This　paper　presents　a　3D　active　deformable　model　assisted　face　recognition　method　across　variations　in　pose　and　illumination.　An　active　deformable　model　is　built　based　on　the　prototypical　3D　faces　aligned　by　the　uniform　mesh　resampling　combined　with　mesh　simplification　based　3D　face　alignment　algorithm.　The　active　deformable　model　is　first　employed　to　reconstruct　3D　face　from　the　input　2D　face　image,　and　also　exploited　to　estimate　the　rotation　angles　of　the　head　according　to　the　image.　The　rotation　angles　are　used　as　the　assisted　information　to　tackle　the　variation　in　pose.　An　illumination　regulating　approach　based　on　the　distribution　of　the　monocular　grayscale　intensity　of　the　images　is　presented　to　tackle　the　variation　in　illumination　during　the　face　recognition.　Experimental　results　on　the　CMU-PIE　database　show　the　good　performance　of　the　recognition　system.