Today from the Mehron Blog Archives we reach back to a post that was originally published on June 26, 2009 commemorating the Founder of Mehron, Mehron Melik who passed from this earth on June 25, 1977. The June 26, 2009 Blog was titled, A Date to Remember, it read:
June 25th, 2009 was a day that culminated three days of announcements about the deaths of three iconic Professional Performers. June 23, 2009 the announcement of the passing of Ed McMahon was made, June 25th the passing of Farrah Fawcett was announced and the final unexpected announcement that Michael Jackson had died was also made on the same afternoon. June 25, 2009 was a sad day for the Entertainment Industry, losing three distinctly different Professional Performers who each left the earth a prolific body of work. These three days will be remembered for years to come as the deaths of these Professional Performers are commemorated. Mehron Makeup will also commemorate the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson by adding the memory of each of them to the commemoration that occurs at Mehron Makeup every June 25th.
As fate would have it another foundation of the Entertainment Industry departed this earth on June 25th. On June 25th, 1977, Mehron Melik passed from this earth. Fifty years previously in 1927, Mehron Melik founded a Company literally with his own hands. In 1927 Mehron began creating Performance Makeup by hand with personally selected ingredients in a loft off Broadway in New York City. Mr. Melik's neighbors in 1927 were the Professional Performers of the Stage, Theater, Opera, Vaudeville, the Circus and the infancy of the Film Industry. Mehron saw the needs of his neighbors and used his knowledge and expertise in blending components to create a durable, affordable makeup that could be used by Performers who worked in all the various fields of public performance.
In 1927 Makeup Artist was not a recognized profession. The Performers themselves applied their makeup until Mehron Melik sent the Mehron Ladies to instruct the Performers in the proper way to apply Mehron Theatrical Makeup. Each day Mehron formulated theatrical makeup packing it carefully in the makeup bags of the Mehron Ladies and dispatched them to the dressing rooms of theaters throughout New York City. In this way Mehron Makeup was delivered fresh to Performers throughout the New York Entertainment Industry. Decades later Mehron was still hand delivering Makeup to the new hot live entertainment cities of Miami and Havana, Cuba.
Mehron Melik was a foundational block in the growth of Professional Entertainment even though he neither sang, danced or performed professionally, the Make Up that he manufactured by hand performed in all venues. Of particular interest to Mehron was Clown Makeup. Many of his neighbors performed as Professional Clowns, who in those days were the performers who applied the most makeup the most often. Mehron developed and formulated an easy to apply Clown White that was affordable, long lasting, did not fry of chap the skin, yet was easy to remove night after night. Mehron Clown White along with other Mehron Makeup became a staple at the The Greatest Show on Earth, The Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus. Decades after Mehron Melik created the world's Whitest Clown White Makeup, Mehron Makeup Company was making special palette of Clown Makeup for the incoming Freshman attending The Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus official Clown College located in the State of Florida in the USA.
You may not be able to hum a tune that Mehron Melik has written, or watch a film in which he starred, but throughout your life you have been witness to Mr. Melik's contribution to the World of Entertainment. Throughout your life Mehron Melik's products have been a part of your Entertainment Viewing from the Clowns that you hid under your seats from when you were a tot, to the Feature Films like Farrah Fawcett starred in and right through to the Performers in Music Videos that were made an Entertainment Standard by Michael Jackson.
In the mid 1970's the careers of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson were surging towards their pinnacles just as Mehron Melik was winding down his leadership of the Company that he founded in 1927. Mr. Melik was fortunate to have a son, Martin who would take over the helm of Mehron Makeup and continue to serve the Professional Performers of the Entire Entertainment Industry while expanding the product line to include almost all aspects of Makeup, from everyday makeup to Special Effects Makeup. Unlike the legacies that Ms. Fawcett and Mr. Jackson leave behind, Mehron Melik left behind a legacy that continues to grow and expand under the guidance of a second generation of hands on leadership.
Fate has determined that June 25 shall be the day to commemorate the life, work and creations of many who have departed the earth on that date. Fate has also determined that the Memory of Three Entertainment creators shall be memorialized on June 25th.
