They Called Her The Beauty Who Created One Of The Most Legendary Monsters In American Cinema, But For Years, Someone Else Took Credit For Her Work
It’s rare to find someone who has never heard of Creature from the Black Lagoon, the iconic 1954 horror film.
Of course, one of the movie’s best parts is the creature itself, the ‘Gill-man,’ with his scaly face and body. Did you know that the person who created the creature’s original design was a woman?
For years, people were led to believe that the film’s make-up artist, Bud Westmore, was responsible for the Gill-man’s creation.
However, the first person to draw him up was Milicent Patrick, an actress, make-up artist, and Disney animator. The Gill-man’s body and head were sculpted by Jack Kevan and Chris Mueller Jr.
During the production process, Bud Westmore would supposedly kick his design team out of the studio so that photographs could be taken of him pretending to work on the Gill-man!
There are photos of what the Gill-man would have looked like before Milicent came in and designed the iconic creature we know today, and it does not live up to par.
Milicent’s drawing of the beast elevated it to the next level. It wasn’t until after Bud Westmore’s death that Milicent and other creatives from the film came forward to announce that she was the brains behind the design.
Milicent Patrick was born Mildred Elizabeth Fulvia di Rossi in El Paso, Texas, in 1915. Her family moved to California when she was six-years-old.
She briefly attended the Glendale Community College before choosing to study at the Chouinard Art Institute, where she developed her skills in drawing and illustration.
ehrlif – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
Designing the Gill-man wasn’t Milicent’s only historical career move. She began working at Walt Disney Studios in 1939 and, after one year, became one of the first female animators to work there. Some of her animation work can be seen in Fantasia, Dumbo, and Night on Bald Mountain.
After her time at Disney, Milicent had a brief acting and modeling career before meeting Bud Westmore, who became her boss at Universal Studios.
She worked in the special effects make-up department and did work on some great films like Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Mole People.
It was 1953 when Milicent began drawing designs of the Gill-man for Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Her design was so iconic that Universal Studios wanted to send her on a press tour to talk about the film called “The Beauty Who Created The Beast.” Yet Bud Westmore told Milicent to give him all the credit for the creature’s design on tour.
Bud Westmore ended up being the only make-up artist credited in the film. However, Chris Mueller and Ben Chapman, one of the actors who wore the Gill-man’s costume, both stated in interviews that Milicent designed the creature and that Bud had nothing to do with it.
Milicent was let go from Universal Studios, presumably due to Bud Westmore’s jealousy. Unfortunately, she never worked behind the scenes for the rest of her career and returned to taking small acting roles.
In 1963, she married voice actor Lee Trent. Although they divorced after six years, they reportedly continued to have an on-and-off relationship.
Milicent was diagnosed with both breast cancer and Parkinson’s disease in her final years and died on February 24th, 1998. She was 82-years-old.
Although she was most certainly robbed of recognition during her impressive career, Milicent’s legacy as the true designer for one of the most legendary monsters in American cinema lives on as authors and researchers continue to uncover her story.
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