Francis Factor (August 18, 1904 – June 7, 1996), also known as Max Factor Jr., was an American businessman who was president of the Max Factor Cosmetics empire.

Early life

He was born Francis Factor in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, the son of

Max Factor Max Factor is a line of cosmetics from Coty, Inc. It was founded in 1909 as Max Factor & Company by Max Factor, Sr., Maksymilian Faktorowicz. Max Factor specialized in movie make-up. Until its 1973 sale for US$500 million (approximately $ billio ...

, a

Polish-Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...

businessman and cosmetics pioneer. Known as "Frank," his family moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, in 1908 where he began working in the family business while still a boy.

Career

Because Max Factor was recovering from being hit by a delivery van at the time, Frank Factor took the lead over the two years that it took to develop a suitable make-up for use with the newly developed

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

film. This make-up was released to the film industry under the name "Pan-Cake". It was immediately a hit and its advantages led to women stealing it from the film sets and using it privately. Its only disadvantage for every day use was that it could not be used at night as it made the skin too dark under all except under the powerful lights used in film studios. While his father wanted to reserve the product for film use, Frank Factor was open to the commercial possibilities and began developing lighter shades. At the time the company was only able to produce enough to meet studio demand which until production could be increased delayed commercial release until 1937. Backed by a colour based national advertising campaign, it immediately became the fastest and largest selling single make-up item to date, as well as the standard make-up used in all Technicolor films. After his father's death in 1938, Frank Factor legally changed his name to Max Factor Jr. and as president expanded the still private cosmetics firm, along with members of the immediate family. He was heavily involved with the development of new products, particularly "Tru-Color" released in 1940 as the first smear-proof lipstick.

Personal life

Max Factor Jr. was married in 1933 to Mildred “Milly” Cohen with whom he remained for thirty-seven years until her death in 1970. The couple raced

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

horses for many years. He had a home in the Deep Well neighborhood of

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

. Factor died in 1996 and was interred in the

Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery The Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary is a Jewish cemetery located at 6001 West Centinela Avenue, in Culver City, California. Many Jews from the entertainment industry are buried here. The cemetery is known for Al Jolson's elaborate tomb (design ...

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...

.''Forever LA''
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Factor, Max Jr. American cosmetics businesspeople American chief executives of fashion industry companies 1904 births 1996 deaths American businesspeople in retailing American retail chief executives American people of Polish-Jewish descent American racehorse owners and breeders California people in fashion Businesspeople from Los Angeles Businesspeople from St. Louis Businesspeople from Palm Springs, California Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery 20th-century American businesspeople