Impersonating the Dead at Halloween

The Deathly 11 List

Amy Winehouse

14 September 1983 - 23 July 2011

An Amy Winehouse costume should be very easy to put together using a pre-made wig. This hairstyle is so identifiable that you can wear any clothes you feel comfortable in, from demure jeans and white shirt to more risqué bra and mini-skirt. Use black liquid eyeliner to add Amy's trademark eye make-up, and add a stick-on or magnetic crystal or diamante stud on the left corner of your top lip. If your arms are bare, add some temporary tattoos (or draw on your arms with a (temporary) marker pen).

Image: Amy Winehouse, source: Jonwood2 at en.wikipedia, Creative Commons

2010

The Dead in 10 List

Tony Curtis (and Janet Leigh)

June 3, 1925 - September 29, 2010

This year you have the perfect opportunity to impersonate the Curtis family. Tony Curtis had a few scary movies on his profile (such as Rosemary's Baby and The Boston Strangler), his late wife, Janet Leigh, was the star of Psycho and their daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, is famous for her roles in the Halloween movies. So go all Michael Myers on this one and get the whole family involved. Don't forget the knife. Oh - and the shower curtain.

Poster of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh (with Kelly Lee and Jamie Lee Curtis not shown) from Art.com

Rue McClanahan

February 21, 1934 - June 3, 2010

Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan's character on The Golden Girls) can be portrayed in brightly coloured, cleavage-enhancing clothes, ideally in pink, yellow, or gold.

Ask a hairdresser to style a curly red wig into Blanche's 80s hair-do.

Add large hoop earrings. And finish off with heavy make-up and red lipstick.

Involve your partner or friends by getting them to dress as Golden Girls characters Dorothy Zbornak and Sophia Petrillo (Bea Arthur died in 2009 and Estelle Getty in 2008).

Dennis Hopper

May 17, 1936 - May 29, 2010

Dennis Hopper fans have some nice choices for Halloween costumes among his roles in some iconic films: Billy in Easy Rider, The (unnamed) Photojournalist in Apocalypse Now, or Frank Booth in Blue Velvet are the most obvious choices.

Easy Rider : Get a head start on "Mo-vember" and grow that handlebar moustache! Or stick one on. Add a hippy wig and some "buckskin" trousers, and you're done.



Apocalypse Now : To portray the Photojournalist from Apocalypse Now, throw on some camou' gear and dig out all your old film cameras to hang around your neck. Add a few weeks' beard growth, a hippy wig (above), and a bandana. See film screenshot below.

Lynn Redgrave

8 March 1943 - 2 May 2010

Lynn Redgrave often favoured a short beehive hairstyle, especially for red-carpet events, although following her cancer treatments she shaved her hair and then wore a very short style as it grew back.

Team a beehive wig with a pretty shift dress or an elegant lacy evening dress.

Photo of Lynn Redgrave by Steve Granitz of WireImage.com, source

Dixie Carter

May 25, 1939 - April 10, 2010

You have two good options if you want to impersonate Dixie Carter this Halloween: her roles as Julia Sugarbaker in Designing Women or Gloria Hodge in Desperate Housewives. See screenshots below.

For Julia Sugarbaker, pull out your '80s power suit with shoulder pads and add a string of pearls. Carry a book of upholstery swatches.

For Gloria Hodge, go for a pastel twin set, or pastel suit, with a pencil skirt and court shoes. Don't forget the "glass of something".

Michael Jackson

29 August 1958 - 25 June 2009

This one is too easy! So many people will choose Michael Jackson as their costume for Halloween this year that you might want to consider something less obvious. But if you're determined, there are plenty of Michael Jackson costumes available.

The licenced Michael Jackson Billie Jean costume pictured left includes the jacket, shirt, socks and glove. You will need a wig to complete your look.

Or view more options for various Michael Jackson costumes here.

Public domain image of Michael Jackson in 1984 from the White House Photo Office, source: National Archives and Records Administration (ARC Identifier: 198548)

Farrah Fawcett

2 February 1947 - 25 June 2009

Farrah Fawcett's distinctive hairstyle makes her an easy choice this Halloween. A blonde wig with the Fawcett flick styling like the one pictured left is available from many costume retailers. Team this wig with a vintage 1970s printed dress or flowing skirt, or go for a more daring red swimsuit or a sporty white tennis dress.

