About this episode
Mary Greenwell is a makeup artist who has worked with some of the most famous faces in the world including Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, David Bowie and Cate Blanchett. Her less-is-more approach has won her plaudits in the beauty industry and she became Princess Diana’s makeup artist of choice.
Mary was born in Sussex and left school at 16. By the mid-1970s she was living in Los Angeles where she started out on the door at the legendary Joe Allen restaurant, escorting the likes of Paul Newman and Jack Lemmon to their tables. She received her one and only makeup lesson from the award-winning Ilana Harkavi and shortly afterwards created a look for 12-year-old actor Brooke Shields.
Mary’s big break came when she moved to Paris in 1984 and began working with the original supermodels; Christy Turlingon, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and Tatiana Patitz. In 1990 she met Princess Diana on a Vogue photo shoot and became her go-to makeup artist and friend.
In 2025 Mary was appointed an MBE for services to the beauty and fashion industries and her charity work.
Mary lives in London.
DISC ONE: Lay Lady Lay - Bob Dylan DISC TWO: I Am Enough - Tallulah Rendall DISC THREE: Suzanne - Leonard Cohen DISC FOUR: Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed DISC FIVE: Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd DISC SIX: Cold Little Heart - Michael Kiwanuka DISC SEVEN: Diamonds - Rihanna DISC EIGHT: Heroes - David Bowie BOOK CHOICE: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima LUXURY ITEM: A bed CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Am Enough - Tallulah Rendall
Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley
There are more than 2000 programmes in our archive available for you to listen to. We’ve cast away other hair and beauty experts including the makeup artist Pat McGrath, and hairdressers Vidal Sassoon and Trevor Sorbie. Cate Blanchett, one of Mary’s clients, is in our archive too. You can find their episodes on BBC Sounds or on our Desert Island Discs website.
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