Another notable success came in 1948 when he devised the make-up that Alec Guinness used to portray Fagin in David Lean's film of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist.
It will include David Lean's Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948), as well as rarely seen silent adaptations like Scrooge - or Marley's Ghost (1901) and David Copperfield (1913).
This led to work with legendary British director DavidLean on the Oscar-winning Ryan's Daughter, and at around the same time he also worked with two 20th Century icons in Sinatra and Elvis.
DavidLean wouldn't be allowed to make movies today, John Ford would be forced to turn John Wayne into a 30-something failure-to-launch hipster whose big moment is missing the toilet in the vomit scene in Hangover Ten.
Perhaps some of the ultra-lean approaches described by leading early-stage VCs like David Grainger (blog here) of Index Ventures and Bruce Booth (blog here) of Atlas will prove out, and introduce at least a ray of optimism into this vital but existentially challenged space.
The cathedral's dean, the Very Reverend Jonathan Lean, said he hoped that restoring the shrine to St David would encourage even more visitors to come to Wales' smallest city.