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Rick Baker

 
Actor: Rick Baker
 
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  • Born: Dec 08, 1950 in Binghamton, New York
  • Active: '70s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Horror, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: The Exorcist, Cocoon, Starman
  • First Major Screen Credit: Octaman (1971)

Biography

Notorious for his eager willingness to don a gorilla suit at the drop of a hat, special makeup effects wizard Rick Baker is as likely to create jaw-dropping, realistic creature effects as he is to ham it up under simian prosthetics as he did in, among others, director John Landis' directorial debut Schlock (1971) and The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977). The creator of some of the most memorable makeup effects effort captured on celluloid, Baker began experimenting with movie makeup after being inspired by horror films as a child. Constantly seeking new approaches to creating realistic effects and designs, Baker became assistant to legendary effects designer Dick Smith (The Exorcist) while in his teens. Later becoming an independent makeup effects artist, one of Baker's earliest breakthrough works was the 1974 TV movie The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, in which he convincingly transformed actress Cicely Tyson into a 110-year-old woman. Following Autobiography, his work in films ranged from King Kong (1976) to Star Wars (1977), to creating a malicious mutant toddler terror for the It's Alive films. Baker got a taste for werewolf makeup while working as a makeup effects consultant on The Howling (1980), which experience undoubtedly paid off the next year, with his work on An American Werewolf in London (1981), for which he was awarded the first ever Best Makeup Oscar at the 1981 Academy Awards. The werewolf theme would again carry over to Baker's work on the groundbreaking Michael Jackson video "Thriller." Working constantly in both television and film, Baker became one of the most respected and requested makeup effects artists working in film, consistently nominated for, and often winning, a slew of Oscars and other awards for his unique and strikingly imaginative creations, which spanned all genres. Throughout the '80s Baker faced the constant challenge of topping his previous works, again going ape with Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984), and moving into Sasquatch territory with his Oscar winning design for Harry in the 1987 family comedy Harry and the Hendersons. In 1988, Baker helped to create a number of personas for Eddie Murphy in the film Coming to America, a collaboration that would resurface in one of his most successful works of the late '90s. Beginning the '90s as an effects supervisor on Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), the decade offered a unique challenge to the artist in the form of attempting to combine his tangible creations with their increasingly popular digital counterparts, that some speculated would render makeup effects obsolete. Though he continued in creating incredible and convincing prosthetic effects, Baker embraced digital technology, considering it a natural progression and added resource for his remarkable creations. Murphy and Baker's re-teaming for 1996's The Nutty Professor earned Baker another Oscar to add to his increasing collection, and his work on the wildly popular sci-fi comedy Men in Black (1997) earned him yet another. In 2000, Baker teamed with director Ron Howard in creating a live-action telling of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, this time with the ever-unpredictable Jim Carrey buried under the usual mounds of makeup. He once again teamed with Murphy on The Klumps: Nutty Professor 2 (2000), again winning Baker the Best Makeup Oscar at the 73rd Annual Academy Awards, before setting his sites on Tim Burton's ambitious remake of Planet of the Apes in 2001. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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Filmography: Rick Baker
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Men in Black II

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Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors

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Into the Night

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King Kong

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Hellboy

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The Haunted Mansion

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The Ring

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Planet of the Apes

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Wikipedia: Rick Baker (makeup artist)
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
For the Historian of the United States Senate, see Richard A. Baker (Senate Historian).
Rick Baker (makeup artist)
Born December 8, 1950 (age 58)
Binghamton, New York

Richard A. "Rick" Baker (born December 8, 1950) is an Academy Award-winning special makeup effects artist known for his realistic creature effects.

Baker was born in Binghamton, New York, the son of Doris (née Hamlin) and Ralph B. Baker, a professional artist.[1] As a teen, Baker began creating artificial body parts in his own kitchen. He also appeared briefly in the "lost" classic fan production "The Night Turkey" a one hour B&W video parody of "The Night Stalker" (winner of the Best Short Film award at an early San Diego Comic Con) directed by William Malone (who went on to direct feature films like the SF thriller "Creature") and included in it's cast Bill Mills (currently a voice actor, independent audio producer and Director of Audio Productions for REB AudioBooks) and Robert Short (a fellow 'special make-up' artist who also went on to win an Academy Award for his FX work in "Beetlejuice"). Baker's first professional job was as an assistant to Dick Smith on the film The Exorcist.[2] He received the inaugural Academy Award for Makeup for his work on An American Werewolf in London. Subsequently, Baker has been nominated nine more times with five additional Oscars, both records in his field.[3] Baker claims that his work on Harry and the Hendersons is one of his proudest achievements.[4]

Baker had a cameo as the pilot and gunner (with Peter Jackson) who shot down Kong in the 2005 remake of King Kong, and a cameo as a drug dealer with a business card in the John Landis film Into the Night.

Baker was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters from the Academy of Art University San Francisco in 2008.

Contents

Filmography

Awards

See also

References

  1. ^ Rick Baker Biography (1950-)
  2. ^ S W A D - Baker, Rick
  3. ^ Rick Baker@Everything2.com
  4. ^ Rick Baker Interview - Rick Baker on CGI, Changes in the Industry

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rick Baker (makeup artist)".  Read more

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