Joe Blasco

Joe Blasco (born April 30, 1947 in Jeannette, Pennsylvania) is an American makeup artist. He has worked for 50 years in Hollywood as well as accompanied major film productions. He also founded his own cosmetics company, the Joe Blasco School. In the 1970s and 1980s Blasco worked for the major American television shows, including: The Red Skelton Show, Jim Nabors Show, Barney Miller, The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, General Hospital, Good Morning America and The Carol Burnett Show. Blasco was also personal makeup artist for the likes of Orson Welles, Olivia Newton-John, Marlene Dietrich, Lauren Bacall and Bette Midler. Blasco has also designed the often impressive and gory makeup found in movies; including: Garden Of Eden, Albert Einstein - The Man Behind the Genius, Leonardo da Vinci, Ilsa She Wolf of the SS, The Werewolf of Woodstock and David Cronenberg's Shivers. He is often credited as inventing the bladder technique presented in horror movies, as well as special effects such as bulging blisters and rashes on the skin. In 1976 he opened the Joe Blasco Make-up Training Center in Hollywood. The school was so successful that he was able to open a second in Orlando, Florida in 1991. Since 1983, he creates his own cosmetics products that are sold worldwide. Blasco was honored in 2004 with the "Distinguished Achievement Award" in the category makeup of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT).