Burt Shavitz, the photographer-turned-beekeeper who unexpectedly founded and became the face of an international cosmetics brand, died of respiratory issues on July 5 in Maine. He was 80.
Burt’s Bees, which features Shavitz’s aging, hippie face on the label to many of its products, released this statement on its website:
Burt Shavitz, our co-founder and namesake, has left for greener fields and wilder woods. We remember him as a bearded, free-spirited Maine man, a beekeeper, a wisecracker, a lover of golden retrievers and his land. Above all, he taught us to never lose sight of our relationship with nature. Thanks for everything, Burt. You will live in our hearts forever.
Despite the heartfelt message, the Maine-based personal care company, known for creating natural products, had a complicated relationship with Shavitz, who was the subject of a 2013 documentary. As the film notes, he was forced out of the company in the 1990s, after having an affair with an employee.
Shavitz’s exit caused him to miss out on most of the company’s fortune—his co-founder cashed out a few years later, and in 2007 the company was acquired by Clorox for $925 million—but Shavitz agreed to remain an ambassador for the brand.
Born in 1939 in Great Neck, New York, Shavitz served in the US Army in Germany and worked as a news photographer in New York before moving to Vermont and becoming a beekeeper. As the folksy story of the company’s founding goes, Shavitz had a roadside honey stand when he met Roxanne Quimby, an artist, in 1984. Quimby started making candles, shoe polish, and lip balm from the unused wax in Shavitz’s beehives. Within their first year, they made $20,000 selling the items at local craft fairs. It was Quimby’s idea to make Shavitz the face of the products.
“Burt was an enigma; my mentor and muse. I am deeply saddened,” Quimby told the Associated Press.