She had a true love of theater, horses and was a giving mentor and caring friend. Rande Harris' knowledge and expertise of wigs, make-up and costuming will be missed not only by her brothers and sisters of Local 706, but to the numerous "minions" she mentored and encouraged. Although she had a long history with theater, she worked as a paralegal for a number of years before returning to her true love. She started with local community groups and then began working on the hair/make-up crew at the American Musical Theater of San Jose where she met her mentors, 706 members Sharon Ridge and Robin Church. The American Ballet Theater, Ballet San Jose, Lamplighters, Balagan Theater, Santa Clara Performing Arts, San Jose Civic Light Opera, Lyric Opera, American Musical Theater , San Jose Cleveland Ballet and touring companies kept her in demand, going from production to production. Rande became a Local 706 Regional member in 2003 and became the resident Hair and Makeup Designer at the West Bay Opera and in 2008 she traveled with Ballet San Jose to China.
Jene was also very active within the Local, especially during contract negotiations. She was a strong presence during intense bargaining, smart and committed to raising the bar at all times. She stood strong, not only for her own classification but everyone around her. When the Body Make-up Artist classification was removed, she used that same passion to focus on becoming a Journeyman Make-up Artist in the early 2000’s and received her Gold Card in 2004. Jene withdrew from active membership in 2007, having served her Local with great talent, dignity and respect. She turned her focus toward her love of family, care of animals and her beautiful gardens and remained great friends with her 706 artists .
Read moreIn the decades before the Body Make-up Artist classification was eliminated, it was a craft that was mandatory on any film or television production showing bare skin. Actors were painted into perfection, their skin was made to appear as though they might have a tan, sculpted muscles or covered scars and tattoos. During that time, make-up artists were only allowed to work on actresses above the collarbone; the body make-up artist painted the bare décolletage, torso, legs and arms. They were specialists in their field and traveled from job to job every day. On rare occasion did they stay on any one production for an extended period of time, unless it was film or television series that showed a lot of skin. Since there were only about 20 of these artists, they worked constantly, but only rarely received screen credit.
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