Familiar Faces : George Stuart’s Historical Figures illustrate characters whose pasts he brings to life in lectures.

People generally have an interest in the family dysfunctions, sex lives and even shoe sizes of famous people. But Ojai monologuist and artist George Stuart has made them a way of life.

Stuart serves as curator of the Historical Figures Gallery at the Ventura County Museum of History and Art. And he is known for his registered trademark, Historical Figures, which he describes as “one-quarter life-size, three-dimensional portraits.” (Never call them dolls.)

Despite the stunning detail and accuracy of the figures, Stuart eschews the title of sculptor or artist. “I am an entertainer who makes a living speaking about the lives of historical personalities,” he said in a recent telephone interview.

Stuart illustrates his lectures with the figures. “For any historian, they become real people. But I don’t presume to be an impressionist. You can take on the person in a conversational way without putting on a silly hat,” he said.

His quest for authenticity in creating clothing and other details has led Stuart to museum collections nationwide, among them the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, where he was allowed to handle Abraham Lincoln’s clothing. “I was able to show Lincoln from life masks,” Stuart said.

“But I don’t pretend to deal with the primary sources. I have a lot of research done. My effort is to recompose the efforts of the real scholars into something that is accessible and entertaining to contemporary audiences.”

And he plans to do just that Friday evening at the Ventura County Museum of History and Art in a lecture, “The Evolution of the Constitutional Monarchy in Great Britain.”

“Americans are always fascinated with civil rights and personal freedoms,” he said. “In addition, Americans are transfixed with interest about the British royal family.

“Any problems the royals are having today pale in comparison with the domestic problems in the past. For example, King George III, king at the time of the American Revolution, had 16 children. His seven sons were the most monstrous difficulties that any family could imagine. And Queen Victoria could not stand her oldest son and would not let him into the (monarchy) at all.”

It is this passionate interest in the private lives of historical personalities that triggered Stuart’s figure-making in the late 1950s.

He attended the Foreign Service Institute of Georgetown University in Washington. But his true interest was the theater. So in 1958, he moved to Santa Barbara.

“I was living happily as a beachboy working in the theater and making historical figures because it was fun,” Stuart recalled.

He pursued a friend’s suggestion to go on the lecture circuit. And he soon had the same manager as explorer Frank (“Bring ‘em back alive”) Baxter and anthropologist Margaret Mead.

Stuart’s public speaking career took him all over the country. But in recent years, he has focused his energies on the West Coast. His duties at the Ventura County Museum of History and Art take up much of his time, with the balance going to talks at the museum and before other groups.

Stuart stores about 200 of his creations at the museum, where 20 to 35 are displayed in rotation every three months. They have only recently been available for purchase. And Stuart has occasionally accepted commissions--mostly for private exhibition.

Before creating the figures, Stuart researches every aspect of his subjects including their posture, clothing and behavior. He starts building them with an iron skeleton, plastic foam, clay and plastics. Then he uses Icelandic sheepskin to create hair that appears to grow from a scalp. Teeth come from a denture factory in Camarillo.

“I had the usual efforts to train me in the drawing and painting that all civilized people study. And I’ve studied anatomy--that helps. But nothing trained me for this,” the essentially self-taught sculptor-couturier said.

“I think that it is pointless for me to try to portray people in our own time, with video and photographs so widely available,” he said. “And photographs of the past all show people from the front. But I can show you the rear end of Queen Victoria.”

* WHERE AND WHEN

* George Stuart’s lecture will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Ventura County Museum of History and Art, 100 E. Main St., Ventura. Among the figures featured are Queen Victoria and members of the Stuart and Hanover dynasties. Admission is $7.50, $5 for museum members. Reservations are required. Call 653-0323 or 653-5469. Selections from Stuart’s ongoing display of Historical Figures can be seen at the museum, open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Admission is $2 for adults. Handicapped-accessible.