Who provided the monster's makeup for the 1931 film Frankenstein?

Jack Pierce provided and designed the monster’s makeup for Universal’s 1931 film Frankenstein.

Pierce was Universal Studios’ chief makeup artist and created the look worn by Boris Karloff, who played the monster. His design established the image that became the standard popular representation: a flat-topped head, heavy brow, neck electrodes, scars, and a stark, corpse-like appearance.

The process was laborious by modern standards. Pierce built up parts of Karloff’s face with materials such as cotton, collodion, gum, and nose putty, then applied greasepaint designed to appear appropriately pale in black-and-white photography. Karloff also removed a dental plate to help create an indentation on one side of the face.

A common mix-up is to credit Boris Karloff himself, director James Whale, or later makeup specialists for the complete design. Whale and Karloff influenced the screen presentation, but Pierce was the makeup artist responsible for the finished monster appearance in the 1931 production. Pierce later worked on other iconic Universal monsters, including The Mummy and The Wolf Man.