Alvin ‘Al’ Schultz, a Hollywood makeup artist, has died at age 82. Schultz was the top CBS makeup artist on hit shows such as The Carol Burnett Show and many more sitcoms by Norman Lear (All in the Family, Maude), according to Deadline.
Deadline continues that Schultz was married to Vicki Lawrence (The Carol Burnett Show, Mama’s Family) for about 50 years. They first met during production on The Carol Burnett Show, where Lawrence starred as various characters and would later lead as Thelma ‘Mama’ Crowley Harper in Mama’s Family. This year, the two would have celebrated 50 years of marriage.
Born in Wisconsin, Schultz began his life in 1942. To start his Hollywood career, he moved to Los Angeles and found a grip and camera dolly operator job before shifting to work as a makeup artist. Schultz’s makeup artist career took off once he joined the third season of The Carol Burnett Show in 1969, where he worked with the show’s makeup department until 1977 for upwards of 180 episodes, per Deadline.
Thriving in the makeup department, Schultz was the youngest person promoted to Head of West Coast CBS Makeup in 1972 at age 30. As head of the makeup department, Schultz continued through the 1970s working on Lear’s hit sitcoms, such as The Jeffersons, Maude, Good Times, Mary Hartman and All in the Family. Schultz also lent his makeup talents to the variety hour series The Sonny and Cher Show via Deadline.
Deadline continued to share that Schultz “worked on Laugh-In, The Merv Griffin Show, Hollywood Squares, The Dean Martin Show, The Tim Conway Comedy Hour — led by the longtime Carol Burnett Show regular — The Lily Tomlin Show and TV movies Once Upon a Mattress and The Easter Promise.”
While Schultz’s death was announced today, June 25, 2024, his publicist confirmed that Schultz passed away on June 19 at his Long Beach, CA home, with no cause of death specifics given, reported Deadline.