Richard A. Baker (born December 8, 1950), known professionally as Rick Baker, is an American retired special make-up effects creator and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

. He is mostly known for his creature designs and effects. Baker won the Academy Award for Best Makeup a record seven times from a record eleven nominations, beginning when he won the inaugural award for the 1981 horror comedy film '' An American Werewolf in London''.

Early life

Baker was born in Binghamton, New York, to Doris (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth ...

Hamlin), a bank teller, and Ralph B. Baker, a professional artist. He and his family moved to

Covina, California Covina is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Valley. The population was 51,268 according to the 2020 census, up from 47,796 at the 2010 census. The city's slogan, " ...

when he was less than one year old.

Career

As a teenager, Baker began creating artificial body parts in his own kitchen. He also appeared briefly in the fan production ''The Night Turkey'', a one-hour, black-and-white video parody of '' The Night Stalker'' (1972), directed by William Malone. Baker's first professional job was as an assistant to prosthetic makeup effects veteran Dick Smith on the 1973 film '' The Exorcist''. While working on ''The Exorcist'', Baker was hired by director Larry Cohen to design and create a

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...

infant for Cohen's 1974 film '' It's Alive''. At the 54th Academy Awards, Baker received the inaugural Academy Award for Best Makeup for his work on '' An American Werewolf in London'' (1981). Subsequently, he has been nominated for Best Makeup ten more times, winning on seven occasions, both records in his field. Baker also created the werecat creature

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

transforms into in the music video ''

Thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

'' (1983). Rick Baker at Saturn Awards (cropped)

In 2008, he was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters from the Academy of Art University in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. Baker also contributes commentaries to the

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

'' Trailers from Hell'' for trailers about horror and science fiction films. Baker claims that his work on ''

Harry and the Hendersons ''Harry and the Hendersons'' is a 1987 American fantasy comedy film directed and produced by William Dear and starring John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, Don Ameche, David Suchet, Margaret Langrick, Joshua Rudoy, Lainie Kazan, and Kevin Peter H ...

'' (1987) is one of his proudest achievements, for which he won his second Oscar. On October 3, 2009, he received the Jack Pierce Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chiller-Eyegore Awards. On November 30, 2012, Baker received the 2485th star of the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

. The star is located in front of the Guinness World Records Museum. On May 28, 2015, Baker announced his retirement, saying: "First of all, the CG stuff definitely took away the animatronics part of what I do. It's also starting to take away the makeup part. The time is right, I am 64 years old, and the business is crazy right now. I like to do things right, and they wanted cheap and fast. That is not what I want to do, so I just decided it is basically time to get out. I would consider designing and consulting on something, but I don't think I will have a huge working studio anymore." In 2018, Baker was approached by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

, due to his daughter Veronica working for them at the time, if he would be interested in creating a collectible display bust for them. He agreed with the following terms that he would be left alone with total creative freedom and DC accepted them. Baker, with the aide of his long time mold maker Rob Freitas, created a bust of The Joker.

Acting roles

Baker played the title role in the 1976 remake of ''King Kong''. In the 2005 remake, he had a cameo as the pilot and gunner (with director

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

) who shot down Kong. He has also made cameo appearances in:

's music video ''

'' (1983) as "Zombie Opening the Crypt"; '' Into the Night'' (1985) as a drug dealer with a business card; '' Men in Black II'' (2002) as "MIB Passport Control Agent", an MIB agent helping provide aliens with disguises; '' Men in Black 3'' (2012) as "Brain Alien"; ''

The Wolfman In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely o ...

'' (2010) as "Gypsy Man / First Killed"; and '' Rings'' (2017) as a flea market vendor.

Personal life

Baker is married; he was previously married to Elaine Melba Parkyn for ten years. He met his second wife, hairstylist Silvia Abascal, while they were both working on '' Into the Night'' (1985). Baker also has two daughters, Rebecca and Veronica.

Selected filmography

* ''

Octaman ''Octaman'' is a 1971 Mexican-American monster film written and directed by Harry Essex, with the costume design by future Academy Award winner Rick Baker. It follows an expedition team that becomes the target of a murderous humanoid octopus. ...

'' (1971) (Octaman costume; co-created with Doug Beswick) * '' The Thing with Two Heads'' (1972) (special effects - uncredited) * '' Schlock'' (1973) (makeup artist / actor) * '' The Exorcist'' (1973) (special effects assistant - uncredited) * '' It's Alive'' (1974) (makeup artist / special makeup effects artist - uncredited) * '' The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman'' (1974) (makeup creator: Miss Tyson) * ''

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

'' (1976) (makeup effects - uncredited / special contributions: Kong / actor) * '' Track of the Moon Beast'' (1976) (makeup artist) * '' Squirm'' (1976) (makeup designer) * '' The Incredible Melting Man'' (1977) (special makeup effects / actor) * '' Star Wars'' (1977) (makeup: second unit) * ''

The Fury Fury or FURY may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * ''Fury'' (2001 series) Fictional entities * Fury (DC Comics), the name of three characters * Fury (Marvel Comics), an android * Fury, in ''Power Rangers Dino Charge'' and ''Powe ...

'' (1978) (special makeup effects) * ''

The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a sto ...

