Richard A. "Rick" Baker (born December 8, 1950) is an American special make-up effects creator, make-up artist, and special effects supervisor mainly known for his creature effects. He was a master of the People in Rubber Suits effects. He especially often created realistic-looking gorilla suits - from King Kong (1976) to Gorillas in the Mist and Planet of the Apes (2001).
His work has earned him quite a pile of Academy Awards and a slightly larger, record-setting pile of nominations. In addition to his groundbreaking creature effects, Baker has also acted in several small roles within the projects he worked on. Unfortunately, he eventually decided to retire in 2015 at age 64 with the rise of CGI usurping his art and at the annoyance of too many filmmakers refusing to work within his standards of craftsmanship when they want cheap and quick work instead.
Filmography:
Films- Octaman (1971)
- The Thing with Two Heads (1972)
- Schlock (1973)
- The Exorcist (1973) (with Dick Smith)
- It's Alive (1974)
- The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman (1974)
- King Kong (1976) (donned the gorilla suit used for most of the movie; effects with Carlo Rambaldi)
- Track of the Moon Beast (1976)
- The Food of the Gods (1976)
- Squirm (1976)
- The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)
- The Incredible Melting Man (1977)
- Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) (brought in during post-production to fill out the Cantina scene; makeup effects with Stewart Freeborn)
- The Fury (1978)
- Up the Academy (1980)
- An American Werewolf in London (1981)
- The Howling (1981) (effects consulting only; effects by Rob Bottin)
- The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981)
- Videodrome (1983)
- Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)
- Starman (1984) (Starman evolution scene with Stan Winston and Dick Smith)
- Into the Night (1985)
- My Science Project (1985) (effects consulting only; effects by Doug Beswick)
- Captain EO (1986) (Fuzzball creation only; makeup and puppet effects with Tom Burman and Lance Anderson)
- Ratboy (1986)
- Harry and the Hendersons (1987)
- Coming to America (1988)
- Gorillas in the Mist (1988)
- Moonwalker (1988) (Transformation Sequence effects with Eric Allard)
- Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
- The Rocketeer (1991)
- Wolf (Mike Nichols) (1994)
- Ed Wood (1994)
- Batman Forever (1995)
- Batman & Robin (1997)
- The Nutty Professor (1996)
- The Frighteners (1996) (makeup for The Judge; effects with the Weta Workshop)
- Escape from L.A. (1996)
- Men in Black (1997)
- Men in Black II (2002)
- Men in Black 3 (2012)
- Critical Care (1997)
- Mighty Joe Young (1998)
- Life (1999)
- Wild Wild West (1999)
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (2000)
- Planet of the Apes (2001)
- The Ring (2002)
- The Ring Two (2005)
- Rings (2017)
- The Haunted Mansion (2003)
- Hellboy (2004)
- King Kong (2005) (appears as one of the pilots trying to shoot Kong down)
- Cursed (2005)
- X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
- Click (2006)
- Enchanted (2007)
- Norbit (2007)
- Tropic Thunder (2008) (responsible for the Blackface worn by Kirk Lazarus; makeup effects with Barney Burman and Michèle Burke)
- The Wolfman (2010)
- TRON: Legacy (2010)
- Maleficent (2014)
Music Videos
- "Ghosts"
- "Thriller"
Television
Tropes:
- He Also Did: Before he got started in creature makeup effects, Baker was a stop motion animator for Art Clokey on Gumby and Davey and Goliath.
