Mel Berns

Mel Berns (born September 27, 1897 in Illinois) was an American make-up artist. He created the makeup for Katharine Hepburn's screentest at RKO Pictures. He was the Head of Makeup at RKO for more than twenty years, creating the makeup for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

He was a lifelong friend of Ginger Rogers, who makes ample reference to their friendship in her autobiography: Ginger: My Story.

He worked extensively in television after leaving RKO, notably the Perry Mason series

The baseball player Babe Ruth had severe scarring from acne on his face. Mel Berns developed makeup for Ruth so that Ruth could feel more comfortable in public. A picture of Ruth and Berns shows Ruth in a smock and Berns applying makeup to his face. The picture is autographed to Berns by Babe Ruth.

He died in California on May 7, 1977.

A partial list of his best known credits include:

• A Bill of Divorcement (1932)
• Morning Glory (1933)
• King Kong (1933)
• Christopher Strong (1933)
• Professional Sweetheart (1933)
• Rafter Romance (1933)
• Little Women (1933)
• Flying Down to Rio (1933)
• The Son of Kong (1933)
• Spitfire (1934)
• The Gay Divorcee (1934)
• Roberta (1935)
• The Nitwits (1935)
• Alice Adams (1935)
• Top Hat (1935)
• Sylvia Scarlett (1935)
• Follow The Fleet (1936)
• Mary of Scotland (1936)
• Swing Time (1936)
• Shall We Dance (1937)
• Stage Door (1937)
• Bringing Up Baby (1938)
• Carefree (1938)
• Bachelor Mother (1939)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
• The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
• Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman (1940)
• Citizen Kane (1941)
• The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
• Mr. Lucky (1943)
• The Curse of the Cat People (1944)