Description: This is a contemporary casting made direct from an original life mask of Academy Award winning make-up artist Dick Smith. I've been corresponding with Dick Smith since my early teens so when I was invited by Willa Shalit in 1986 to teach her lifecasting in New York City I jumped at the chance because I knew I'd also be paying a visit to Dick Smith in Larchmont! Dick Smith thought my concept for collecting a life mask database and to be able to share these with other artists and enthusiasts was brilliant and that I should pursue it. "Thank you Dick Smith, I will never forget your kindness and your words of encouragement." –wf This professionally made 1:1 life-size casting is professionally crafted using a professional grade plaster and has a sturdy metal loop in the back for displaying on a wall. This casting can also be produced from a lightweight urethane plastic for an additional 85 dollars upon request. William Forsche has been creating and collecting lifecasts for most of his adult life. One of Forsche's career highlights was creating a lifecast of Vincent Price in 1988. "I have personally been collecting and creating life masks in Hollywood for over 30 years." "This is a professionally made modern casting made of the highest grade materials available." - William Forsche William Forsche offers you this high quality life mask direct from his Hollywood collection. Castings from our "Premium" Life Mask collection are made for the discriminating collector. These castings have been professionally remastered from the best source materials available, and should not be confused with lower quality life masks readily available elsewhere. A signed C.O.A. and a signature on every cast is provided by William Forsche to ensure its authenticity and high quality. Our castings have been used in numerous film productions and are also in the personal collections of high profile collectors and artists such as: Guillermo del Toro, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Liza Minnelli, Hugh Heffner, Kirk Douglas, and the late Tony Curtis and Gregory Peck. Testimonials from Hollywood professionals about the quality of Forsche Design Life Masks. Andy Schoneberg is a two time Emmy award winning makeup artist for "The Walking Dead." Below is the Humphrey Bogart display he created using one of Forsche's Life Masks. "I met William 28 years ago(!) on Dead Heat. He was a master life caster then, doing excellent work. He's a fantastic artist and technician. William's life cast collection is without equal. If William is offering a life cast of a particular person, you can bet he's done the legwork to make sure that it's the best, most accurate cast available. Period." -Andy Schoneberg Dan Platt's work includes "Terminator 2", Tupac Shakur's hologram for "Coachella" and he was also the Facial Model Lead responsible for youthenizing Jeff Bridges as Clu for "Tron: Legacy." "Bill, I've been collecting life casts from you for 20 years and without fail, your castings are undisputedly the sharpest, distortion free and most accurate castings in the industry. How do I know? Every morning Ebay sends out a fresh listing of available life casts and I am appalled on what is being offered by your competitors. When I had the privilege to work with you at Greg Cannom's in the early 90's, your life cast work was without flaw and that same attention to detail and craftsmanship is evident in every cast that you sell. I could not and most importantly, WILL NOT buy any life cast from anyone other than you. The success of my career depends heavily on the solid understanding of facial anatomy, form and structure. For the last two decades, your life casts gave me that invaluable understanding. And without that knowledge, I would never have been able to correctly interpret poorly lit or artistically shot photographs when I recreated Tupac for Coachella." -Dan Platt Tom Spina: Sculptor, Movie Prop Conservation Artist and Collector works on an original "Mrs. Doubtfire" appliance displayed on a custom Robin Williams life mask display bust provided by William Forsche of Forsche Design. "To any and all collectors of lifecasts, You will simply never find another source like William Forsche. His decades of film FX experience and encyclopedic knowledge are a benefit not found in any other lifecast seller, but the real value is in the exquisite quality of the castings themselves. Each is a work of art in its own right, always with highest level of detail of any available, and the closest generation to the original actor's face. I am never disappointed when I open a package from Forsche! I've counted on Bill for reference busts when recreating