 |
Richard (Rick) BakerAmerican special effects and makeup specialist
Date of Birth: 08.02.1950
Country:  USA |
Content:
Biography of Richard (Rick) Baker
Richard Baker, an American special effects and makeup artist, is renowned for his incredibly realistic costumes. He is a recipient of the Academy Award. Baker was born in Binghamton, New York, to Doris Baker (née Hamlin) and Ralph Baker. As a teenager, he created artificial body parts in his kitchen. He can be seen in the cult fan creation of William Malone's "The Night Turkey," a one-hour parody of the film "The Night Stalker," which won the Best Short Film award at one of the earliest Comic Con festivals in San Diego.
Early Career and Contributions
Baker's first professional project was assisting Dick Smith during the making of "The Exorcist." Baker not only found his calling but also carved out a niche in the world of cinema by transforming people into unbelievably extraordinary monsters. He won an Academy Award for Best Makeup for the film "An American Werewolf in London." Baker was nominated for an Oscar in the same category nine consecutive times, winning five times in a row, both of which remain records in the category. On October 3, 2009, he received the Jack Pierce Lifetime Achievement Award.
Notable Achievements
Baker is credited with developing and creating the werecat into which Michael Jackson transformed in his music video "Thriller." His realistic approach earned him and his colleague Stan Winston an Emmy Award for their convincing aging makeup on Cicely Tyson for the classic television film "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," which aired on CBS in 1974. Baker began his career as an assistant to legendary makeup artist Dick Smith, learning the art's intricacies before creating puppets for Clokey Studios. Later, this experience proved valuable when he developed the technique of "Anatomation," where an operator wore an external skeleton connected to a puppet. The system allowed the puppet to mimic the operator's movements with unprecedented realism. This technology helped Baker in his work on "An American Werewolf" and was also utilized in David Cronenberg's "Videodrome," John Carpenter's "Starman," and "Harry and the Hendersons," which earned him his second Academy Award.
Later Career
By this time, Baker had become increasingly involved with television, working as a producer, makeup and special effects artist, and creator of various unusual creatures. He transformed Ron Perlman into Vincent, one of the main stars of the cult science fiction series "Beauty and the Beast." Later, Baker returned to the big screen, working on films such as "The Wolf" where he applied makeup to Jack Nicholson, and "The Nutty Professor" in which Eddie Murphy utilized his makeup skills. His work in "The Nutty Professor" earned him another Academy Award, along with nominations for "Ed Wood" by Tim Burton, "Men in Black," and "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas." In 2008, Baker was awarded an honorary doctorate by the San Francisco Academy of Art University.
