Rick Baker
Biography
Rick Baker is an American actor and retired special makeup effects creator known for his creature designs. Born in Binghamton, New York, he moved to Covina, California as an infant. As a teenager he began creating artificial body parts in his kitchen. Among his first professional jobs was assisting Dick Smith on The Exorcist, and he designed a mutant infant for Larry Cohen's It's Alive. He won the first Academy Award for Best Makeup for An American Werewolf in London, and went on to take the prize a record seven times from eleven nominations, with further wins for Harry and the Hendersons, Ed Wood, The Nutty Professor, Men in Black, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Wolfman. He created the werecat and dancing zombies for Michael Jackson's Thriller (1983). He also appeared as the title character in the 1976 version of King Kong, and retired in 2015.
75years old
Turns 76 on December 8in 56 days
- Born Binghamton
- Star sign: SagittariusThe sign runs November 22 to December 21
- Also credited as Richard Alan Baker
Movie Career
- Films
- 5
- Career span
- 36 years1972 to 2008
Every film, newest first
- 2008Dark ReelIMDb rating 3.5
- 2006The Sci-Fi BoysIMDb rating 6.9
- 1983Making Michael Jackson's ThrillerIMDb rating 8.2
- 1981The Incredible Shrinking WomanIMDb rating 5.5
- 1972The Thing with Two HeadsIMDb rating 4.6
Genres
Share
Did you know?!
A first
Rick Baker has earned a record eleven nominations for the Academy Award for Best Makeup and taken home the prize a record seven times. His first win came in 1981, the category's first year, for the horror comedy An American Werewolf in London.
Big break
Baker was hired to build an ape suit for the 1976 King Kong, but problems with Carlo Rambaldi's mechanical Kong led to Baker playing the title role on screen for almost the whole film.
First role
Among Baker's first professional jobs was assisting makeup effects veteran Dick Smith on The Exorcist in 1973, and while on that film Larry Cohen hired him to design a mutant infant for It's Alive.
Beyond film
John Landis brought Baker onto Michael Jackson's Thriller music video in 1983, where Baker created the werecat creature Jackson transforms into and the zombies dancing beside him.
A change of course
Baker announced his retirement in May 2015, saying computer graphics had taken away the animatronics and makeup work and that at 64 he no longer wanted cheap and fast jobs.
Rick Baker movies on Netflix
Worked with
Rick Baker shares two films with John Landis, and one with each of the others. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
John Landis's page
Lance Henriksen's page
Ned Beatty's page
Tony Todd's page
Tracey Walter's page
Sally Kirkland's page
All films by Joel Schumacher
Lee FrostDirector, 1 film, 1972
All films by Lee Frost
Jerry KramerDirector, 1 film, 1983
All films by Jerry Kramer
Awards
Nine awards and honors from 1982 to 2011, eight of them major.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | |||
| 2011 | Best Makeup and Hairstyling | The Wolfman | Won |
| 2001 | Best Makeup and Hairstyling | Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas | Won |
| 1998 | Best Makeup and Hairstyling | Men in Black | Won |
| 1997 | Best Makeup and Hairstyling | The Nutty Professor | Won |
| 1995 | Best Makeup and Hairstyling | Ed Wood | Won |
| 1988 | Best Makeup and Hairstyling | Harry and the Hendersons | Won |
| 1982 | Best Makeup and Hairstyling | An American Werewolf in London | Won |
| Emmy Awards | |||
| Emmy Award | Won | ||
| Other honors | |||
| Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame | Honored | ||
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.