Keester Sweeney; Longtime Makeup Artist for MGM

Keester Sweeney, 85, MGM makeup artist who prepared such stars as Jeanette MacDonald, Judy Garland, Greta Garbo and Fred Astaire for the cameras. Sent to MGM as a temporary assistant when he was a UCLA art student, Sweeney stayed for more than a quarter-century. He became the favorite makeup artist of actors such as Greer Garson, Lena Horne, Kathryn Grayson, Mario Lanza and Doris Day, and was sent around the world on location. He went to Egypt to make up Robert Taylor for “Valley of the Kings,” and South America to ready Audrey Hepburn for “Green Mansions” and Grace Kelly and Stewart Granger for “Green Fire.” Sweeney considered the makeup for “The Greatest Story Ever Told” with Max Von Sydow his most important work. Active in the Christian Church in Santa Monica, Pasadena and Laguna Hills, Sweeney frequently did makeup and beards for performers in religious dramas. He ended his career as head makeup artist for the TV series “Gilligan’s Island” and “Hawaii 5-0.” On Jan. 1 in Lake Forest, Calif.