famous faces and also for things like copies of Robin Williams' head, to which we applied two sets of original Mrs. Doubtfire appliances for display. In order to achieve that, we needed castings that were properly sized and without warp. Bill delivered, as he always does! I can highly recommend his work to anyone interested and look forward to my next purchase!" Sincerely, -Tom Spina Why purchase our life masks when there are cheaper plastic castings and other sources available? "The advent of the internet has put collecting life masks into the hands of many people outside the film industry; I have personally acquired some of these life masks from various internet sources and have been extremely disappointed with the quality and the distortion (shrinkage etc.) of these castings. The average person outside the film industry doesn't have studio grade life masks to compare their castings with. With over 30 years of selectively collecting life masks it has always been my goal to obtain the highest quality masks available. Not only have I been a collector I am also a Hollywood life mask artist who has created some of the castings that exist in private collections, museums and have been used in the production of many of the major Hollywood films which I have worked on. My professional experience gives me the insight and the ability to compare similar castings and grade them on their detail, shrinkage and distortion. It is my goal and my passion to always make the highest quality life masks possible and it is my pleasure to share these casts with the discriminating life mask collector." -William Forsche Select Thumbnails Below To View Larger Images Forsche Design's white plaster lifecast of Grace Kelley on the left compared to theirs which is on the right. Our more complete and detailed Grace Kelley cast does not exhibit the shrinkage or distortion of their casting which has less detail. Their once white plastic cast has yellowed considerably with age and has only a single wire as a do it yourself type of hanger. Lifecast artist Willa Shalit invited William Forsche to New York City in 1986 to teach her his lifecasting techniques, after seeing the torso and face casting of Hugh Heffner's girlfriend that he created for the Playboy Mansion. Forsche was later asked to assist Willa Shalit with the smiling lifecast of Stevie Wonder created for his Album cover "Characters." Many of Forsche's lifecasting techniques were also utilized for some of Shalit's more refined lifecasts in her book "Life Cast: Behind the Mask." Forsche works on a life mask of Brooke Shields in Shalit's lifecast studio, New York City circa 1986. Modern day photo of William Forsche recreating the "Aladdin Sane" life masks that he originally made for David Bowie's personal collection. David Bowie and William Forsche at "Top of the Pops" circa 1987. William Forsche with Hollywood Acting Legends: Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis and Gregory Peck. Select image below to read an article about the lifecast artist William Forsche. William Forsche was asked to join several other top Hollywood make-up effects artists recently to teach his lifecasting techniques in the "Ultimate Creature Creator Class." Dick Smith's Credits & Bio Dick Smith was born on June 26, 1922 in Larchmont, New York, USA as Richard Emerson Smith. He is known for his work on The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974) and Taxi Driver (1976). He was married to Jocelyn DeRosa. He died on July 30, 2014 in Los Angeles, California, USA. Television's first important make-up artist, Smith was make-up director for the National Broadcasting Company for fourteen years. He developed many new materials and shades of color and pioneered in such techniques as the use of foam latex and plastics in unusual quick changes for both color and black-and-white TV shows. Registered a Democrat, Smith was in charge of TV make-up for the Democratic National Convention in 1948 and made up James A. Farley and Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr.. He studied at Wooster School and Yale University, where he studied as a premedical student, to enter dentistry, and he majored in zoology. But in his sophomore year he read a book on the tricks of make-up used by Hollywood experts during the filming of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941). He soon began to do make-up for the Yale drama group and decided to pursue a career in theatrical makeup when he graduated. Distantly related to Ralph Waldo Emerson. While many makeup artists are secretive about their techniques, he is known for openly sharing his knowledge with others. He worked for the NBC television