1950-12-08 ( 74 years old ) in 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."
Movies
The AGFA Mystery Mixtape Vault
2025-03-25
Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist
2024-03-26
Old Time Radio: Your Move
2023-10-28
AGFA MYSTERY MIXTAPE #1
2020-04-08
Tales Beyond Madness
2019-07-30
Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film
2019-01-30
Keep the Gaslight Burning
2018-10-31
King Cohen
2018-07-07
The Beast Inside: Creating 'Wolf'
2017-11-20
Cult of Terror
2017-10-14
Charlie Gemora: Uncredited
2016-04-15
Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex
2015-11-18
Birth Pains
2015-10-16
Men in Black 3
2012-05-23
The Wolfman
2010-02-10
I Walked with a Werewolf
2009-09-15
Monsterland
2009-03-29
Teddy Scares
2006-06-28
Working with a Master: John Landis
2006-06-27
The Sci-Fi Boys
2006-04-27
The Perfect Scary Movie
2005-10-29
The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz
2005-10-25
Ed Wood: Making Bela
2004-10-19
Videodrome: Forging the New Flesh
2004-08-27
Rick Baker: Alien Maker
2002-11-26
Men in Black II
2002-07-03
Planet of the Apes
2001-07-25
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
2000-11-17
Metamorphosis of 'Men in Black'
2000-09-05
Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed
2000-08-29
The Road to 'Dracula'
1999-12-21
A Tribute to the Wizard of Oz
1999-01-01
The Making of Men in Black
1997-11-04
It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein
1994-10-25
The Making of Captain EO
1986-09-12
King Kong! The Living Legend
1986-06-01
Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors
1986-01-01
Into the Night
1985-02-22
Making Michael Jackson's Thriller
1983-12-15
Michael Jackson's Thriller
1983-11-14
The Making of David Cronenberg's Videodrome
1982-12-31
The Incredible Shrinking Woman
1981-01-30
The Kentucky Fried Movie
1977-08-10
King Kong
1976-09-08
The Thing with Two Heads
1972-07-19
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