Paul LeBlanc

Oscar-winning Canadian make-up artist. A hairdresser from the age of eighteen, LeBlanc graduated from the New Brunswick Institute of Technology before moving to Toronto as a wig maker. He first worked in the film industry as a hair stylist in 1974. Within a decade, he had established a strong reputation for designing individual styles to complement the specific characters of his clientele. Actresses Susan Sarandon (Lorenzo's Oil (1992), Twilight (1998), Stepmom (1998)) and Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct (1992), The Quick and the Dead (1995), Casino (1995)) counted among his most frequent collaborations. He also worked on the Coen brothers films O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) and The Ladykillers (2004). Other notable credits as hair designer/stylist included Mississippi Burning (1988), The Mask of Zorro (1998) and Black Swan (2010). Popularly, LeBlanc's best-known creations were Princess Leia's long braids (as Jabba's slave and on Endor) for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) and Javier Bardem's sinister bowl-cut for No Country for Old Men (2007). The latter, he explained, was fashioned after medieval Crusaders "when knights and Muslims were murdering each other, and this was a typical haircut. It was a dangerous time and we wanted to make Javier timeless and dangerous at first sight." LeBlanc was co-recipient (with fellow make-up artist Dick Smith) of both an Academy Award and a BAFTA for his work on Amadeus (1984). In 2003, he also received a lifetime achievement award from the Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild. Four years later he set up Studio Paul LeBlanc in his home town of Dieppe. Latterly, he published two books of reminiscences about his tenure in the film industry, entitled "You Can Get There From Here" and "Moving On".