).
In a time where makeup artists were secretive about their techniques and unions purposely suppressed the sharing of knowledge, Smith proved to be a generous soul, mentoring and training many younger artists who went on to accomplished careers in cinema, including Rick Baker, Mike Marino, Greg Cannom, and many more. Smith went as far as publishing an instructional book in 1965 titled Dick Smith's Do-It-Yourself Monster Make-up Handbook as a special edition of Forrest J. Ackerman's "Famous Monsters of Filmland" series.
With a career that spanned over six decades, Smith is today best known for his work on such classics as Little Big Man (1970), The Godfather (1972), Taxi Driver (1976), Altered States (1980), Scanners (1981), The Hunger (1983), Starman (1984), and Death Becomes Her (1992). In 1985, he won an Academy Award® for Best Makeup for his work on Amadeus, as well as a BAFTA® the following year. He was honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences twice with special tribute ceremonies in 2009 and again in 2011, the latter including an Honorary Academy Award® presented by his most acclaimed protégé, Rick Baker. Smith left an indelible legacy in film and television, represented by a curated collection he carefully maintained throughout his career. Propstore is pleased to present these select artifacts from this legendary artist's personal collection, reflecting a distinguished career spanning decades in Hollywood and beyond.
This item comes with a Propstore Certificate of Authenticity.