Charles Revson
Encyclopedia
Charles Haskell Revson was a pioneering cosmetics
industry executive who created and managed Revlon
through five decades.
, Massachusetts
, near Boston
, Massachusetts
. He was raised in Manchester, New Hampshire
, after his family immigrated from Canada
to the United States
. His father Samuel Revson was born in Lithuania
and of a Russian Jewish heritage. His mother Jeanette Weiss Revson was born in Austro-Hungary of German Jewish ancestry. His parents emigrated to Boston in the late 19th century, where they had eight other children. Jeanette died young of pneumonia
in the 1920s. Jeanette Weiss Revson parent's, Saul J. and Mary Ella Greenberg Weiss, influenced and shaped many of their offspring to either marry or give birth to visionary, ambitious, and glamorous fashion, film, real estate, banking, cosmetic, and industrial icons in the 20th century. Many of the Weiss family descendants exhibited creativity that was tenaciously promoted and underscored by both perfectionism and aestheticism that was evident in Charles Revson's career. Revson, like many other Weiss family descendants, disassociated from most of the family of origin to fiercely create an autonomous identity. Yet, there were his maternal uncles and aunts, who impacted the lives of so many less fortunate family members to polish their images and achieve unparalleled standards of excellence that influenced him at a young age.
Revson's father worked as a cigar
roller in Manchester, not far from where the Revsons lived in the Squog Area, a French-Canadian neighborhood that was part of Manchester's "Little Canada
". Charles Revson's parents, Samuel and Jeanette Weiss Revson, were struggling factory workers with their family of three sons. Revson moved to Boston to live with Weiss family members after graduating from Manchester High School West
.
, offering a wider variety of colors than had been currently available. It was marketed through beauty salon
s and, later, department stores. Revlon Cosmetics then introduced matching lipstick
s and entered the perfume
and fragrance market with great success. Revson served as president of the firm from 1932 to 1962, and then as chairman until his death in 1975.
led to the duplication of the producers' and sponsors' dubious methods to ensure a large viewership.
Steve Carlin, executive producer of Entertainment Productions, Inc., which produced The $64,000 Question and The $64,000 Challenge, was called to testify before Congress about the rigging of the TV quiz shows. He said that Revlon demanded the shows be rigged to ensure high ratings. "There is a tradition in television...of trying to please the client," Carlin testified. "We were willing to please the client." Though they testified, neither Charles nor Martin Revson ever became the subjects of an official inquiry. By the time the quiz show phenomenon was over, killed by the revelations, Revlon had vastly increased its market share and was established as an international behemoth in its niche.
Cosmetics, however, was phenomenally successful, and when Revson died, he reportedly was a billionaire
.
. His nephew, son of Martin Revson, Peter Revson
, and Formula One
racecar driver, predeceased him in 1974. Peter Revson's younger brother Doug Revson died before him in a racecar accident in Denmark in 1967. Peter was engaged to 1973 Miss World
, Marjorie Wallace
14 days before his fatal accident in practice for the 1974 South African Grand Prix. Martin Revson's youngest daughter Jennifer Revson perpetuates Peter Revson
's legacy today.
"In the factory we make cosmetics; in the drugstore we sell hope."
"I don't meet the competition, I destroy it."
, which he funded with over $10 million dollars during his lifetime. The foundation funded schools, hospitals, and service organizations serving the Jewish
community, mostly located in New York. Upon his death, Revson endowed the foundation with $68 million from his estate and granted the board of directors the discretion to chart the foundation's future course. In 1978, the foundation began a formal grantmaking
process, and since that time, it has disbursed a total of $145 million in grants and its endowment has grown from $68 million to $141 million.
used Revson's obituary in the New York Times from August 25, 1975 as the template for the fictional obituary for the character Edward Ruddy, with the title, byline (Enid Nemy being replaced by Sandra Blake), photograph and first paragraph being the only changes.
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...
industry executive who created and managed Revlon
Revlon
Revlon is an American cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company founded in 1932.-History:Revlon was founded in the midst of the Great Depression, 1932, by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph, along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon name...
through five decades.
Early age
Revson was born in SomervilleSomerville, Massachusetts
Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, near Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. He was raised in Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...
, after his family immigrated from Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. His father Samuel Revson was born in Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and of a Russian Jewish heritage. His mother Jeanette Weiss Revson was born in Austro-Hungary of German Jewish ancestry. His parents emigrated to Boston in the late 19th century, where they had eight other children. Jeanette died young of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in the 1920s. Jeanette Weiss Revson parent's, Saul J. and Mary Ella Greenberg Weiss, influenced and shaped many of their offspring to either marry or give birth to visionary, ambitious, and glamorous fashion, film, real estate, banking, cosmetic, and industrial icons in the 20th century. Many of the Weiss family descendants exhibited creativity that was tenaciously promoted and underscored by both perfectionism and aestheticism that was evident in Charles Revson's career. Revson, like many other Weiss family descendants, disassociated from most of the family of origin to fiercely create an autonomous identity. Yet, there were his maternal uncles and aunts, who impacted the lives of so many less fortunate family members to polish their images and achieve unparalleled standards of excellence that influenced him at a young age.
Revson's father worked as a cigar
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
roller in Manchester, not far from where the Revsons lived in the Squog Area, a French-Canadian neighborhood that was part of Manchester's "Little Canada
Little Canada
Little Canada is a name for any of the various communities where French Canadians congregated upon emigrating to the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries....
". Charles Revson's parents, Samuel and Jeanette Weiss Revson, were struggling factory workers with their family of three sons. Revson moved to Boston to live with Weiss family members after graduating from Manchester High School West
Manchester High School West
Manchester High School West, known as West High or West, is a public high school located in Manchester, New Hampshire. According to the Blue Book: Manchester High School West Hand Book , the school was officially opened in September 1923 as a grade school and high school, hosting the seventh and...
