Dick Smith (Makeup Artist)

Abstract

Though Dick Smith (1922–2014) liked to doodle and draw in his youth, he “wasn’t a natural born artist.” He re-evaluated his career aspirations several times during his undergraduate years, ultimately deciding on makeup artist—not exactly a “safe” job prospect in the early 1940s. But in 1945 Smith became NBC’s first staff makeup artist, cultivating his skills during the early days of live television anthologies, and later adapting his techniques for film when he eventually entered the world of movie makeup in the 1970s. Jeff Kisseloff conducted the interview on May 15, 1996, in Sarasota, Florida.