At Sterling Opera House in Derby
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| Heather and her portraits of Lon Chaney |
By Steve DiRienzo
Vice President
Valley Arts Council
Painter and craft artist Heather Dailey-Mezzacappa created a series of three
striking portraits of Lon Chaney Sr. for the Valley Arts Council's Sterling Opera House Portrait Project.
Her paintings feature him in character as the famous “Phantom of the Opera” and as the tragic
clown in “He Who Gets Slapped”.
The
third and largest of the three is of the famous “Man of a Thousand Faces” as
himself, in a seldom seen moment out of character.
Together the three portraits, done in acrylic on
canvas, fill the window space and are quite eye-catching.
“I’m a huge fan of
the classic horror genre,” Dailey-Mezzacappa said. “What
drew me to the character the most was the fact that he literally suffered for
his art.”
That is a nod to the fact the Senior Chaney endured grueling hours under
heavy prosthetics and makeup, which contorted his features causing great
discomfort and pain, all for the sake of his audience, she said.
“Ironically, most of the characters he played were grotesque,
flawed creatures on the outside, but yet very human and genuine beings on the
inside,” Dailey-Mezzacappa added.
“Another little known fact is that both of his
parents were deaf,” she said. “This aided his acting abilities in the silent
films of the era because he knew the art of communicating without speaking.”
All of these traits added up to make the actor just
as interesting as the roles he played, she said.
