Rick Baker Net Worth

Rick Baker's Quotes

• Makeup is an additive process, you add to someone's face. It's easy to make someone look fatter or older. It's much harder to make someone look thinner because we can't really subtract from what's already there.
• When I did An American Werewolf in London (1981), David Naughton had basically no body hair. Benicio Del Toro is already very hairy so it was much easier to make him up for The Wolfman (2010).
• I learned (makeup effects) on my own face, that's why I look like this.
• The first make-up artist I was ever really aware of and became a fan of was Jack P. Pierce. He did all the great classic Universal monsters especially Frankenstein's monster. That make-up hasn't been outdone. It has become this iconic image. Everybody when they think of the Monster thinks of Jack's make-up.
• The thing that I find so fulfilling about my job is I like the fact that you start with something that's just an idea in your head. You read the script and right away you visualize something and you see that thing that at one point was just an idea in your head looking real and alive. It's exciting and is a little bit like being Dr. Frankenstein. I want to scream "It's alive!"

Interesting Facts about Rick Baker

1. In 1981, he was the very first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Make-Up for An American Werewolf in London (1981) when the category was first introduced.
2. Interesting details about Baker's career, especially his early fascination with gorillas and his work in three movies featuring them, is told in the television documentary "Gorillas: Primal Contact".
3. Formed the Cinovation Studios in 1981.
4. He attended Northview High School in Covina, California. There he made his own gorilla costume and would sometime be found swinging from the football field goalposts. He also would go to drive-in movies showing Planet of the Apes (1968), secretly change into his ape outfit and sneak up to occupants of cars watching the movie, scaring them out of their wits.
5. The Michael Jackson song "Threatened" (2001) is dedicated to him. They worked together on Michael Jackson: Thriller (1983) and Captain EO (1986).
6. He owns a framed photo of Jack P. Pierce applying the finishing touches to Boris Karloff's famous Frankenstein (1931) make-up; the photo has been doctored by Baker to appear as if he and Pierce are applying the make-up together.
7. Holds the record for the most Oscar wins and nominations bestowed upon makeup artists. He has been nominated a total of twelve times with seven wins (An American Werewolf in London (1981), Harry and the Hendersons (1987), Ed Wood (1994), The Nutty Professor (1996), Men in Black (1997), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) and The Wolfman (2010)).
8. Presented his mentor, Dick Smith with an honorary Academy Award in 2011.
9. Closed his studio and retired from the motion picture industry on May 28, 2015. Received an estimated $1 million from an auction of his collection of props and items he created over the course of his career.
10. He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6764 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on November 30, 2012.
11. Received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California (2008).
12. Contributes commentaries to the web series Trailers from Hell for trailers about science fiction films and horror films.
13. When Rick won his first Best Makeup Oscar for An American Werewolf in London (1981), it was presented to him by Vincent Price (Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles / March 29, 1982).