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Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
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Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.
Pioneers, champions, Negro Leagues, records, activism and excellence.
Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
Black towns, communities, institutions and places where history happened.
Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.
In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
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Rick Baker | |
|---|---|
 Baker in 2026 | |
| Born | Richard Alan Baker December 8, 1950 Binghamton, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Academy of Art University (BA) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1967–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
Richard Alan Baker (born December 8, 1950) is an American actor and retired special make-up effects creator.[1] He is mostly known for his creature designs and effects. Baker has won the Academy Award for Best Makeup a record seven times from a record eleven nominations, beginning with his win in the first year of the category's existence, for the 1981 horror comedy An American Werewolf in London.[2]
Baker was born on December 8, 1950, in Binghamton, New York, to Doris (née Hamlin), a bank teller, and Ralph B. Baker, a professional artist. He and his family moved to Covina, California when he was less than one year old.[1][3]
As a teenager, Baker began creating artificial body parts in his own kitchen.[citation needed] He also appeared briefly in the fan production The Night Turkey, a one-hour, black-and-white video parody of The Night Stalker (1972), directed by William Malone.[citation needed] Among Baker's first professional jobs was assisting prosthetic makeup effects veteran Dick Smith on the 1973 film The Exorcist.[2][4] 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.[5]
At the 54th Academy Awards, Baker received the inaugural Academy Award for Best Makeup for his work on An American Werewolf in London (1981).[6] Subsequently, he has been nominated for Best Makeup ten more times, winning on seven occasions, both records in his field. [2] His other Oscars came from Harry and the Hendersons, Ed Wood, The Nutty Professor, Men In Black, How The Grinch Stole Christmas and The Wolfman.[7] Baker was also brought in by An American Werewolf in London John Landis to the music video Thriller (1983), where Baker created the werecat creature Michael Jackson transforms into and multiple zombies that dance alongside Jackson.[8]
In 2008, he was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.[9] Baker also contributes commentaries to the web series Trailers from Hell for trailers about horror and science fiction films.[10] Baker claims that his work on Harry and the Hendersons (1987) is one of his proudest achievements, for which he won his second Oscar.[11] On October 3, 2009, he received the Jack Pierce Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chiller-Eyegore Awards.[12]
On November 30, 2012, Baker received the 2485th star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is located in front of the Guinness World Records Museum.[13]
On May 28, 2015, Baker announced his retirement, saying: "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."[14][15][16]
In 2018, when Baker's daughter Veronica was working at DC Comics, he was approached by DC to design a collectible display bust. He agreed on the condition of total creative freedom; working with his long-time mold maker Rob Freitas, he created a bust of The Joker.[17]
Baker played the title role in the 1976 remake of King Kong. He had initially only been hired to create an ape suit that would fill in for scenes where it was not practical to use a life-sized mechanical version of Kong that had been designed by Carlo Rambaldi, but problems with Rambaldi's creation resulted in Baker playing Kong on-screen for almost all of the film.[18] In the 2005 remake, he had a cameo as the pilot and gunner (with director Peter Jackson) who shot down Kong. He has also made cameo appearances in: Michael Jackson's music video 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", an MIB agent helping provide aliens with disguises; Men in Black 3 (2012) as "Brain Alien"; The Wolfman (2010) as "Gypsy Man / First Killed"; The Strain as a convenience store customer (2014, Episode 8, uncredited) and Rings (2017) as a flea market vendor.[19]
Baker is married; he was previously married to Elaine Melba Parkyn for ten years. He met his second wife, hairstylist Silvia Abascal, while they were both working on Into the Night (1985).[3] Baker and Abascal had their first daughter 1989 and their second in 1993.[20]
