Caption:

A reference photograph of Roy Ashton (1909-1995) working on a plaster cast head in his make-up room, taken by an unknown photographer in 1963. The model head Ashton is based on actor Kiwi Kingston, who played the Creature in 'The Evil of Frankenstein' (1964). This photograph is from the Ashton & Leakey Collection. Roy Ashton and Phil Leakey (1908-1992) worked for Hammer Films during the 1950s and 1960s. They were pioneers of special effects make-up - using cosmetics and prosthetics to transform an actor's appearance. Hammer Film Productions was founded in 1947. Initially, it made low-budget movies based on popular television and radio series, such as Quatermass. In 1957, it released the first colour gothic horror film, 'The Curse Of Frankenstein', which was an enormous succes. During the 1950s and 1960s it went on to produce a series of popular gothic horror films for which it has become renowned.