Rick Baker Net Worth, Bio, Partner, Movies, Metamorphosis, Awards

Rick Baker Bio/ Profile

Richard Alan Baker, also known as Rick Baker, is a famous American actor and former special effects makeup effects creator. He was born on December 8, 1950. He is best known for his designs and effects on various creatures. Beginning with the inaugural award he received for the 1981 horror comedy film An American Werewolf in London, Baker has been awarded the Academy Award for Best Makeup a record seven times following a record eleven nominations.

Baker started making artificial body parts in the kitchen as a teenager. Additionally, he made a brief appearance in the fan film The Night Turkey, a one-hour black-and-white video parody of William Malone’s The Night Stalker (1972). Baker’s first paid position was working as Dick Smith’s assistant, a veteran of prosthetic makeup effects, on the 1973 movie The Exorcist. Baker was employed by director Larry Cohen while working on The Exorcist to design and create a mutant baby for Cohen’s 1974 film It’s Alive.

For his work on An American Werewolf in London (1981), Baker won the first Academy Award for Best Makeup at the 54th Academy Awards. He went on to receive ten more nominations for Best Makeup, winning seven of them, both records in his industry. Additionally, Baker made the werecat creature that Michael Jackson assumes in the Thriller (1983) music video.

Rick Baker
Rick Baker

He received a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco in 2008. Additionally, Baker provides commentary for the horror and science fiction movie trailers in the web series Trailers from Hell. Baker claims that his work on Harry and the Hendersons (1987), for which he received his second Oscar, is one of his proudest accomplishments. At the Chiller-Eyegore Awards on October 3, 2009, he was presented with the Jack Pierce Lifetime Achievement Award.

Baker was awarded the 2485th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 30, 2012. The Guinness World Records Museum is in front of the star.

On May 28, 2015, Baker made his retirement official. He noted that the CG technology had significantly reduced his ability to work with animatronics. “The makeup portion is also beginning to disappear. I’m 64 years old, the timing is right, and business is booming right now. They desired cheap and fast, and I like to do things the right way. I have simply decided that it is time to leave because doing that is not what I want to do. I’d be open to designing and providing consulting, but I doubt I’ll have a large workspace anymore.”

Due to his daughter Veronica working for DC Comics at the time, Baker was contacted by the company in 2018 to see if he would be intrigued in creating a collectible display bust for them. He agreed to the following conditions in exchange for being given complete creative freedom, and DC accepted them. A bust of The Joker was made by Baker with the help of his longtime mold maker Rob Freitas.

Rick Baker Partner

Baker is currently married, having spent the previous ten years of his life wed to Elaine Melba Parkyn. While they were both working on Into the Night (1985), he met the hairstylist who would later become his second wife, Silvia Abascal. Rebecca and Veronica are Baker’s two daughters, and he also has a son. Both Baker and his wife Silvia are dedicated volunteers and supporters of organizations such as Friends and Helpers, Autism Speaks, the American Cancer Society, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Rick Baker Family

Baker was born in Binghamton, New York, on December 8, 1950. His parents, Doris (née Hamlin), who worked as a bank teller, and Ralph B. Baker, who was a professional artist, raised him. When he was younger than one year old, he relocated to Covina, California with the rest of his family.

Rick Baker Age

He was born on December 8, 1950. He is currently 73 years old.

Rick Baker Height

His average height is 5 feet 9 inches.

Rick Baker Movies

In the new version of King Kong, which came out in 1976, Baker played the title role. In the remake that was released in 2005, he had a cameo appearance as the pilot and gunner who shot down Kong, along with director Peter Jackson. In addition, he has appeared in cameo roles in the music video for Michael Jackson’s “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,” a MIB agent helping provide aliens with disguises, Men in Black 3 (2012) as “Brain Alien,” The Wolfman (2010) as “Gypsy Man / First Killed,”

Rick Baker Metamorphosis

The film Metamorphosis is a chronicle of the career of the legendary special effects and makeup artist Rick Baker, who is most well-known for his work on creature effects and designs. This deluxe, two-volume set is filled with more than 1,600 four-color images and original sketches, and it covers the journey of the makeup artist over the course of more than forty years, beginning with his early days as a young “monster maker,” creating body parts in his parents’ kitchen and continuing through his more than 70 film and television credits, resulting in seven Academy Awards, one Emmy Award, and three BAFTA Awards, among numerous other accolades.
Rick Baker’s contributions to the fields of special effects, makeup, and prosthetics are among some of the most enduring legacies of the Hollywood film industry, including the gruesome zombies in Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the astonishingly lifelike Bigfoot in Harry and the Hendersons, as well as the inventive builds in Men in Black and the ground-breaking effects in An American Werewolf in London.

Rick Baker Awards

Rick Baker, a “monster kid” for his entire life, is the record-holding winner of seven Academy Awards for Makeup out of 11 nominations. He received the first competitive Oscar awarded in that category for his innovative work on An American Werewolf in London (1981), which was one of several collaborations with director John Landis. Baker holds the record for the number of Academy Awards for Makeup he has won. He won seven out of eleven nominations. His training as an apprentice under one of the industry’s greatest makeup artists, Dick Smith (which included working as his assistant on The Exorcist), prepared him for a career providing cutting-edge makeup effects in a variety of genres ranging from comedy to science fiction to horror, with titles such as Ed Wood (1994), The Nutty Professor (1996), and Men in Black (1998). His work can be seen in Ed Wood (1994), The Nutty Professor (1996), and Men in Black (1998), among many others.

