Inspiration strikes at unexpected moments, and for Dublin grad Ned Neidhardt, road trip boredom led to a lauded career in Hollywood doing makeup for some of entertainment’s biggest shows and movies.
His sister was in college studying to be an actress, and during a road trip to visit her, Neidhardt began reading one of her textbooks. Stage Makeup by Richard Corson, which Neidhardt calls the “bible of stage makeup,” gripped him immediately.
That interest led him to a 30-year – and counting – career in makeup and special effects artistry. His work has been featured on opera stages and in more than 60 movies and TV shows including Captain Marvel, Star Trek, Parks and Recreation, and True Blood.
Neidhardt was recently named a Distinguished Alumnus in the Dublin City Schools Hall of Fame, which he says has led him to reflect on his career and how the industry has changed as well as what is still to come.
Finding His Passion
Neidhardt was born in Dublin in 1967 and grew up on Dublin Road with four older siblings. He jokes he had six parents growing up instead of two.
Even with the age difference between him and his siblings – the closest being six years older than him – Neidhardt felt his parents encouraged his free spirit and passion for the arts.
“I don’t know if it’s because I was the youngest of five, but my parents told me, ‘Do whatever you want. Do it with all your heart and never give up,’” Neidhardt says. “And I tell that to so many people all the time (about my career). It was their support that really made it happen.”
During his junior and senior years of high school, he was able to take classes at what is now known as the Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School. There he learned about various aspects of theater, from stage design and lighting to acting and running a theater.
While he originally thought he would become an actor, there was one experience that helped him find his true calling.
“One of the first big things that we did was a disaster drill for the Columbus paramedics. (Our instructor) Dr. Wilson gave us a crash course in bloody makeup so that we could do the wounds, and then the paramedics would treat us,” Neidhardt says. “And within three months I was like, ‘I’m not going to be an actor, I’m going to be a makeup artist.’”
From Opera to Broadway
After high school, he took six years of theater classes at California State University, Long Beach before pursuing an apprenticeship in Germany at The Staatstheater Stuttgart.
Although he learned a lot and grew in his craft during the seven years he was in Germany, he missed many things back home, especially his family.
“I thought, if something happens with someone in my family, I’m not going to stay in Germany. I’m going to want to come home, I’m going to want to be there,” Neidhardt says. “So I made the decision, it was time to get back on U.S. soil and continue my career here.”
Once back in the U.S. and with help from his sister and mom, Neidhardt was able to move from Ohio to California and began searching for work. Luckily, he had some contacts from college who had been in the area for some time and were able to get his name out there.
“Four days after I landed in California, I had an interview. Ten days later, I started working on the show Ragtime, and 30 days later I got grandfathered into the union in the theatrical (category),” Neidhardt says.
Breaking into Film
Over the years, Neidhardt continued to earn new jobs and experiences and honed his craft, getting especially skilled at hair work, which helped him break into movies.
His first experience on a movie set came after he crafted the full-body wig Mike Myers donned in The Cat in the Hat. It also was the only time he received the credit of “cat groomer.”
Since then, he has gone to work on countless productions including 300, Thor: The Dark World and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Stars’ names line his resume, including Jay Leno on The Tonight Show and Leonardo DiCaprio in one of his most recent productions, Killers of the Flower Moon.
No matter how busy his schedule got, he never wanted to lose sight of what was truly important to him: family.
At one point, he was offered a job in Puerto Rico as the department head for a pilot, but he declined the offer so he could spend time his mother as she had an advanced form of dementia.
“Every time I did a show, then I’d block out three weeks. ‘I’m going home, spending time with my folks,’” Neidhardt says. “That pilot was going to intersect the time I’d already set aside to be with her, and that was more important than the career ever could be.”
Future of the Craft
As he nears retirement – which he estimates is still about 11 years away – Neidhardt says he is happy with where his career has taken him.
He has had his fair share of challenges, from the sad comedians to very particular actors and actresses, but there weren’t any he couldn’t handle.
Along the way, he has met great people, seen new places and learned a great deal about his craft and the industry. That experience has earned him three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his work on MADtv in 2008 and 2017 as well as on True Blood in 2010. He says the acclaim, however, is far less important than Neidhardt’s dedication to his art and his coworkers.
“I’m not a statue hunter,” Neidhardt says. “I don’t ever work on a makeup thinking, ‘Oh, this is gonna get me a statue.’ You know, it doesn’t matter. I like getting the paycheck and I like doing the work.”
He plans to continue doing what he loves for as long as he can, with the hope of someday passing along his knowledge to the next generation and keeping makeup artistry alive.
Rachel Karas is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at rkaras@cityscenemediagroup.com.
Dublin Roots
Though Neidhardt’s jobs sometimes took him far from home, he never forgot about where he grew up. His parents, Donna and Walter Joe Neidhardt, had deep connections in Dublin and always gave back when and wherever they could.
Many of his family members were a part of the Dublin Community Church, where his mother
taught piano lessons and was the director of music for almost 20 years. She was also a charter member of the Dublin AM Rotary Club and helped bring awareness to the HIV/AIDS crisis through ministry work after she became an ordained reverend.
When he wasn’t working on roads and bridges as a civil engineer, Joe was volunteering with the Red Cross, the Central Ohio Radio Reading Service and OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital. He also welcomed international graduate students from The Ohio State University by serving as a host family.
Donna passed away in 2012 and Joe in 2013, but their memories are kept alive in part by the piano that was donated to the Dublin Community Church. It sits in the original chapel and is still used regularly.
