The Wolf Man

"Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright..."

The Wolf Man as portrayed by Lon Chaney Jr. in George Waggner's 1941 classic "The Wolf Man."

Yet another beautiful make up by Jack Pierce.

Pierce talked about the make up in the book "The Wolf Man (The Original 1941 Shooting Script);" edited and compiled by Philip Riley; Magic Image Filmbooks; New York; page 49: "The Wolf Man makeup, though it takes 4 hours to apply, is not as complicated as the Frankenstein Monster's. It consists principally of an artificial nose piece and bristles on the head, face, and neck, which are literally applied yak hair by yak hair. After the application, I singe the hair to give it that 'animal-like' appearance. I also make-up Chaney's feet and I give him claws. It takes about forty-five minutes to remove his makeup at the end of the shooting day."

And Lon Chaney Jr.'s personal thoughts on the makeup removal process by Jack Pierce.

"What gets me," said Lon, "is after work and I'm all hot and itchy and tired, and I've got to sit in that chair for forty-five minutes more while Pierce just about kills me ripping off the stuff he put on in the morning! Sometimes we take an hour and he leaves some of the skin on my face!"

One interesting bit of trivia: The Wolf Man has the distinction of being the only classic Universal monster to be played by the same actor in all his classic 1940s film appearances.

You can check out the official Jack Pierce website here.
And be sure to stop by the official Chaney family website here.

A special thanks to The Old Movie Maven for compiling the quotes.