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. His latest book, Go West, Mr. President: Theodore Roosevelt’s 1903 Great Loop Tour, offers an insightful look into a little-known aspect of the president’s life.
Michael has provided audio commentary for several Lon Chaney films, as well as appeared in documentaries about John Ford, Irving Thalberg, and Max Factor. He has written articles for Wild West, American Cinematographer, True West, Roundup, and Los Angeles Times. Western Writers of America awarded him their Stirrup Award for his articles about the making of The Searchers in 2017, and in 2020 about Theodore Roosevelt’s efforts to preserve the Grand Canyon.