Quick Facts
| Intro | Make-up supervisor for Warner Brothers Studios |
| Was | Makeup artist |
| From | United States of America |
| Field | Fashion |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 1 July 1907, Minnesota, USA |
| Death | 21 July 1975, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA (aged 68 years) |
| Star sign | Cancer |
Biography
Robert Gordon Bau (July 1, 1907 – July 21, 1975) was an American make-up artist who was the make-up supervisor at Warner Brothers Studios in Los Angeles and worked on scores of films and episodes of more than twenty television series.
Early life
Bau was a native of Minnesota. His brother was George Bau (December 22, 1905 – March 31, 1974).
Career
Gordon Bau and his brother George Bau worked for Rubbercraft, a firm which specialized in rubber parts for industrial uses. They began moonlighting by performing make-up for films and later television. The brothers built rubber eye prosthetics which could make white actors appear Asian on screen. While Gordon became head of make-up services for Warner Brothers, George headed the prosthetics laboratory at the studio.
Bau's work in films is voluminous, from Andy Griffith's Onionhead and Auntie Mame (1958) to John Wayne's Rio Bravo and Clint Walker's Yellowstone Kelly (both 1959), and Jeffrey Hunter's Sergeant Rutledge (1960). He also worked on Susan Slade (1961), The Days of Wine and Roses (1962), Kisses for My President (1964), and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966). His last film work was Dirty Harry (1971) and The All American Boy (1973).
His work with ABC and WB included the following series, in order of year of debut:
- Conflict, one episode: "Man from 1997" (1956), with Jacques Sernas, Charles Ruggles, Gloria Talbott, and James Garner
- Cheyenne, 108 episodes
- Maverick, 124 episodes
- Sugarfoot, 69 episodes
- Colt .45, 67 episodes
- Bronco, 68 episodes
- 77 Sunset Strip, 206 episodes
- Lawman, 156 episodes
- The Alaskans, 37 episodes
- Bourbon Street Beat, 39 episodes
- Hawaiian Eye, 134 episodes
- The Roaring 20s, 45 episodes
- Surfside 6, 74 episodes
- The Gallant Men, 26 episodes
- The Dakotas, 19 episodes
- Wendy and Me, 34 episodes
- F Troop, 65 episodes
Bau also was make-up supervisor for these additional television series:
- Mister Roberts, NBC, 30 episodes
- Hank, NBC, 26 episodes
- G.E. True, CBS 1 episode" "Security Risk" (1963)
- Kung Fu, ABC pilot episode (1972)
He was a member of Hollywood's Society of Makeup Artists.
Personal life and final years
In 1969, Bau married Bonnie L. Szabo; it is unclear if they were still married at the time of his death six years later at the age of 68. He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, California.
