PINE PLAINS, N.Y. — A key player in the early days of the Revlon cosmetics empire died Thursday, less than three weeks before his 106th birthday.
Martin Elliott Revson, 105, lived part time in both Pine Plains, N.Y., and Palm Beach, Fla., according to Peck and Peck Funeral Homes in Pine Plains. Revson joined Revlon (REV) in 1935 after his brothers, Charles and Joseph, began the company in 1932 along with chemist Charles Lachman.
Martin Revson would have turned 106 on June 15.
Martin Revson supervised and contributed to all of the cosmetics company's advertising campaigns as head of worldwide marketing, according to information released from the family through the funeral home.
"The reason women buy cosmetics is because they buy hope," Martin Revson said in a 1950 interview with Business Week magazine. "In other words, most women lead lives of dullness, quiet desperation, and I think cosmetics are a wonderful escape from it. So we try to bring it to them that way, we try to give them that escape."
The quiet desperation about which he spoke would anticipate feminist Betty Friedan's later description of "a problem with no name," according to Kathy Peiss, author of Hope in a Jar: The Making of America's Beauty Culture. But Martin Revson's solution to the problem was escape rather than action.
"Fire and Ice, a Revlon lipstick color introduced in 1952 — 'for you who love to flirt with fire, who dare to skate upon thin ice' — definitively changed the sexual resonance of cosmetics advertising," Peiss wrote.
Martin Revson left Revlon in 1958 following a break with his brother Charles, whom Martin Revson later sued. His brother Joseph had left four years earlier, also under acrimonious terms, according to the website Cosmetics and Skin.
After departing Revlon, Martin Revson went on to head Del Laboratories, a Long Island, N.Y., drug, cosmetics and toiletries manufacturer, and his own pharmaceuticals holding concern, Revson Chemical Co., according to The New York Times.
New York-based Del Laboratories began as Maradel in 1961 before Martin Revson bought and renamed it in April 1966, according to Revson's family and a company history at Bloomberg.com. Consumers know many of the private company's products: Hard As Nails by Sally Hansen, Orajel teething liquid and La Crosse beauty implements.
Martin Revson played hockey in school, was also a long-distance swimmer, began playing tennis at 60, skiied until he was 80 and played golf into his 90s, his family said.
"He was an optimist," said his friend, Willem de Vogel of Millerton. "He was really very caring."
He and his wife, Eugenia Nicholas Revson, have been strong financial supporters of the Dutchess Land Conservancy, based in Millbrook, N.Y., since it's beginnings in 1985, President Becky Thorton said.
"He was always on task," she said. "He had a good sense of humor. He always had a twinkle in his eye."
Born in Boston, Martin Revson was raised in Manchester, N.H. He was a World War II Navy veteran.
Martin Revson was the youngest of the three Revson brothers who were a part of the early days of Revlon. The oldest brother, Joseph Revson, died Dec. 19, 1971, at age 66; middle brother Charles Revson died Aug. 24, 1975, at age 68.
Two of Martin Revson's sons — among the four children Martin Revson had with his now-deceased first wife, former singer and child actress Julie Phelps Revson — died in race-car accidents:
- Douglas Revson was killed in 1967 during a Formula 3 race in rainy conditions in Denmark.
- Peter Revson died in 1974 when his front suspension failed during a Formula 1 practice session in South Africa.
Survivors include his second wife, Eugenia Revson; his eldest daughter, Julie Revson; his youngest daughter, Jennifer Revson; a stepson, Paul Revson; and two grandsons, a great-grandson and four nephews.
A celebration of his life will be June 4 at the Revson residence in Pine Plains.
Follow John W. Barry on Twitter: @JohnBarryPoJo
