The Zodiac Killer’s Brother Wears Make-Up

It was just another normal day at Visage Studio sometime ago in the 90’s. RIINNGGG… “Hello, Visage Studio, can I help you?” A man named William asked if we did prosthetic make-up. Although this was not my specialty, at that point I my life, I was willing to be a bit of a make-up “whore”.

Anyway, I figured if I out priced my services, he would take a pass. Being under-experienced and overly confident I said “yes”. “Can you make me look like the Zodiac Killer?”, he asked. Why I said, “Of course, we do this sort of application all the time, but it will cost you $500.” “That’s fine, he said.” WHAT! Before I knew it, I had committed to a date and time at my Studio to make William look like someone who had terrorized my childhood!

Calling in the forces, I was not about to take this on alone. A friend of mine who digs this sort of thing (not serial killers, prosthetic make-up jobs), agreed to help me out. We were sent a police composite drawing of the “Z” and asked to make the prosthetics from this.

William arrived on time, dressed like a gentleman with his partner in crime who just happened to be some sort of sheriff, gun and camera in tow. This was starting to feel very “David Lynchian” to me, but I went with it. He was older, very poised and polite with a seemingly colorful, yet normal background.

He was an attorney and had written a book on WWII, which he proceeded to give me an autographed copy. I asked him why he wanted to look like the Zodiac Killer and he said he had always been fascinated with him. We completed our task and collected payment. The “Sheriff” took photos and they went on their way. Harmless…

A couple of weeks later, I was at my local San Francisco TV station (I freelanced quite often at that time doing celebrity makeup work). I was holding court in the make-up room, which housed a little monitor so that I could check my makeup work from time to time. All of a sudden I heard, NEWS FLASH… “Bay Area Man Claims To Be The Zodiac Killer’s Brother.” News at 11. Yes, it was my man William. Little did I know what was to follow later that year. Let’s just say I was starting to get a reputation for specializing in serial killer’s relatives.

I did make-up services on who’s mother?! Stay tuned…