Image right: Farrah Fawcett poster, Art.com

Eartha Kitt

17 January 1927 %u2013 25 December 2008

Eartha Kitt was the original Catwoman, so you can have two levels of Halloween costume with this one.

This is also an easy costume to make yourself at home. All you need is a long sleeve black top, black tights or jeans, and black heels. Make or buy a basic black mask and attach small black triangles to a head band for your cat ears.

Image: Eartha Kitt as Catwoman in the Batman TV Series, © ABC

Anniversaries of famous deaths

More Halloween impersonation ideas

Heath Ledger

4 April 1979 - 22 January 2008

Heath Ledger's version of The Joker (left) from The Dark Knight movie is an obvious choice for Halloween this year.

If you want to channel Heath in a slightly different way, you may want to go for one of his older movies: as a cowboy from Brokeback Mountain, or as Ned Kelly (above right). Both are really easy to pull together almost as last minute costumes on a low budget.

For the Brokeback Mountain cowboy, you will need a pair of denim jeans, a flannel shirt, and a cowboy hat.

For Ned Kelly (above), staple or glue a large piece of card into a cylinder. Cut a slit out for the eyepiece. Cover the cylinder with aluminium foil, dull side out, and scuff it up with dark boot polish.

Benazir Bhutto

21 June 1953 - 27 December 2007

Benazir Bhutto's trademark was a white veil/headscarf and oversize glasses or sunglasses.

The national dress of Pakistan is the shalwar kameez - go for loose-fitting trousers and a long tunic top, or a light coat that reaches to your knees or below.






Public domain image of Benazir Bhutto, source: public domain DOD photo via PingNews on Flickr

Anna Nicole Smith

28 November 1967 - 8 February 2007

Some of Anna Nicole Smith's most memorable looks are her hyper-high American Music Award ("Like my body?") and MTV Music Award (star studded strip-tease) performances.

Anna Nicole Costume (American Music Awards):

To dress as Anna Nicole, as she appeared at the American Music Awards, you will need:

- a Marilyn Monroe wig,

- a black halter dress,

- fake boobs or bra inserts (depending on your own size),


- and stiletto platforms.

Anna Nicole costume (MTV Music Awards):

To capture Anna Nicole's MTV Music Awards look this Halloween, go for:

- long blonde curls (right),

- shocking pink halter dress,

- matching pink heels

- fake boobs and/or stick on stars, if you dare!



See more ideas for capturing Anna Nicole's look on my SquidWho lens.

(Photo credits: Mark J. Terrill/ap (black) and Getty Images (pink))

Luciano Pavarotti

12 October 1935 - 6 September 2007

To dress as Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti this Halloween, you will need:

- extra padding, a "fat suit", or a sumo wrestler suit



- a large tuxedo costume, or tuxedo t-shirt



- Loose tuxedo pants or lounge pants



- men's wig and beard - You
will need to thin out this hairline and crown and trim the beard and hair length to match Pavarotti's.

(image credit: Pirlouiiiit)

Kurt Vonnegut

11 November 1922 - 11 April 2007

Author Kurt Vonnegut's main features are his curly hair and pronounced eyes. Use make-up a few shades darker than your skin tone to achieve the under eye pouch and to emphasise the crease in the eye socket and the heavy lids.

The moustache and eyebrows can be drawn on with eyebrow pencil.

Try this curly wig, with a trim to get the correct length and loosen the tightness of the curls. Dust with a little powder for some grey tones.

Read more about Kurt Vonnegut.

(Photo credit: AP/Wide World Photos)

Kitty Carlisle

3 September 1910 - 17 April 2007

To impersonate 1930s actress Kitty Carlisle, you will need a black "flapper" wig and a flapper dress.

View the official website of Kitty Carlisle.

James Brown

3 May 1933 - 25 December 2006

Godfather of Soul James Brown counts for 2007's Halloween as his death was after last year's Halloween.

Go for a blue suit to capture the essence of James Brown's style.


And trim a curly wig to shape.




(image credit: D.B. King)