Memory Alpha
Register
Advertisement
Memory Alpha
Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)
Werner Keppler applying makeup to Kelley

Werner Keppler adjusting the makeup of DeForest Kelley

Werner Keppler (born 24 May 1929; age 94) was a make-up artist on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and on the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also worked as Michael Westmore's assistant designer on The Next Generation and is the father of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and The Next Generation special make-up artist Rolf John Keppler.

In 1983 Keppler shared a Saturn Award nomination for best make-up in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan with fellow make-up artist James Lee McCoy. In 1988 he was nominated for two Emmy Awards for outstanding achievement in make-up for a series for the TNG episodes "Conspiracy" and "Coming of Age" alongside Michael Westmore and Gerald Quist in the previous one and Westmore, Quist, and his son in the latter one. The team won the award for the episode "Coming of Age".

Prior to his work on TNG, Keppler was also nominated for Emmy Awards for outstanding achievement in make-up for V (1983, with Richard Herd), The Mystic Warrior (1984, starring Robert Beltran and featuring Ned Romero, Ron Soble and music by Gerald Fried), V: The Final Battle (1984, with Richard Herd and Dick Miller and music by Dennis McCarthy), and Alice in Wonderland (1986).

Keppler has done make-up for the films The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972, starring Michael Sarrazin, Cliff Potts, and Alan Oppenheimer), Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973, with France Nuyen and Paul Williams and cinematography by Richard H. Kline), The Last Starfighter (1984, alongside Brian Wade, Rick Stratton, and Gerald Solomon, and starring Barbara Bosson, Marc Alaimo, Meg Wyllie, and Wil Wheaton), and Hook (1991, working with Janna Phillips, Ve Neill, and Monty Westmore, with hair stylist Norma Lee).

He has also provided the make-up and the make-up design of the television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1981, starring Tim O'Connor, Eric Server, and Felix Silla), MacGyver (1989, episode Cleo Rocks, starring Teri Hatcher and working with Michael Westmore), and ER.

In 2007 he was interviewed in the documentary Changing Faces, a behind-the-scenes look of the production Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy in 1997. Fellow make-up artist who were also interviewed are Barney Burman, Edward French, Janna Phillips, Craig Reardon, and Karen Westerfield.

External link[]

Advertisement