Who is Joe Hailey, honored with NCIS title card after season 16 premiere?
As it turns out, Hailey is someone who had a great deal of experience behind the scenes with the CBS show, in addition to a number of other series that are out there, as well. He worked as a makeup artist for NCIS proper for well over 300 episodes, making him one of the longer-tenured crew members on the job there. To go along with that, his work dates back all the way to JAG, which is the show that originally led to NCIS coming on the air in the first place. The man worked on a number of prolific series even before this, including the likes of Perfect Strangers, Step By Step, and also Dallas. He more or less had a career that most within the makeup industry could only dream of having. He got to work for decades and had a chance to do many an incredible thing. (He also worked briefly on Roseanne and also Pleasantville.)
Hailey passed away earlier this year, and you can actually see a tribute that former cast member Pauley Perrette gave for him below. It’s clear that he had an impact on the cast, and that’s something that is easy to do when you think about how much time actors spend with the makeup department as a whole. Basically, they are spending hours upon hours with some of these people every single day they are on the job. They form close relationships with them and these artists really work to make sure every single actor works to meet the show’s specifications. Really, they are one of the unsung heroes for a production like this that works long hours every day. It really does produce a family atmosphere.
Why give him a title card after the premiere? For starters, this is one of the most high-profile ways in which to honor him. This is an enormous deal for a crew member to get this sort of recognition in a way that every viewer can see it. This is a way to honor their legacy and give them a platform so other people can find out more information on who they are and what they meant to a show like this.
Our thoughts are with Hailey’s family, and we hope that they felt like this was a worthy tribute to the man for all of his contributions to the industry. (Photo: CBS.)