From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Max Factor, Sr. (1877
-
August 30,
1938),
born Max Faktor in
Łódź,
Poland, was a
Polish-American businessman and
cosmetician who founded the
Max Factor Cosmetics Company. He is known as the father of
modern
cosmetics.
Max Faktor (Faktorowicz ?)
born in
Łódź,
Poland
Factor's father was a rabbi and could not afford formal
education for his ten children. Aged eight, Factor was placed in
apprenticeship to a
dentist/pharmacist.
He opened his own shop in a suburb of
Moscow, selling hand-made
rouges, creams,
fragrances, and
wigs.
His big break came when a traveling theatrical troupe wore
Factor’s make-up to perform for Russian nobility. The Russian
nobility appointed Factor the official cosmetic expert for the
royal family and the
Imperial Russian Grand Opera.
In
1904, Factor and his family emigrated to the
United States. Factor made a new start in
St. Louis,
Missouri, at the
1904 World's Fair. He sold his rouges and creams, operating
under the newly re-spelled name Max Factor, given to him at
Ellis Island. Factor saw an opportunity to provide make-up
and wigs to the growing film industry. He moved his family to
Los Angeles,
California, in 1908. In
1914,
Factor created a make-up specifically for movie actors that,
unlike theatrical make-up, would not crack or cake. Soon movie
stars were filing through Max Factor’s make-up studio, eager to
sample the "flexible greasepaint" while
movie producers sought Factor’s human hair wigs. He allowed
the wigs to be rented to the producers of old
Westerns on the condition that his sons were given parts as
extras. The boys would keep an eye on the expensive wigs.
Factor marketed a range of cosmetics to the public in the
1920s,
insisting that every girl could look like a movie star by using
Max Factor make-up.
Max Factor died in 1938 and was interred in the
Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in
Culver City, California.
Factor's second son,
Frank (1904-1996), was known as Max Factor, Jr. He worked in
the business all his life and took over as head of the company
on his father's death.
Trivia
- He was an older brother of famed gangster
John Factor.
Categories:
1877 births |
1938 deaths |
Cosmetics businesspeople |
History of cosmetics |
American businesspeople |
Polish Jews |
Polish-Americans |
People from Łódź
