The Man of a Thousand Faces: "Don't step on it, it might be Lon Chaney!"

"I wanted to remind people that the lowest types of humanity have within them the capacity for extreme self-sacrifice. The dwarfed, misshapen beggar of the streets may have the noblest ideals." (Lon Chaney)

“He someone who acted out our psyche. He somehow got inside the shadows inside our bodies. He was able to nail some of our secret fears and put them on the screen. The history of Lon Chaney is the history of unrequited loves. He brings that part of you into the open, because you fear that you are not loved, you fear that you never will be loved, you fear there is some part of you that is grotesque, that the world will turn away from you." (Ray Bradbury)

Lon Chaney with his makeup kit

When I took some kids to shop for their Halloween makeup, I couldn't help but think of the original master of disguise, Lon Chaney. His THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925) was the first silent film I ever saw, and I was scared out of my pants! Later, I gaped open-mouthed at his Quasimodo in THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1923), unable to believe that there was actually perfectly healthy actor in that elaborate costume. Oscar-winning makeup artist Rick Baker has a great deal of respect for Lon Chaney and his generation of makeup-masters: