Rick Baker
Costume & Make-Up
Born 1950-12-08
Binghamton, New York, USA
134 credits
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Richard A. Baker (born December 8, 1950) is a retired American special make-up effects creator and actor, mostly known for his creature effects and designs. 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 film An American Werewolf in London.
As a teen, 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 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 infant for Cohen's 1974 film It's Alive.
Baker received the inaugural Academy Award for Best Makeup for his work on An American Werewolf in London. He also created the werewolf creature Michael Jackson transforms into in the music video Thriller. Subsequently, Baker has been nominated for the Best Makeup Oscar ten more times, winning on seven occasions, both records in his field.
Baker claims that his work on Harry and the Hendersons is one of his proudest achievements.[8] On October 3, 2009, he received the Jack Pierce – Lifetime Achievement Award title of the Chiller-Eyegore Awards.[9]
He was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters from the Academy of Art University San Francisco in 2008. He also contributes commentaries to the web series Trailers from Hell for trailers about horror and science fiction films.
Baker received the 2485th star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 30, 2012. The star is located in front of the Guinness World Records Museum.
Baker announced his retirement on May 28, 2015: "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."
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Filmography
— top 60 of 134
Star Wars
Men in Black
The Empire Strikes Back
TRON: Legacy
The Exorcist
Maleficent
Men in Black II
An American Werewolf in London
The Ring
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Men in Black 3
Batman Forever
Enchanted
Coming to America
Norbit
Click
Planet of the Apes
Baby's Day Out
Michael Jackson's Thriller
The Wolfman
The Nutty Professor
Wild Wild West
Face Off
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Escape from L.A.
King Kong
The Frighteners
Videodrome
Mighty Joe Young
Life
V/H/S/Halloween
The Howling
Cursed
The Rocketeer
Silver Bullet
Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
Psycho
Ed Wood
Altered States
Harry and the Hendersons
Wolf
Into the Night
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
The Fury
Summer School
Gorillas in the Mist
Ghost Story
Body Bags
Flesh Gordon
It's Alive
The Kentucky Fried Movie
The Funhouse
DC Daily
Matinee
Squirm
The AGFA Mystery Mixtape Vault
The Amazing Panda Adventure
The Incredible Shrinking Woman
Ghosts
Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects
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