.
Founding of Revlon
When Elka, the cosmetics company he worked for, did not promote him to the position of national distributor, Revson decided to go into business for himself. Beginning in 1932, the company specialized in nail polishNail polish
Nail polish, or nail varnish, is a lacquer applied to human fingernails or toenails to decorate and/or protect the nail plate.-History:...
, offering a wider variety of colors than had been currently available. It was marketed through beauty salon
Beauty salon
A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment dealing with cosmetic treatments for men and women...
s and, later, department stores. Revlon Cosmetics then introduced matching lipstick
Lipstick
Lipstick is a cosmetic product containing pigments, oils, waxes, and emollients that applies color, texture, and protection to the lips. Many varieties of lipstick are known. As with most other types of makeup, lipstick is typically, but not exclusively, worn by women...
s and entered the perfume
Perfume
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...
and fragrance market with great success. Revson served as president of the firm from 1932 to 1962, and then as chairman until his death in 1975.
Quiz show scandals
In the mid-1950s the company sponsored the quiz show The $64,000 Question, which became a television phenomenon and boosted sales considerably. Revson and his brother Martin, second in charge at the company, allegedly demanded that the producers control the questions in order to keep them winning and maintain the program's high ratings. This sparked what later became known as the quiz show scandal, as the The $64,000 Question, The Challenge and Twenty OneTwenty One (game show)
Twenty One is an American game show which aired in the late 1950s. While it included the most popular contestant of the quiz show era, it became notorious for being a rigged quiz show which nearly caused the demise of the entire genre in the wake of United States Senate investigations...
led to the duplication of the producers' and sponsors' dubious methods to ensure a large viewership.
Steve Carlin, executive producer of Entertainment Productions, Inc., which produced The $64,000 Question and The $64,000 Challenge, was called to testify before Congress about the rigging of the TV quiz shows. He said that Revlon demanded the shows be rigged to ensure high ratings. "There is a tradition in television...of trying to please the client," Carlin testified. "We were willing to please the client." Though they testified, neither Charles nor Martin Revson ever became the subjects of an official inquiry. By the time the quiz show phenomenon was over, killed by the revelations, Revlon had vastly increased its market share and was established as an international behemoth in its niche.
Personality
Charles H. Revson was a hard-driven perfectionist whose overbearing, imperious personality led most of his business partners to sever their connections with him by 1965. RevlonRevlon
Revlon is an American cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company founded in 1932.-History:Revlon was founded in the midst of the Great Depression, 1932, by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph, along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon name...
Cosmetics, however, was phenomenally successful, and when Revson died, he reportedly was a billionaire
Billionaire
A billionaire, in countries that use the short scale number naming system, is a person who has a net worth of at least one billion units of a given currency, usually the United States dollar, Euro, or Pound sterling. Forbes magazine updates a complete list of U.S. dollar billionaires around the...
.
Personal life
Charles Revson was married three times. His first marriage was brief. His second marriage was to Ancky Revson, where they had two sons John Revson and Charles Revson, Jr. He married a third time to Lynn Revson, and adopted her two sons from her former marriage.He was also having an affair with actress/singer Eartha KittEartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
. His nephew, son of Martin Revson, Peter Revson
Peter Revson
Peter Jeffrey Revson was an American race car driver who had successes in Formula One and the Indianapolis 500.-Background:Peter Revson was born in New York City, the son of Julie and Martin Revson....
, and Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
racecar driver, predeceased him in 1974. Peter Revson's younger brother Doug Revson died before him in a racecar accident in Denmark in 1967. Peter was engaged to 1973 Miss World
Miss World
The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951...
, Marjorie Wallace
Marjorie Wallace
Marjorie Wallace is an American model, actress, beauty queen and television presenter. In 1973, Wallace made history as the first American to be crowned Miss World. But just 104 days later, pageant officials stunned the UK when they announced Wallace would be the first Miss World to have her title...
14 days before his fatal accident in practice for the 1974 South African Grand Prix. Martin Revson's youngest daughter Jennifer Revson perpetuates Peter Revson
Peter Revson
Peter Jeffrey Revson was an American race car driver who had successes in Formula One and the Indianapolis 500.-Background:Peter Revson was born in New York City, the son of Julie and Martin Revson....
's legacy today.
Quotes
"Look, kiddie. I built this business by being a bastard. I run it by being a bastard. I'll always be a bastard, and don't you ever try to change me." —Charles Revson to a senior executive in the company"In the factory we make cosmetics; in the drugstore we sell hope."
"I don't meet the competition, I destroy it."
Philanthropy
In 1956, Revson established the Charles H. Revson FoundationCharles H. Revson Foundation
The Charles H. Revson Foundation was founded in 1956 by Charles H. Revson, the founding President of Revlon Cosmetics as a vehicle for his charitable giving. Mr. Revson willed half his estate to the Foundation upon his death. -Background:...
, which he funded with over $10 million dollars during his lifetime. The foundation funded schools, hospitals, and service organizations serving the Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
community, mostly located in New York. Upon his death, Revson endowed the foundation with $68 million from his estate and granted the board of directors the discretion to chart the foundation's future course. In 1978, the foundation began a formal grantmaking
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
process, and since that time, it has disbursed a total of $145 million in grants and its endowment has grown from $68 million to $141 million.
Trivia
The 1975 film NetworkNetwork (film)
Network is a 1976 American satirical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about a fictional television network, Union Broadcasting System , and its struggle with poor ratings. The film was written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet...
used Revson's obituary in the New York Times from August 25, 1975 as the template for the fictional obituary for the character Edward Ruddy, with the title, byline (Enid Nemy being replaced by Sandra Blake), photograph and first paragraph being the only changes.