Trevor Crole-Rees

I don’t know much about Trevor Crole-Rees other than that he was a highly regarded make-up artist whose handy work appeared in films and TV programmes throughout the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s. His cinematic output was pretty diverse, though for obvious reasons he was particularly in demand for war and horror films. These included: Battle of the Bulge (1965); Kelly’s Heroes (1970); Circus of Horrors (1960); The Abominable Dr Phibes (1971); Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971); Dr Phibes Rises Again (1972). He also dabbed a few cheekbones for Tiger Bay (1959) and The Naked Prey (1966). In fact during his long career he altered the visages of everyone from Yul Brynner to Vincent Price.

The face he created for Vincent Price in Dr Phibes Rises Again was one of his most challenging creations. He said in 1972: “The make-up looks simple enough when it’s on, yet it is one of the trickiest I’ve ever had to do in the 37 years I’ve been in the business. The face you see is terribly ‘brittle’. It is made of melted wax, applied hot and then covered with a special plastic skin which adheres to the wax before it sets. It has to stay put on Mr Price throughout the day’s filming, which means eight and a half hours. And there’s always the danger it may crack. If that happened it could cause anything up to a two hour delay in shooting."

Any more info on Trevor Crole-Rees would be much appreciated.