ROY ASHTON MAKE UP ARTIST REMEMBERED

REMEMBERING Master Make Up Artist, Roy Ashton, who was born today 17th April 1909! There is so much you could say about Roy, but his work kind of says it all! So many amazing creations in what was the golden era of Hammer films, Amicus and Tyburn too! I was very humbled to spend time with him at his home and while he was working, and during these times saw at first hand what a true gentleman he was and quite the perfectionist, with a lovely dry wit and friendly character. Roy sadly left us in 1995, but left behind for us, a wonderful and original body of work, that still entertains and frightens us today! Personally, his letters I still treasure, his work I still very much am in awe of, for sure

OVER AT THE FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE I have asked everyone to tell us and share their favourite 'Ashton Creation' in the comments below. BELOW is an impressive filmography of Roy's work. A #HappyBirthday, Roy Ashton a true magician and creator of things of nightmares and dreams too 

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
The Horror Dracula (1958)
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)
The Mummy (1959)
The Stranglers of Bombay (1959)
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)
The Curse of the Werewolf (1960)
The Terror of the Tongs (1961)
These Are the Damned (1962)
The Phantom of the Opera (1962)
Night Creatures (1962) Captain Clegg
The Pirates of Blood River (1962)
 

ABOVE: A WHILE AGO in one of our weekly PCASUK TUESDAY TOUGHY questions, we celebrated ROY ASHTON'S work with PETER CUSHING in 'Tales from the Crypt' (1972)

Paranoiac (1963)
The Old Dark House (1963)
The Crimson Blade (1963)
Nightmare (1964)
The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
The Kiss of the Vampire (1964)
The Gorgon (1964)
 

Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1964)
The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964)
The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964)
The Skull (1965)
She (1965)
The Plague of the Zombies (1966)
The Reptile (1966)
The Devil Rides Out (1968)
The House That Dripped Blood (1970)
Hands of the Ripper (1971)
The Devils (1971)
Tales from the Crypt (1972)
The Creeping Flesh (1972)
Asylum (1972)
The Vault of Horror (1973)
The Ghoul (1975)

SEE OUR POSTS every day at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE HERE! and the EXPANDED version here!! EXTRA IMAGES and FEATURES every day here at our WEBSITE!

RARE BEHIND THE SCENES 'ON SET' FOOTAGE FROM HAMMER FILMS 'THE GORGON'

A REAL AND RARE TREAT! Here are some short GIFS taken from some very rare behind the scenes footage taken during the making of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee's 1964 Hammer film Classic, THE GORGON. Director Terence Fisher had a real job on his hands. The script was fine and had the making of an original horror / romantic / thriller. The key to the drama was a creature that lived holed up in Castle Borski, who on certain evenings took to meeting visitors, not with a warm welcome, but a STARE that turned them into stone! The creature was Megaera, long thought to be a fantasy of Greek mythology. Not only was she real, but she also had a dual appearance and personality. This no doubt suited actress Barbara Shelley, who played the meek and sensitive Karl Hoffman, Megaera's 'other side', as whoever was to appear as Megaera, would have to endure a few weeks of experiments and painful head-dresses, while make up men and props department Roy Ashton and Phil Leakey tired to solve the problem of producing a convincing Gorgon, who floated on air, while snakes wriggled and writhed on her head! No easy, with such a small budget!

ABOVE we see actress and classical dancer, Prundence Hyman, who stepped up for the role. Fisher believed that someone who could move with grace, like a dancer, would be best suited for the role. Prudence had worked in film, theatre and ballet for many years and had almost retired from her long and quite distinguished career.But she rose to the challenge. Here we see make up artist fit Prudence with Haptic contact lenses, a make up device that Roy was probably if not certainly responsible for bringing into horror films at this time, his first use was in Hammer's 'The Curse of Frankenstein', it was another first in bringing together Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee on screen.

AFTER MANY EXPERIMENTS the solution of using a series of strings and pulleys, all controlled through a cable to a crank box, was used to make the snakes twitch! The head device weighed seven pounds, and was worn under the wild and thick black wig, much like a crash helmet! It took some rigging, was not reliable and took several takes to 'do its thing' on command, after the Gorgon floated on casters into shot, over a floor of thick dry ice. ABOVE here is Hammer's Phil Leakey carrying the crank box, Prudence marches from the make up room at Bray studios, and down the stairs to the castle set, carrying the cabling over her shoulder, ready for her '...Close Up, Mr Fisher!'

ABOVE ON THE SET Prudence Hymen hits her mark,the crew turn the cranks on the box, the snakes twitch, the wind blows and she makes her exit, not walking forward, but keeps her balance, even with the weight on her head as she is  pulled backwards over the floor of the Castle Borski set at Bray studios . .. and CUT!

