Max Factor Sr. - Culver City, CA - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

Cosmetics, in one form or another, have been around since the dawn of time. But the modern cosmetics industry is due in large part to Max Factor Sr. and his Hollywood-based Max Factor & Company, founded in 1909. Originally servicing the rapidly emerging film industry, Max Factor introduced a line of cosmetics to the general public in 1920 called ‘Society Make-Up’ suggesting that every girl could look like a movie star.

Born Maksymilian Faktorowicz in what is now Poland but then part of Imperial Russia, the young Max Factor worked as an apprentice to a wig maker and cosmetician. Experience he gained in these fields was a springboard to bigger and more important positions including involvement with the Imperial Russian Grand Opera. But growing antisemitism in Europe around the turn of the century caused Factor to immigrate with his family to the United States in 1904.

Settling initially in St. Louis, Factor sold his rouges and creams at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair but was drawn to Hollywood which was quickly becoming a glamour hub. The cosmetics used by actors and actresses on the live stage proved ill-suited to the new medium of film and Max Factor was Johnny on the spot with new formulations. As his reputation grew, he became the go-to guy for Hollywood movie producers and actresses for wigs, hair styling and cosmetics. Among his clientele were such notables as Clara Bow, Jean Harlow, Mary Pickford, Claudette Colbert, Bette Davis, Lucille Ball and many others.

When Max Factor introduced a line a cosmetics for the general public, he named it ‘Society Make-Up’ thus popularizing the term make-up as a noun. This led to his oft-cited moniker, ‘the father of make-up.’ He became Max Factor Sr. when his son Frank changed his name to Max Factor Jr. Due to his contributions to the film industry, Max Factor has been awarded a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame and an honorary Oscar.
(Source: wikipedia.org, maxfactor.com)

Description: See Long Description above. Date of birth: 09/15/1877 Date of death: 08/30/1938 Area of notoriety: Entertainment Marker Type: Other Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm; closed Saturdays Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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