The Optical

Speaking of makeup man John Chambers, in our latest episode covering Planet of the Apes, he may have been involved in contributing another ape-like makeup for a famous film.

Filmmaker John Landis recalled a time when, as a mailboy at Fox during production of Beneath the Planet of the Apes, he would peek inside the makeup lab. “I know a secret that only six people know,” revealed Landis. “There’s a famous piece of eight-millimeter film of Bigfoot walking in the woods that was touted as the real thing. It was just a suit, however, made by John [Chambers] for a David L. Wolper documentary.”

— Cinefex 71 (September 1997), page 172, from the article “John Chambers: Maestro of Makeup” by Scott Essman