Frank Griffin, Steve Martin’s Makeup Man on ‘Roxanne’ and
Much More, Dies at 95
The former actor and brother of actress Debra Paget also
worked on films including ‘Westworld,’ ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ and
‘Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.’
The Hollywood Reporter
By Mike Barnes
September 6, 2024
Frank Griffin, who nosed out another makeup artist to
work with Steve Martin on Roxanne, just one of the 20 movies they did together,
has died. He was 95.
Griffin died Wednesday of cancer at his home in Studio
City, his daughter Roxane Griffin, a veteran Hollywood hairstylist (Avatar,
Transparent, 80 for Brady), told The Hollywood Reporter.
Frank Griffin started out in Hollywood as an actor and
studio laborer before turning to makeup in the mid-1960s, and he went on to
work on Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), Scarecrow (1973), Westworld
(1973), Cinderella Liberty (1973), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977),
Urban Cowboy (1980), Midnight Run (1988), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982),
Vacation (1983), Revenge of the Nerds (1984) and Pee-wee’s Big Adventure
(1985).
Survivors also include his sister Debra Paget, who
starred in such films as Broken Arrow (1950), Love Me Tender (1956) — Elvis
Presley’s first movie — and The Ten Commandments (1956).
His other two sisters were actresses as well: Lisa Gaye,
who starred in the 1956 musical films Rock Around the Clock and Shake Rattle
& Rock!, and Teala Loring, who did lots of B-movies. They died in 2016 and
2007, respectively.
Ric Sagliani, Martin’s regular makeup artist, had
employed Griffin to work with him on Martin’s Pennies From Heaven (1981) and
Three Amigos! (1986). But with the actor set to wear a large prosthetic nose
for more than three months in Roxanne (1987), a modern retelling of Cyrano de
Bergerac, Sagliani decided to pass on that gig, leaving it to Griffin.
“Ric was a lovely guy, but he didn’t want to tackle that
nose,” Griffin told Steve Rubin on a 2022 episode of his Saturday Night at the
Movies podcast. “I said [to Martin], ‘Fine, I’ll have you for this picture, and
Ric can have you back for the next one.’”
That next one was Planes, Trains & Automobiles
(1987), which Sagliani turned down as well, not wanting to go on location,
Griffin noted. “So I guess if you say no to Steve twice, that is it,” he said.
“I just stuck with him from then on. He was such a delight.”
Griffin then worked with Martin on Parenthood (1989), My
Blue Heaven (1990), Father of the Bride (1991), L.A. Story (1991), Grand Canyon
(1991), HouseSitter (1992), Leap of Faith (1992), A Simple Twist of Fate
(1994), Father of the Bride Part II (1995), Sgt. Bilko (1996), The Spanish
Prisoner (1997), Bowfinger (1999), Novocaine (2001), Cheaper by the Dozen
(2003), Bringing Down the House (2003) and Shopgirl (2005), his final credit.
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The second of four kids, Frank Henry Griffin Jr. was born
in Denver on June 25, 1929. His mother, Margaret, was a vaudeville performer
who gave her children stage names that she thought were “the perfect length for
a movie marquee.” His father, Frank Sr., was a house painter and later a
laborer at Columbia Pictures.
The family ultimately settled in Los Angeles in 1942
after Paramount signed Teala, who was seven years his senior, to a contract,
and for a time they lived across the street from the lot. Later, Debra landed a
deal at 20th Century Fox.
Griffin and Debra attended the Hollywood Professional
School and studied acting with Queenie Smith. While she became a star right
away, he got a job as a laborer at Columbia, just like his dad, before he made
his acting debut in Lightning Guns (1950).
Billed as Reull Shayne, he had bit parts in such films as
Fort Savage Raiders (1951), Teen-Age Crime Wave (1955) and The Giant Claw
(1957), and on TV shows including Death Valley Days, Sergeant Preston of the
Yukon and U.S. Marshal.
“I was never happy [acting], I had always felt I was
poorly trained,” he told Rubin. “Had I really wanted to do it, I would’ve had
to have had the balls to go back to New York and study there.”
Griffin returned to studio labor before he got makeup
jobs at CBS and then Fox, working on The Tammy Grimes Show and The Green
Hornet. His first film as a makeup artist was Sam Whiskey (1969), starring Burt
Reynolds and Angie Dickinson.
He also handled makeup for A Man Called Horse (1970), The
Hired Hand (1971), Black Gunn (1972), Demon Seed (1977) and She’s So Lovely
(1997), and on the first two seasons (1977-79) of CBS’ Lou Grant, starring Ed
Asner.
He said Asner — whom he lovingly called “Uncle Waldo” —
and Martin were his favorite actors to work with.
In addition to Roxane — so named because Cyrano was a
favorite love story of his — survivors include his other children, Beau (a grip
in Hollywood), Garrett, Frank and Gayle; his grandchildren, Brandon, Jesse,
Cassandra, Griffin, Kelsey and Lindsay; and former Hollywood hairstylist Linda
Trainoff, with whom he lived for the past 43 years.
GRIFFIN, Frank (Frank Henry Griffin Jr.)
Born:6/25/1929, Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Died: 9/4/2024, Studio City, California, U.S.A.
Ford Friffin’s westerns – makeup artist, actor:
Fort Savage Raiders – 1950 (Rog Beck)
Lightning Guns – 1950 (Jim Otis)
Devil’s Canyon – 1953 (guard)
Death Valley Days (TV) – 1955 (Steve)
Love Me Tender – 1956
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon (TV) – 1957 (Constable
Dignum)
Bullwhip – 1958 (Keeler)
U.S. Marshal (TV) – 1959 (deputy)
Zane Grey Theater (TV) – 1960 (Stantup)
Sam Whiskey – 1969 [makeup artist]
The Andersonville Trial (TV) 1970 [makeup artist]
A Man Called Horse – 1970 [makeup artist]
The Hired Hand – 1971 [makeup artist]
Cry for Me Billy – 1972 [makeup artist]
The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid – 1972 [makeup
artist]
Westworld – 1973 [makeup artist]
Barbary Coast (TV) – 1975 [makeup artist]
Three Amigos! – 1986 [makeup artist]