network in New York from 1945 to 1959. His 2011 Honorary Academy Award was presented by his protégé Rick Baker. Dick Smith only had 4 fingers on his left hand because his ring finger was lost due to an infection after an injury. Smith referred to it as his "Mickey Mouse Hand" because the ring finger bones in the hand were removed at his request to make it look more natural. Was approached to do the make-up effects in The Terminator (1984), but turned it down and recommended Stan Winston because he felt he was better suited for the job. House on Haunted Hill (special makeup effects design) 1993 Betrayal of the Dove (assistant hair - as Richard Smith) / (assistant makeup - as Richard Smith) 1992 Forever Young (special makeup effects artist) 1992 Death Becomes Her (makeup designer) 1991 Golden Years (TV Series) (special makeup effects consultant - 2 episodes) - Not on My Watch (1991) ... (special makeup effects consultant) - Time and Time Again (1991) ... (special makeup effects consultant) 1988-1991 Monsters (TV Series) (special effects makeup consultant - 72 episodes) - The Moving Finger (1991) ... (special effects makeup consultant) - The Maker (1991) ... (special effects makeup consultant) - Hostile Takeover (1991) ... (special effects makeup consultant) - Talk Nice to Me (1991) ... (special effects makeup consultant) - Werewolf of Hollywood (1991) ... (special effects makeup consultant) Show all 72 episodes 1990 Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (makeup effects consultant) 1989 Sweet Home (special makeup effects) 1989 Dad (makeup artist: Jack Lemmon) 1988 Everybody's All-American (special makeup design) 1988 Poltergeist III (special makeup consultant) 1986 North and South, Book II (TV Mini-Series) (makeup artist - 1 episode) - Episode #1.6 (1986) ... (makeup artist: Abraham Lincoln makeup) 1985 North and South (TV Mini-Series) (special makeup effects artist: Abraham Lincoln makeup) 1984 Starman (starman transformation) 1984 Amadeus (makeup: old Salieri) 1983 Spasms (special makeup effects artist) 1983 The Hunger (makeup illusions) 1981 Ghost Story (special makeup) 1981 The Fan (special makeup effects) 1981 Nighthawks (special makeup effects artist) 1981 Scanners (special makeup effects consultant) 1980 Altered States (special makeup) 1978 The Deer Hunter (special makeup: Thailand) 1977 Exorcist II: The Heretic (special makeup effects artist) 1977 The Sentinel (special makeup) 1976 Marathon Man (special makeup consultant) 1976 Harry S. Truman: Plain Speaking (TV Movie) (makeup artist) 1976 Taxi Driver (special makeup) 1975/I The Sunshine Boys (makeup artist) 1975 The Stepford Wives (makeup artist - uncredited) 1974 The Godfather: Part II (makeup artist) 1973 The Exorcist (makeup artist) 1972 The Godfather (makeup) 1971 Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (makeup artist) 1970 Little Big Man (makeup artist: Mr. Hoffman) 1970 House of Dark Shadows (special makeup effects artist) 1969 Midnight Cowboy (makeup consultant) 1969 Arsenic and Old Lace (TV Movie) (makeup artist) 1968 The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (TV Movie) (makeup artist: Mr. Palance) 1967 Dark Shadows (TV Series) (makeup artist - 3 episodes) - Episode #1.351 (1967) ... (makeup artist) - Episode #1.350 (1967) ... (makeup artist) - Episode #1.349 (1967) ... (makeup artist) 1967 Hal Holbrook: Mark Twain Tonight! (TV Special documentary) (makeup artist) 1966 New York Television Theatre (TV Series) (makeup artist - 2 episodes) - Augustus Does His Bit/The Dark Lady of the Sonnets (1966) ... (makeup artist) - Save Me a Place at Forest Lawn (1966) ... (makeup artist) 1965 Harvey Middleman, Fireman (makeup artist) 1964 What a Way to Go! (makeup artist - uncredited) 1964 The World of Henry Orient (makeup artist) 1963 The Cardinal (makeup artist) 1963 All the Way Home (makeup) 1962 The Untouchables (TV Series) (makeup artist - 1 episode) - Elegy (1962) ... (makeup artist) 1962 Requiem for a Heavyweight (makeup artist - as Richard Smith) 1961 Golden Showcase (TV Series) (special makeup effects artist - 1 episode) - The Picture of Dorian Gray (1961) ... (special makeup effects artist) 'Way Out (TV Series) (makeup artist - 3 episodes, 1961) (makeup creator - 1 episode, 1961) - Soft Focus (1961) ... (makeup artist) - Death Wish (1961) ... (makeup artist) - The Croaker (1961) ... (makeup artist) - William and Mary (1961) ... (makeup creator) The DuPont Show of the Month (TV Series) (makeup artist - 2 episodes, 1959 - 1960) (makeup creator - 1 episode, 1960) - Treasure Island (1960) ... (makeup creator) - Ethan Frome (1960) ... (makeup artist) - I, Don Quixote (1959) ... (makeup artist) 1959 Miracle