BEAUTICIAN UEMURA DIES

Hollywood make-up artist SHU UEMURA has died. He was 79.

Uemura - a native of Japan - died of pneumonia on 29 December (07).

He started his career as an assistant on a U.S. movie, but his big break came in 1962 on My Geisha starring Shirley MacLaine.

Over the next few years he became the make-up artist of choice among Hollywood actresses, as well as Frank Sinatra and actor Edward G. Robinson.

Returning to Tokyo in the 1960s, he launched a skin-cleansing oil followed by a range of make-up focused on fashion trends.

He changed the company's name to Shu Uemura in 1982 and went on to open stores in cities including Paris, New York and London.