ALAN ST. GEORGE, Facemakers, Inc. * Savanna

Since March 1972, the creations of Mr. & Mrs. Alan St. George have made an unforgettable and historic impact on the performing arts around the world. A bio-sketch of this amazing couple who create is under construction beginning April 24, 2005.

FACEMAKERS, INC, since 1972

Facemakers, Inc: The World's Largest Selection of Animal and Character Mascots

News about FACEMAKERS, INC. in The Montana Standard, February, 2005:

The New York Times, October 2004:

Alan St. George, founder and president of Facemakers, Inc., has combined a classical training in art from The Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, (Walt Disney attended as a youth) with a hobby of creating famous monsters of filmland make-up effects. Without the benefit of any formal business training, education or experience, and heedless of his father's caution (a tool and die-maker from the Chicago suburbs) that "you can't eat costumes" he embarked at age 19 on a career in mascot-making that has endured for 32 years. Begun in 1972, Facemakers, Inc., is now the premier mascot company in America, employing over 20 full-time employees in the rural town of Savanna, Illinois, and shipping "the world's largest selection of mascots" to every corner of the globe. Clients include The White House, The Olympics, Disney, and thousands of high schools and universities.

St. George recalls the company's birth: "One day I entered a costume contest at midnight, downtown Chicago at the old Oriental Theatre, staged to promote the opening of 'Tales from the Crypt.' That was March 9, 1972. I spent four hours turning myself into a werewolf with rubber prosthetic appliances that I had spent weeks sculpting, casting and coloring. These I glued onto my face with spirit gum and surgical adhesive. Layers of grease paint and crepe wool hair were added. Then I completed the costume with a 70's disco shirt, black trousers, and special paws I had made out of surgeon's gloves, artificial fingernails and more hair and greasepaint. I remember that the parking garage attendant, a 6'3" man of heavy build wouldn't come and park my car...he just literally hid behind one of the giant concrete supporting pillars. Then at the theatre, the ticket-taker screamed and waved me in without selling me a ticket. That built up my confidence. When I came into the lobby, a reporter from the Chicago Sun-Times posed me next to a coffin and snapped my picture. It showed up in the newspaper the next day, under the headline, Monsters on Loose in Loop." This was big stuff for a 19 year old kid from the suburbs. The newspaper article landed me a job promoting the movie, "FROGS!" A terrible AIP film starring Ray Milland. I made the frog costume for the promotion, and the rest is history."

From a truly loving wife and business partner in Facemakers, Inc. of Savanna, Illinois, USA:

We married in 1975, and came to Savanna in May of 1976. We started buying houses around us, thinking that, as the business grew, we could move various aspects of Facemakers into them. In fact, we filled the house behind Havencrest with workers, until it was rather bursting at the seams, so to speak.

In late 1988, just as we were contemplating which department should move to one of the other buildings, the Avenue School was put up for auction, and it was rumored to be slated for destruction, because its location was perfect for a fast food restaurant. We won the auction, primarily to save the building, and quickly realized that we could move Facemakers into it, and have room left for an art centre. It took almost three years to restore, refurbish and redecorate, but we opened our theatre there, in 1990. Every performance benefited some local charity, from the hospital to the Carroll County Humane Society, which I founded decades ago.

In 1991 we produced an original play, ("Alva!"), which attracted the attention of "Theatre Week", a periodical out of New York, who, for the first time in their history, sent an editor to an amateur theatre to do a review. It was quite positive, and we began a series of presentations that continued through 2000 when health issues made it necessary to end our programs, there. Since then, Facemakers has expanded into a number of the spaces, with plans to pursue that course.

In 1993 we tripled the size of the house, creating more guest rooms and rooms for entertainment, including a grand ballroom. Since then we have been involved in designing and decorating those rooms, in a manner in keeping with our mission statement of creating an example of the way American aristocracy lived, at the turn of the century.

Each room is a fresh canvas, a potential exhibition site for Mr. St. George's talents. His paintings and sculptures are the centrepieces for each space.

Visiting our website: http://www.facemakersincorporated.com might be beneficial, especially regarding things like "client list".

Truly,

Mrs. St. George

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