Rick Baker’s Net Worth

Rick Baker’s net worth is approximately $3 million.

FAQ About Rick Baker

Why did Rich Baker retire?

He noted that the CG technology had significantly reduced his ability to work with animatronics. “The makeup portion is also beginning to disappear. I’m 64 years old, the timing is right, and business is booming right now. They desired cheap and fast, and I like to do things the right way. I have simply decided that it is time to leave because doing that is not what I want to do. I’d be open to designing and providing consulting, but I doubt I’ll have a large workspace anymore.”

What movies did Rick Baker do makeup for?

  • Octaman (1971) (Octaman costume; co-created with Doug Beswick)
  • The Thing with Two Heads (1972) (special effects – uncredited)
  • Schlock (1973) (makeup artist/actor)
  • The Exorcist (1973) (special effects assistant – uncredited)
  • It’s Alive (1974) (makeup artist / special makeup effects artist – uncredited)
  • The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974) (makeup creator: Miss Tyson)
  • King Kong (1976) (makeup effects – uncredited/special contributions: Kong/actor)
  • Track of the Moon Beast (1976) (makeup artist)
  • Squirm (1976) (makeup designer)
  • The Incredible Melting Man (1977) (special makeup effects/actor)
  • The Fury (1978) (special makeup effects)
  • The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (makeup artist – uncredited)
  • An American Werewolf in London (1981) (special makeup effects designer and creator)
  • The Howling (1981) (special makeup effects consultant)
  • The Funhouse (1981) (special makeup design)
  • The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) (creator and designer: Sidney / makeup effects/actor)
  • Videodrome (1983) (special makeup effects designer)
  • Thriller (1983) (special makeup effects designer and creator/actor)
  • Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) (special makeup effects)
  • Starman (1984) (Starman transformation)
  • Into the Night (1985) (actor)
  • My Science Project (1985) (special makeup effects artist – uncredited)
  • Captain EO (1986) (special makeup effects)
  • Ratboy (1986) (designer: Ratboy)
  • Harry and the Hendersons (1987) (creature designer: Harry/puppeteer/makeup artist)
  • Beauty and the Beast (1987–89) (designer and creator)
  • Werewolf (1987–88) (werewolf characters designer)
  • Coming to America (1988) (special makeup effects)
  • Gorillas in the Mist (1988) (special makeup effects/associate producer)
  • Missing Link (1988) (special makeup effects)
  • Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) (special effects supervisor / co-producer)
  • The Rocketeer (1991) (makeup creator: Lothar)
  • Wolf (1994) (special makeup effects)
  • Ed Wood (1994) (makeup creator: Bela Lugosi / makeup designer: Bela Lugosi)
  • Batman Forever (1995) (special makeup designer and creator)
  • The Nutty Professor (1996) (special makeup effects)
  • The Frighteners (1996) (special makeup artist: The Judge)
  • Escape from L.A. (1996) (special makeup effects)
  • Ghosts (1997) (special makeup effects artist)
  • Men in Black (1997) (alien makeup effects / special makeup effects artist)
  • Critical Care (1997) (special makeup effects: Mr. Brooks)
  • Mighty Joe Young (1998) (special makeup effects/creature designer and producer: Mighty Joe Young)
  • Psycho (1998) (special makeup effects artist)
  • Life (1999) (special makeup effects)
  • Wild Wild West (1999) (special makeup effects)
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) (special makeup effects/actor)
  • Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000) (special makeup effects)
  • Planet of the Apes (2001) (makeup artist / special makeup effects designer and creator/actor)
  • Men in Black II (2002) (alien makeup effects / special makeup effects artist – uncredited / actor)
  • The Ring (2002) (special makeup effects artist)
  • The Haunted Mansion (2003) (special makeup effects designer and creator)
  • Hellboy (2004) (makeup consultant: Hellboy / special effects director)
  • The Ring Two (2005) (special makeup effects artist)
  • King Kong (2005) (actor)
  • Cursed (2005) (special makeup effects artist / special makeup effects creator / special makeup effects designer)
  • X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) (special makeup effects consultant)
  • Click (2006) (special age makeup artist – uncredited/special makeup effects)
  • Enchanted (2007) (special makeup effects artist)
  • Norbit (2007) (special makeup effects artist)
  • Tropic Thunder (2008) (makeup designer: Mr. Downey Jr.)
  • The Wolfman (2010) (special makeup effects/actor)
  • Tron: Legacy (2010) (special makeup effects artist)
  • Men in Black 3 (2012) (alien makeup effects/actor)
  • Maleficent (2014) (makeup designer: Maleficent)
  • Rings (2017) (actor)

Did Rick Baker work on the howling?

The job of creating the special effects for this film was originally assigned to Rick Baker, but after he left to work on An American Werewolf in London (1981), Rob Bottin, who had been working as an assistant, was given the opportunity to take over.