Max Factor Sr. – Wikipedia
Polish beautician and founder of Max Factor
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Max Factor Sr. |
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| Born |
Maksymilian Faktorowicz September 15, 1877 |
| Died | August 30, 1938 (aged 60) |
| Resting place | Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, Culver City, California, U.S. |
| Monuments | Hollywood Walk of Fame |
| Nationality | Polish[1] |
| Citizenship | American (naturalized) |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur; wig and cosmetics technician; inventor |
| Years active | 1887–1938 |
| Known for | Max Factor Cosmetics |
| Spouses |
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| Children | 5, including Francis “Frank” Factor (Max Factor Jr.) |
| Relatives | |
| Awards | Honorary Academy Award (1929) |
Max Factor Sr. (September 15, 1877 – August 30, 1938),[2][3] born Maksymilian Faktorowicz, was a Polish-American[1] businessman, beautician, entrepreneur and inventor. As a founder of the cosmetics giant Max Factor & Company, he largely developed the modern cosmetics industry in the United States and popularized the term “make-up” in noun form based on the verb.
He is also known for doing makeovers for starlets and giving them their signature looks; his most iconic works include Jean Harlow‘s platinum hair, Clara Bow‘s bob, Lucille Ball‘s false lashes and red curls, and Joan Crawford‘s “Hunter’s Bow”, or overdrawn lips.[4]
Early life[edit]
Factor, of Polish-Jewish descent, was born in Zduńska Wola[a] to Abraham Faktorowicz (1850/52 – before 1938) and Cecylia Wrocławska.[5] His father, a hard-working grocer, rabbi, or textile mill worker (depending upon the source), could not afford a formal education for his four children.
By the age of eight years, Factor was working as an assistant to a dentist and pharmacist.[6] At the age of nine, he was apprenticed to a wig maker and cosmetician in Łódź, in central Poland. That experience enabled him to gain a position at Anton’s of Berlin, a leading hairstylist and cosmetics creator. By the age of fourteen, he was working at Korpo, a Moscow wig maker and cosmetician to the Imperial Russian Grand Opera. He spent the years from age eighteen to twenty-two undertaking his compulsory military service in the Imperial Russian Army, where he served in the Hospital Corps.
Upon his discharge, he opened his own shop in the town of Ryazan, selling hand-made rouges, creams, fragrances, and wigs. He became well known when a traveling theatrical troupe wore Factor’s cosmetics to perform for Russian nobility. The Russian nobility appointed Factor the official cosmetics expert for the royal family and the Imperial Russian Grand Opera, an honor which led to him being closely monitored. He married Esther Rosa (whom he called Lizzie) and by early 1904 they had produced three children, Freda, Cecilia and Davis.[7] By 1904, concerned about the increasing anti-Jewish persecution developing in the Russian Empire, he and his wife decided to follow his brother Nathan and uncle Fischel to America. Worried that he would not be released from his royal service, he arranged with the assistance of a friend to take a rest cure at Karlovy Vary – according to one version of his escape from the royal service.[8] After meeting up with his family they traveled in the steerage class on board the S.S. Moltke III and were processed at Ellis Island on February 25, 1904; he had US$400 in his possession.[9] They settled in St. Louis, Missouri.
Life in the United States[edit]
He sold his rouges and creams at the 1904 World’s Fair, operating under the newly re-spelled name Max Factor. His partner in the venture stole all of his stock and the profits. With assistance from his brother and uncle, Factor recovered and opened a barber’s shop. In August 1904, Max and his wife had their fourth child, Francis “Frank” Factor. However, on March 17, 1906, his wife collapsed and died from a brain hemorrhage. Anxious to provide a mother for his four children, he married Huma “Helen” Sradkowska on 15 August 1906.[10] Despite the birth of Louis on August 29, 1907, the marriage was short-lived and ended in a prolonged court battle, as result of which Factor obtained custody of all of his children.
Creation of an empire[edit]
On January 21, 1908, Factor married Jennie Cook (March 1, 1886 – December 3, 1949), a neighbor.
Later that year, Factor moved his family to Los Angeles, California, when he saw an opportunity to provide made-to-order wigs and theatrical make-up to the growing film industry. Initially, he established a shop on South Central Avenue, and advertised the business as “Max Factor’s Antiseptic Hair Store.” After the foundation of “Max Factor & Company” in 1909, he soon became the West Coast distributor of Leichner and Minor, two leading theatrical make-up manufacturers. Greasepaint in stick form—although the accepted make-up for use on the stage—could not be applied thinly enough, nor were the colors appropriate, to work satisfactorily on the screen during the early years of movie-making.
Factor…
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