Reggie Wells, Oprah Winfrey’s Longtime Makeup Artist, Dies at 76

Reggie Wells, who served as Oprah Winfrey’s personal makeup artist for nearly three decades, died Monday of natural causes in his hometown of Baltimore, The Baltimore Banner reported. He was 76.

Wells’ clients also included Michelle Obama, Beyoncé, Aretha Franklin, Joan Rivers, Whitney Houston, Halle Berry, Diahann Carroll, Robin Givens and Lauryn Hill.

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Wells received five Daytime Emmy nominations for his work on The Oprah Winfrey Show, winning in 1995. He also appeared on her talk show and traveled all around the world with her, including to South Africa when she opened a school for girls.

“Reggie Wells was an artist who used his palette of talent to create beauty no matter the canvas,” Winfrey said in a statement. “For many years he was my makeup artist. He called me and everyone he considered a friend ‘Mary.’ He always made me feel beautiful. Ooh my, how we’d laugh and laugh during the process. He was an astute observer of human behavior and could see humor in the most unlikely experiences.”

One of seven children, Wells was born on Dec. 2, 1947. His father, John, was a bus driver and his mother, Ada, a nurse. He graduated from Baltimore City College and Maryland Institute College of Art and taught art before moving to New York City in 1976.

He worked at makeup counters in department store before landing magazine gigs at Glamour, Life, Harper’s Bazaar and Essence, where he did Winfrey’s makeup for a cover shoot. It wasn’t long before she relocated him to Chicago to be her full-time makeup artist in 1990.

Wells created his own makeup, including lipstick and eye shadow, for Black women from foundations and powders made for white skin tones, and he worked with lighting technicians to make sure his clients would look the best they could be.

His book, Face Painting: African American Beauty Techniques From an Emmy Award-Winning Makeup Artist, was published in 2000.

Wells returned to Baltimore in 2016 to care for his ailing father and did makeup for local women and had them professionally photographed.

“What I learned from Oprah is why I am doing this today,” he told The Baltimore Sun in 2017. “I’m doing this for the forgotten people of families. I’m taking unknown mothers and grandmothers and giving them the type of makeovers that Oprah would give.”

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