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.
Films
- Octaman (1971)
- The Thing With Two Heads (1972)
- Schlock (1973)
- The Exorcist (1973)
- It's Alive (1974)
- The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman (1974)
- King Kong (1976)
- Track of the Moon Beast (1976)
- Squirm (1976)
- The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)
- The Incredible Melting Man (1977)
- Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
- The Fury (1978)
- Up the Academy (1980)
- An American Werewolf in London (1981)
- The Howling (1981)
- The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981)
- Videodrome (1983)
- Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)
- Starman (1984)
- Into the Night (1985)
- My Science Project (1985)
- Captain EO (1986)
- Ratboy (1986)
- Harry and the Hendersons (1987)
- Coming to America (1988)
- Gorillas in the Mist (1988)
- Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
- The Rocketeer (1991)
- Wolf (1994)
- Ed Wood (1994)
- Batman Forever (1995)
- The Nutty Professor (1996)
- The Frighteners (1996)
- 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 (1997)
- 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)
- Cursed
- X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
- Click (2006)
- Enchanted (2007)
- Norbit (2007)
- Tropic Thunder (2008)
- The Wolfman (2010)
- TRON: Legacy (2010)
- Maleficent
Music Videos
- "Ghosts"
- "Thriller"
Television
- Beauty and the Beast (1987)
- Manimal
- Werewolf
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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.
