Creepy At First

This has been edited on April 18, 2011 for accuracy.

The other day the tall one and I went out thrifting together. As I was checking out at a local thrift shop a clown drawing flashed in front of me. Creeped out I instantly shook my head NO but then more were shown to me and I gave the whole lot a second look. These clowns, I realized were actually movie stars and presidents. Now I was intrigued, so much so that I agreed to buy all 26 of these zany pastel drawings.

I came home and started to research the name on the drawings, Horvatich, mainly because I was so curious who would create these. Here is what I discoverd about the artist. His name was Rudy Horvatich and he was the head of Make-up at ABC-TV for 38 years. He was a Stylist for TV shows such as “The Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Show” (makeup artist) (1962), Western Hit Parade (makeup artist) (1962), The 3rd Annual American Comedy Awards, The 51st Annual Academy Awards (1979) (makeup department head) through to The 60th Annual Academy Awards (1988) (makeup department head). Horvatich covered up Milton Berle’s wrinkles, made Lawrence Welk feel young again and gave pep talks to the Lennon sisters when they were just starting out.

He was also an image consultant to five Presidents of the United States. Rudy Horvatich did President Kennedy’s make for The Great Debates: Kennedy vs. Nixon, 1960. Mr. Horvatich died in 1989 at age 81 (corrected by family he died at age 71) From the Post-Tribune (IN) “Success obviously didn’t spoil ABC makeup man Rudy Horvatich. While showing friends from Northwest Indiana the six television monitors in his Hollywood office, Horvatich wryly commented, “Not bad for a little Yugoslav from Gary.” “

More about him from his nephew:

Rudy Horvatich was my uncle. He left Gary after WWII to seek work in California. he became interested in makeup and pioneered techniques for early Black and White television. He was captured in WWII at the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia in 1943 and spent time as a POW captured by the Germans. He made it across to Allied lines weighing 110 lbs. (normally weighing 160 or better), escaping as the Germans abandoned their posts as the Russians approached. My father, (his brother) is now 88 plus. Rudy had the friendship of many Hollywood notables, who respected his humility and enjoyed his company.
Here are just a few of them –

January 19, 2010labfive 15 Comments

Modified Moment

Modified Arts re-opened this weekend with a shiny new space. It is clean, smells good and looks better then ever. The husband and wife team of Adam Murray and Kim Larkin have taken over as the new program directors. I am imagining at this point their fingers must be bloody because the space looked completely different then I have ever seen it. Great job guys! I am looking forward to what is to come for this space. Some pics of the opening and the new space.

The sign out front

Table decorations

Kim Larkin and Adam Murray

January 17, 2010labfive Leave a comment

Seals on the Bluff

Having just returned from CA I had to post about the amazing Elephant Seals we saw at the ocean near Hearst Castle outside of Cambria, CA. The seals return to this same beach every year. The females arrive in January to birth their calves. We saw many, many mother nursing their babes. The parents are brown and the new pups are all black. Many of the males were bloody from their fighting because apparently as soon as the babes are born the males are ready to hit it again so they fight over the MILF’s. And these males can weigh up to 2 tons – impressive! The hand out shared that the action really heats up around Valentine’s Day – when the real mating season begins. We all really enjoyed seeing the moms curled up with their pups. All the seals look dead on the beach – but they were just lounging.