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Rick Baker

{{Short description|American former special make-up effects creator and actor}}

{{other people|Rick Baker}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}

{{BLP sources|date=December 2016}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Rick Baker

| image = Rick Baker February 2015 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Baker in 2015

| birth_name = Richard Alan Baker

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|12|08|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = Binghamton, New York, U.S.

| alma_mater = Academy of Art University (BA)

| occupation = {{hlist|Special make-up effects|artist|actor}}

| years_active = 1967–2018

| spouse = {{Plainlist|

  • {{Marriage|Elaine Baker|1974|1984|reason=divorced}}
  • {{Marriage|Silvia Abascal|November 10, 1987}}}}

| children = 2

}}

Richard Alan "Rick" Baker (born December 8, 1950) is a retired American special make-up effects creator and actor. He is mostly known for his creature designs and effects. Baker has 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 horror comedy film An American Werewolf in London.{{cite web |url=https://www.oscars.org/collection-highlights/rick-baker |title=Rick Baker |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |access-date=April 24, 2018}}

Early life

Baker was born on December 8, 1950, in Binghamton, New York, to Doris (née Hamlin), a bank teller, and Ralph B. Baker, a professional artist. He and his family moved to Covina, California when he was less than one year old.{{cite web |url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/85/Rick-Baker.html |title=Rick Baker Biography (1950-) |publisher=Film Reference}}{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSrNG1ctTKk |title=The Legendary Rick Baker! |date=September 24, 2019 |publisher=YouTube |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/aSrNG1ctTKk |archive-date=December 14, 2021 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}

Career

As a teenager, Baker began creating artificial body parts in his own kitchen.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} He also appeared briefly in the fan production The Night Turkey, a one-hour, black-and-white video parody of The Night Stalker (1972), directed by William Malone.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} Among Baker's first professional jobs was assisting prosthetic makeup effects veteran Dick Smith on the 1973 film The Exorcist.{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-dick-smith-20140801-story.html |title=Dick Smith dies at 92; 'Exorcist' makeup man won Oscar for 'Amadeus' |last=Nelson |first=Valerie J. |date=July 31, 2014 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=February 8, 2020}} 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.{{cite magazine |title=Rick Baker: The Wonder Years Part Three |last=Martin |first=R. H. |date=August 1984 |magazine=Fangoria |publisher=Starlog Group, Inc. |issue=37 |pages=31–32 |issn=0164-2111}}

At the 54th Academy Awards, Baker received the inaugural Academy Award for Best Makeup for his work on An American Werewolf in London (1981).{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/makeup-artist-howard-j-smit-87280/ |title=Makeup artist Howard J. Smit dies |last=Barnes |first=Mike |date=August 4, 2009 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=August 12, 2009}} Subsequently, he has been nominated for Best Makeup ten more times, winning on seven occasions, both records in his field. Baker also created the werecat creature Michael Jackson transforms into in the music video Thriller (1983).{{cite web |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3526115/came-80s-enduring-legacy-john-landis-rick-baker-michael-jacksons-thriller/ |title=[It Came From the '80s] The Enduring Legacy of John Landis, Rick Baker, and Michael Jackson's "Thriller" |last=Navarro |first=Meagan |date=October 29, 2018 |publisher=Bloody Disgusting |access-date=October 29, 2018}}

File:Rick Baker at Saturn Awards (cropped).jpg in 2011]]

