Johnny Depp Receives Artisan Award from Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild

Even in an awards season where every group seems to present trophies in every category of filmmaking, the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards stand out.

The group gave Johnny Depp – who showed up to receive his award – their inaugural Distinguished Artisan Award Saturday night at a black-tie ceremony at the Paramount Studios Theater in L.A.

Also announced were winners of its Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists awards in 14 categories of film, television, commercials and live theater.

Johnny Depp received his prize from Oscar-Winning Make-Up Artist Joel Harlow, who is currently nominated for an Academy Award for his weird and wacky hair and make-up creations for “The Lone Ranger,” and he also worked on creating Depp’s transformational Keith Richards’ look in “The Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise.

Depp’s face has now been encased and lacquered in so many movie roles like “Edward Scissorhands,” “The Lone Ranger,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” that’s it’s almost a shock to see how beautiful his face still is without all the disguises.

Other special prizes included Oscar-winner Gail Ryan, who received the Hair Stylists Lifetime Achievement Award, from Benicio Del Toro. Oscar winner Dick Smith received the Make-Up Artists Lifetime Achievement.

Presenters for this year’s awards included Jane Lynch (“Glee”), Johnny Knoxville (“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa”), June Squibb (“Nebraska”), Ed Asner (“Up,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”), Nicollette Sheridan (“Desperate Housewives”), Tippi Hedren (“The Birds”), Joelle Carter (“Justified”), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (“Pompeii”), Melissa Leo (“Prisoners”), Kat Graham (“The Vampire Diaries”), and Camilla Luddington (“Grey’s Anatomy”).

I was happy to see that Kathrine Gordon and Michelle Johnson, responsible for one of the biggest coif achievements this season for “American Hustle,” were honored with the best period and/or character hair styling award.

The opening scene of the David O. Russell comedy-drama, where Christian Bale’s character glues a hair piece to his scalp that looks like a small squirrel, and which gives the illusion of hair, becomes a metaphor for all the fraud and deception that will later be perpetrated by the key characters.

WINNERS FOR THE MAKE-UP ARTISTS AND HAIR STYLISTS GUILD AWARDS:

FEATURE LENGTH MOTION PICTURE (FEATURE FILMS)

BEST CONTEMPORARY HAIR STYLING:

Lee Daniels’ The Butler – Candace Neal, Robert Stevenson

BEST CONTEMPORARY MAKE-UP:

Prisoners – Donald Mowat, Pamela Westmore

BEST PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER HAIR STYLING:

American Hustle – Kathrine Gordon, Michelle Johnson

BEST PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER MAKE-UP:

Dallas Buyers Club – Robin Mathews

BEST SPECIAL MAKE-UP EFFECTS:

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa – Stephen Prouty, Tony Gardner

TELEVISION and NEW MEDIA SERIES (Episodic Television)

BEST CONTEMPORARY HAIR STYLING:

The Voice – Shawn Finch, Jerilynn Stephens

BEST CONTEMPORARY MAKE-UP:

Breaking Bad – Tarra Day, Steve LaPorte

BEST PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER HAIR STYLING:

Vikings – Dee Corcoran

BEST PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER MAKE-UP:

Boardwalk Empire – Michele Paris

BEST SPECIAL MAKE-UP EFFECTS:

The Walking Dead – Greg Nicotero, Jake Garber

TELEVISION MINI-SERIES or MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION (M.O.W) – CABLE NETWORK/M.O.W.s

BEST PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER HAIR STYLING:

Behind the Candelabra – Marie Larkin, Yvette Stone

BEST PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER MAKE-UP:

Behind the Candelabra – Kate Biscoe, Deborah Rutherford, Hiroshi Yada

THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS (LIVE STAGE – LIVE THEATER)

BEST MAKE-UP/HAIR STYLING:

Magic Flute – Darren Jinks, Samantha Wootten, Brandi Strona

COMMERCIALS

BEST CONTEMPORARY MAKE-UP:

Wash the Day Away (Delta) – Tyson Fountaine, Brian Penikas

The Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild (IATSE, Local 706) was chartered in November 1937. Today, membership includes over 1,800 artisans in the entertainment industry worldwide. Local 706 members are make-up artists and hair stylists who have created the looks for Hollywood’s most memorable characters and stars of stage, screen, television and now the Internet.