A-List Makeup Artist Paul Starr Dies at 51

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Makeup artist to stars such as Angelina Jolie , Sophia Loren, Jennifer Garner, Scarlett Johansson and countless others, Paul Starr was found dead Tuesday in his Silver Lake house, from what could be natural causes, per the LAT, which also indicates an autopsy is pending. The paper also reports Starr was the founding beauty editor of Flaunt from 1998-2001. Fashion writer and owner of A+R Rose Apodaca posted a heartfelt account (including the pic above) on her site today, noting that they'd worked together on Rachel Zoe's style guide, and had talked about possibly doing a book together. From her post:

"Paul was, literally, one of the shining stars in beauty, a talented makeup artist who loved the artifice and hassle of achieving looks that at times only otherwise existed in a fertile imagination. He keyed shows for just about every major designer, and collaborated on editorial and celebrity shoots with just about every major photographer, from Bruce Weber to the late Helmut Newton....We’d met through the biz, but finally began spending some quiet time together last year...He was absolutely glamorous the way a rock star is, but completely down to earth."

· R.I.P.: Paul Starr [La Vie en Rose]