on 34th Street (TV Movie) (makeup artist) 1959 The Moon and Sixpence (TV Movie) (makeup artist) 1959 Music with Mary Martin (TV Movie) (makeup artist) 1958 From Hell to Texas (makeup artist - uncredited) 1958 The Flame Barrier (makeup artist) 1958 The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (TV Series) (makeup artist - 1 episode) - Episode #2.12 (1958) ... (makeup artist) 1957 Twelfth Night (TV Movie) (makeup artist) 1957 General Motors 50th Anniversary Show (TV Movie) (makeup artist) 1957 Robert Montgomery Presents (TV Series) (makeup artist - 1 episode) - Victoria Regina (1957) ... (makeup artist) 1957 The Lark (TV Movie) (makeup artist) 1955 Alice in Wonderland (TV Movie) (makeup artist) 1952 Kraft Theatre (TV Series) (makeup artist - 1 episode) - A Christmas Carol (1952) ... (makeup artist) 1949-1952 The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse (TV Series) (makeup artist - 2 episodes) - Bratt Farrar (1952) ... (makeup artist) - Cyrano de Bergerac (1949) ... (makeup artist) 1951 Fireside Theatre (TV Series) (makeup artist - 1 episode) - A Christmas Carol (1951) ... (makeup artist) 1949 House of Strangers (makeup artist - uncredited) 1949 Down to the Sea in Ships (makeup artist - uncredited) 1948 The Iron Curtain (makeup artist - uncredited) 1948 Great Catherine (TV Movie) (makeup artist) 1948 Call Northside 777 (makeup artist - uncredited) 1945 Captain Eddie (makeup artist - uncredited) 1941 The Cowboy and the Blonde (makeup artist - uncredited) Self (11 credits) 2008 Starz Inside: Fantastic Flesh (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2007 Creature People (Video documentary short) Himself 2007 Best Evidence (TV Series documentary) Himself - Special Effects Makeup Artist - Bigfoot (2007) ... Himself - Special Effects Makeup Artist (as Richard E. Smith) 2006 The Witch's Dungeon: 40 Years of Chills (Video documentary) Himself 2004 E! True Hollywood Story (TV Series documentary) Himself - Curse of the Exorcist (2004) ... Himself 1999 Making 'Taxi Driver' (Video documentary) Himself - Special Make-Up 1998 The Fear of God: 25 Years of 'The Exorcist' (TV Movie documentary) Himself - Make-Up Artist 1998 A Tribute to Dick Smith (Video documentary short) Himself 1995 Movie Magic (TV Series documentary) Himself - Horror Makeup: Fright Factories (1995) ... Himself - Aging Effects: Coming of Age (1995) ... Himself 1991 The Secrets of Dick Smith (TV Short documentary) Himself 1985 The 57th Annual Academy Awards (TV Special documentary) Himself - Winner: Best Makeup Dick Smith, Oscar-Winning Makeup Artist, Dies at 92 By WILLIAM YARDLEYAUG. 1, 2014 Inside Photo Dick Smith, who made flesh peel from famous actors’ faces, who made the young old and the beautiful hideous and who transformed a girl into a particularly possessed tween — all while working as one of film and television’s most original and accomplished makeup artists, died on Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 92. His death was confirmed in a Twitter message by his friend Rick Baker, an Academy Award-winning makeup artist who was once his assistant. Before computers claimed so much of the simulated gore and metamorphosis depicted in modern moviemaking, Mr. Smith did his work with plaster life masks, liquid foam latex and painstaking perfectionism. He traced his career to a particular day in the early 1940s when, as a freshman at Yale on his way to becoming a dentist, he stumbled on a book in the Co-Op that he could not stop reading. Not the most literary of Ivy League texts, it was titled “Paint, Powder and Makeup.” Inspired, he began tinkering with some of the materials described in the book and soon found himself more inclined to mangle mock teeth than repair real ones. He ended up working out of a low-tech lab in the basement of his home in Larchmont, N.Y. He became a craftsman and a conjurer, and not the kind of makeup artist known for making people prettier. Photo Mr. Smith’s handiwork was also seen on Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain in the 1960s. Credit CBS Those growling jowls of Marlon Brando in “The Godfather” movies? Mr. Smith applied them. The brooding F. Murray Abraham in “Amadeus”? Mr. Smith helped turn Mr. Abraham’s Antonio Salieri, the composer and rival of the upstart young Mozart, into a hoary relic as an embittered, and somewhat mad, old man. David Bowie aging before your eyes in “The Hunger”? Mr. Smith’s were the hands of time. And little Linda Blair, who played the 12-year-old possessed by evil in “The Exorcist”? Mr. Smith made her head spin and spew green vomit and filled her mouth with decaying teeth. He made her pupils all but erupt from her eyeballs. Years