Max Factor, Sr. 3824820 225985140 2008-07-16T09:36:47Z Cydebot 1215485 Robot - Removing category Jewish businesspeople per [[WP:CFD|CFD]] at [[Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2008 July 8]]. {{Unreferenced|date=February 2008}} '''Max Factor, Sr.''' ([[1877]] - [[August 30]], [[1938]]), born '''Factorowitz''' or '''Faktorowicz''' in [[Łódź]], [[Poland]] (then [[Russian Empire]]), was a [[Category:Polish-American_Jews|Polish-Jewish-American]] businessman and [[cosmetics|cosmetician]] who founded the [[Max Factor|Max Factor Cosmetics Company]]. He is known as the father of modern [[cosmetics]]. Factor’s father was a rabbi and could not afford formal education for his ten children. Aged eight, Factor was placed in [[apprentice]]ship to a [[dentist]]/[[pharmacist]]. He opened his own shop in a suburb of [[Moscow]], selling hand-made [[rouge]]s, creams, [[fragrance]]s, and [[Wig (hair)|wigs]]. His big break came when a traveling theatrical troupe wore Factor’s make-up to perform for Russian nobility. The Russian nobility appointed Factor the official cosmetic expert for the royal family and the [[Imperial Russian Grand Opera]]. In [[1904]], Factor and his family emigrated to the [[United States]]. He and his wife Lisa and three children travelled 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|St. Louis]], [[Missouri]], at the [[Louisiana Purchase Exposition|1904 World’s Fair]]. He sold his rouges and creams, operating under the newly re-spelled name Max Factor. Factor saw an opportunity to provide make-up and wigs to the growing film industry. He moved his family to [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], in 1908. In [[1914]], Factor created a make-up specifically for movie actors that, unlike theatrical make-up, would not crack or cake. Soon, movie stars were filing through Max Factor’s make-up studio, eager to sample the “flexible greasepaint” while [[movie producer]]s 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 keep an eye on the expensive wigs. Factor marketed a range of cosmetics to the public in the [[1920s]], insisting that every girl could look like a movie star by using [[Max Factor]] make-up. Max Factor died at the age of 59 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). ==Family== Famed gangster [[John Factor]] was his younger half-brother. Factor's second son, [[Francis Factor|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]]. Two of Max Factor's great-grandsons, [[Davis Factor, III]] and [[Dean Factor]], founded [[Smashbox Studios]] in [[1991]]. The enterprise expanded to incude 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 descendent, [[Andrew Luster]], is an inmate in prison serving a 126 year sentence for his [[2003]] conviction. Luster is the son of adopted Max Factor granddaughter Elizabeth Friedman-Luster. The Max Factor Family continues their tradition of philanthrophy 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. Grand children [[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]]. {{DEFAULTSORT:Factor, Max Sr.}} [[Category:1877 births]] [[Category:1938 deaths]] [[Category:Cosmetics businesspeople]] [[Category:History of cosmetics]] [[Category:American businesspeople]] [[Category:Polish Jews]] [[Category:Polish-American Jews]] [[Category:People from Łódź]] [[he:מקס פקטור]] [[nl:Max Factor]] [[pl:Max Factor (starszy)]] [[ru:Фактор, Макс]]