You’ve headed so many major films and worked as a personal makeup artist for more than 20 years. How did you get your start as a makeup artist?
I studied film, art and theater in college at Indiana University. Then I moved from Chicago, where I grew up, to Dallas. I was working as a PA at Channel 13 when I saw a makeup artist working on the newscasters. I remember thinking, “I’m artistic. I should do that!” I went to Los Angeles for the summer and studied with makeup artist Vincent Kehoe. On my flight back fate would have it that I sat next to a low budget film producer. I ended up working with him on three films in the next year and then JFK (directed by Oliver Stone) came to town which I assisted on. Afterwards, I moved to Los Angeles
with my now husband Logan, who was an apprentice editor on JFK. When I got there I called Ron Berkeley, the makeup department head from JFK, and he ended up being a
mentor to me for a number of years. He taught me the basics, not only in the craft, but in set etiquette and professionalism. I honestly credit him for so much of my success. He educated me on the path to becoming a department head and I soaked up his knowledge like a sponge.
How did you come to work on I’m Dying Up Here?
I got a call from the production manager, Mark Tobey. They were looking for a makeup and hair team to do the series. Once he told me it was produced by Jim Carrey and about the lives of stand-up comics in the early 1970s, he had me hooked.
Whose makeup did you do?
Oh man, it was a large cast and my team and I each >> Pick up the Fall 2017 issue to see Kimberly Greene’s complete interview
Words Shannon Levy
Photos Lacey Terrell/Showtime