later, he still had the fiberglass version of her head, the one that swiveled 360 degrees. Both Mr. Smith and Mr. Abraham won Oscars for their work in the 1984 film “Amadeus,” and in 2011 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave Mr. Smith an honorary award for his “unparalleled mastery of texture, shade, form and illusion.” “It’s kind of godlike to see your artistry come to life in this form,” Mr. Smith told The New York Times in 1983. “It is thrilling to me that you can take a human being, can create on his face another person or creature who has all the life of a totally different individual.” Richard Emerson Smith was born in Larchmont on June 26, 1922, the son of Richard Smith and the former Coral Brown. His mother had dental problems when he was a boy, and he often accompanied her to the dentist. Photo Mr. Smith also transformed F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri, in the 1984 film ”Amadeus.” Credit Orion Pictures “I loved all of the dentist’s tools,” he said. “I loved watching him use his hands.” Years later, after his discovery of “Paint, Powder and Makeup,” he began experimenting with transforming himself into “the classic monsters” — mummies, werewolves, the Phantom of the Opera, Mr. Hyde. After graduating from Yale, he served in the Army in World War II, then sought work as a makeup artist. Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story He found work at WNBC-TV, where he was head of the makeup department for 14 years, much of it under the producer David Susskind. While working in television, he began developing new ways of shaping foam latex and attaching it to faces to make his creations more lifelike. Among the actors whose faces he altered: Anthony Quinn, Audrey Hepburn and Laurence Olivier. He transformed Hal Holbrook into Mark Twain. He often made life masks of actors, then built prosthetics that would fit perfectly onto their faces. “While everyone else was making masks from a single mold, Dick made these multiple pieces and layered them on the face,” Mr. Baker told The Washington Post in 2007. “Today, that’s the way everyone does it.” Mr. Smith’s extensive film work also includes adding decades to Dustin Hoffman in “Little Big Man” and giving Robert De Niro a Mohawk in “Taxi Driver.” Survivors include his sons Douglas and David. “Even when the characters were fantastically weird, I always tried to make them believable,” Mr. Smith told The Post. “Actors have to feel like they are the person they are portraying. I think my work has helped many to achieve that.” Visit Our Other Auctions Please review our terms and conditions below thoroughly. If you are the high bidder please complete checkout through eBay by selecting the PAY NOW Button above. This will only be visible after the auction to the high bidder and will provide you with our payment address and shipping totals if they are not listed in the auction. Shipping costs for this item US Shipping and International shipping will be automatically calculated for you. WI residents add 5% Sales Tax. If you are bidding on multiple auctions we will combine shipping when possible. By bidding on our lifemask auctions you agree to the following terms below: Buyer agrees and understands that they are purchasing only the right to materially buy, sell and possess said product. Buyer agrees that they will not mold or reproduce in any medium, copies of said product. Buyer understands that violation of this could be a violation of copyright law subjecting them to possible civil litigation. HONOR "Please honor my request not to make copies of this casting or other Forsche Design castings for resale or offer it to others that won't honor this request. I understand the possible need to create a piece utilizing different materials as part of your own project, this is of course fine and as an artist I encourage "new" artistic expression. I just ask that you don't sell exact copies of these castings which I have put much time and effort to acquire and maintain over the years." -William Forsche Please complete checkout within 3 days. Payment is expected within 5 days. Non Paying Bidder notices are filed automatically if payment is not received within 10 days. Auction images, copy and content are copyright © 2015 William Forsche and Forsche Design. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. I have been successfully selling life masks, Hollywood props and other collectibles on eBay since 1999."
Price: 149.95 USD
Location: Appleton, Wisconsin
End Time: 2024-11-09T00:35:42.000Z
Shipping Cost: N/A USD
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All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
