Thomas Vincent Savini (born November 3, 1946 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a special effects artist and an actor, known for his contributions to the Horror genre and his frequent collaborations with George A. Romero, Robert Rodriguez, and Quentin Tarantino, as well as his tutelage of Greg Nicotero, who himself became an esteemed makeup artist. He rose to prominence for his work in the original Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Slasher Movies like Friday the 13th (parts I and IV) and The Prowler. He also directed the first remake of Night of the Living Dead in 1990.
His special effects and makeup work includes:
- Deathdream (1974)
- Deranged (1974)
- Martin (1977)
- Dawn of the Dead (1978)
- Friday the 13th (1980)
- Maniac! (1980)
- The Burning (1981)
- Eyes of a Stranger (1981)
- The Prowler (1981)
- Knightriders (1981)
- Creepshow (1982)
- Alone in the Dark (1982)
- Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
- Day of the Dead (1985)
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
- Creepshow 2 (1987)
- Red Scorpion (1988)
- Killing Zoe (1993)
- Trauma (1993)
- Ghostwriter (1995) (And before you ask, yes. He really did work on this edutaiment kids show.)
His acting appearances include:
- Martin (1977) — Arthur
- Dawn of the Dead (1978) — Motorcycle Raider (aka Blade)
- Maniac! (1980) — Disco Boy
- Creepshow (1982) — Garbage Man
- The Ripper (1985) — Jack the Ripper
- Creepshow 2 (1987) - The Creep
- Innocent Blood (1992) — News Photographer
- Mr. Stitch (1995) — Chemical Weapons Engineer
- From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) — Sex Machine
- Dawn of the Dead (2004) — The County Sheriff
- Land of the Dead (2005) — Machete Zombie
- Grindhouse (The Planet Terror half of it) (2007) — Deputy Tolo
- Diary of the Dead (2007) — Man Shouting on Radio ("Shoot in the head!")
- Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008) — David Van Etten
- Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) — Jenkins
- Machete (2010) — Osiris Amanpour
- The Dead Matter (2010) — Sebed
- The Theatre Bizarre (2011) — Dr. Maurey (segment "Wet Dreams")
- Django Unchained (2012) — Tracker
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) — Mr. Callahan
- Machete Kills (2013) — Osiris Amanpour
His video game credits include:
- Friday the 13th: The Game: Character design and kill design.
Additionally, him and his makeup effects team help create and design The Fiend. Specifically, his team created the mask that Bray Wyatt wears as The Fiend and Savini help create a custom designed SmackDown Universal Championship belt with its design taking after The Fiend's mask.
The man himself provides examples of:
- Advertised Extra:
- His role in The Ripper is limited to Ripper's onscreen appearances after his face is revealed, but that didn't stop anyone releasing the movie on VHS or DVD with giving Savini a top billing.
- Likewise, he gets top billing in Children of the Living Dead despite only appearing for the first ten minutes or so.
- As Himself: Voices himself in The Simpsons episode "Worst Episode Ever".
- Chronically Killed Actor: Characters played by him usually end up dead.
- Creator's Favorite: Has gone on record stating that Day of the Dead (1985) is what he considers his masterpiece.
- Gorn: He's given some of the best special effects ever in this field.
- Signature Style: Savini's effects work usually involves corpses that still twitch and move after their demise, especially after losing their heads.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: He hates insects with a passion. So naturally he was called in to work on the "They're Creeping Up on You" segment of Creepshow. He has recounted how one of the cockroaches touched him at one point, and he suddenly realized he was on the other side of the room.
