Rick Baker
Richard A. Baker 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.
Early life
Baker was born in Binghamton, New York, to Doris, a bank teller, and Ralph B. Baker, a professional artist. Baker and his family moved to Covina, California when he was less than one year old.Career
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. On October 3, 2009, he received the Jack Pierce – Lifetime Achievement Award title of the Chiller-Eyegore Awards.
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."
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 who shot down Kong. He has also made cameo appearances in: the John Landis film Into the Night as a drug dealer with a business card; Men in Black II as an MIB agent helping provide aliens with disguises; Men in Black 3 as a "brain alien"; Michael Jackson's music video Thriller as one of the zombies; The Haunted Mansion as multiple graveyard ghosts; The Wolfman as the Wolfman's first kill; and Rings 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. He also has two daughters, Veronica and Rebecca.Filmography
- Octaman
- The Thing with Two Heads
- Schlock
- The Exorcist
- It's Alive
- The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
- King Kong
- Track of the Moon Beast
- Squirm
- The Incredible Melting Man
- Star Wars
- The Fury
- An American Werewolf in London
- The Howling
- The Funhouse
- The Incredible Shrinking Woman
- Videodrome
- Thriller
- '
- Starman
- Into the Night
- My Science Project
- Captain EO
- Ratboy
- Harry and the Hendersons
- Beauty and the Beast
- Werewolf
- Coming to America
- Gorillas in the Mist
- Missing Link
- '
- The Rocketeer
- Wolf
- Ed Wood
- Batman Forever
- The Nutty Professor
- The Frighteners
- Escape from L.A.
- Ghosts
- Men in Black
- Critical Care
- Mighty Joe Young
- Psycho
- Life
- Wild Wild West
- Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- '
- Planet of the Apes
- Men in Black II
- The Ring
- The Haunted Mansion
- Hellboy
- The Ring Two
- King Kong
- Cursed
- '
- Click
- Enchanted
- Norbit
- Tropic Thunder
- The Wolfman
- Men in Black 3
- Maleficent
- Rings
Awards
[Academy Awards] for Best Makeup">Academy Award for Best Makeup">Best Makeup
| Year | Nominated work | Result |
| 1981 | An American Werewolf in London | |
| 1984 | ||
| 1987 | Harry and the Hendersons | |
| 1988 | Coming to America | |
| 1994 | Ed Wood | |
| 1996 | The Nutty Professor | |
| 1997 | Men in Black | |
| 1999 | Life | |
| 2000 | How the Grinch Stole Christmas | |
| 2007 | Norbit | |
| 2010 | The Wolfman |
[BAFTA Awards]
| Year | Nominated work | Result |
| 1984 | Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes | |
| 1994 | Ed Wood | |
| 1996 | The Nutty Professor | |
| 2000 | How the Grinch Stole Christmas | |
| 2001 | Planet of the Apes |
[Saturn Awards]
| Year | Nominated work | Result |
| 1977 | Star Wars | |
| 1978 | The Fury | |
| 1980 | The Howling | |
| 1981 | An American Werewolf in London | |
| 1987 | Harry and the Hendersons | |
| 1994 | Ed Wood | |
| 1994 | Wolf | |
| 1995 | Batman Forever | |
| 1996 | The Nutty Professor | |
| 1996 | The Frighteners | |
| 1997 | Men in Black | |
| 2000 | How the Grinch Stole Christmas | |
| 2000 | ||
| 2001 | Planet of the Apes | |
| 2002 | The Ring | |
| 2003 | The Haunted Mansion | |
| 2010 | The Wolfman |
Other awards
- Inducted to the Monster Kid Hall of Fame at the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards
- Jack Pierce – Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chiller-Eyegore Awards
- 2485th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Makeup
- *The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
- Time Machine Award, Sitges Film Festival 2015