William J. Tuttle, the legendary makeup artist whose innovative style for 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) earned him an honorary Oscar®, a first for makeup, died on July 27 of natural causes at his Pacific Palisades home. He was 95.

He was born on April 13, 1912, in Jacksonville , Florida . He relocated to Los Angeles when he was just 18 and enrolled in art classes at USC. He served an apprenticeship with Jack Dawn at Twentieth Century Pictures and when Dawn transferred to MGM, Tuttle followed him. Tuttle spent years going uncredited in several of MGM's better known hits of the day: The Wizard of Oz (1939), Slightly Dangerous and Presenting Lily Mars (both 1943). It wasn't until the '50s when Tuttle began receiving on-screen credit for his work did he began to shine in his craft. Films such as Singin' in the Rain (1952), 1952's Million Dollar Mermaid (did a swimming star ever look so radiant arising from the water than Esther Williams?), The Long, Long Trailer (1954), The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956) which had Marlon Brando in Asian eye makeup and an overbite, and Tuttle's menacing creation of the Morlocks in The Time Machine (1960).

Tuttle also did some impressive work for the Twilight Zone series. Some of his finest moments are included in two special episodes: Eye of the Beholder (1960), in which weobserve a woman who feels isolated from society due to her "ugliness" and whose bandage-covered identity, as well as those of the medical staff, are kept hidden until it is revealed that it is the staff who are heinous with their deformed mouths and pig-like noses. And, his make-up for The Masks (1964) in which greedy relatives to a tycoon are forced to wear hideous masks until the midnight hour to collect their inheritance, only to be revealed that their faces have adopted the hideous characteristics of the masks. Despite the initial grotesqueness of Tuttle's handy work, he managed to convey sympathy through the actors' makeup and an understanding of the complexities of the scripts that were quite remarkable for their time.

Tuttle would receive nearly universal acclaim for his stunning artistry in 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964). This fantasy film, which stars Tony Randall as a circus performer who arrives in an idle frontier town and precedes to fascinate the townsfolk made for a great premise that gave Tuttle full rein in creating Randall's disguises: Merlin the Magician, Medusa, Dr. Lao, and the Abominable snowman, just to name a few. It was a treat to watch, and Tuttle never lets his various makeups overshadow Randall's characterizations. It was a well deserved Academy Award he received for the advancement of makeup design, and a watershed moment for the field of makeup on the whole.

Afterwards, Tuttle would continue to do stellar work, especially on Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein (1974), and his make-up for the futuristic tale Logan's Run (1976). The George Hamilton comedies Love at First Bite (1979) and Zorro, the Gay Blade (1981, his final film) were solidly professional as well. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Anita; and a daughter, Teresa.

by Michael T. Toole