William Tuttle was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in the year 1911. At the tender age of 15, he was forced to leave school in order to earn a living and support his mother and younger brother, Thomas Tuttle. His early exposure to music ultimately led him to work with comedy teams, a burlesque orchestra, and eventually his own band.
As he grew older, he made the bold decision to move to Hollywood, California, at the age of 18. It was here that he began his journey in the film industry, eventually landing a job at Fox studios. Under the guidance of Jack Dawn, the head of makeup at Twentieth-Century Pictures, Tuttle honed his skills and became an apprentice. When Twentieth Century Pictures closed down for the summer in 1934, Tuttle made the most of the opportunity and joined MGM to continue his apprenticeship.
After completing his apprenticeship, Fox Studios recognized Tuttle's exceptional talent and hired him as a makeup artist. He worked on three films for Fox before making the decision to return to MGM, where he would spend the next 35 years of his career. For eight years, he worked as an assistant to Jack Dawn, who had by then become the head makeup artist at MGM. Following Jack's retirement, Tuttle took on the role of head of the makeup department for over 20 years.
William Tuttle's creative genius was showcased in his work on The Time Machine (1960),a film in which he collaborated with Charles H. Schram. The idea for the Morlocks' fur came to him while visiting the San Diego Zoo, where he was inspired by the fur of an East African species of monkey. His outstanding work on George Pal's 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) earned him an honorary Oscar in April 1965.
Throughout his illustrious career, Tuttle has also taught at the USC film school and created his own line of cosmetics, Custom Color Cosmetics.