In 2008, he was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.{{cite web |url=http://newsfeed.academyart.edu/2009/10/oct-30-academy-to-preview-nova’s-“becoming-human”-—-students-modeled-recreations-of-neanderthal-physiology/ |title=Academy of Art University to Preview NOVA's "Becoming Human" — Students Modeled Recreations of Neanderthal Physiology |date=October 25, 2009 |work=academyart.edu |publisher=Academy of Art University |access-date=October 25, 2009}} Baker also contributes commentaries to the web series Trailers from Hell for trailers about horror and science fiction films.{{cite web |url=https://trailersfromhell.com/gurus/baker-rick/ |title=Rick Baker |work=Trailers from Hell |access-date=December 21, 2016}} Baker claims that his work on Harry and the Hendersons (1987) is one of his proudest achievements, for which he won his second Oscar.{{cite web |url=http://movies.about.com/od/interviews/a/rickbaker062806.htm |title=Rick Baker on CGI, Changes in the Industry |last=Murray |first=Rebecca |date=July 18, 2006 |publisher=About.com |access-date=September 8, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604092051/http://movies.about.com/od/interviews/a/rickbaker062806.htm |archive-date=June 4, 2008 |url-status=dead}} On October 3, 2009, he received the Jack Pierce Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chiller-Eyegore Awards.{{cite web |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/13725/dread-central-at-the-2009-chiller-eyegore-awards-and-halloween-horror-nights/ |title=Dread Central at the 2009 Chiller-Eyegore Awards and Halloween Horror Nights |last=Barton |first=Steve |date=October 3, 2009 |publisher=Dread Central |access-date=October 3, 2009}}

On November 30, 2012, Baker received the 2485th star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is located in front of the Guinness World Records Museum.{{cite web |url=https://patch.com/california/hollywood/rick-baker-to-receive-walk-of-fame-star |title=Rick Baker to Receive Walk of Fame Star |last=Baguio |first=Lindsey |date=November 14, 2012 |publisher=Hollywood Patch |access-date=November 27, 2012}}

On May 28, 2015, Baker announced his retirement, saying: "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."{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/2015/05/28/rick-baker-retires-auctions-collection/ |title=Rick Baker, special effects and make-up designer for 'Thriller,' to retire and auction off his collection |last=Dornbush |first=Jonathan |date=May 28, 2015 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=May 28, 2015}}{{cite web |url=https://collider.com/make-up-legend-rick-baker-is-retiring/ |title=Make-Up Legend Rick Baker Is Retiring; Cites Studios Wanting "Cheap and Fast" Over Quality |last=Chitwood |first=Adam |date=May 28, 2015 |work=Collider |access-date=May 28, 2015}}{{cite web |url=https://www.slashfilm.com/537876/rick-baker-retiring/ |title=Visual Effects Legend Rick Baker Is Retiring From Filmmaking |last=Fischer |first=Russ |date=May 28, 2015 |work=/Film |access-date=May 28, 2015}}

In 2018, when Baker's daughter Veronica was working at DC Comics, he was approached by DC to design a collectible display bust. He agreed on the condition of total creative freedom; working with his long-time mold maker Rob Freitas, he created a bust of The Joker.{{cite web |last=Morrison |first=Matt |date=October 23, 2018 |title=Exclusive: How Rick Baker's the Joker Bust Was Crafted [Time-Lapse Video] |work=Screen Rant |url=https://screenrant.com/rick-baker-joker-bust/ |access-date=July 3, 2022}}

Acting roles

Baker played the title role in the 1976 remake of King Kong. He had initially only been hired to create an ape suit that would fill in for scenes where it was not practical to use a life-sized mechanical version of Kong that had been designed by Carlo Rambaldi, but problems with Rambaldi's creation resulted in Baker playing Kong on-screen for almost all of the film.{{cite web |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-struggles-of-king-kong-76/ |title=The Struggles of King Kong '76 |last=Lambie |first=Ryan |date=March 10, 2017 |work=Den of Geek |access-date=March 10, 2017}} In the 2005 remake, he had a cameo as the pilot and gunner (with director Peter Jackson) who shot down Kong. He has also made cameo appearances in: Michael Jackson's music video Thriller (1983) as "Zombie Opening the Crypt"; Into the Night (1985) as a drug dealer with a business card; Men in Black II (2002) as "MIB Passport Control Agent", an MIB agent helping provide aliens with disguises; Men in Black 3 (2012) as "Brain Alien"; The Wolfman (2010) as "Gypsy Man / First Killed"; The Strain as a convenience store customer (2014, Episode 8, uncredited) and Rings (2017) as a flea market vendor.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000711/#actor |title="Rick Baker - Actor Filmography" |publisher=IMDb |access-date=May 3, 2017}}