| Year | Nominated work | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | An American Werewolf in London | Best Makeup | Won |
| 1985 | Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes | Nominated | |
| 1988 | Harry and the Hendersons | Won | |
| 1989 | Coming to America | Nominated | |
| 1995 | Ed Wood | Won | |
| 1997 | The Nutty Professor | Won | |
| 1998 | Men in Black | Won | |
| 2000 | Life | Nominated | |
| 2001 | How the Grinch Stole Christmas | Won | |
| 2008 | Norbit | Nominated | |
| 2011 | The Wolfman | Won |
| Year | Nominated work | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes | Best Make Up/Hair | Won |
| 1996 | Ed Wood | Nominated | |
| 1997 | The Nutty Professor | Won | |
| 1998 | Men in Black | Best Special Effects | Nominated |
| 2001 | How the Grinch Stole Christmas | Best Make Up/Hair | Won |
| 2002 | Planet of the Apes | Nominated |
| Year | Nominated work | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Star Wars | Best Make-up | Won |
| 1979 | The Fury | Won | |
| 1981 | The Howling | Nominated | |
| 1982 | An American Werewolf in London | Won | |
| 1988 | Harry and the Hendersons | Nominated | |
| 1991 | Gremlins 2: The New Batch | Best Special Effects | Nominated |
| 1995 | Ed Wood | Best Make-up | Won |
| Wolf | Nominated | ||
| 1996 | Batman Forever | Nominated | |
| 1997 | The Nutty Professor | Won | |
| The Frighteners | Nominated | ||
| 1998 | Men in Black | Best Special Effects | Nominated |
| Best Make-up | Nominated | ||
| 1999 | Mighty Joe Young | Best Special Effects | Nominated |
| 2001 | How the Grinch Stole Christmas | Best Make-up | Won |
| Nutty Professor II: The Klumps | Nominated | ||
| 2002 | Planet of the Apes | Nominated | |
| 2003 | The Ring | Nominated | |
| 2004 | The Haunted Mansion | Nominated | |
| 2011 | The Wolfman | Won |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Richard Alan Baker (born December 8, 1950) is an American actor and retired special make-up effects creator. He is mostly known for his creature designs and effects. Baker has won the Academy Award for Best Makeup a record seven times from a record eleven nominations, beginning with his win in the first year of the category's existence, for the 1981 horror comedy An American Werewolf in London.
Richard Murray "Rick" Baker (born June 27, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served as mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida. Elected in 2001, he was reelected in November 2005 with almost 70% of the vote.
Rick Baker (born 1950) is an American special makeup effects artist. Rick Baker may also refer to: Rick Baker (mayor) (born 1956), former mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida "The Righteous Maker" Rick Baker (born 1982), American professional wrestler also known as D-Ray 3000
Ed Wood is a 1994 American biographical film directed and produced by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp as the eponymous cult filmmaker. The film concerns the period in Wood's life when he made his best-known films as well as his relationship with actor Bela Lugosi, played by Martin Landau. Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones, Lisa Marie, and Bill Murray are among the supporting cast. The film was conceived by writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. Alexander first proposed it as a documentary, when he was a student at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Years later, irritated at being thought of solely as writers for family films with their work on Problem Child (1990) and its 1991 sequel, Alexander and Karaszewski struck a deal with Burton and Denise Di Novi to produce Ed Wood. Initially, Michael Lehmann was chosen to direct the project, but due to scheduling conflicts with his work on the film Airheads (1994), he had to vacate the director's position, which was taken over by Tim Burton. Ed Wood was originally in development at Columbia Pictures, but the studio put the film in "turnaround" over Burton's decision to shoot in black-and-white. Ed Wood was taken to Walt Disney Studios, which produced the film through its Touchstone Pictures banner. The film proved financially unsuccessful, returning only $13.8 million against an $18 million budget, but was met with critical acclaim upon release, with particular praise for Depp and Landau's performances and the makeup, and won two Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor for Landau and Best Makeup for Rick Baker (who designed Landau's prosthetic makeup), Ve Neill and Yolanda Toussieng. The film is now considered to be a cult classic and one of Burton's best works.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →The Greenwood District.
