Van Smith

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with
Van Smith (politician)
.
Van Smith
Makeup artist
Known forDreamlanders

Walter Avant "Van" Smith, Jr. (August 17, 1945 - December 5, 2006) was an American

John Waters, designing the costumes and make-up for every John Waters film from 1972 to 2004.[1] Because of his work with Waters, he is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble
of regular cast and crew members.

The first John Waters film Smith worked on was

Divine, as well as the rest of the cast. In this film Smith, along with Waters, created the famous look for Divine which included a white clown face base and a shaved-back hairline with the eyebrows drawn on the upper forehead. Waters said he wanted Divine's make-up to look like a cross between Jayne Mansfield and Clarabell the Clown.[2]

This was followed by Smith's work on Female Trouble (1974), which featured a cast of flamboyant criminals and hairdressers whose costumes are overtly tacky and whose make-up is extreme. For Divine's wedding scene in the film, Smith designed a see-through wedding dress for the 300 lb. bride.

Smith went on to create the look for the grotesque citizens of Mortville in Desperate Living (1977). In Waters' next seven films, Smith demonstrated the ability to create interesting looks for characters with big personalities but more conventional appearances as Waters' movies became more mainstream.

Smith died of a heart attack in Marianna, Florida on December 5, 2006.[3]

Filmography

Make-up and costume design

As himself

  • Divine Trash (1998)
  • It Came from Baltimore (2005) (Video)
  • All the Dirt on A Dirty Shame (2005) (Video)

Other

References

  1. ^ "Van Smith on IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  2. ^ Bernstein, Adam (December 8, 2006). "Waters Ally Van Smith; Films' Doyen of Dirt". The Washington Post. pp. B07. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  3. Internet Movie Database
    . Retrieved 2008-03-07.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Van_Smith&oldid=1149131068"