Son of George Westmore, a member of the Westmore family prominent in Hollywood make-up, he is credited on over 450 movies and television shows, including To Kill a Mockingbird, Man of a Thousand Faces, The Andromeda Strain, Creature from the Black Lagoon and Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus.

Westmore was head of the Universal Studios make-up department during the production of Creature from the Black Lagoon.

In addition to film, Bud worked extensively in television, on shows such as The Virginian, The Munsters, Rod Serling's Night Gallery,[1] and Dragnet.

In 1957, Mattel asked Bud to design the makeup look of their soon-to-be-iconic doll, Barbie.

Westmore later married Jeanne Shores, a contestant and the winner of the 1952 Miss California Pageant, and they had four children together.