Costume & Make-Up
Rick Baker
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."
Filmography
Gremlins, an american nightmare!
Film · 2026
V/H/S/Halloween
Film · 2025
Old Time Radio: The Specter of Christmas
Film · 2025
Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist
Film · 2024
Old Time Radio: Your Move
Film · 2023
AGFA Mystery Mixtape #1
Film · 2020
The AGFA Mystery Mixtape Vault
Film · 2020
The Creeper: Rondo Hatton at Universal
Film · 2020
Tales Beyond Madness
Film · 2019
Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film
Film · 2019
King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen
Film · 2018
Keep the Gaslight Burning
Film · 2018
DC Daily
Series · 2018
Cult of Terror
Film · 2017
MonsterKids: The Impact of Things That Go Bump In The Night
Film · 2017
The Beast Inside: Creating 'Wolf'
Film · 2017
Face Off: Game Face
Series · 2017
Charlie Gemora: Uncredited
Film · 2016
Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex
Film · 2015
Birth Pains
Film · 2015
The Scanners Way: Creating the Special Effects in 'Scanners'
Film · 2014
House of Wax: Unlike Anything You've Seen Before!
Film · 2013
Men in Black 3
Film · 2012
Unchained Reaction
Series · 2012
Face Off
Series · 2011
The Wolf Man: From Ancient Curse to Modern Myth
Film · 2010
Pure in Heart: The Life and Legacy of Lon Chaney, Jr.
Film · 2010
The Wolfman
Film · 2010
Beware the Moon: Remembering 'An American Werewolf in London'
Film · 2009
Monsterland
Film · 2009
I Walked with a Werewolf
Film · 2009
RKO Production 601: The Making of “Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World”
Film · 2008
He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce
Film · 2008
Dark Reel
Film · 2008
The Sci-Fi Boys
Film · 2006
Teddy Scares
Film · 2006
Working with a Master: John Landis
Film · 2006
The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz
Film · 2005
The Perfect Scary Movie
Film · 2005
Ray Harryhausen: The Early Years Collection
Film · 2005
Videodrome: Forging the New Flesh
Film · 2004
Ed Wood: Making Bela
Film · 2004
Men in Black II
Film · 2002
Rick Baker: Alien Maker
Film · 2002
Men in Black II: Creature Featurettes
Film · 2002
Planet of the Apes
Film · 2001
Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed
Film · 2000
Metamorphosis of 'Men in Black'
Film · 2000
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Film · 2000
The 'Frankenstein' Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster
Film · 1999
She's Alive! Creating 'The Bride of Frankenstein'
Film · 1999
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
Film · 1999
The Road to 'Dracula'
Film · 1999
A Tribute to the Wizard of Oz
Film · 1999
The Making of Men in Black
Film · 1997
It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein
Film · 1994
Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects
Film · 1994
Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Fantasy
Film · 1991
King Kong! The Living Legend
Film · 1986
The Making of Captain EO
Film · 1986
Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors
Film · 1986
Into the Night
Film · 1985
Making Michael Jackson's Thriller
Film · 1983
Michael Jackson's Thriller
Film · 1983
The Making of David Cronenberg's Videodrome
Film · 1982
The Incredible Shrinking Woman
Film · 1981
Making an American Werewolf in London
Film · 1981
Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Monsters ... But Were Afraid!
Film · 1981
The Kentucky Fried Movie
Film · 1977
King Kong
Film · 1976
The Night Turkey
Film · 1973
The Thing with Two Heads
Film · 1972
Old Time Radio: Dance With Me
Film