PETER CUSHING IN COSTUME and Christopher Lee out, both on set at Bray studios, during the making of Hammer films, 'THE GORGON'

 

FINALLY, HERES IS Hammer films make up artist Roy Ashton in some VERY rare footage in his make up room at Bray studios, demonstrating some 'fangs' he made for a particular Baron, who was the only vamp to have actually got his fangs into Peter Cushing's Vampire Hunter, Van Helsing . .!

A LONG TIME AGO NAME AND CLAIM YOUR ROY ASHTON FAVORITE!

OVER AT THE FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE #TOOCOOLTUESDAY! we are sharing some of the work and GENIUS of make up artist, Roy Ashton 😮 . . . and two pics from A LONG time ago and asking how many Ashton films can you name which are pictured on the above banner and WHICH are your THREE favs? 😉 Marcus

ABOVE: A letter from Peter Cushing to Roy Ashton, makes reference to the days that Peter remembers days spent in the make chair, listening to both Ashton and Christopher Lee and their impromptu singing!

RARE PHOTOGRAPHS : BEHIND THE SCENES AND LOBBY STILLS : FRANKENSTEIN FRIDAY!

#FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY OUR FIRST OF FOUR WEEKS Frankenstein Hammer Cushing fun! To kick us off to start, here are four from a set of eight quite rare lobby stills, from #Hammerfilms 'The Evil of Frankenstein'. These are the many photographs you would usually see in the lobby or outside the cinema in the glass cases. These particular original photographs were also hand tinted. They chose balck and white photographs, and tinted each set with liquid dyes. This was CHEAPER than colour photographs. Many of these sets were purchased by the manager of the cinema, were used once and then thrown away, after the film had played for it's duration in the local cinema. Colour transparency, were far too expensive, to be used for exhibition purposes, when used for only seven days!  Over the years they can fade and get a little tatty if not looked after. These were in good condition, but have also been freed of dust and slight damage of pin holes. They now, I think you'll agree, look GREAT!  We also have the first of a series of rare publicity and press photographs, from 'The Evil of Frankenstein'. . . .

  

ABOVE: SEVERAL OF MAKE UP ARTIST ROY ASHTON'S DIFFERENT DESIGNS

FOR THE 'EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN' CREATION. 

THE ROY ASHTON AND PETER CUSHING TALES FROM THE CRYPT SECRET!

THIS WEEK'S CUSHING TUESDAY TOUGHY! Amazing Make up artist,  ROY ASHTON and his work with Peter Cushing, is the subject matter of our question, this week. Roy was an absolute gentleman and joined PCASUK back in the early 1980's, as an Honorary Member, along with Vincent Price, Ingrid Pitt and Amicus films producer and writer, Milton Subotsky. Over the years, Roy gave us several interviews on audio and two precious VIDEO interviews, which were shot at his home. He was a wealth of information and shared his experiences with good humour and honesty. This little nugget of info, which provides our CUSHING TUESDAY TOUGHY this week, comes from the last video interview. The answer will probably surprise you, as much as it surprised me! Good luck and have fun thinking this one out! ANSWER NEXT Tuesday!

AS A TRIBUTE to Roy Ashton's creation of the UNDEAD Arthur Grimsdyke, make up artist, GREG NICOTERO created a 'Grimsdyle-look-a-like' in an episode of the US tv series, 'THE WALKING DEAD' in 2017, Make up artist, RICK BAKER also created his own tribute to Ashton, last year!

BELOW: LAST WEEKS  CUSHING TUESDAY TOUGHY ANSWER

ALL OUR POSTS HERE AT THE WEBSITE are also shared daily at our Facebook Peter Cushing Appreciation Society UK Fan Page. Every day, each post is chatted about, stills shared in the company of good friends, who have one thing in common, the love and interest in Peter Cushing, his like and work. Over 33 thousand friends have joined the Fan Page. Please come join us! You will be most welcome!

I NEVER FORGET A FACE OR A HEAD! #THROWBACKTHURSDAY!

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY! I NEVER FORGET A . . . HEAD! You may recall I asked all #HAMMERFILM fans out there, if they recognised the HEAD posing as the remains of the Marquis de Sade in Cushing film, The Skull, and posted a pic of the HEAD. No one spotted it, so here is the answer . . . that should make em sit up at the next pub quiz!

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS FILM at our SUPPLEMENT WEBSITE The Black Box Club. There is a full review and RARE IMAGE GALLLERY : HERE!

 

IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA