Michael F. Blake, a two-time Emmy-winning makeup artist, spent sixty years in the film and television industry before his retirement in 2018. His credits include Westworld, X-Men: First Class, Spider-Man 3, Independence Day, Tough Guys, Soapdish, Police Academy II, The Munster’s Revenge, and Happy Days.

As a child actor, Michael appeared in such television shows as Adam-12, The Lucy Show, The Munsters, Bonanza, Kung Fu, The Red Skelton Show, and Marcus Welby, M.D. A respected film scholar, with a master’s degree from UCLA, Michael’s books on silent screen legend Lon Chaney are the definitive works on the actor. His trilogy served as the basis for the Turner Classic Movies documentary, Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces (2000), in which he was a special consultant and on-camera interviewee. Michael’s books, Code of Honor: The Making of
High Noon, Shane, and The Searchers and Hollywood and the O.K. Corral, have been recognized as important works about the Western film genre.

The Cowboy President: The American West and The Making of Theodore Roosevelt was named by True West Magazine as Best Political Biography for 2018, and won the Will Rogers Gold Medallion Award for Best Biography/Memoir. He followed that up with Go West, Mr. President: Theodore Roosevelt’s 1903 Great Loop Tour, an insightful look into a little-known aspect of the president’s life.

Admission is $15 for non-members and $10 for museum members.

Please RSVP to Katherine.Bartke@SharlotHallMuseum.org