Verne Langdon is a makeup artist who worked on all of the original Planet of the Apes movies and on the spin-off TV series. With an early interest in makeup, casting and sculpting inspired by his father's dental laboratory, Langdon struck up a friendship with Don Post (14 March 1902 – 17 November 1979), and while still at a young age, he bought a "lion's share" of his 'Don Post Studios', and started a partnership that lasted between 1963 and 1968. During this highly-creative time, the studio, famous for it's commercial 'over-the-head' masks counted among it's staff Ellis Burman Sr., his sons Tom and Ellis Jr., and Pat Newman. They collaborated closely with John Chambers, notably on the 'Burbank Bigfoot' model created for showman Jerry Malone from a body-cast of actor Richard Kiel (and passing showman Frank Hansen's 'Ice Man' project on to Howard Ball and Werner Keppler) and co-creating a wax museum in Canada, for which Chambers had engineered and designed a gorilla.[1] When Ben Nye, head of makeup at 20th Century Fox, hired Chambers to design the makeup for Planet of the Apes at the end of 1966, he assembled a large team of young, talented artists including Langdon, Newman and Tom Burman. The massive success of the movie led to four sequels, in which Langdon continued to work alongside Chambers, followed by a TV series which Langdon also worked on. The new opertunities presented by this led to Langdon selling his share of the studio back to Don Post and embarking on a hugely varied career.[2]
External Links[]
- Verne Langdon biography page at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
- 'Box of Monsters' - Verne Langdon Interview (2002)