Syd Pearson working on a plaster cast head

A reference photograph of Syd Pearson working on a plaster cast head of Prudence Hyman taken by an unknown photographer in 1964. Pearson is working on the cast to create the special effects make-up required for Megaera, in 'The Gorgon' (1964).

Roy Ashton (1909–95) and Phil Leakey (1908–92) were master make-up artists who worked on many of the British cult horror films of the mid-20th century. A trained artist, Australia-born Ashton began his career at Gaumont-British Film Corporation in 1932 as a means of supplementing his passion for opera singing. In 1955, Ashton became the assistant to Hammer Films’ Phil Leakey, the first makeup artist to receive on-screen credit for ‘Special Make-up Effects’.