Allan "Whitey" Snyder

Allan "Whitey" Snyder was a leading Hollywood make-up artist and is most famous for being the personal make-up artist of Marilyn Monroe.

Background

Allan Snyder was born on 7 August 1914 in California, USA. He died aged seventy-nine on 16 April 1994, in Hansville, Washington, USA.

Marilyn Monroe

Whitey Snyder was Marilyn Monroe's makeup artist throughout her career: from her first screen test at Twentieth Century Fox in 1946 to her funereal makeup in 1962. The pair developed a very close working relationship.

Towards the end of her life, Monroe asked Snyder to prepare her face if she were to die before him. This was a promise that he fulfilled, after her death in 1962. Snyder was also a pall-bearer at the funeral.

Career

Allan Snyder had a long and immensely successful career as a film make-up artist, beginning in 1948, with his appointment as assistant make-up artist on the film The Walls of Jericho. His last project was the 1984 television series, "Highway to Heaven." For his work, Snyder was twice nominated for Primetime Emmy awards, under the category of Outstanding Achievement in Make-Up. These nominations came in 1978, for his work on the TV Biopic "" and in 1981, for "The Little House on the Prairie (TV series)".