This rather engaging portrait is from the original Planet of the Apes film (the one with Charlton Heston).

It is of course, Zira played by Kim Hunter.

Kim Hunter is probably better known for her best supporting actress Oscar in Streetcar Named Desire and David Niven’r love interest in A Matter of LIfe and Death. She then went on to play what in my eyes is her career defining role – as Zira the chimpanzee doctor. I’m not being facetious either. Acting under layers of makeup and prosthetics takes some doing and Roddy McDowall wrote the book on it of course.

Of course, the apes are all CGI these days (usually Andy Serkis) and brilliant though they are, I love a bit of old school acting under award winning makeup. John Chambers won an Oscar for his ground breaking makeup for the original Planet of the Apes which to this day almost fifty years later still looks amazing.