'' (1980) (makeup artist - uncredited) * '' An American Werewolf in London'' (1981) (special makeup effects designer and creator) * '' The Howling'' (1981) (special makeup effects consultant) * '' The Funhouse'' (1981) (special makeup design) * '' The Incredible Shrinking Woman'' (1981) (creator and designer: Sidney / makeup effects / actor) * '' Videodrome'' (1983) (special makeup effects designer) * ''

'' (1983) (special makeup effects designer and creator / actor) * '' Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes'' (1984) (special makeup effects) * '' Starman'' (1984) (Starman transformation) * '' Into the Night'' (1985) (actor) * '' My Science Project'' (1985) (special makeup effects artist - uncredited) * '' Captain EO'' (1986) (special makeup effects) * '' Ratboy'' (1986) (designer: Ratboy) * ''

'' (1987) (creature designer: Harry / puppeteer / makeup artist) * '' Beauty and the Beast'' (1987–89) (designer and creator) * ''

Werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposel ...

'' (1987–88) (werewolf characters designer) * '' Coming to America'' (1988) (special makeup effects) * '' Gorillas in the Mist'' (1988) (special makeup effects / associate producer) * '' Missing Link'' (1988) (special makeup effects) * '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990) (special effects supervisor / co-producer) * '' The Rocketeer'' (1991) (makeup creator: Lothar) * ''

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

'' (1994) (special makeup effects) * '' Ed Wood'' (1994) (makeup creator:

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in '' ...

/ makeup designer:

) * '' Batman Forever'' (1995) (special makeup designer and creator) * '' The Nutty Professor'' (1996) (special makeup effects) * '' The Frighteners'' (1996) (special makeup artist: The Judge) * '' Escape from L.A.'' (1996) (special makeup effects) * '' Ghosts'' (1997) (special makeup effects artist) * ''

Men in Black In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are purported men dressed in black suits who claim to be quasi- government agents, who harass, threaten, or sometimes even assassinate unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses ...

'' (1997) (alien makeup effects / special makeup effects artist) * '' Critical Care'' (1997) (special makeup effects:

Mr. Brooks ''Mr. Brooks'' is a 2007 American psychological thriller film directed by Bruce A. Evans starring Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, Dane Cook, and William Hurt. It was released on June 1, 2007. The film follows the eponymous character, a celebrated Por ...

) * '' Mighty Joe Young'' (1998) (special makeup effects / creature designer and producer: Mighty Joe Young) * ''

Psycho Psycho may refer to: Mind * Psychopath * Sociopath * Someone with a personality disorder * Someone with a psychological disorder People with the nickname * Karl Amoussou or Psycho, mixed martial artist * Peter Ebdon or Psycho, English snook ...

'' (1998) (special makeup effects artist) * ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' (1999) (special makeup effects) * ''

Wild Wild West ''Wild Wild West'' is a 1999 American steampunk Western film co-produced and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock alongside Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, from a story penned by brothers Jim and ...

'' (1999) (special makeup effects) * '' How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (2000) (special makeup effects / actor) * '' Nutty Professor II: The Klumps'' (2000) (special makeup effects) * ''

Planet of the Apes ''Planet of the Apes'' is an American science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control. The franchise is based on Frenc ...

'' (2001) (makeup artist / special makeup effects designer and creator / actor) * '' Men in Black II'' (2002) (alien makeup effects / special makeup effects artist - uncredited / actor) * '' The Ring'' (2002) (special makeup effects artist) * '' The Haunted Mansion'' (2003) (special makeup effects designer and creator) * ''

Hellboy Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a t ...

'' (2004) (makeup consultant: Hellboy / special effects director) * '' The Ring Two'' (2005) (special makeup effects artist) * ''

'' (2005) (actor) * '' Cursed'' (2005) (special makeup effects artist / special makeup effects creator / special makeup effects designer) * '' X-Men: The Last Stand'' (2006) (special makeup effects consultant) * ''

Click Click, Klick and Klik may refer to: Airlines * Click Airways, a UAE airline * Clickair, a Spanish airline * MexicanaClick, a Mexican airline Art, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Klick (fictional species), an alien race in the g ...

'' (2006) (special age makeup artist - uncredited / special makeup effects) * '' Enchanted'' (2007) (special makeup effects artist) * '' Norbit'' (2007) (special makeup effects artist) * '' Tropic Thunder'' (2008) (makeup designer: Mr. Downey Jr.) * ''

'' (2010) (special makeup effects / actor) * '' Tron: Legacy'' (2010) (special makeup effects artist) * '' Men in Black 3'' (2012) (alien makeup effects / actor) * '' Maleficent'' (2014) (makeup designer: Maleficent) * '' Rings'' (2017) (actor)

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

Saturn Awards The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films bel ...

Other awards

* 2485th star on the

* Time Machine Award at the 2015 Sitges Film Festival * Doctorate of Humane Letters from the Academy of Art University * Jack Pierce Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chiller-Eyegore Awards * Inducted in the Monster Kid Hall of Fame at the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards * Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup for '' The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman'' (1974)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Rick 1950 births Living people Academy of Art University alumni American make-up artists Artists from Binghamton, New York Best Makeup Academy Award winners Best Makeup BAFTA Award winners People from Binghamton, New York People from Covina, California Special effects people