Roy Ashton
| Roy Ashton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
17 April 1909 Perth, Western Australia |
| Died | 10 January 1995 (aged 85) Farnham, Surrey, England |
| Occupation | Make-up artist; tenor |
Howard Roy Ashton (17 April 1909 – 10 January 1995) was an Australian tenor, associated for a while with Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group, and make-up artist who became particularly associated with his work on the Hammer Horror films.
Ashton was born, the youngest of four sons, in Perth, and grew up in Menzies, Western Australia, where his father, Howard White Ashton, was in charge of the local bank, handling accounts of prospectors in the last great Australian gold rush. His mother was a talented pianist and singer: Dame Nellie Melba had offered to take her to England to join her opera company, but on condition that she remained single. Ashton won a scholarship to Perth Modern School, where his talent for art and music blossomed. He then studied architecture, and worked as an illustrator of architectural subjects. With the Great Depression, Ashton was made redundant. In the spring of 1932 he decided to travel to England to improve his prospects, and joined the crew of a tramp steamer to get there.
Once in London, Ashton enrolled at The Central School of Arts and Crafts. In 1933 he applied for, and was accepted, for an apprenticeship with the Gaumont-British Film Corporation. His first film, for which he designed and made wigs, was Tudor Rose (1936), followed by The Man Who Changed His Mind with Boris Karloff. His final film with Gaumont was Doctor Syn (1937). He then worked freelance, being involved in a number of productions by London Films including Prison Without Bars (1939), the first in which he was in charge of make-up. Ashton later confessed that his "real love" remained music, and he only applied himself to the craft of make-up, "an occupation that I did not really enjoy", to ensure he had a stable means of earning a living "[h]aving tasted the sadness of unemployment" while in Australia.
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