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Rick Baker

Rick Baker

Acting · Costume & Make-Up · Crew · Visual Effects

Born December 8, 1950, Binghamton, New York, USA

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

Appearances as themselves (47)
  • 2026Gremlins, an american nightmare! — Himself
  • 2024Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist — Self
  • 2020AGFA Mystery Mixtape #1 — Self
  • 2020The Creeper: Rondo Hatton at Universal — Self
  • 2019Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film — Self
  • DC Daily — Self
  • 2018King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen — Self
  • 2017Cult of Terror — Self - Make-up Designer
  • Face Off: Game Face — Self - Judge
  • 2017MonsterKids: The Impact of Things That Go Bump In The Night — Self
  • 2016Charlie Gemora: Uncredited — Himself
  • 2015Birth Pains — himself
  • 2015Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex — Self
  • 2014The Scanners Way: Creating the Special Effects in 'Scanners' — Himself
  • 2013House of Wax: Unlike Anything You've Seen Before! — Self
  • 2010Pure in Heart: The Life and Legacy of Lon Chaney, Jr. — Self
  • 2010The Wolf Man: From Ancient Curse to Modern Myth — Self
  • 2009Beware the Moon: Remembering 'An American Werewolf in London' — Self
  • 2009I Walked with a Werewolf — Himself
  • 2009Monsterland — Self
  • 2008He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce — Self
  • 2008RKO Production 601: The Making of “Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World” — Self
  • 2006The Sci-Fi Boys — Self
  • 2006Working with a Master: John Landis — Self
  • 2005Ray Harryhausen: The Early Years Collection — Self
  • 2005The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz — Self
  • 2005The Perfect Scary Movie — Self
  • 2004Ed Wood: Making Bela — Self
  • 2004Videodrome: Forging the New Flesh — Self
  • 2002Men in Black II‎: Creature Featurettes — Self
  • 2002Rick Baker: Alien Maker — Self
  • 2000Metamorphosis of 'Men in Black' — Self
  • 2000Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed — Self
  • 1999A Tribute to the Wizard of Oz — Himself
  • 1999Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man' — Self
  • 1999She's Alive! Creating 'The Bride of Frankenstein' — Self
  • 1999The 'Frankenstein' Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster — Self
  • 1999The Road to 'Dracula' — Self
  • 1997The Making of Men in Black — Self
  • 1994It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein — Self
  • 1994Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects — Self
  • 1991Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Fantasy — Self
  • 1986Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors — Self
  • 1986King Kong! The Living Legend — Self / King Kong
  • 1986The Making of Captain EO — Self
  • 1983Making Michael Jackson's Thriller — Self
  • 1981Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Monsters ... But Were Afraid! — self
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