Rick Genest, the fashion icon and artist best known as Zombie Boy and Rico the Zombie, was
found dead in his home on August 1st, 2018.
Despite his fame, Genest seemed most at home on the fringes of society and never strayed
far from his punk Montreal roots.
Here's the untold truth of Zombie Boy.
There's still controversy surrounding the cause of Rick Genest's death.
What is known is that he died after falling from a third floor balcony at his girlfriend's
apartment building in Montreal, according to iHeartRadio.
What is unknown is whether the fall was accidental or intentional.
Initial reports indicated "an apparent suicide," but according to USA Today, Genest's family
and his manager pushed back on that conjecture.
His manager pointed out that there was no note found, and told People magazine,
In his Tedx talk, Genest admitted that he started having blackouts as a teenager and
was later diagnosed with a brain tumor located behind his optic nerve.
He had two options: receive a surgery that would leave his face disfigured or receive
a surgery that had only been successfully completed in North America once.
If there was ever proof that Genest was destined to become a model, it's the fact that he chose
the risky surgery and survived.
According to the Daily Star, nearly 50 percent of his brain was removed.
"I stepped out of the hospital as the second person in North America to survive this new
state of the art procedure."
Genest claimed his surgery made him think about the fragility of life and consider the
type of person he wanted to become.
Shortly after treatment, on his 16th birthday, the model got his first tattoo.
According to The Guardian, he gradually commissioned more tattoos, until he met Frank Lewis, who
helped him create the idea of a full-body tattoo with the theme of a rotting corpse.
In 2012, he told the Evening Standard,
Even after finding fame, Genest maintained a nomadic lifestyle.
In an interview with Wonderland, the star admitted that he was, in his words, "living
out of [his] backpack; working odd jobs, [and] meeting cool people."
While many find the idea of homelessness frightening, Genest said it allowed him to remain entirely
in the moment.
He claimed he was living like a pirate or one of the lost boys from Hook.
Zombie Boy talked to the Evening Standard about the five or so years he spent on the
streets dodging cops and enjoying the Montreal punk scene, saying,
FX's series American Horror Story is scary, but being faced with a massive, costly lawsuit
is even scarier.
Unfortunately, the network had to learn this the hard way when actor Evan Peters' makeup
closely resembled Genest's copyrighted tattoos in Season One.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox worked out a settlement with Genest to avoid a full-fledged
lawsuit over the look, which could have cost the network hundreds of thousands of dollars
in copyright infringement charges and editing to obscure Peters' skeletal makeup in future
airings.
The two parties came to an undisclosed agreement in October 2012.
Genest told the magazine,
Genest spent a lot of his time in the Montreal streets, so it only makes sense that's where
he was discovered by L'Oreal, who used him in its "Go Beyond The Cover" campaign for
its Dermablend brand.
Genest told Makeup.com that Dermablend's marketing director approached him on the street and
asked him if he wanted to shoot an ad.
Genest agreed, but it was quite an undertaking.
Three makeup artists reportedly spent more than four hours covering Zombie Boy's body
with Dermablend Leg and Body Cover.
It took about four tubes, but the results were so captivating that Genest became a spokesman
for the brand.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).