Max Factor, Sr.
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Max Factor, Sr. (1877 – 30 August 1938), born Maximilian Factorowitz or Faktorowicz in Łódź, Poland (then Russian Empire), was a businessman and cosmetician who founded the Max Factor Cosmetics Company. He largely developed modern cosmetics. Factor himself invented the term "make-up," based on the verb, "to make up" (one's face).
Factor’s father was a rabbi and could not afford formal education for his ten children. Aged eight years old, Factor was apprenticed to a dentist/pharmacist.
He opened his own shop in the town of Ryazan' near Moscow, 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 cosmetic expert for the royal family and the Imperial Russian Grand Opera.
During 1904, Factor and his family emigrated to the United States. He and his wife Lisa and three children traveled in the steerage class on board the S.S. Moltke and were processed at Ellis Island on February 25, 1904; he had $400 in his possession. Factor made a new start in St. Louis, Missouri, at the 1904 World’s Fair. He sold his rouges and creams, operating under the newly re-spelled name Max Factor.
During 1908, Factor moved his family to Los Angeles, California, seeing an opportunity to provide cosmetics and wigs to the growing film industry. During the early years of movie-making, 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 1914, Max Factor perfected the first cosmetic specifically created for motion picture use — a thinner greasepaint in cream form, packaged in a jar, and created in 12 precisely-graduated shades. Unlike theatrical cosmetics, it would not crack or cake. It was worn for the first time by actor Henry B. Walthall, who served as the model for screen tests.
With this major achievement to his credit, Max Factor became the authority on cosmetics. Soon, movie stars were eager to sample the “flexible greasepaint”, while movie producers sought Factor’s human hair wigs. He allowed the wigs to be rented to the producers of old Westerns, on the condition that his sons were given parts. The boys would watch the expensive wigs. Factor marketed a range of cosmetics to the public during the 1920s, insisting that every girl could look like a movie star by using Max Factor cosmetics.
Max Factor died at the age of 61 in Beverly Hills, CA in August 1938 and is interred at the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. Factor is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (at 6922 Hollywood Boulevard).
Factor is mentioned in the classic song, "Hooray For Hollywood." In a reference to his creation of Clara Bow's heart-shaped lips, the song states, "To be an actor / See Mister Factor / He'll make your pucker look good!"
[edit] Family
Famed gangster John Factor (b.1892) was his younger half-brother.
Factor's second son, Frank (1904-1996), was known as Max Factor, Jr. He worked in the business all his life and took over as head of the company on his father's death. Max Factor, Jr. is also interred at the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. Son Sydney B. Factor (1916-2005) also was an integral part of the business, playing a major role in the company's worldwide expansion. He joined the firm in 1936 and retired in 1962 as executive vice president responsible for international markets. [1]
Two of Max Factor's great-grandsons, Davis Factor, III and Dean Factor, founded Smashbox Studios during 1991. The enterprise expanded to include a photo studio, modeling agency, production company, clothing line, and, in 1997, a cosmetics line called Smashbox Cosmetics. In 2004, Smashbox Cosmetics launched a global marketing campaign in conjunction with the legendary European cosmetics retailer Sephora. Another Max Factor great-grandson, Andrew Luster, is serving a 124-year sentence for his 2003 conviction for numerous rapes. Luster is the son of adopted Max Factor granddaughter Elizabeth Friedman-Luster.
The Max Factor Family continues their tradition of philanthropy through various charitable organizations, trusts and private foundations. Grand children Gerald Factor, Max Factor III and Barbara Factor Bentley are trustees of the Max Factor Family Foundation which continues to make generous grants for medical research, patient health care, scholarships, human rights, care of the eldery, assistance to the disabled, etc.
Grandchildren Barbara Factor Bentley and Chester Lee Firestein serve on the Board of Directors of nationally acclaimed Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The Factor-Firestein families have also contributed millions to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, including construction of the Max Factor Family Tower of the Cedars-Sinai hospital and Alfred Jay Firestein Diabetes Center.