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 (1985). Baker and Abascal had their first daughter 1989 and their second in 1993. {{cite web |url=https://werewolf-news.com/2018/10/rick-bakers-daughters-rebecca-and-veronica-become-a-new-american-werewolf-her-victim-for-halloween/ |title=Rick Baker's daughters Rebecca and Veronica become a new American Werewolf & her victim for Halloween |last=Quinton |first=Angela |date=October 31, 2018 |work=Werewolf News |access-date=October 31, 2018}}

Selected filmography

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Awards and nominations

=[[Academy Awards]]=

class="wikitable"
Year

! Nominated work

! Category

! Result

1982

| An American Werewolf in London

| rowspan="11"| Best Makeup

| {{won}}

1985

| Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

| {{nom}}

1988

| Harry and the Hendersons

| {{won}}

1989

| Coming to America

| {{nom}}

1995

| Ed Wood

| {{won}}

1997

| The Nutty Professor

| {{won}}

1998

| Men in Black

| {{won}}

2000

| Life

| {{nom}}

2001

| How the Grinch Stole Christmas

| {{won}}

2008

| Norbit

| {{nom}}

2011

| The Wolfman

| {{won}}

=[[British Academy Film Awards|BAFTA Awards]]=

class="wikitable"
Year

! Nominated work

! Category

! Result

1985

| Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

| rowspan="3"| Best Make Up/Hair

| {{won}}

1996

| Ed Wood

| {{nom}}

1997

| The Nutty Professor

| {{won}}

1998

| Men in Black

| Best Special Effects

| {{nom}}

2001

| How the Grinch Stole Christmas

| rowspan="2"| Best Make Up/Hair

| {{won}}

2002

| Planet of the Apes

| {{nom}}

=[[Saturn Awards]]=

class="wikitable"
Year

! Nominated work

! Category

! Result

1978

| Star Wars

| rowspan="5"| Best Make-up

| {{won}}

1979

| The Fury

| {{won}}

1981

| The Howling

| {{nom}}

1982

| An American Werewolf in London

| {{won}}

1988

| Harry and the Hendersons

| {{nom}}

1991

| Gremlins 2: The New Batch

| Best Special Effects

| {{nom}}

rowspan="2"| 1995

| Ed Wood

| rowspan="5"| Best Make-up

| {{won}}

Wolf

| {{nom}}

1996

| Batman Forever

| {{nom}}

rowspan="2"| 1997

| The Nutty Professor

| {{won}}

The Frighteners

| {{nom}}

rowspan="2"| 1998

| rowspan="2"| Men in Black

| Best Special Effects

| {{nom}}

Best Make-up

| {{nom}}

1999

| Mighty Joe Young

| Best Special Effects

| {{nom}}

rowspan="2"| 2001

| How the Grinch Stole Christmas

| rowspan="6"| Best Make-up

| {{won}}

Nutty Professor II: The Klumps

| {{nom}}

2002

| Planet of the Apes

| {{nom}}

2003

| The Ring

| {{nom}}

2004

| The Haunted Mansion

| {{nom}}

2011

| The Wolfman

| {{won}}

=Other awards=

See also

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{commons category|Rick Baker}}

{{wikiquote}}

  • {{IMDb name|0000711|Rick Baker}}
  • {{emmytvlegends name|rick-baker|Rick Baker}}

{{Navboxes

|title = Awards for Rick Baker

|list =

{{Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling}}

{{BAFTA Award for Best Makeup and Hair}}

{{Nikola Tesla Satellite Award}}

{{Saturn Award for Best Make-up}}

}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Rick}}

Category:1950 births

Category:Living people

Category:Academy of Art University alumni

Category:American make-up artists

Category:Artists from Binghamton, New York

Category:Best Makeup Academy Award winners

Category:Best Makeup BAFTA Award winners

Category:People from Binghamton, New York

Category:People from Covina, California

Category:American special effects people